At the start of the scene there is a strong combination between the perfect figure of Bassanio, the Christian, and the short, fat Jew with the black cap. Even Shylock’s build suggests that he is greedy. Because Bassanio hates Shylock so much, we can already guess that there will be an argument later between the two characters.
The body language between the two is very different. Bassanio stands tall and acts and speaks politely, whereas Shylock is bent over, looks at the ground, and makes a lot of hand motions. Because of Shylock’s height, Bassanio is forever looking down at him and this is deliberate because it shows the control that the Christians had over the Jews at that time.
The principal characters all really love their money, from Portia to Bassanio and Antonio to Shylock.
Shylock keeps babbling on and on about those expensive ducats of his, as if they could actually be more important than his own flesh and blood. We believe that perhaps he considers that his money is even more important than his own daughter.
Salerio makes the audience wonder about Shylock, when he describes how delirious Shylock was when he was in the street crying out:
"Oh my ducats, my daughter, my ducats, my daughter …
Fled with a Christian!..
Justice! The law! My ducats, and my daughter!.. "
Act 2, scene 8, lines 15-22))
This makes you wonder which he misses the most. This proves that he mistreats even his own daughter, and he values his money even more than his own blood.
Shylock the Jew is the bad character in the play ' The Merchant of Venice'. Shylock mistreats Antonio the Christian, his daughter, Jessica and Launcelot.
Jessica considers her home to be hell, and she calls Launcelot, a
"merry little devil".
(Act 2, scene 3, line 2)
She even states that her father is Satan. Shylock mistreats his own daughter, by not loving her enough, even to the point where he complains about all of the money he is spending in a search to find her.
"Why, there, there, there, there! A diamond gone
cost me two thousand ducats in Frankford! The
curse...
..ill luck stirring but what lights o' my shoulders;
no sighs but o' my breathing; no tears but o' my
shedding."
(Act 3, scene 1, lines 63-72)
He also mistreats her by keeping her locked up in her own house, by not letting her out, and by 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."
(Act 2, scene 5, lines 28-35)
The first person Shylock mistreats is Launcelot. He mistreats this servant by complaining behind Launcelot's back about his laziness and bout him eating too much: 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."
(Act 2, scene 6, lines 45-50)
Shylock also acts badly towards Launcelot by acting aggressively towards him.
"Who bids thee call? I do not bid thee call."
(Act 2, scene 5, line 8)
Shylock mistreats this man because of his poverty, and because Launcelot is socially beneath him.
Shylock hates Christians and specially Antonio. He mistreats Antonio by talking behind his back, and he reveals his hatred of Antonio, when he says,
"How like a fawning publican he looks!
I hate him for he is a Christian;
But more for that...Cursed be my tribe
If I forgive him!"
(Act 1, scene 3, lines 31-42)
Shylock again shows his hatred towards Christians when he was invited for dinner, he says:
I am not bid for love – they flatter me –"
But yet I'll go in hate, to feed upon
The prodigal Christian.''
(Act 2, scene 5, lines 14-16)
Shylock feels justified in exacting revenge for all the ills Antonio causes him. He then draws up an unbelievable bond. He blames Antonio for all of his problems, even his race's problems are blamed on people like Antonio, and he feels Christians have persecuted his race when he says,
"To bait fish withal. If it will feed nothing else
it will feed my revenge...The villainy you teach me
will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better
the instruction."
(Act 3, scene 1, lines 40-54)
He shows that he will copy the example of Christians. Shylock becomes the true villain when he takes Antonio to court. These actions prove that Antonio is mistreated by Shylock, the villain.
Shylock is determined and he shows no mercy:
''Tell not me of mercy...
I'll have my bond… Thou calledst me dog before …
But since I am a dog, beware my fangs…
I'll have my bond, and therefore speak no more...''
(Act 3, scene 3, lines 1-12)
On the other hand, Shylock tries to let the audience feel sympathy for him and for all Jews, and shows some humanity when he says to Salerio and Solanio:
''Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands…
If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us,
Do we not laugh?
If you poison us, do we not die?..''
(Act 3, scene 1, lines 44-49)
Villains are often antagonists in story plots and normally are a threat to the main character. Shylock is the villain of The Merchant of Venice and he threatens the life of Antonio. Villains normally have motives behind their evil doings and Shylock’s motive is to have his revenge upon Antonio. In fact, Shylock is mad for revenge towards all Christians, especially Antonio. Shylock mistreats too many people but then suffers the loss of everything in the court, even his religion, as he is ordered to convert to Christianity. To conclude, Shylock is such a villain that his servant and even his own daughter Jessica hate him and are desperate to escape from him.
