LitCharts (2024)

Shylock speaks in prose rather than verse, signaling avisceral outcry of emotion. He also insistently asks questions, ultimately leaving the reader responsible for answers regarding morality. Though he begins his desperate series of questions by declaring “I am a Jew,” he quickly blurs the lines between religions, insisting on a moral code that recognizes all humans as fundamentally the same. He focuses on sensory experiences—both comforting and excruciating—in order to appeal to the common experience of all people and, moreover, to the Christian principle in the Gospel of Matthew (7:12) that “in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.”Nevertheless, Salario and Salanio—Antonio’s representatives—are not moved by this speech, leaving them at odds with the audience andcementingthe play's Christians as hard-hearted at best and, at worst, incapable of compassion.

By the end of his speech—with no sign of understanding between himself and the Christians—Shylock pivots in his approach, warning themin a statement rather than a questionthat Jews will respond in kind if treated cruelly:

The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.

He lays the reason for his own rage at the feet of the men who have taught him how to hate. In doing so, he suggeststhat a willingness to see oneselfin others will change the course of events;without the ability to recognize and respond sympathetically to pathos, a cycle of animositywill inevitably continue.

Portia uses strikingly lyrical language to demonstrate that mercy is not only regal, but holy—it elevates the practitioner to the highest status they could hope to achieve. She envisions an ideal world governed byaltruism rather than self-absorption, and she implicates herself, Shylock, and the audience by moving from the third person to first person plural. Portia makes a strongercase for mercy than the Duke does, but Shylock remains unconvinced by theChristianideals that Portia promotes. While her sentiment may resonate with the rest of the court, it does not affect the one person it's meant to sway, and Shylockdemands that the law be executed so that he can get his revenge.

Ironically, despite her exhaustive efforts to commend and advocate for mercy, Portia herself exhibits none when she convicts Shylock later in the scene. Rather than ruling against Shylock from the outset, shemanipulates him, making him believe that he can collect his bond, only to reverse course later. Shylock, therefore, is not the only one to disregard Portia's words: Portia herself doesn't seem to heed them, either.