Who is protagonist in the merchant of Venice?

Answer 1

Antonio is the Merchant of Venice in The Merchant Of Venice. Is he the hero? No. He is not really charming, and so far from being wealthy that he has to borrow money from Shylock to pay for Bassanio's wooing. The charming and wealthy hero of The Merchant of Venice is Portia, who saves Antonio's life by a legal swindle and ends up triumphantly married to Bassanio, who has been chastened and tamed (just like Katharine in The Taming of the Shrew) by her Dodge with his wedding ring.

Answer 2

Originally, Bassanio was conceived of as the hero, because he was the romantic lead. However, the character of Shylock is much more interesting and the heavy-duty actors started within a couple of centuries to want to play Shylock rather than Bassanio. Over time this has resulted in productions of the play focussing more on the Shylock subplot than the romantic main plot between Bassanio and Portia. Nowadays most people would consider Shylock to be a tragic hero and the most significant character in the play as a result.

Answer 3

The hero of The Merchant of Venice is in fact a heroine called Portia. She successfully gets to marry the handsome Bassanio, and when danger threatens his friend, Portia finds the legal loophole that saves his life, and disguises herself as a lawyer in order to successfully argue the point in court. Portia is the only heroic character in the play.

Answer 4

The plot structure of The Merchant of Venice is particularly resistant to the protagonist-antagonist type of analysis, which is useless for romantic comedies. By rights, Bassanio ought to be the main character in the play, and the main plot line is his wooing of Portia. However, the subplot completely takes over the play for a time and Shylock becomes a major character, although he is not a hero of any type, and it is a matter of debate to what extent we should sympathize with him. Some people might conclude that Portia is the play's protagonist since more of the play deals with her than otherwise, and this would be consistent with other Shakespearean comedies where the female lead is the main character (As You Like It, Twelfth Night, and All's Well that Ends Well particularly)

Answer 5

Is there one? Does a play have to have a hero? I would argue that it is not necessary for a play to have a character who is a hero, and that it is not really necessary for the play to have a protagonist or antagonist. Our first question, then, is whether there is a hero at all in the play. In one sense Bassanio is a central character as one of the plots deals directly with his wooing of Portia. A central character he may be but there is nothing particularly heroic about his successful guess in the casket game. Portia, now, takes steps to save Antonio from Shylock, which might be viewed as heroic, and it is clear from the last scene that it is she and not Bassanio who is control. But of course she would be a heroine, not a hero. There is Shylock as well, who is another central character in the play, and one with whom it is easy to have sympathy, but who is very inflexible, and this is a characteristic which, if Henri Bergson's definition of laughter is to be adopted, is the very characteristic which should set Shylock up as a butt for comic derision, in the same way as Malvolio is. There are, of course, Shakespearean heroes who have a darker side--Macbeth springs to mind--so this inflexibility and the outrage which it drives Shylock toward would not necessarily debar him as a hero. All of this makes one wonder whether identifying a hero is a helpful exercise toward understanding the play.

Answer 6

Many people call the hero of The Merchant of Venice play to be Portia. She was able to fight the court and help her husband's friend by learning the law. This is why she is known as the hero.

Answer 7

I thought it was Othello, although he is also known as the Moor of Venice. I would say Othello however I strongly advise you to check.

Answer 8

Portia.