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Criticism of The Merchant of Venice has focused primarily on the aesthetic and thematic structure of the play and on the treatment of Shylock, whose psychological complexity tends to subvert his role as comic villain. There has been remarkably little discussion of Antonio, despite the fact that he is the title character and that we cannot comprehend the structure of the play without understanding his function. Antonio has been felt by many to be an “inconsistent and unrealized” character (Hinely, 1980, p. 217). According to J. Middleton Murray (1965), “he is a shadow beside Shylock and Portia, and unsubstantial even in comparison with his Venetian entourage” (p. 34). I find Antonio to be one of the most fully developed characters in Shakespearean comedy, far more complex than Shylock. His relationships with Bassanio and Shylock are portrayed in rich mimetic detail and are at the center of the play.
In addition to being perhaps the major protagonist in the action, Antonio also serves as an exemplar of the values celebrated by the play. “A kinder gentleman,” says Salerio, “treads not the earth” (2.8.35). Antonio is presented as being loyal, generous, unselfish, merciful, the noblest man “that draws breath in Italy” (3.2.294). A psychological analysis of his relationship with Bassanio shows that much of his “noble” behavior is compulsively self-sacrificial, and there is a contradictory side of Antonio that emerges in his treatment of Shylock. His defenses and inner conflicts are reflected in the play as a whole, and his personality seems similar in many ways to Shakespeare's (Paris, 1989).
Before we analyze Antonio's character and relationships, let us look briefly at his role in the plot. In order to correct the overemphasis upon Shylock, Harold C. Goddard (1951) reminds us that The Merchant of Venice is “an interweaving of three strands commonly known as the casket story, the bond story, and the ring story” (p. 82). Like most comedies, the play deals with the desire of