Shakespeare post

Shylock is the villian of the play because he planned antonio's murder with the pound of flesh agreement and after his own daughter left him the only thing he cared about was the money she took with her.

Shylock

I believe that Shylock is the villain of this play. This is because of the deal he makes with Antonio. Taking a pound of someone's flesh because they cannot repay you on time is awful. The really sneaky part of this however, is that Shylock makes it all perfectly legal. This is villainy if nothing else.

Shylock the villain

I believe that Shylock is the villain in the play. He is one of the main causes of upset through his greed, selfishness, and just bullying of the main characters. If Shylock had not created the deal for a pound of Antonio's flesh, then the characters would have had many less problems. I do not, however, consider Shylock the equivalent of a devil. He is merily a man who was unfairly treated all his life(also by Antonio no less) and chose to harden himself as a defense mechanism. I believe that Shylock is a average man that, while unusually greedy, is the stereotypical picture of a victim of abuse.

Shylock

I do believe that Shylock is meant to be the villain of the play. Him and Antonio have conflicting opinions and the audience is on Antonio's side. It is obvious that Shakespeare put things in the play to make us like Antonio and dislike Shylock. Shakespeare also describes many things, such as wishing to kill Antonio, that Shylock is a part of. In doing, or wanting to do, these evil things, it is shown that Shylock truly is a villain.

Shylock, the Villain

Shylock is clearly shown as the villain throughout the novel. He is shown but heads against the main antagonist of the play Antonio, both of them being Foils to each other. Shylock is correctly portrayed as a villain by a person that is manipulative and unjust to the "hero" of the play, Antonio

I can't say I do view Shylock as a villain. In a way, I kind of found myself secretly rooting for him. Not that I wanted Antonio to die or anything, but I wanted something good to happen to Shylock. After all it just seemed from the very beginning as though he had some dark powers working against him. The villain's supposed to have those dark powers working with him not against him. I just found myself too sympathetic to him; I could not see him as a devil. Also, the way Antonio and company treated him, didn't make me feel any more kindly to them either. Sure, Shylock had his problems, but so did Antonio and everyone else.

I believe Shylock is the villian in the play very simply because he is the antagonist to Antonio. Since Antonio is the protagonist and Shylock wants to harm him, he is the villian. I'm sure arguments can be made that he did what he did because he was harshly mistreated, but regardless of this he is the villian. Shylock is probably not the only villian in the play, but he is for sure the primary villian.

Shylock is the villian of the play, because Shakespeare wrote him as the villian. Since he created Shylock, as well as the rest of the play, intending for Shylock to be the villian, he is technically so. However, this sometimes is tricky to see. Shakespeare wrote the play in such a way that evoked pity for Shylock, you can see his side of the story, why he wants to get revenge on Antonio. Nontheless, he is still trying to kill the main character in the play. And so, whether reasonable or not, Shylock is the villian of the merchant of venice.

Shylock... Villain?

I do believe Shylock is a villain in the play. A villain can be someone who seeks revenge, only for the benefit of themselves. And Shylock shows this because he so viciously seeks revenge from Antonio, and fights so hard to get what he thinks he deserves, whether it is Antonio's life, money or respect. Also, the way he is so cruel, especially Jessica and Antonio, can only be described as villainous. For these reasons I do believe Shylock is a villain in the play.

Shylock is definitely characterized as the villian of The Merchant of Venice but I actually do not think that he is the real villian of the play. All he wanted was revenge on Antonio because of his actions that affected Shylock's life. The fact that he wanted revenge I don't think makes him the villian. There is much more to a villian. He may seem heartless at times but I believe that it's only because for most of his life he was treatly poorly by heartless people.


Marissa Pruitt

I believe that Shylock is not a villain in the Merchant of Venice. I think he is just misunderstood and the victim of anti-semitism. I think if Shylock were left alone to his business or in an environment that was not anti-semitistic he would be shown in a much nicer light. He makes a really good point when he gives his speech about revenge, and I believe he isn't necessarily doing a bad thing. Granted he does get a little carried away near the end, but I dont think the role of the villain can be placed soley on Shylock.

Shelby Steingraeber- 5th hr.

I believe Shylock is the villian in the play "The Merchant of Venice". His violent displays of behavior, combined with his clear hate towards those of beliefs other than his own, are uncalled for and harmful. Moreover, he is a coward. Shylock continually pushes to have a pound of flesh removed from Antonio throughout Acts 3 and 4 as a punishment for not paying loans on time, but when a glitch is found in his deal, Shylock quickly flees the scene. This behavior demonstrates that of a true villian.

I do not view Shylock as the villian. Throughout the play, I feel sympathy for him, and I can sympathize with him. I see his actions as over-exagerrated, but justified. Shylock is not the villian, just a miss-understood character., whose mis-deeds are rational.

Shylock~

I believe Shylock isn't the villain of The Merchant of Venice. A villain is someone who is the antagonist, they usually have a negative effect on the other characters. Shylock is only hated for being a Jew, he only has a negative effect because of his religion. If he was a Christian, he wouldn't be hated.

For example in the trial, the duke explains how he is against the Jewish people. If Antonio were supposed to take Shylock's flesh, no one would have cared because Shylock is Jewish. Shylock isn't the villain, he is the victim of religious segregation.

-Hannah Beilman

Altman 6th hour

Merchant of Venice

Shylock is not the villain of the story. A villain is one who is evil. By this definition, he does not fit the caricature. Shylock is not truly evil, he just wishes to exact revenge on whoever corrupted his own life.

A villain is somebody who intends to do villainy. Because Shylock said "the villainy you teach me I will execute," he is therefore a villain. Motives are simply excuses.

Shylock

I do not believe that Shylock is the villain in the play. He simply wants revenge on Antonio for making his life miserable. The audience feels sympathy for him and his burdens in life, and villains do not get that sympathy.

In my opinion, Shylok is a villain because he matches the definition of what a villain really is. A villain in someone or something that causes harm or damage. He is causing Antonio harm because he plans on punishing Antonio for not being able to pay off his debt to Shylok. He is the one responsible for harming Antonio, therefore giving him a reason to be called a villain. Although in some contradicting opinions, one might say that since Shylok is discriminated agasint, he should be considered the victim rather than the villain. However, in this situation, just because Shylok is Jewish, it does not stop him from being characterized as a villain in the play.

I do believe Shylock is the villian of the play. When someone is a villian, they work towards hurting and or angering the other main characters of the novel which he does by all means. He takes it all out on Antonio mostly just because he's angered with his daughter for running from him. If he wouldn't of disrespected her and treated her badly, she wouldnt of left. He values his fortune over his family, which causes him to make such evil actions and deals. He goes after all Christians steriotyping them together when in reality, not all of them have affected him or caused his family to turn against him. Shylock definitely should be characterized as the villian of The Merchant of Venice.