Merchant of Venice, anyone?

So we finished reading Merchant of Venice in English today, and I"m still trying to decide whether Shylock is the villain or the victim. My teacher is continuously repeating herself trying to get us to decide and I think he's probably more the villain. Although it was mean for Antonio to make him change his religion, I mean how CAN you do that really? Does anyone know how much a ducat is worth compared to the dollar? We've been trying to figure that out. And I don't know his name, but the guy playing Antonio on the movie was awesome, I Just like him. Don't know why. Anyone who saw the movie, don't you think Nerissa is prettier than Portia? I do :) I'm still trying to figure out why in the world The Merchant of Venice is considered a comedy, apparently the majority of Gratiano's comments are hilarious but obviously over my head with the whole 'Shakespeare talk' thing. I guess I'm just too stupid for accelerated English. Talk to ya laterrr