If you read other plays of the era with Jewish characters, like Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta (where the eponymous villain is a cartoon caricature), then you might

If you read other plays of the era with Jewish characters, like Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta (where the eponymous villain is a cartoon caricature), then you might better understand why there is room for nuance with Shakespeare’s depiction of Shylock compared to his contemporaries.