Shylock Is The Villian In Shakespeares Merchant Of Venice

Term Paper Title	Shylock Is The Villian In Shakespeares Merchant Of Venice
# of Words	361
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	1.44

Shylock is the Villian in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice

        In Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice the antagonist of the play is
Shylock.  Shylock is a wealthy Jewish moneylender. Shylock is probably the most
memorable character in the play because of Shakespeare's excellent
characterization of him. Shylock is the antagonist in the play because he
stands in the way of love, but this does not necessarily make him the villain of
the play.  Shylock can be seen as both the villain of the play and as a man who
is very human.
     The villain that we see in Shylock is the greedy moneylender.  Shylock
charges high interest rates and when he is not repaid he insists on revenge.  In
the play Shylock loans Antonio money, and out of jest he suggests that should
the loan not be repaid in time Shylock may cut off one pound of flesh from
Antonio's body.  Soon after Shylock's daughter runs away from home with Lorenzo,
a Christian, and takes her father's ducats with her.  When Antonio's ships do
not come in and he is not able to repay the loan Shylock is no longer interested
in getting his money back.  Shylock w...

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