Shylock's declaration of his hatred for Antonio immediately intensifies the drama of the scene; the audience now waits to see in what way he will be able to catch Antonio "upon the hip" and "feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him." Then Shylock is called back from the front of the stage by Bassanio, and he pretends to notice Antonio for the first time. Their greeting has ironic overtones for the audience, which has just heard Shylock's opinion of Antonio. There then follows a debate between Antonio and Shylock on the subject of usury, or the taking of interest on a loan — permissible for Shylock but not for Antonio, according to Antonio's moral code.
In making Shylock avoid committing himself immediately to lending Antonio the money, Shakespeare is building a dramatic crisis. For example, Antonio's mounting impatience leads to increased arrogance; he compares the moneylender to the "apple rotten at the heart." Still, however, Shylock does not respond; he pretends to muse on the details of the loan, producing from Antonio the curt and insolent remark, "Well, Shylock, shall we be beholding to you?" Only then does Shylock begin to answer directly, and he does so with calculated calm. "Signior Antonio," he says, "many a time and oft / In the Rialto you have rated me." His words are controlled but carry a cold menace that silences Antonio at once. At the phrase "You call me misbeliever, cutthroat dog," Shylock reveals to us that Antonio did "void your rheum upon my beard / And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur / Over your threshold!" This is a vivid dramatic change, climaxing in his taunting lines: "Hath a dog money? Is it possible / A cur can lend three thousand ducats?"
In Shylock's earlier aside ("I'll hate him [Antonio] for he is a Christian"), the audience was inclined to pigeonhole Shylock as the "villain" of this drama; anyone who hates a man simply because he is a Christian must logically be a villain. Yet now, in this speech, there is much more depth and complexity; we are given a most revealing glimpse of a man who has been a victim, whose imposition of suffering on others is directly related to his own suffering. Shakespeare is manipulating us emotionally; we have to reconsider Shylock's character.
