The Quality of Mercy Is Strain'd
The Anti-Jewish Overtones of Portia's Famous Speech
Portia's "quality of mercy" speech from The Merchant of Venice is a brilliant example of rhetoric, but has troubling overtones of contemporary antisemitism
Portia’s speech “The quality of mercy is not strain’d” is apparently an attempt to convince Shylock not to exact the full penalty of the bond from Antonio, which would involve removing a pound of flesh from near Antonio’s heart. Her rhetoric, however, appeals to Renaissance stereotypes about Jews, supported by the surrounding text.
In her speech in IV.1, Portia essentially argues that mercy is a higher value than the literal interpretation of the law. Having been asked by Shylock “on what compulsion” he must be merciful, she constructs mercy as a value associated with God and salvation. Of course this is specifically angled towards the Renaissance Christian world-view, which saw salvation as the preserve of those who believed in Jesus Christ as being the son of God.
The gospels, the Biblical narratives describing Jesus’ life, included his clashes with the Pharisees, one of the ruling parties in the Jewish Sanhedrin at the time (the others, the Saducees, received less attention.) The Pharisees were renowned for their strict adherence to the letter of the Jewish law (the word “pharisaical” comes from this association, and appears occasionally in 19th-century writing) such as refraining from work on the Sabbath. Jesus’ challenge to their highly rule-based approach to religion is described in the gospels, and the association of the Judaism with sterile obedience to precepts was part of the Renaissance English view of Jews. When Shylock insists on the letter of the bond, and states “I crave the law”, this stereotype is invoked, and the Christian audience might instinctively feel he was in the wrong.
The words put into Shylock’s mouth as a reply to Portia’s speech are equally damning. “My deeds upon my head” is a near-direct quotation from the words which the Jewish crowd are recorded as calling to Pontius Pilate when he suggested that Jesus should be released in place of Barrabas. By associating Shylock with the crowd who insisted on Jesus’ crucifixion (and the long tradition of Western Christianity which regarded the Jews as “Christ-killers”), Shakespeare damns him as a member of a bloodthirsty and unrighteous race.
Of course, the tables are turned upon Shylock, as a law is revealed which orders the death of any foreigner who attempts to kill a Venetian citizen. The offer to let Shylock mitigate the strictness of the law with mercy returns upon him, and lines such as “The penalty and forfeit of my bond” echo in the confiscation of his goods when Antonio asks that the death penalty not be applied.
Racism has been defined as “power plus prejudice”. In the trial scene of The Merchant of Venice, it can feel as if Shylock has been put in a false position of power by the plot so that prejudice can feel justified in attacking him. Even attempting to allow for the differences in contemporary and Renaissance attitudes, and the history since, the “quality of mercy speech” is a troubling one for both critics and actors.
