The Merchant of Venice: The Relationship between Antonio and Bassanio Antonio, the protagonist of the story, is extremely good friends with Bassanio. I have come up on a hypothesis that Antonio is gay and Bassanio is a bisexual. Antonio seems to like Bassanio in a romantic way. Antonio is a male. Bassanio is a male. Bassanio likes Antonio in a romantic way and also loves Portia, a female. Also, there is another pair who I am suspicious about. They are Salanio and Salerio. The reason is that they are always together, just like siamese twins. When Salanio comes, Salerio comes. When Salerio goes, Salanio goes. Here is a famous quote by S