The Concepts of Mercy and Law in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice”

The first scene of the fourth act of the play “The Merchant of Venice” presents us with the climax. The scene takes place in a Venetian court, including all the main characters and a few minor ones. The character of the Duke is introduced to us in this scene and is the main representation of law in this section of the play. While resolving most of the conflicts in the play, the scene also involves deeper analysis of some main themes. With the lines, “Thou art come to answer, A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch, Uncapable of pity, void and empty, From any dram of mercy.” (Lines 2-4) the Duke introduces the theme of mercy into the scene. From this point on, the scene tries to reconcile the ideas of morality, namely mercy, and the strict rules of the law. The characters themselves try to construct a punishment that is suitable for Antonio, however it seems that some characters tend to show different sides to their personalities throughout the scene. With the help of specific examples and focuses on some of the characters’ actions, we will look at how Shakespeare tries to blend the ideas of mercy and law into the scene and in doing so, how he critiques the society of the day.

            Before going into the analysis of the scene, it is useful to think of the ideas of mercy and law. The two, while seemingly related, have completely different contexts and should be assessed differently. Mercy falls into the category of moral values and can be subjective depending on the topic under discussion. This is one of the reasons why most characters reflect different opinions on the idea of mercy. While during the discussion of whether Shylock should forgive Antonio, Portia says, “’Tis mightiest in the mightiest.” (Lines 183-184) referring to the concept of mercy. Portia then continues, “But mercy is above this scepters sway. It is enthroned in the hearts of kings; It is an attribute to God himself…”(Lines 189-190). She tells Shylock that he should be able to consider forgiving Antonio and that instead of looking for justice, “the Jew” he should do be able to attain the honor of being merciful. On the other side, Shylock looks at the concept of mercy from a completely different perspective than the other characters. As mentioned before, mercy can be subjective. In this case, Shylock opposing the other characters, also opposes their views on mercy when he says, “I crave the law, The penalty and forfeit of my bond.” (Lines 201-202). Shylock clearly wishes the full force of law to act upon Antonio. This reveals the main conflict between the ideas of law and mercy. The two ideas being on two different ends of the spectrum show how they are two unrelated concepts. Law depends on strict rules whereas mercy depends on moral values. Relatively speaking, moral values are more flexible: they can change from one situation to another. Most laws are objective, meaning that they are unchanging. This is why the mercy cannot exist in law, leading to the main conflict between the two concepts in this scene.

            Shylock in this particular scene is characterized by his cruelty resulting from his wish to have Antonio pay for debts. In other scenes, Shylock may seem like the person that is the most logical and even sympathetic yet in this one, he appears to be vengeful and blinded by his anger. This results in his irate insistence on having a pound of Antonio’s flesh. Portia is the more logical one in the play. She is able to overcome the strict rules of the law in order to save Antonio from his terrible fate. Due to these characteristics, all characters have different ways of talking to one another. All of the characters in the scene are of higher social status so all of them talk in meter and prose can only be found in lines 149 to 161 where the Duke reads the letter from Bellario. Although the meter does not alter throughout the scene, the characters do use different words and different sentences in order to convey their ideas. While Shylock uses long lines to describe his ideas at the beginning of the scene, by the time he has failed to get back at Antonio by cutting a piece of his flesh, he starts talking in very short sentences such as, “I am content.” (Line 389). The others mock the Jewish merchant by using his expression “Daniel” in different contexts. Such wordplay can also be seen when the characters refer Shylock sharpening his knife in lines 122-125. By the end of the scene, Shylock feels the full force of the law act on him and admits defeat; an ironic ending since he was the once asking for the law to apply on Antonio.

            As Shylock whets his blade on his shoe in order to get ready to cut a pound of flesh from Antonio’s chest, Bassanio ask him “Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly?” (Line 120), to which Shylock replies, “To cut the forfeiture from that bankrupt there.” (Line 121). “Not on thy sole but on thy soul, harsh Jew, Thou mak’st thy knife keen.” (Line 122-123) asserts Graziano angered by the fact that the Jew seems so keen on punishing Antonio in such a way. This not only directly insults Shylock but it brings the audience to the awareness of moral values involved in Shylock decision-making. Graziano’s comments indicate that Shylock instinctively likes to make people suffer. This is also a direct comment on Shylock’s sense of mercy, which later on becomes more explicit in the exchanges between the characters. It is obvious that Shylock is driven by his feelings, which does account for the fact that he wants Antonio to be punished and not forgiven. The concept of mercy is used in order to persuade Shylock to go back on his ideas, Graziano, with his quote, tells the others that Shylock cannot be persuaded in such ways because he has no sense of moral values. Which, in the context of the whole play, we know is not entirely true.

            As Portia tries to talk some sense into Shylock, she asks him to have some sense of mercy and forgive Antonio. She talks about the honor of being merciful and how it is valuable to be able to feel mercy and to forgive others for their wrongdoings. Portia gives a long speech about how mercy is the biggest honor of them all and ends with the lines, “ We do pray for mercy, And that same prayer doth teach us all to render, The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much, To mitigate the justice of thy plea, Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice, Must needs give sentence ‘gainst the merchant there.” (Lines 195-200). These lines are explicit examples of the characters try to use the idea of mercy in order to make Shylock forfeit his bond and to let Antonio go. The lines explicitly show the relation between law and mercy in this trial. It is either that Shylock will let the merchant leave or the law will have to find him guilty and let Shylock a pound of Antonio’s flesh. The problem in the scene is that the whole process is left for the judgment of a single character that has excessive bias. Shylock, at this point, is incapable of feeling such mercy and therefore characters will have to result to the law in order to solve this problem. This quote shows how characters see the concepts of law and mercy as related to one another.

            As mentioned before, the main difference the concept of mercy and the concept of law is the fact one can be bent and the other cannot. The law is objective, it tends treat people equally and not account for their situation for most of the time. Although it might seem this way, Shakespeare is able to create a situation in which the characters are able to “bend” the law in order to fulfill their personal goals in the trial. Coming in right after Portia’s speech about the value of mercy in a human being, Bassanio demands that the Duke bend the laws in Antonio’s favor in speaking the lines, “And, I beseech you, Wrest once the law to your authority. To do a great right, do a little wrong, And curb this cruel devil of his will.” (Lines 209-211). Bassanio touches on a few key points in these lines. He goes into a deeper analysis of moral values by saying that he should “do a little wrong,” in order “to do a great right.” Not only does Antonio ask the Duke to bend the laws explicitly but in doing so he also asks the Duke to bend his moral values in order to extricate a friend. Shakespeare’s usage of these two concepts in the same sentence show that the two are now becoming inseparable from each other in the context of the scene. Whereas the law and moral values should be completely different concepts in the human mind, they are now held together in this particular scene.

            This idea later on comes back into the play this time in a more explicit way. After Portia uses the law in order to let Shylock leave Antonio, she talks about how the Jew will now be punished since he has planned to kill Antonio. Portia then states, “And [Shylock’s] life lies in the mercy of the Duke only, ‘gainst all other voice-“ (Lines 350-351).  This is a perfect example of how the concept of mercy has deviated from its meaning at the beginning of the scene. Whereas in the beginning characters had been able to successfully separate the law and moral values, the two has now seemingly become the same concept. The notion of mercy is only in the hands of the one person that symbolizes the strict law that is about to act on Shylock. Not only have they become one by being symbolized by the same person but they have also moved from one character to another. While in the beginning Shylock had the ability to show mercy and to save Antonio from being punished as can be seen Portia’s lines , “Then must the Jew be merciful,” it is now that Shylock has lost his privilege to be merciful. These lines show how the roles have changed as well as the concepts.

            As the scene moves on, the characters seem to have trouble distinguishing between the two concepts as they become one. As Portia starts bending the law and using it to acquit Antonio, Shylock starts asking questions about the law. “Is that the law?” (Line 309) he asks at first, then he is utterly confused about the outcomes of the laws that Portia expresses and asks, “Shall I not have barely my principal?” As the concepts are merged together, the lines become blurry and both are harder to grasp than the beginning of the scene. The law that was on Shylock’s for the whole scene has now changed its side and is now acting against him in his cause. These obscure lines that constrict law and moral values have now seemingly disappeared.

            Shakespeare explores a gamut of different themes in his play “The Merchant of Venice.” One of the most interesting discussions come in the first scene of the fourth of this play. During the trial scene where the characters discuss who should be punished for the events that took place during previous acts, the concepts of mercy and law blend into each other. As characters use both concepts in order to prove their views, it seems as if the constraints that limit these concepts to certain lines disappear and the characters have a harder time distinguishing between the two concepts. Shakespeare reaches his point that the two should be held separately by presenting the audience with the confusion that results when they are assessed together. In this sense Shakespeare points out that the concept of mercy should not belong in a Venetian court, and that the involvement of such values, along with an obvious bias for one’s friends, allows for the misguidance of the law. The change of the situation in the whole scene goes to show to what extents the two unavoidably affect each other.