- "If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you insult us are we not angry? If you wrong us do we not seek revenge?" - Shylock
Shylock is the main antagonist in The Merchant of Venice. He is a wealthy Jewish money lender who is ostracized by his Christian neighbors due to the fact that he is Jewish. Thus he is particularly cruel to gentile borrowers. When Antonio (the protagonist of the story) comes to Shylock to ask for money, Shylock agrees. But he tells Antonio that if he doesn't pay back the money, he gets a pound of Antonio's flesh. He gives Antonio three months to pay the money back. Shylock has a daughter named Jessica who is in love with Bassanio a friend of Antonio's. One night, Shylock goes out for dinner and leaves Jessica at home. She runs away with Lorenzo while her father is out. When Shylock returns and finds his daughter missing he is furious and goes looking for Antonio. When he can't find him he decides to wait. Knowing that if Antonio doesn't pay back the money he owes then he can take a pound of his flesh.
The three months pass and Antonio does not pay his debt. Thus Shylock takes Antonio to court before the Duke of Venice. But he is foiled by 2 "lawyers" (Portia and her servant). Shylock is forced to forgive Antonio's debt, convert to Christianity and approve of Jessica's marriage to Lorenzo