Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night

This paper examines the characters of Shylock & Malvolio Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night.

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Shylock in the Merchant of Venice and Malvolio in Twelfth Night perform the dual role of villain and comic butt. A role is the impersonation of an imaginary character in a story of drama. In drama, the audience must deduce the attributes of these imaginary characters solely by their words and actions. Therefore, when an actor assumes a role, he has the responsibility of making a fictional character credible and vibrantly alive for the audience. Shylock and Malvolio are reprehensible, ridiculous and absurd in their obstinate refusal to harmonize with their social environment. For their failure to conform to the dictates of the world they inhabit, Shylock and Malvolio are punished. However, our alienation from these two characters is modified by the severe treatment they receive from the people around them. Consequently, the roles of Shylock and …