Antonio
He cannot be termed a tragic hero, for he has no greatness that a hero should have and that he does not have to take up any responsibility of a hero that Shakespearean heroes often do, as shown by Bradley, who states that they must have some greatness and then should have an error or omission that leads to a chain of causes to their ultimate death or fall (20-21).
Even if it is stated that Antonio turns to revenge as it “dramatizes the predicament of a wronged hero,” _______________David L. Simpson.
He does not fall on the criterion of a revenge tragedy. This makes him a common character despite displaying unusual generosity. On the other hand, if compared with Shylock, then Shylock seems a villain. Although Shylock exacts revenge and tries to hurt Antonio, he, in the end, pays in the shape of a heavy fine and his conversion to Christianity.
Only this conversion makes him a somewhat tragic figure who is going to suffer which he has not deserved. There is somewhat fear and pity but there is no greatness and no omission or error which leads to his downfall. Therefore, none of them is a tragic character to transform The Merchant of Venice into a complete tragedy. In the same vein, it is not a complete comedy either.
A comedy is an action whose purpose is to make audience laugh for common errors in life. Therefore, it could be love, romance and slips of tongues and even other acts which make audiences and readers feel happy. “A comedy is a story of the rise in fortune of a sympathetic central character” (Simpson).
Does it mean that Antonio is a comic hero that makes The Merchant of Venice a comedy or a complete comedy? Not at all. The interesting point here is that he does not display any personal charm that David Simple has attributed the hallmark of a comic hero (Simpson).
Perhaps, that is the very reason that Morris Carnovsky has questioned the very status of The Merchant of Venice as a comedy, quoting several legendary names as George Barnard Shaw to have termed it an “unpleasant play” (39). He gives a long list of its typical features to arrive at this Shaw’s conclusion including lyrical scenes, wastrels, business going on as usual and revenge (39). He goes on to point out that only one utterance of Antonio, “Lord, What fools mortals be!” on the basis of which it could be termed a comedy (43). However, some of the various serious situations such as of Antonio’s punishment of his flesh to be given for fine and the condition of conversion of Shylock to Christianity seem to take this title off this play.
Therefore, it cannot be simply stated as a comedy. It is rather stated as a dark comedy as J. A. Bryant has called such plays as “problem plays” or dark comedies (81). It is because they are far away from being called comedies or tragedies or romantic comedies.
The Merchant of Venice does not have any specific and exclusive features of a Shakespearean tragedy. Therefore, it would not be right to term it a tragedy despite the sorrowful events and revenge episodes. Shylock does not deserve to have caused any tragic emotion, nor is Antonio such a figure. Even in terms of pure comedy, The Merchant of Venice falls short of this title due to certain episodes of conversion of the Jew, and second of the revenge of that same Jew. Conversion also carries some anti-Semitic traces which does not make it a comedy. Therefore, it is true according to Bryant that the Merchant of Venice be termed a problem play or a dark comedy rather than a pure tragedy or a pure comedy.