Merchant of Venice
Merchant of VeniceMany 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."
Shylock also acts villainous towards Launcelot by acting
belligerent towards him.
"Who bids thee call? I do not bid thee call."
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."
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....
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