Points Against And In Favour F :: essays research papers

The trial scene in the Merchant of Venice is the climax of the play as moneylender has buzz offn Antonio to court, as he has not paid back the money he borrowed. moneylender wants the pound of flesh that is the forfeit of the bond concerning the money Antonio borrowed from him. Shylock&8217s main motivation for wanting this forfeit is as his daughter has stolen his money and run away, he is taking out his contuse on Antonio and this blinds him as he does not watch what he is getting into during this sceneFrom the point where Shylock enters the courtroom everyone opposing him is appealing for mercy for Antonio and this is what the scene demonstrates, a charter for mercy. Portia says shortly after she has entered the scene &8216Then the Jew must be merciful&8217 she is not saying that this is what the law says he must be, but that he should do this because it is the only thing he can do cleanly. The mercy theme runs all the way through the scene and many opportunities were offered by the Duke, Bassanio and Portia for Shylock to take the moral course of action, but he constantly refuses saying he should get what he deserves not by moral justice but by the law.Shylock does have the right to the forfeit of his bond and it is Antonio&8217s fault that he is in this situation because he signed the bond of his own separated will. He knew the consequences if he couldn&8217t pay it back as Shylock made it clear from the start. This is shown by when at the start of the court scene when he says &8216Make no more offers use no farther means, but with all brief and plain conveniency let me have judgement, and the Jew his will&8217. When he didn&8217t pay Shylock the money he owed him, Shylock had a right to Antonio&8217s forfeit by law. The problem was he didn&8217t choose the moral path where he probably could have gotten a lot of money and become a very rich man, but chose the forfeit out of spite over his daughter.This theme is also repeated through the scene that Sh ylock deserves his justice by the letter of the law and the forfeit of his bond. This is shown when he says phrases like &8216My whole shebang upon my head I crave the law, the penalty and forfeit of my bond&8217.