Compare and contrast between the characters of antonio and shylock
Answers
Antonio and Shylock are the two characters in William Shakespeare's play “Merchant of Venice.” Antonio and Shylock are the very known person in the city of Venice. Both the characters are merchants who lend money to the one who needs it but in a different way altogether. Antonio lends money not for gaining huge profits rather help whereas Shylock is a cunning Jew who lends money and extracts a huge amount of interests from it. He can move to any extent to take his interest out from the people.
In the play, they both get apart from the thing to which they are most attached to. Antonio has to depart from his dearest friend Sassanian while Shylock's daughter Jessica elopes with all her father's money with her. For Antonio, its the relation of friendship which is of greatest value but Shylock cries over his money and for his daughter. Though he is disgusted over her elopement because she had eloped with a Christian boy.
Antonio's friendship and love for Sassanian are remarkable as he puts all his wealth and power so that Sassanian could gain his love. On the other hand, Shylock cries over his wealth and for his daughter. At the end of the play, Antonio gets all his ships and money back while Shylock losses all his remaining properties too.
The two most significant characters in "The Merchant of Venice" are Antonio and Shylock. Both stand in stark contrast to one another. Despite the fact that they both live in Venice and run the same company, they are very different from one another.
The following are some of the differences between Antonio and Shylock:
- Personality: Both characters have distinct personalities. For example, Antonio is a very kind and compassionate merchant, while Sherlock is a very cold-hearted, vicious moneylender in Venice.
- Approach to money: Both Antonio and shylock are wealthy Venetian businessmen, but Antonio lends money without charging interest and aids those in need. Shylock, on the other hand, takes advantage of those who are in need by lending money at a high-interest rate. He is miserly and avaricious. Money is everything to him.
- Approach to life: Their outlook on life is drastically different. Antonio is a gloomy guy who is overconfident, passive-reserved, and continually considers the bad aspects of life. He also doesn't understand what shylock really is. Shylock is the exact opposite of Antonio in that he is a very intelligent, cruel, and cunning individual. In the trial scene, he is callous and refuses to hear pleas from Mercy since all he wants is to fulfill his bond.
- Character development: Although Antonio is the play's protagonist, he is a passive character throughout, so there is no added development. Only he and shylock signed the bond. The play's most dynamic character and dominant personality, though, is shylock. The duplicity of Shylock permeates the entire narrative. He plays significant responsibilities in both the supply lot and the main narrative.
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