Essay Sample on Merchant of Venice: Antonio And Shylock

In many stories, the protagonist is the hero who everyone loves while the antagonist, the chief foe of the protagonist, is the villain who is often despised by the audience. To elaborate, like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in Star Wars, the distinction between good and evil is explicitly shown through the protagonist and the antagonist. However, this does not seem to be the case with Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Taking place in an anti-semitic Venetian society, Shakespeare’s play is about the conflict between Antonio, the protagonist, and Shylock, the antagonist, whom they despise each other mainly because of their difference in religion. Although Antonio and Shylock have been seen as the antagonist and the protagonist, respectively, the modern audience questions the validity of this view of the characters: “Does Antonio really represent the good in the play? Is Shylock really the villain?” Throughout the play, despite the two characters having many problematic traits, the playwright skillfully positions the audience to sympathize with both the antagonist and protagonist—Shylock and Antonio—by portraying the characters as a victim of anti-semitism and a loving friend, respectively.

Through the dialogue between Antonio and Shylock, Shakespeare positions the modern audience to sympathize with Shylock by portraying the character as a victim of anti-semitism that existsed in the Elizabethan period. In Act 1 of the play, as Antonio asks for a loan, Shylock reminds the Christian how he often called Shylock a “misbeliever, cut-throat, dog / And [spat] upon [Shylock’s] Jewish gaberdine” (I.iii.107–108). Considering the anti-semitism that existed in the Elizabethan period, readers today are able to assume that Antonio’s malevolent actions towards Shylock are fueled by Antonio’s hatred towards Jews, especially Shylock. Adding on, how Antonio insists on continuing to mistreat Shylock, as if the Christian is unaware of his religious insults towards the Jew, suggests prejudice against the Jews in the Venetian society is prevalent and Shylock is one of the victims of such discrimination. Moving on, Shylock’s inferior position as a minority is also shown in the conversation between the Duke and Antonio in Act 5. As Antonio and the Duke awaits the arrival of Shylock to the court, the Duke expresses her sympathy towards Antonio for having to face a “A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch” who is “uncapable of pity, void and empty / From any dram of mercy” (IV, i, 4-6). From the way the Duke, who is supposed to be fair to everyone under the judicial system, refers to Shylock, the contemporary audience can realize how deeply anti-semitism is engrained in this society, including its judicial system. This allows the audience to further commiserate with Shylock, understanding that the world he lives in is full of hatred towards his own religion and it is his inevitable fate to receive the mistreatment as a Jew himself.

Despite the number of discriminatory remarks Antonio commits against Shylock, Shakespeare’s protrayal of Antonio as a loving man who is willing to do anything for his beloved friend, Bassiano, evokes sympathy with the protagonist from the audience. In scene 1, when Bassanio asks Antonio for money, Antonio says that “[his] purse, [his] person & [his] extremest means lie all unlocked to [Bassanio’s] occasion” (I,i,137-8). Shakespeare’s usage of tricolon and the repetition of the possessive pronoun stresses Antonio’s willingness to do anything that he can for his friend. However, Bassanio seems to neglect Antonio’s love as Bassanio is in love with Portia, a lady in Belmont who is “fair and—fairer than that word— / Of wondrous virtues” (I, i, 164-165). Through Shakespeare’s portrayal of Antonio’s unfortunate one-sided love, the audience is able to feel the pain of Antonio as he realizes that the person he loves is in love with someone else. The sympathy the audience feels towards Antonio amplifies in Act 4, as he awaits his punishment for not paying back his loan on time: getting his flesh carved up by Shylock. As Antonio and Bassanio share a moment before Antonio receives his punishment, Antonio comforts Bassanio, “Grieve not that I am fall'n to this for you” and even assuring his beloved friend that Antonio “repents not that he pays [Bassanio’s] debt” (IV, i, 257; 270). Antonio’s love and selflessness for Bassanio is depicted from the way Antonio cares about his friend more than himself even in his last moments before death, eliciting a sense of pity for Antonio from the audience.

While Shakespeare emphasizes certain aspects of Shylock and Antonio in order to position the audience to sympathize with them, the playwright also elicits feelings opposite of sympathy from the audience through his portrayal of the characters’ problematic traits. Contrasting to the loving side of Antonio, his encounter with Shylock in scene 2 conveys the character as a hateful Christian who despises Jews, especially money lenders. As Shylock reminds Antonio of his discriminatory remarks towards Shylock, Antonio tells the Jew that Antonio is “as like to call thee so again, / to spit on thee again, to spurn thee too” (I, ii, 123,4) as if he is proud to have been discriminating towards Shylock. The repetition of “to… thee” that occurs three times emphasizes Antonio’s hatred towards Shylock and the lack of remorse he has for his prejudicial actions against Shylock. Moreover, knowing the negative connotation of Shakespeare’s usage of the pronoun “thee”, the audience can infer Antonio’s lack of respect towards Shylock. By suggesting another side of Antonio, Shakespeare is able to shift the audience’s perspective of this character from a loving friend to an anti-semitic Christian. Moving on, Shylock’s reaction to his daughter’s news portrays Shylock as a greedy money lender who prioritizes money over anything—even his own child. In Act 3, after Shylock learns that Jessica, his daughter, has run away with a Christian, he is infuriated by the amount of fortune he lost because of her. Out of fury, he cries, “A diamond gone cost me two thousand ducats in Frankfurt!” (III, i, 66-67). He is enraged to the point where he wishes his daughter was “dead at [his] foot and the jewels in her ear” (III, i, 69,70). While a normal father would be more concerned with his child’s safety, Shylock is more worried about the jewels he lost. His obsession with money gives the audience a contrasting side of Shylock—one that is more fitting of his title as an antagonist—making the audience have ambivalent feelings towards Shylock.

Despite a number of troublesome characteristics of Shylock and Antonio, Shakespeare is able to arouse sympathy towards the two characters from the audience by illustrating Shylock and Antonio as a sufferer of prejudice and a caring friend, respectively. Shakespeare’s incredible ability to manipulate how one feels about the antagonist and the protagonist diminishes the distinction of good and bad between the protagonist and the antagonist, which contrasts the explicit difference in good and bad in many other plays and stories. Ultimately, Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice evokes different emotions towards the characters based on different perspectives, making the play more enticing to the audience.