The Merchant Of Venice Is Shylock A Villain Analysis

Unknown to Othello, Iago was motivated by a cruelty that demanded the utter destruction of Othello’s public and private life. In the play Othello, by William Shakespeare, Iago is the main antagonist to the protagonist of the story. Iago is motivated by cruelty; his final goal is see all of his adversaries suffer. Cruelty is an especially crucial theme to any story, for it reveals the ugly truth about a character who is primarily motivated by cruelty. The social and political gains of Iago’s cruelty display how the theme functions in a work of literature and what it reveals about both the perpetrator and victim.

A villain- a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot. Macbeth’s greed for power is what shaped him to be the villain in the play. In Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, despite the good Macbeth had done in the very beginning his actions throughout make him the villain.

Often it is the dark side of human nature that brings a story to life, and there is no sounder proof of this than William Shakespeare’s masterpiece Othello. The tragedy of the Moor of Venice is inflicted by the cruelty of Iago, perhaps one of the most intriguing antagonists in literary history. Iago’s cruelty is a defining element of the play, in that it pushes the plot forward as the trigger for all of the major actions throughout the story, serves as the cause of the cruelty of others around him, and reveals the character of each person in the play through their responses to his cruelty.

The Archetype Villains and Revenge is a description of people who become evil because of something that happened in their childhood or throughout their lives. These villains are only acting evil to get revenge on those who were cruel to them. This archetype is evident in the Odyssey when Poseidon, god of the sea, becomes a villain by disrupting Odysseus’ journey home. He delays Odysseus’ voyage to his homeland by years, and kills his entire crew. He makes Odysseus suffer many hardships and makes him miss his family more and more everyday. Poseidon has a reason to act this way though; in his journeys, the great Odysseus blinded Poseidon's son. Poseidon was full of rage and sympathy for his son to be treated this way. He

William Shakespeare’s “Othello” was a great example to showcase sacrifices made by characters to accomplish revenge or obtain power. Shakespeare told the story of Othello, a tragic hero, who was manipulated by Iago, which motivated him to kill his own wife. From this story, Shakespeare’s main goal was to portray characters making sacrifices for their ambitions. From this play, Shakespeare puts forth the idea of sacrifice through pointing out the importance of reputation and how sacrifices must be made to silence the truth.

Rhetoric is an incredibly powerful tool capable of seducing even the most obdurate of people. As one of the most illustrious playwrights ever, Shakespeare was no stranger to the power of rhetoric. Rhetoric served as the fountainhead of Shakespearian allure. We watch the dramatic works of Shakespeare because we enjoy having our emotions manipulated; we enjoy the catharsis and self-reflection that accompanies a trip to the theater. Shakespeare truly was a master manipulator, but his manipulation was generally beneficial. While Shakespeare uses rhetoric to create art, Iago uses it to cause destruction and pain. Shakespeare’s Othello can be used as a means of exploring the dangerous power of rhetoric and gaining insight into the ethical role it

One’s reputation is gathered by the honor bestowed on them. Throughout the ancient and modern world honor is envied by many. During the study and read of Julius Caesar, a Shakespearian play following the death of Pompey and Caesar’s downfall, many characters are tested to being honorable. The merit of having honor and being honorable are central themes within the play. Characters are affected by their decisions because of their lust for reputation. The play, Julius Caesar, makes of honor as accepting self-responsibility and wrongdoing towards Brutus, Portia, and Antony’s actions, intentions, and values.

When we were little we were taught the Merchant of Venice in school. What I could grasp from the Christian version imparted to us was ' a cruel Jew wanted to harm a Christian gentleman and his subjugation to justice by Portia 's wits. ' Thus for me justice was served. However now reading it again my previous presumptions have been replaced with questions. The 'Jew ' is the question; why did the Jew did what he did?, what made him the spited Jew, Shylock?. I plan to dive deeper into the making of the Jew in this paper.

When can people see as a hero and as a villain based on their actions? Sometimes when a person is looking become a hero, it can lead them to be perceived as a villain to because other people’s ideas of heroic acts aren’t the same as others. The titular character from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet often thought he was involved in a heroic plot but came across as a villain, such as the murder of Polonius, the murders of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, when involuntarily involved in Laertes’s murder, and when Hamlet decides not to kill Claudius while he is praying.

‘The Merchant of Venice’ written by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) and ‘The Jew of Malta’ written by Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) were both written during a period when anti-semitism was prevalent in England. Anti Semitism is the intense dislike for and prejudice against Jewish people. The Jews were considered a despised race and were deeply resented by the Christians. They bore the plaque of disgrace and hostility. As a Jew, Shylock too faced such discrimination. Although the genre of both these plays is so different, characters that are strikingly similar dominate both plays. Shylock from ‘The Merchant of Venice’ and Barabas from ‘The Jew of Malta’ are both wealthy, money minded, materialistic Jews.

Biographical Summary Shakespeare is an incredible playwright and author, however it was difficult for him to become as successful as he is. Shakespeare was born to a family in the middle class. So, he did not attend university or get a mentor to teach him. He did not grow up with

The concept of justice varies depending on the country, their cultures, and on individual people. Justice and mercy are important themes in The Merchant of Venice and are supported by quotes in the play; it is clearly seen that these two virtues cannot be achieved simultaneously. Justice calls for “an eye for an eye” and mercy asks for forgiveness and compassion towards the one who did wrong. Using examples from The Merchant of Venice, it can clearly be seen that these two human virtues can not be pursued at the same time.

Villain, a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot. Just like the definition of villain states, they show traits just like macbeth. In Shakespeare 's “ The Tragedy of Macbeth”, the character Macbeth is displayed as the villain throughout the play. Macbeth shows the readers that his amiton gets in the way and makes him do things that are considered “evil” until the end of the play.

Women during 16th century had no individual freedom. Despite the fact that a single woman ruled England at the time of Shakespeare, the Elizabethan society was patriarchal. Women were considered the weaker gender and always in need of being protected. Wealthy woman were highly educated but they had no right to have professions while poor women sometimes would turn to prostitution or become servants to survive. The book The Merchant of Venice was settled in Venice because Shakespeare wanted to show that even in the foundation place of Renaissance were prejudicial ideas and woman was considered as a weak character. Did Shakespeare believe that women were weak or did he believed that they were equally

In Merchant of Venice, a romantic comedy written by Shakespeare, Shylock, a man of Jewish faith, is portrayed as the villain and obstacle of the tale. Many have argued that the play was written as an anti-Semitic piece of work because of the portrayal of Shylock. Anti-Semitism is the hatred, prejudice or discrimination of Jews in all aspects of their lives, and this treatment is clearly seen being thrown onto Shylock by one of the main protagonists, Antonio. One must ask the question now, if the role of Shylock is simply to be the villain. I say this because there is a reason as to why Shylock is a villain in the first place; the treatment of Shylock by our good hearted Christian, Antonio. The Jews are an oppressed people, so why would Shylock, a targeted Jew, not become a villain under the circumstances of which his life revolves? There are many situations that shows Shylock as the victim of this story, but his reaction to his oppression, is what drives the audience and modern day readers, to ultimately agree that Shylock is a villain.