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Merchant Of Venice - Comparison Of Antonio And Shylock

      The secular and religious views of both, Antonio and Shylock,
were portrayed very bluntly. The religious opinions of both characters
were that their religion was superior to infidels and also very
stereotypical. In the business world, Antonio owned ships with
valuable goods and was extremely generous. He always relied on their
return to shore and expressed his faith in this book. On the other
hand, Shylock was a greedy man and used the Bible for sources of
interest to collect more money. Relating to religious views Antonio
and Shylock were very parallel, but in means of business the two were
reverses.

      "I[Shylock] hate [Antonio] for he is a Christian. . . [Antonio]
hates our sacred nation." This phrase said by Shylock, a Jew, is
based on the beliefs of other Jews upon other Christians. Shylock is
being very stereotypical because Shylock doesn't really know Antonio,
Shylock heard of Jew-hating Christians, so he thinks that all
Christians hate Jews. Antonio happens to be a great man and Shylock
didn't even give him a chance, he just hates Antonio for being of
different religion.

      "The Hebrew[Shylock] will turn Christian; he grows kind."
Antonio says this, thinking that no Jews are kind, emphasizing
naiveness. Then Antonio sees the Hebrew, Shylock, becomes amiable, so
he believes that's impossible. So Antonio interprets the scenario as
Shylock being Christianized, because he is becoming   generous. This
quotation shows how Antonio thinks that his religion, Christianity, is
superior to Judaism. The previous quotation illustrated how Shylock
was stereotypical about Christians. Both characters have similar
beliefs about other religions.

      "Why, fear not, man, I will not for felt it! Within these three
months- that's a month before this bond expires-I do expect, return
of thrice three times the value of this bond." This phrase was said by
Antonio assuring Shylock that his ship with all his...