Second Class Citizen

So yeah I said in class today that the most disturbing part of The Merchant of Venice for me (and there aren't many disturbing parts so it was easy to pick) was at the very end when Portia saves Anotonio through an agonizingly literal run through of the contract. After Portia explains that Shylock must take exactly a pound of flesh, without drawing blood or killing Antonio, Shylock backs off and it seems that everything is okay. But then Portia takes it one step further by saying that through the contract, Shylock indirectly meant to take the life of a Venetian, which is an offense so severe that Shylock must forfeit everything he has, half to Antonio and half to Venice. Here tha language is very odd. Portia says: "It is enacted in the laws of Venice, / If it be proved against an alien / That by direct or indirect attempts / He seek the life of any citizen ... the offender's life lies in the mercy / of the Duke." This is the law, right? And it makes sense, because Venice is protecting its citizens from foreigners who would try to kill them. A just law.

My problem with this law is more in its use here. Shylock is not an "alien". We can safely assume that he is Venetian, being that he lives there and has set up a very nice establishment for himself there. So this law guarding against foreigners is being unjustly used against a citizen of the city for entering a contract in which a Christian would presumable give up his life. The antisemitism doesn't surprise me, as the entire play bashes Jews. It's the idea that the religion is the primary identifier of Shylock. His Jewishness is more important to the others than his...Venetian...ness. He who is a fellow countryman is now given up. And all of this isn't so ridiculous in the context of the play so now I'm just trying to voice what my problem is.

I guess most of all it's that they label him an "alien." That just seems really wrong given that he is a Venetian whether Jewish or Christian.