Shylock's Speech - Merchant of Venice

Until Act 3 in "The Merchant of Venice" the character Shylock does not express much emotion besides for his money. What happens in Act 3 is a speech that Shylock gives and it touches base on the anti-semitism in the play. In the speech he goes on about how is a Jew different than anyone else, wee both have ears, eyes, legs and so on. The reason he gives this speech is because he has been treated horribly throughout the entire play just because he is Jewish. He has finally had enough and asks why he is treated differently just because he has a different life style than other people. Shakespeare probably put this in his play to add more depth to one of his characters. He may not agree with what he wrote for Shylock, but it does definitely make Shylock a much more relatable person.