Antonio is a moody, serious, and sad man, yet very helpful, especially to his best friend, Bassanio. Throughout Merchant of Venice, he is seen as the very sad man who is troubled, as seen in the first scene, "In sooth, I know not why I am so sad" and also how he is the one that is always in trouble, how his ships sink and how he has to pay the bond to Shylock. The first scene, where he is troubled, also shows how much Bassanio means to him, and how their friendship is very close.
The fact that Antonio agrees to help Bassanio with the bond, also shows his devotion and unselfishness, a very generous man who would help those who could not pay Shylock's heavy interest. Furthermore, he is also prejudiced. This is shown when the normally composed Antonio loses patience with Shylock, and expresses his racism. Shylock also shows that Antonio is not actually the kind man we thought at the start, but actually a racist bully.
Antonio is one of the characters that i enjoyed more. Not only is he the merchant of Venice, hence the play's name, but i also like his calm attitude towards everything. When the trial is happening and Shylock wants to kill him, he does not defend himself, while letting his friends try to defend him. Some might feel that he does not fight for his rights, but I feel that he is actually one that believes that justice is right, and it is important. This is a trait of him I quite admire.
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