Shakespeare’s Empathy and Ethics

The Merchant of Venice illustrates Shakespeare’s skill in evoking empathy for the Other. Shylock, reviled as a Jew, inspires our empathy and prompts an exploration of issues of morality, ethics, law and justice. Following a synopsis of the play, stereotyping and dignity are examined in relation to empathy. From Shakespeare’s approach to ethics and morality, we derive an empathy-based approach to ethics. Empathy-based ethics extends the importance of empathy from a desirable moral disposition in a doctor to a capacity that is fundamental to ethical functioning.