Analysis of the Merchant of Venice William Shakespeare's play "The Merchant of Venice" is based on a fairly simple plot, but offers a more complex vision of the characters involved. It describes each character's attitude, opinions, and actions and shows how they affect other characters. ============================================== ================= ====================Shylock is perhaps the most noteworthy character. It is centered on most of the events of the play. Throughout the play he is portrayed as both a villain and a victim and is used to emphasize a number of the play's themes such as greed, revenge, prejudice and racism. The opera begins with Antonio, the merchant of the opera's title, being unable to repay a bond he had contracted on behalf of his friend Bassanio, with the Jewish moneylender Shylock. The bail stated that failure to repay the money lent would lead to the shylock claiming a pound of Antonio's flesh. The culmination of the play is the court's decision whether bail should be enforced. All the c...