Shylock: Villain or Victim?
In this essay I will look into the question of whether Shylock is
villain or victim and then answer it with my own opinion. To do this I
intend to examine the following, Shylock and the persecution of the
Jews and by focusing on the courtroom scene and the formation of the
bond scene.
Previous history
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Jews have been previously persecuted even before 1500 in Spain, Rome,
France, the Middle East, Western Europe and Austria. They have
suffered exile, torture, conversion, been massacred and even had their
land Israel taken by the Turks.
The Plot
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The plot of this story, ~The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare, is as
follows; Bassino, a noble Venetian gentleman, has spent all of his
money. He wishes to amend his fortunes in order to marry Portia, a
rich heiress, who lives in Belmont. He asks his friend Antonio, (the
Merchant of Venice) to help him by lending him 3000 ducats. However
all of Antonio's money is tied up in ships trading across the world so
he can only offer to use his good name to borrow money for Bassino.
Antonio and Bassino approach Shylock, a rich Jew, who agrees to lend
the amount but makes Antonio sign a bond known as, "the pound of
flesh", which states that if Antonio does not pay back Shylock in
three months, Shylock is entitle4d to cut off a pound of Antonio's
flesh. Until he thought of the bond Shylock was unwilling to lend the
money because of the fact that he is a Christian who does not believe
in usury. This is today's equivalent of lending money with interest.
As a result he will make no money from lending to Antonio.
Shortly after, Shylocks daughter, Jessica, runs off with most of his
money and a Christian Lorenzo, aided by Bassinos friends. Shylock is
devastated and hates the Christians even more. This scene shows
Shylocks villainous side because of the fact that when he discovers
that his daughter and money have gone he is more concerned about his
In most works of literature there is an “evil” character that has conflicting interests with the protagonist. This issue may arise in multiple forms including, but not limited to, abuse and manipulation. In this paper we will be discussing the similarities and differences between Shakespeare’s character Iago from Othello and J.K. Rowling’s character Voldemort from the Harry Potter series.
In most stories we enjoy, may it be from childhood or something more recent there is many times a theme that shows a clear hero and a clear villain. But ordinarily this is not the case in real life, there are few times that this is quite that simple. There are many sides to each story, and sometimes people turn a blind eye to, or ignore the opposing side’s argument. But if we look at both sides of a situation in the stories we can more clearly understand what is going on, moreover the villains in the book or play would seem more real, instead of a horrible person being evil for no reason, these two people have their own agenda may it be a ruthless vengeance or misplaced trust.
Has a Story ever made a reader want to hurt the character responsible for trouble that’s being caused? Of course; usually the antagonist is often the nuisance. Richard Connell creates these instigative characters with pleasure and diversity. In his story “The Most Dangerous Game”, He Creates General Zaroff so that he is easy to hold a grudge against. Likewise Edgar Allan Poe Creates a character that is easy to hate. In his short story “The Cask of Amontillado”, Poe creates a mastermind killer. Connells antagonist, General Zaroff, and Poe’s antagonist, Montresor, give the reader an invitation to hate them. These two characters are similar yet different in their evil persona, wealth, and challenge.
In the Shakespearian play 'Macbeth', it seems to be that every one thinks that Macbeth is the villain. But in actual fact Lady Macbeth is the villain. Lady Macbeth uses her cunning and deceptive skills to over power Macbeth into killing King Duncan. When Lady Macbeth receives the letter telling her about the witches' prophecies, she immediately thinks that she and Macbeth will have to kill King Duncan. She calls Macbeth to kind to kill King Duncan and saying that
Biography: William Shakespeare's Macbeth tells the story of a man who would be king. And he is the king, because he murders. Him and his wife murder to get their way. This works greatly for them, until they are questioned, and their guilt sets in. The task for this paper was to compare the Macbeth's to two people who did great evil to accomplish good. IE: Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden, whom were used in this essay.
In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is seen as brave, heroic and a victim too, but when the three witches tell him that he will be crowned king of Scotland, he gets more and more evil and twisted by letting the power he has go to his head. He is more of a villain than he is a victim. Macbeth is a villain in the play because he is a murderer, liar and he is insane.
Every well-written fictional novel has a protagonist, and an antagonist. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, does have a clear and definite protagonist, but a strange antagonist. Narrated in the perspective of a young girl named Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, the book follows the story of her younger life, but quickly transitions to a dreadful court-case caused by the false accusation of an African-American solely based on the mere fact of him being a person of color. Throughout the novel, it becomes clear that Maycomb county antagonizes its people- making it the antagonist. Obviously, a town itself cannot be the antagonist, however, the people of a town can. Alienation, hatred towards those who support righteousness, and distressing conditions articulate this.
perfect villain. A villain who makes work out out of everything and dominates the stage by bringing life
There are various levels of heroes, some of which will sacrifice and give everything to protect someone and those that will only spare some change to help them buy food. While villains can directly or indirectly harm others in various ways, whether it is from being too greedy or enjoying watching others suffer, villains hurt people. Similar to Villains are bystanders, while bystanders do not directly contribute to the problem they do nothing to help solve the problem which is almost as bad as being the problem causer. Characteristics of a villain could include being vulgar, a bully, or rashful towards others, while a hero’s traits tend to include virtues like courage, friendliness, and are caring towards others (Aristotle). In We Are All Bystanders Peggy is a bystander because she isn’t willing to stand up for Stewart when he gets bullied on the bus, but wishes she would do something to help him(Marsh, Keltner). Another example of where bystanders had a chance to prevent a crime was when Genovese was murdered and all thirty-eight of her neighbors did nothing to prevent her death(Marsh, Keltner). Many bystanders possess the trait of cowardness or they lack the will to act and try to help others that are be in need of
The question about which one he really is makes you think. I feel that even though he was a good man, the small details made the “villain” side of him surface much more than the “hero” side.
antagonist; whether to act according to his feelings and instincts, or to try to follow the
Throughout the play of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is supposed to be a likeable character until he kills the king. By committing this heinous act, Macbeth instantly becomes a villain and continues to commit murderous acts, all stemming from his first terrible mistake. One of his motives consists of choosing power over integrity, therefore he kills the king. Another reason why Macbeth is a villain is because he continued to kill innocent people to hide his doings. Lastly, since Macbeth is a villain and murderer, he deserves to be condemned and disdained.
The second example is the character of Esther, she can be seen as the victim and as the heroine. The reason she can be seen as the victim is because of the many injustices she faces. For example when she is subjec...
“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” (The Dark Knight, 2008). This quote describes the archetypical tale of the tragic hero. As Aristotle had illustrated in Poetica, the tragic hero is defined as possessing hubris and harmartia, arrogance or a tragic mistake respectively. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, we follow the titular character as we witness his rise to the throne to then see his immediate downfall. Macbeth stands among Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, showing the effect of power on an individual. His ultimate demise in the story’s resolution gives insight into what catalyzed the supposed events. Without a doubt, Macbeth had transformed from the hero to eventually the villain.
In this essay I will try to discover is Shylock a villain or a victim, in the William Shakespeare play “A Merchant of Venice”