The Merchant of Venice Rough Draft

        People will often do whatever it takes to get their hands on money. It can be dangerous, risky, or even illegal, and people will still do it. A person needs money to live the lifestyle that meets their expectations, and to manage life's necessities. In the play, "The Merchant of Venice"by Shakespeare, two of the characters Antonio and Shylock, who hate each other, make a deal involving a lot of money. If their bond failed, the Shylock could cut out a piece of Antonio's flesh. When Antonio fails to pay Shylock back, both characters learn important lessons about money and greed. This play portrays that money is the root of all problems and often directs a person towards the pathway of evil.
        People that have problems with money lack compassion for others and show no emotions towards others. "I'll have my bond! Don't speak against my bond! I've sworn an oath that I will have my bond!" Shylock decided that he would rather have a piece of Antonio's flesh than to have three times more money than the original bond. He doesn't care that Antonio could possibly die, and only cares about himself. "You might as well stand on the seashore and bid the tide not to reach its usual height, or as the wolf why he has made the ewe cry for its lamb. Anything equally hard you might as well attempt to do, as try to soften the hardest thing of all - his Jewish heart." Antonio believes that Shylock is a cold hearted person and the hardest thing that you can possibly think of is probably easier than trying to soften his heart. Shylock has no mercy at all for Antonio, because he wanted to see Antonio suffer. However, if Antonio and Shylock had not made such an outrageous deal in the first place, they wouldn't be having this problem. Money was the start of this problem, and lead Shylock to become an even crueler person than he was before.
       When people have lots of money, they start fulfilling their wants intead of their needs. "Give me my money back and let me go." Once Shylock learns that he can't shed any blood when he cuts of a piece of Antonio's flesh, he decides to take the money instead. However, the judge says that its too late because he already denied the money. Since Shylock already has money, he wanted to watch Antonio suffer, because he didn't necessarily need the money.  "Well,then, may the devil give him joy of it! I'll tolerate no more of this." In the end, Shylock ended up with no money, no piece of Antonio's flesh, a signed will that gave all of his possessions to his daughter (who hated and stole from him), and had to convert to Christianity. This shows that money and greed causes people to make evil choices and does no good. People with lots of money are never content with the offers they have, which leads to problems in the long run.
        The majority of this play revolves around a singular object; money. Money was the main cause of the character's problems, and made them make improper choices and decisions. In the end, Shylock was the most unhappy man because he had to give up things that truly mattered to him. Antonio was the one who broke the bond, yet Shylock was the one who had to pay for it because of his greediness. There is nothing wrong with money itself, but once it starts controlling a person and their decisions is when the real problems begin to happen. Ones desire for money causes them to become selfish and ruthless and does more harm than it does good.