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
Title role title character is the primary antagonist. The title role and the lead can be different genders; for example, in the 2003 revival of August Wilson's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom", Whoopi Goldberg had the title role, but the lead was Charles S. Dutton. The title character in narrative works is one who is named or referred to in the title, such as The Doctor in the TV series "Doctor Who", Harry Potter in the namesake series of novels and films, "Romeo and Juliet" in the Shakespeare play or Annie Oakley in the musical "Annie Get Your Gun". The "title character" need