Justice and Mercy

Justice and Mercy

There is justice, but no true justice. In the trial scene in Merchant of Venice, Shylock kept wanting the pound of flesh from Antonio as Antonio failed to comply with the bond and thus, Shylock wanted true justice to be given to him, that he be allowed to cut the pound of flesh from Antonio. I believe that the justice was achieved when Portia allowed Shylock to cut a piece of flesh from Antonio, but true justice was not achieved, mainly because Portia had made use of the bond and law, and restricted Shylock, by abiding to the bond, that Shylock had only requested for a pound of flesh, and not a drop of blood, and according to the Venetian law, any Jew who tries to claim a Christian’s life but was unsuccessful, the Jew would either be killed or had to convert to Christianity. Portia twisted the bond into cutting the flesh without dripping a drop of blood, but we all know that this was impossible, and thus, Shylock was unable to cut Antonio’s flesh. But this was not a fair trial because firstly, the Christians occupied a majority of the court, and secondly, women were not allowed in courts, and Portia had violated this law.

There is no true mercy. Because when Shylock realised that he could not have his pound of flesh from Antonio, he wanted to take the money and let the matter rest. However, Portia rejected his offer and even forced Shylock to give up his fortune and convert to Christianity just to spare his life. But how different is that to death sentence? Moreover, is Antonio and the Christians’ discrimination against Shylock atoned for?

In Merchant of Venice, Portia was able to manipulate the law just because she was the judge, who had the most power in the court. In real life, about the Lockerbie bomber freeing case, the judge too had the power to spare the bomber’s life as the bomber had terminal disease; the bomber was spared so that he could spend the remaining time with his family.