Mercy and Justice in the Merchant of Venice Essay

‘The Merchant of Venice’ By William Shakespeare starts off with Shylock and Antonio making a bond, saying that if Shylock doesn't get his money in 3 months he will get a pound of flesh closest to Antonio heart. The court scene where Shylock is trying to justify his bond, shows how each character contribute in displaying the themes of mercy and justice. Throughout the play, Shylock has been wanting justice for himself since the beginning, it started when he made the bond. At the court scene he doesn’t show mercy to Antonio because he believes that he is finally getting what he deserves after what Antonio has done to him. A quote from shylock trying to get justice is ‘You have among you many a purchased slave … because you have bought them… the pound of flesh which I demand of him Is dearly bought … fie upon…

the role of justice and mercy in The Merchant of Venice. One of the largest interpretations of the role of justice and mercy is that Portia represents mercy seen in Christianity while Shylock demonstrates the emphasis on justice seen in Judaism. Rather than emphasizing one religion over another, Shakespeare utilizes Portia and Shylock to demonstrate how both concepts of justice and mercy can be utilized for self-seeking purposes in The Merchant of Venice. The interactions between Portia and…

be a villain? Is Shylock a villain or victim In the play Merchant Of Venice written by William Shakespeare two moneylenders Antonio and Shylock both have a feud with each other over money. Antonio a borrows money from shylock the jewish moneylender for his best friend Bassanio. Shylock and Antonio made an agreement that if the money was not paid back on time plus interest Shylock could take a pound of flesh from Antonio. Towards the end of the play the money was not paid back in the three…

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare has caused a wave of debates for centuries after the play’s debut in 1605, and this wave increases to this day. One of the most debated topics of the Merchant of Venice between readers is the argument whether Shylock, a Jewish usurer, is a victim or a villain in the play. Labeled as the “devil” (1.3.107) and an “inhuman wretch” (4.1.4) by many Christians, Shylock’s wickedness identifies him as the major foe in the play. As the root of most trouble,…

genre. This play dates to somewhere between 1595 and 1600 (N.p., 2016), when William Shakespeare was producing some 12 plays including this play. “The Merchant of Venice” would be more properly referred to as a problem play, which means it raises far more questions than it answers. Having a total of three main plot lines; the Shylock-Antonio bond, the Portia-Bassanio romance, and the ring trick, this complicated play show us the relationships between mercy and justice, love and honesty.…

This quote is shylock talking to tubal about Jessica leaving “I would my daughter were dead at my foot, and/ the jewels in her ears: would she were hearsed at my foot, /and the ducats in her coffin!.(III.i.79-81). Shylock is mad that his daughter left him with his money and would want her to be dead in front of him to get his money and have all her ducats from her coffin. This shows that Shylock is a villain since he would go to the extent to wanting her dead for his…

Throughout the play, “The Merchant of Venice,” Shakespeare utilizes the theme of duplicity, and the misperception of people. “The Merchant of Venice” is a play about a Merchant, named Antonio who has a friend named Bassanio. He needs to borrow money to marry a wealthy beautiful maiden named Portia. To get this money Antonio has to get a loan from a jew named Shylock. Throughout the play, characters that used duplicity, affected the outcome of the plot by changing it in a way to work in their…

Shakespeare saw and realized this in each of the plays he wrote. In The Merchant of Venice he showed that you can’t trample all over social hierarchies because many of them have been held steadfast for years and cannot easily be brought down by the action of one individual. This is why we ended up seeing Shylock wrecked man, who had everything taken from him for his attempt to one-up the social system. As well in Richard II we see that in the end the one who tried to steal the throne from the…

“I like not fair terms and a villains mind”-William Shakespeare. In the play Merchant by William Shakespeare, Bassanio, a young Venetian merchant, seeks to borrow three thousand ducats to win over Portia, a wealthy woman. Bassanio turns to Antonio, whom is a longtime friend as well as a wealthy merchant. Although Antonio does not have the money on deck for Bassanio to borrow because Antonio’s ships are already at sea, Antonio allows Bassanio to borrow money as credit under Antonio’s name. As…

devil and he very well may be when his demands one pund of Antonio’s flesh as the interest for not paying back three thousand ducants in time, simply because he “hates him for he is a Christian” and because Antonio “lends out money gratis, and brings down/ The rate of usance here with us in Venice” (1.3.38-40). Basically, Antonio is bad business for merchants like Shylock and a pound of his flesh would “feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him” (1.3.43). This solidifies Shylocks greedy nature, or…