Merchant of Venice post 2

In terms of who is the protagonist, it definitely seems that Antonio was intended to be the protagonist. He is made out to be the righteous, virtuous Christian that was antagonized by a moneylending Jew. Then, it was obvious, but now, with a significantly less prejudiced population, the lines aren’t that clear. Shylock seems wicked, but is written in a way so that the observer feels sympathy for him. Everything he does feels justified and his hardships make you feel empathy for the character. The “good Christian’s” deception makes this clear, Shylock was punished for attempting to finally have his revenge against a man who attempted to destroy his livelihood and ruin his reputation multiple times. Instead of being able to exact his revenge, he was punished further on a technicality. Shylock feels more like a rounded dynamic character than anyone else, as he feels emotion and drive unlike the others, and he is the only one who acts predictably like a person would while Antonio is a stock, flat character.