Why is Shylock regarded as the protagonist in Merchant Of Venice? Give a detailed answer(400 words).
Answers
If we consider the definition of protagonist we can see that a protagonist is someone who is if not the only then one of the central characters of the story.
There are certain important decisions that the protagonist takes and these actions cause the story to move forward.
Considering this definition, we can safely state that Shylock is a strong contender for the role of protagonist in the play, “Merchant of Venice”.
As we understood from the above definition, he is the causal factor propelling the other characters to act in certain ways for instance; the story develops around the question of what will be the outcome of the debt that Antonio owes to him, he is the driving force behind Bassanio and Portia’s courting, the wedding interruption and Portia’s subsequent charade as a male lawyer is brought about all because of shylock.
Thus all in all Shylock causes things to happen in the story and without his actions there would be no story.