The True Villain In Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice

Trying to find out in the beginning of a story who the true villain is may come as a thrill but a challenge. The suspicions on who the villain is may hop from one character to the next as more of the story unfolds. The term villain is commonly viewed as a cruel character in a story that is out to seek harm to others and destroy the happiness and peacefulness in all the characters of the story. The true definition of a villain according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is “a character in a story, movie, etc., who does bad things.” In the play, Merchant of Venice, several characters do a few things that are bad, but none can compare to wanting to take a mans life as Shylock tried to do. What kind of man does it show who Shylock is, for wanting to take a mans life because he is late paying a debt? Shylock let his thirst for revenge of Antonio grow to strong and let the true villain come …show more content…
The fact that being so wealthy put him in a high position in society was disregarded to most people because of what a cruel Jew he was. When one would ever bring up Shylock, his real name was disregarded and he would be given cruel nicknames that fit the person Shylock was. In the play, Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare writes, “The villain Jew outcries raised the Duke.” Act 2, scene 8. Just the way Salanio said that to Salarino is very clear of how even the characters saw Shylock as a villain. Just in a casual conversation of two friends, Salanio could not help but to call Shylock a villain Jew. In the play, Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare writes “Not on the sole but on thy soul, harsh Jew.” A second time in the play where a character called Shylock some type of cruel nickname regarding to him being a mean Jew. For one to bring to him such a bad reputation that everyone couldn 't help but to call him cruel Jewish nicknames, Shylock has had to have been cruel to many people and shown of how he truly is a