Essay/Term paper: Merchant of venice

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Cliff Notes

Many people are villainous in the

way they act, and their villainous acts may be rooted in the

desire to destroy others, or in the hopes of elevating

themselves. Many people may only act "villainous" in

reaction to the way they have been treated in the past.

Shylock the Jew is the villain or antagonist in the play The

Merchant of Venice. Shylock mistreats Antonio the

Christian, his daughter, Jessica and Launcelot. The first

person Shylock mistreats, is Launcelot. He mistreats this

servant by complaining behind Launcelot's back of his

laziness. Shylock says, "The patch is kind enough, but a

huge feeder, Snail-slow in profit, and he sleeps by day More

than the wildcat. Drones hive not with me.. ..His borrowed

purse." 1 Shylock also acts villainous towards Launcelot by

acting belligerent towards him. "Who bids thee call? I do not

bid thee call." 2 Shylock mistreats this man because of his

poverty, and because Launcelot is socially beneath him. You

also start to wonder about how fair Shylock is, when

Launcelot is deciding whether or not to leave him. Shylock

also mistreats his own daughter, Jessica. He mistreats her by

keeping her as a captive in her own house, not letting her

out, and not letting her hear the Christian music around her.

He orders her to: "Lock up my doors; and when you hear

the drum... ..But stop my house's ears-I mean casements.

Let not the sound of shallow fopp'ry enter My sober house."

3 Jessica considers her home to be hell, and she calls

Launcelot, a "merry little devil". She even states that her

father is Satan. Shylock also mistreats his own daughter, by

not loving her enough, even to the point where he complains

about all of the money he's spending in a search to find her.

"Why, there, there, there, there! A diamond gone cost me

two thousand ducats in Frankford! The curse.. ..ill luck

stirring but what lights o' my shoulders; no sighs but o' my

breathing; no tears but o' my shedding."4 Salerio makes the

audience wonder about Shylock, when he raves about when

Shylock was calling out, "Oh my ducats, my daughter, my

ducats, my daughter.." This makes you wonder which he

misses the most. This proves that he mistreats, even his own

daughter. He values his money more than his own blood.

Shylock mistreats Antonio. He does so by talking behind

Antonio's back, and he reveals his hatred of Antonio, when

he says, "How like a fawning publican he looks! I hate him

for he is a Christian; But more for that...Cursed be my tribe

If I forgive him!" 5 Shylock feels justified in exacting revenge

for all the ills Antonio causes him. He then draws up an

unbelievable bond. He blames Antonio for all of his

problems, even his race's problems are blamed on people

like Antonio, and he feels Christians have persecuted his

race when he says, "To bait fish withal. If it will feed nothing

else, it will feed my revenge...The villainy you teach me I will

execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction."

6 He shows that he will copy the example of Christians.

Shylock becomes the true villain when he atkes Antonio to

court. These actions prove that Antonio is mistreated by

Shylock, the villain. Shylock is the villain of The Merchant

of Venice. He mistreats too many people, and then asks

for mercy in a court. Shylock is mad for revenge towards all

Christians, especially Antonio. He is such a villain that even

his daughter and servant are eager to escape him. Villains

are oftenly antagonists in story plots and normally are a

threat to the main character. Villains normally have motives

behind their evil doings.