Top 10 Greatest Shakespeare Villains

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The Bard, William Shakespeare, created a lot of fascinating characters, and some of the most fascinating are the villains. They encompass the worst of human characteristics, but their motives are often very real and surprisingly easy to relate to: jealousy, heartbreak, bitterness…all of the ugly things that bring out the worst in all of us. Remember that in some cases not to judge too hastily, for “The quality of mercy is not strain’d, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven. Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.” In other cases, however, you’ll shudder to think that even a character of the imagination can be capable of such horrors. Read on, if you dare.
10. Shylock



The hate-filled moneylender from Merchant of Venice is the first on our list, but he we deem him the least evil of our evildoers. Shylock was wary of Christians. As a Jew in the town of Venice that was understandable. The town was rife with Anti-Semitism. He didn’t make himself any friends by claiming, “I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following; but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you.” Thanks, Dude. I love you too. Whether Shylock was Shakespeare’s outcry against Anti-Semitism or just a true example of the mindset of the times is unclear. What is clear is that Shylock, Jew or Gentile, wasn’t exactly a cuddly guy. He loaned money to Antonio and was very keen to collect his “pound of flesh”. The “pound of flesh” is what puts Shylock on our list. Unpleasant, and creepy.

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9. Don John



Contrary to what you might think, Don John didn’t make the list only because he was portrayed poorly by our friend Keanu (1993’s Much Ado About Nothing). Don John himself was crazy jealous of his half-brother Don Pedro. In fact, Don Pedro and his men are celebrating the victory of winning a war with…Don John! Don Pedro, even though he has been warring (WARRING!) with his half-brother, has invited his half-brother and his buddies to come party and revel. Um. Bad idea, dude. Because as Don John says himself, “I had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in his grace, in this, though I cannot be said to be a flattering honest man, it must not be denied but I am a plain-dealing villain. If I had my mouth, I would bite; if I had my liberty, I would do my liking: in the meantime let me be that I am and seek not to alter me.” Plain-dealing villain that he is, he ranks number 9 on our list for sowing dischord for poor old Claudio and Hero, making it so it was the END of the play before they got together. Bad Don John!

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8. Edmund



OK now we’re getting into the badder guys. When you dive into the tragedies, the bad guys are bad and the endings are sad. Edmund not only made up lies about his half-brother (getting him exiled and making him pretend he’s crazy), he was completely uncaring when his dad got his eyes gouged out, and he was fooling around with Goneril and Regan at the same time. And they were married! And sisters! Granted Goneril and Regan themselves were pretty bad gals, but Edmund ranks number 8 for his lack of family concern and his betrayal of his half-brother. The only reason Edmund ranks higher than Don John is that nobody died because of Don John’s antics (at least not his antics after the war).

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7. Richard II



Richard II. First, he ordered Mowbray to **** his uncle. Then he persecuted Mowbray for ****ing his uncle. Mowbray gets banished forever, and Bolingbroke (from whom Richard was trying to hide the information that he’d had Mowbray **** his uncle) gets banished for 6 years. Harsh. He was a crazy king with a tendency to compare himself (favorably) with Jesus. He taxed the commoners and fined the nobles for the crimes of their ancestors.

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6. Lady MacBeth



Let’s hear it for the girl? She decides her husband isn’t ambitious enough, so she hatches a wacky scheme for him to **** the heir apparent to secure the throne for the MacBeths. Mr. MacBeth has second thoughts, so she taunts him and questions his manhood so he goes and stabs Duncan to death. He freaks out completely and returns to her, leaving his whole mess behind him. Sighing with a “when you want a job done right you have to do it yourself” kind of attitude she visits the scene of the crime and plants bloody daggers on Duncan’s servants. They should be good to go, right? Wrong. Old MacBeth goes on a ****** spree, ****ing the guards that Lady MacBeth framed for Duncan’s ******, Banquo, everyone in Macduff’s castle (including his children) and probably the family dog. Might make you wonder why we didn’t pick MacBeth for a worst villain. Maybe it’s because behind every great man there is a woman pulling his strings? Or because if she hadn’t planned the first ****** he wouldn’t have committed the others? At least she showed some contrition…”out damn spot”.