The quality of mercy explained

"The quality of mercy" is a speech given by Portia in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (act 4, scene 1). In the speech, Portia, disguised as a lawyer, begs Shylock to show mercy to Antonio. The speech extols the power of mercy, "an attribute to God Himself".

Critical commentary

Portia, disguised as young lawyer Balthazar, begs Shylock for mercy after travelling from the fictional town of Belmont to Venice.^[1] Mercy and forgiveness are recurring themes in Shakespeare.^[2] According to Theodore Meron, Shakespeare presented mercy as a quality valuable to the most powerful people in a society.^[3]

Harold Fisch argued that the words of Deuteronomy 32:2, “My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew; as the small rain upon the tender grass, and as the showers upon the herb,” were echoed in the first words of the speech, “The quality of mercy is not strained. / It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven / Upon the place beneath.”^[4]

Trivia

Julia Louis-Dreyfus performed the first two sentences in her acceptance speech at the 2018 Mark Twain Prize in the character of Elaine Benes from the Seinfeld TV Series.

Further reading

• Portia: Shakespeare's Matlock? . Halio . Jay L. . . . 1043-1500 . 5 . 1, A Symposium Issue on The Merchant of Venice . 1993 . 57–64 . 10.2307/743392 . 743392 . none.
• Shakespeare and St. Jerome . Kaiser . Leo M. . . . 0009-8353 . 41 . 5 . 1946 . 219–220 . 3291889 . none.
• In Memoriam: William J. Stuntz . Karlan . Pamela S. . . . 0017-811X . 124 . 8 . 2011 . 1841–1843 . 41306763 . none.
• Gypsies, Jews, and The Merchant of Venice . McKendy . Thomas . . . 0013-8274 . 77 . 7 . 1988 . 24–26 . 10.2307/818931 . 818931 . none.
• A Musical Banquet: The Tenth London International Jewish Music Festival (11 June – 13 July 2000) . Miller . Malcolm . Musica Judaica . American Society for Jewish Music . 0147-7536 . 15 . 2000–2001 . 111–118 . 23687774 . none.
• The Quality of Mercy: on the Duty to Forgive in the Judaic Tradition . Newman . Louis E. . The Journal of Religious Ethics . . 0384-9694 . 1467-9795 . 15 . 2 . 1987 . 155–172 . 40015064 . none.
• A 'Bangzi Merchant of Venice in Taipei: Yue/Shu (Bond) . Perng . Ching-Hsi . . . 0742-5457 . 1527-2109 . 28 . 1 . 2011 . 222–233 . 10.1353/atj.2011.0014 . 41306478 . 161349603 . none.
• Verse Tests and the Date of Sir Thomas More . Pollard . Alfred W. . Alfred W. Pollard . . . 0034-6551 . 1471-6968 . 1 . 4 . 1925 . 441–443 . 10.1093/res/os-I.4.441 . 508705 . none.

Notes and References

1. Book: The Merchant of Venice. 2010. Modern Library. Shakespeare, William. Bate, Jonathan and Eric Rasmussen. 150–151. 978-1-58836-874-4.
2. Book: Rosenbaum, Ron. [{{Google books|id=wYdlAAAAMAAJ|plain-url=yes}} The Shakespeare Wars: Clashing Scholars, Public Fiascoes, Palace Coups]. 2006. Random House. Ron Rosenbaum. 536. 9780375503399.
3. Book: Bloody Constraint: War and Chivalry in Shakespeare. registration. 1998. Oxford University Press. Meron, Theodor. 133. 0195123832.
4. [Harold Fisch]