The Quality of Mercy by William Shakespeare

The Merchant of Venice, Court Scene

The Background:

            To understand “the Quality of Mercy”, one has to understand first the background.  Shakespeare has written 37 dramas and one of his best dramas is “The Merchant of Venice.” The Quality of Mercy” is an extract from this play and it is generally known as Court Trial Scene in Act IV, Scene I.

Portia is the heroine of the play and she is a rich heiress in Belmont . She has to marry a person according to her father’s Will. As per the Will, there are three caskets –gold, silver and lead. The suitor who selects the right casket alone can marry her. Portia wishes that her lover Bassanio should choose the right casket and marry her. Antonio is a Christian merchant living in the city Venice (hence the title “The Merchant of Venice). His friend is Bassanio who needs money to go to Belmont to try his luck to win the hand of Portia. Antonio borrows money from a Jewish money lender called Shylock, the villain of the play to help his friend Bassanio. He makes an agreement legally with Shylock that he will return the money when his ships reach the shore and if he could not repay the loan, Shylock is permitted to take a pound of flesh from him. Unfortunately his ships drown into the sea and he could not repay the loan. Shylock brings him to court and asks for a pound of flesh. Portia wants to save her lover’s friend Antonio and disguises  herself as a male lawyer Balthazar. She appears in the court scene and tries to change the mind of Shylock by talking about the quality of mercy. What she speaks in the court to Shylock is the famous speech known as “the Quality of Mercy.”

Text of the “The Quality of Mercy”

The quality of mercy is not strain’d.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice bless’d.
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mighties; it becomes
The thronèd monarch better than his crown.
His scepter 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 sceptered sway.
It is enthronèd 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.

Annotation – 1

“The quality of mercy is not strain’d.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice bless’d.
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:”

Context:

            The above lines are from the speech of Portia known as “The Quality of Mercy” in “The Merchant of Venice” written by William Shakespeare. Portia says this to Shylock in the court scene.

Explanation:

            Portia wants to save her lover Bassanio’s friend Antonio from Shylock. Antonio could not repay his debt and so Shylock wants legally a pound of flesh from Antonio as per the agreement made between them. Portia appears in the disguise of a male lawyer and tries to kindle mercy in Shylock’s heart. She says that mercy naturally springs from a heart and it cannot be compelled from anyone. It showers spontaneously from a noble heart towards another suffering person like the graceful rain from the sky towards hungry dry land. Mercy has the magical power to offer benefits to both the giver and taker – to the former, it is a virtue to be honoured and to the latter, it is a tablet that cures him from suffering.

Comments:

            The moment Portia appeals to Shylock to be merciful towards Antonio by talking about the quality of mercy, she is held in high esteem in our heart. The way she compares mercy to rain over dry land moves our heart. The heroine surpasses all male characters in the court scene. That is why John Ruskin has rightly said, “Shakespeare has only heroines, no heroes.”

Annotation- 2

 “'Tis mightiest in the mighties; it becomes
The thronèd monarch better than his crown.
His scepter 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 sceptered sway.”

Context:

            Portia tells Shylock these lines in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice.” She tries to move the heart of Shylock by highlighting the power of mercy.

Explanation:

            Portia makes Shylock realize the superlative quality of mercy. She says that all qualities and virtues such as truth, honesty, honour, sincerity and love may be powerful but mercy is the mightiest of all these mighty virtues. The throned king is more powerful than the throne he sits on and the crowned king is more powerful than the crown on his head if he has a merciful heart. The scepter in his hand may command awe and majesty but its power is temporary.  Even then, everyone would long for the throne and be ready to go to any extreme to attain it. That is why all kings always have the fear of insecurity. But mercy is more powerful than the kingly power. It cannot be dethroned from your heart by anybody.

Comments:

            During Shakespeare’s days, the king and religious heads were considered to be powerful next to God. But Shakespeare dares to say authentically from his own life experience that the power of mercy is superior to that of king and all other religious values. He reveals the truth that all powerful kings will die one day and be forgotten in the world but mercy will always live in the heart of those wish to possess that quality.

 Annotation – 3

“It is enthronèd 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.”

Context:

            This is an extract taken from the court scene subtitled as “The Quality of Mercy” in “The Merchant of Venice” written by Shakespeare. Portia tells this when she tries to save Antonio from Shylock’s knife.

Explanation:

Portia tells Shylock that a person merciful in heart is equal to king and God. Anybody can dethrone a king but nobody can dethrone mercy which is enthroned in the heart of a king. The justice is done not by the power of the king but by the mercy in his heart. God Himself is worshipped as a superior divine being just because He is the manifestation of mercy. A king with earthly power is considered to be equal to God when he keeps the same mercy of God and maintains justice like God.

Criticism:

            In the Bible, Isaiah 49:10, it is said, “They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that has mercy on them shall lead them.” Shakespeare, being a christian, may have been moved by similar verses in the bible about the quality of mercy. The truth revealed here is that letter of the law is not more important than the spirit of the law that cares for the affected.