The usual view of Shylock's attitude about money is a view unfavorable to Shylock.

He is said to
obsessed with money and unloving to his daughter, placing his wealth in jewels and ducats very far
above her. One of the primary texts used to support this is spoken by Salanio and Solario in Act 2 Scene
6, who later in Act 3 Scene 1 make it clear that they are neither fans nor friends of Shylock. A serious
question must be asked concerning their trustworthiness: Are they reliable?

Sorting out Shylock's attitude about money is more complicated than it appears at first glance. To start
with, when he speaks of the turquoise ring that Jessica took (Act 3 Scene 1), he declares that it was given
to him as a gift while he was still a bachelor by his soon-to-be bride, Leah. It's interesting to note that in
the Bible, Leah, meaning "cow," had weak eys sight and was given to Jacob as a bride by an act of deceit
perpetrated by her father. This shows that Shylock was devoted to Leah and valued her above any
money even though she may not have been all that great a catch. Bear in mind that Shakespeare could
have name Shylock's wife Rachael, Leah's fair younger sister whose name means "ewe" and whom Jacob
loved and desired for her goodness and beauty.

In addition, Shylock's first concern and heartbreak is that his daughter betrayed him and rebelled against
him, utterly rejecting him. It is reasonable and naturally to be expected that his actual words (as
opposed to reported words) toward her, as in Act 3 Scene 1, would be less than charitable and filled
with rage. The opposing opinion to this is that his only concern should be compassion and loving worriy
for finding this daughter who has rejected him, stolen from him, rebelled against him and dashed his
hope and joy. Jessica knew it would be true that with her action, reinforcing her rejection of Shylock's
"manner," she would lose a father and he a daughter. Bear in mind that she may have rejected him but,
until he was actually abandoned, he had not rejected her or even questioned her trustworthiness and
loyalty.

Shylock's attitude toward toward money seems, based on known reliable evidence, to be: it is his work,
and like any financier, his mode of thought and metaphor; much less important than his beloved family,
including rejecting, betraying Jessica; his sole means of power and revenge against cruel, unloving
Christians who have wronged and despised him as he states in his Act 3 Scene 1 " If you prick us, do we
not bleed?" speech.

Shylock tries to defend the charging of interest by referring to a Biblical story in the Old Testament.

The story he refers to is Jacob taking care of his uncle Laban's sheep (in the book of Genesis). Shylock
relays the story of how Jacob manipulated an agreement with Laban to make out financially with regard
to Laban's sheep.

Antonio assumes that the story is simply about interest; Shylock, on the other hand, knows that it refers
to what he calls "thrift" - we might rather call it "cheating".

The point is this: when Jacob decides to leave Laban's service and set up on his own, Laban asks what
parting gift he'd like. Jacob asks for all the pied (black and white) lambs. Then, using rather improbable
methods, Jacob manages to cheat it so that the number of pied lambs is hugely larger than it would
normally have been, making his present much larger.
Antonio thinks this is a story simply about interest - not quite understanding, or not quite listening,
clearly - but Shylock seems to intend it as a demonstration that anything goes in business.

There is one more point: and it works against Shylock. Later in the biblical tale, when Laban offers Jacob
his eldest daughter to marry, rather than the one he actually has been courting, Rachel steals her
father's images and elopes with Jacob. Perhaps if Shylock thought a few verses ahead in his Bible, he
might see a foreshadowing of Jessica's elopement.