Comparing Villains In The Crucible And The Merchant Of Venice

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Chris Colfer says “ a villain is a victim whose story hasn't been told yet.” When the word villain comes to mind people always assume the worst, that the character is cold, evil, and manipulative. An audience will not except that villains were not always evil, something or someone made them that way. Abigail Williams the antagonist of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Shylock the antagonist of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice both fall prey to this accusation. Abigail and Shylock are both debatable villains because they both suffered violent pasts and were victims of their societies.

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