Antonio (The Merchant of Venice) Antonio (The Merchant of Venice) Antonio is the title character in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice". An influential, powerful and wealthy nobleman of Venice, he is a middle-aged man and a merchant by trade who has his financial interests tied up in overseas shipments when the play begins. He is kind, generous, honest and confident, and is loved and revered by all the Christians who know him. His willingness to die for Bassanio is a manifestation of his character. Antonio manifests anti-semitism by cursing and spitting at Shylock (anti-semitism was common in Europe in Shakespeare's days). He is a structural
K. S. Bhagawan worked as a writer and translator. In 1982, his work "Shankaracharya and Reactionary Philosophy" (original title: "ಶಂಕರಾಚಾರ್ಯ ಮತ್ತು ಪ್ರತಿಗಾಮಿತನ"), a collection of essays, on how Adi Shankara, an 8th-century Hindu theologian, advocated the caste system strongly, destroyed Buddhist viharas and was against education for women, shudras and dalits, was published. It was met with criticism from right-wing Hindu groups who issued threats to his life. His other books in Kannada include "Badalaavane", "Antarya" and "Kuvempu Yuga". As a translator, he translated popular works of William Shakespeare to Kannada. It includes "Merchant of Venice" as "Venisina Vartaka", and others such as