In his play, The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare created a character who is entirely justified in seeking revenge. Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, has lived his life as the subject of constant anti-Semitic attacks, with one of his main antagonists being Antonio, the merchant of the play’s title. Antonio has called Shylock terrible names, assaulted, and spit on him. So, when Antonio defaults on a loan from Shylock, one for which the merchant offered a pound of his own flesh as security, Shylock is eager to collect, and the audience—having witnessed the many injustices suffered by Shylock throughout the play—can find it hard to blame him. Yet something unexpected happens in the famous scene when Shylock demands what he is owed. It is there one of the characters, Portia, begs Shylock to consider mercy:
“The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
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:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice.”
It is worth hearing the entire speech, well-performed here by Laura Carmichael. These words in defense of mercy complicate the scene of perhaps would-be vengeance. As anyone familiar with The Merchant of Venice knows, Shylock is justified in his anger. The play is rife with examples of anti-Semitism, including Shylock’s eventual fate (he is ultimately thwarted in his pursuit of revenge and forced to convert to Christianity). This anti-Semitism should be deeply troubling to all readers and playgoers today, especially given the events of the last century, and recent resurfacing of anti-Semitic animus in the US and globally. Yet—and perhaps because of—the context of Shylock’s justified anger, mercy’s appeal still resonates. It is an appeal worth thinking about, in our present-day context, and particularly in the context of health.
Read the full piece on The Healthiest Goldfish.