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Venice, A court of justice
SHYLOCK: I have possess'd your Grace of what I purpose,
And by our holy Sabbath have I sworn
To have the due and forfeit of my bond.
If you deny it, let the danger light
Upon your charter and your city's freedom.
You'll ask me why I rather choose to have
A weight of carrion flesh than to receive
Three thousand ducats. I'll not answer that,
But say it is my humour: is it answer'd?
What if my house be troubled with a rat,
And I be pleas'd to give ten thousand ducats
To have it ban'd? What, are you answer'd yet?
Some men there are love not a gaping pig;
Some that are mad if they behold a cat;
And others, when the bagpipe sings i' the nose,
Cannot contain their urine; for affection,
Mistress of passion, sways it to the mood
Of what it likes or loathes. Now, for your answer:
As there is no firm reason to be render'd,
Why he cannot abide a gaping pig;
Why he, a harmless necessary cat;
Why he, a wauling bagpipe; but of force
Must yield to such inevitable shame
As to offend, himself being offended;
So can I give no reason, nor I will not,
More than a lodg'd hate and a certain loathing
I bear Antonio, that I follow thus
A losing suit against him. Are you answered? (Act IV, Scene i)
It appears that the main difference between the Christian
characters and Shylock is that the former ones value human relationships
over business ones, whereas Shylock is only interested in money. The
Christian characters certainly view the matter this way.
The conflict between Shylock and the Christian characters
comes to the issue of mercy. The other characters acknowledge that the law
is on Shylock’s side, but they all expect him to show mercy, which he
refuses to do. During the trial, Shylock asks Portia what could possibly
compel him to be merciful, Portia’s long reply, beginning with the words,
“The quality of mercy is not strained,” clarifies what is at stake in the
argument (Act IV, Scene I, L179).
Today if we read The Merchant of Venice, we may find
that there is the theme anti-Semitism in this play. It draws a picture of
cruel and money-oriented Jew, but it also suggests that William
Shakespeare’s intentions have nothing to do with anti-Semitism. The dominant
complex in the play is much more universal than specific religious or racial
hatred. It shows the Christian qualities of mercy and compassion. However,
Shylock’s indignation might seem also to be justified:
I am a Jew. Hath not a
Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections,
passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the
same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same
winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us do we not bleed? If you
tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong
us shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble
you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a
Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example?
Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard
but I will better the instruction. (Act III, Scene I, L49-61)
There are two useful aspects for readers. First, the setting
of the play moves between the two different domains: Venice is a commercial
center, but the spiritual well-being are more important than the material
richness. Second, the structure of the play is not common that the problems
are completely resolved in the first scene of Act IV, the remainder of Act
IV and the single-scene Act V serving to qualify and embellish the meaning
of what has already occurred.
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