Shylock the antagonist

Shylock is ment to be the antagonist in Merchant Of Venice because he fits the characteristics of what Shakespeare would portray as an antagonist. Shylock sais that he wants a "pound of flesh" if Antonio can't give back his loan, and this clearly comes from a character who is in the protagonists way. This pound of flesh is indirectly stating that if Antonio doesn't give back on his loan Shylock wants him dead as revenge for how Antonio had previously humiliated Shylock. There is also the case of Shylocks Jewish heritage because at Shakespeare's time Jews were portrayed as sort of evil people who wanted interest on loans which was not the Christian way. Painting a Jew as the antagonist is something one could expect from a writer of a highly anti semitic period in time.