Conclusion

Abstract

In the life-or-death courtroom struggle between the Venetian merchant Antonio and the moneylender Shylock, the concept of mercy is introduced by Portia, a woman disguised as a man. Her direct plea for Antonio’s life fails, however, when Shylock insists on the pound of the merchant’s flesh that is due him as payment on a debt. Portia must then resort to arguments that are even more legalistic than Shylock’s. If he refuses to be merciful, she reasons, he must at least be exact, taking neither more nor less than one pound of flesh and spilling no blood in the process. Shylock has no choice but to abandon his quest for blood justice.

The quality of mercy is not strained, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.... It is an attribute to God himself, And earthly power doth then show likest God’s When mercy seasons justice.

Portia, in The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare

Like the moment when the ambiguous figure shifts from a vase to two faces, the recognition that there is another way to look at a problem may expand moral understanding.

Carol Gilligan and Jane Attanucci, “Two Moral Orientations: Gender Differences and Similarities”