way they act, and their villainous acts may be rooted in the
desire to destroy others, or in the hopes of elevating
themselves. Many people may only act "villainous" in
reaction to the way they have been treated in the past.
Shylock the Jew is the villain or antagonist in the play The
Merchant of Venice. Shylock mistreats Antonio the
Christian, his daughter, Jessica and Launcelot. The first
person Shylock mistreats, is Launcelot. He mistreats this
servant by complaining behind Launcelot's back of his
laziness. 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." 1 Shylock also acts villainous towards Launcelot by
acting belligerent towards him. "Who bids thee call? I do not
bid thee call." 2 Shylock mistreats this man because of his
poverty, and because Launcelot is socially beneath him. You
also start to wonder about how fair Shylock is, when
Launcelot is deciding whether or not to leave him. Shylock
also mistreats his own daughter, Jessica. He mistreats her by
keeping her as a captive in her own house, not letting her
out, and 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."
3 Jessica considers her home to be hell, and she calls
Launcelot, a "merry little devil". She even states that her
father is Satan. Shylock also mistreats his own daughter, by
not loving her enough, even to the point where he complains
about all of the money he's 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; n
...