How many times does portia ask shylock to show mercy?

Answer 1

Actually, Shylock was cheated out of a contract (valid, in those days) by a clever ploy from Portia. Shylock was perfectly entitled to a pound of flesh from Antonio, as Antonio defaulted in his contractual commitment. A moralistic spin placed on the supposed motives of Shylock got the better of the hapless money lender. The fact that he was let off easily by the court for his so-called motives of racial hatred and avarice should not blind the readers of a perfectly legitimate argument for a judicial review as viewed from Shylock's perspective.

Thus, the quality of mercy shown by the court certainly suffers from the stigma of being unjustly 'strained'.

What is more, not only is Shylock deprived of the money he lent to Antonio, and which he should be entitled to get back, but Portia raises this further argument: "It is enacted in the laws of Venice, if it be proved against an alien that by direct or indirect attempts he seek the life of any citizen" all of his propery becomes forfeit, half to the supposed "victim" and half to the state, and he should be sentenced to death. Here is hypocrisy indeed! If Shylock asks the court to grant that by law Antonio should be executed, no matter how right he is, he commits a crime. Portia, on the other hand, is free to threaten Shylock with execution with impunity. Not only does she threaten his death, but also threatens to take his money and thereby the only way in which he can legally make his living. As Shylock says, "you take my house when you take the prop that supports my house."

To give the Duke credit, he does not hesitate to dismiss the suggestion that Shylock should be executed, even over the protests of the merciless and rabid anti-Semite Gratiano, although he cannot help but smugly congratulate himself for it. The smidgen of mercy which the Duke has does not extend to missing the opportunity to grab half of Shylock's property.

Antonio now holds the power of life and death over Shylock, since without any money he will die of starvation. The mercy he shows is to turn half of his remaining money ( a quarter of what he started with ) over to Shylock's worthless spendthrift son-in-law Lorenzo, who has already stolen and wasted a good portion of Shylock's funds, and finally to insist that Shylock give up his religion and his identity as a Jew.

So, the "mercy" that is shown to Shylock is that he is not actually killed for having the gall to attempt to enforce his rights in the court of Venice, but instead only loses three-quarters of his property, his right to observe his own religion, and his cultural identity.

As Shylock says, "Nay, take my life and all"

Answer 2

Yes. He cannot believe that Shylock will go through with hacking a piece of flesh off of Antonio. He says, "We all expect a gentle answer, Jew." He never does understand why Shylock is pursuing his pound of flesh, that Shylock is seeking to make Antonio the scapegoat for all the wrongs done to him.

Answer 3

Highly conditional mercy, the kind that isn't very merciful at all. Portia and the Duke are in cahoots, and it is not entirely clear who is the judge here. Portia comes up with the argument that Shylock, although he lives and works in Venice, is somehow a foreigner. What's more, his act in attempting to enforce his agreement with Antonio by using the court system is likened to attempted murder (which is ridiculous, because Shylock would not and did not do anything without the approval of the Duke). On both of these spurious legal arguments Portia and the Duke condemn Shylock to death and order all his money confiscated. The death sentence is even more ridiculous than Shylock's demand for his pound of flesh.

But, they say, they will be merciful. They will not put Shylock to death and will not immediately confiscate all his money, although they will take some, provided that he gives up the right to make his own will and joins their religion.

When someone holds a knife to you and says, "Give me your money, but you can keep the wallet", do you say "How merciful of you!"?

If Nero said to the Christians about to be thrown to the lions, "It's OK, we won't throw you to the lions provided you give up being Christians", would history record Nero's infinite mercy? Or would it just be a threat?

Portia, the Duke and all the Christians in the play are hypocrites. Their so-called mercy is the corollary to a death threat.

Answer 4

: can someone help me it is for my essay and i dont have a clue how many times she saks him to show mercy : cany any one HELP?????

Answer 5

He allows Shylock to keep his money and he believes by making him a Christian he is saving his sole