Back in post #53, Hawkman wrote: "For me the most memorable characters in the play have always been Shylock, Portia and Antonio- and in that order."...
If memory serves, the late William F. Buckley Jr. often said that reasonable people may disagree. I picked up William L. Shirer's book THE NIGHTMARE...
One might return to Hawkman's comment "Yes, Shakespeare gives the audience what they want, but at the same time he questions their preconceptions." ...