In this world of deceptive appearances, motives, and beliefs, the ability to be able to understand the complexity of human beings is simply a not-so-common skill. When William Shakespeare wrote, The Merchant of Venice, he included characters which are neither good nor evil; instead, in order to make the play more realistic and create metaphors for real life situations, Shakespeare created the characters with both positive and negative aspects, as the same applies in real …showed first 75 words of 1139 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1139 total…created some of the most complex characters the English drama has ever encountered with. Antonio, Portia, and Antonio are eminent examples of Shakespeare's wisdom of selection of values and qualities for each character. Although, in Shakespeare's plays, some characters are antagonists, and others are protagonists, Shakespeare is always able to add elements to their personalities in order to create certain even-handedness among these characters. As a result, Shakespeare's plays and characters have remained timeless classics.