‘If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction. ‘(III.i.49–61). First sympathy is with the Jew, who is being treated in an unfair and indecent way by the so called Venetians where he reminds them he has body organs like them. Therefore, Shylock swears to behave in a manner that is equally bad to them and even says he will do it better than them. He vows to be villainous and shows no mercy on them.
‘So can I give no reason, nor I will not. More than a lodged hate and a certain loathing. I bear Antonio that I follow thus a losing suit against him. Are you answered?’ (IV.i.43–61). This is in act 4 where Shylock and Antonio are called in front of the court. The duke then asks Shylock to show some mercy on Antonio who is the accused, but Shylock replies by saying he does not have any reason to do so. Shylock has no reason to hate Antonio but his only focus is to quench his hatred.
‘The quality of mercy is not strained’ (IV.i.179–197). This is Portia’s reply to Shylock question of why he should have mercy. Shylock refuses to show mercy making him merciless on one hand. On the other hand Portia is merciful since she gets the concept from the Christian view where since God is merciful human beings should follow suite
‘The man that hath no music in himself. Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stategems, and spoils. The motions of his spirit are dull as night and his affections dark as Erebus. (V.i.82–86).’ Lorenzo orders music to be played since Portia is back. Here music changes a man’s heart in way that it transform him from a wild beast that is merciless to a something that is less “hard, stockish, full of rage and merciless”.
‘You have among you many a purchased slave which, like your asses and your dogs and mules, you use in abject and in slavish parts because you bought them.’ (IV.i.89–99). Shylock uses the laws of Venice to back his cruel and vengeful quests since he sees no need to expose those wrongfully mistreating and owning slaves. He also says that since Antonio can buy human meat to use as slavish and abject parts he too will do the same to Venetian flesh. This shows how he is merciless and shows how Antonio is also merciless since buying and treating slaves like that is not of human nature.
Henry 5th
‘If I begin the battery once again, I will not leave the half-achieved Harfleur, till in her ashes she lie buried. The gates of mercy shall be all shut upYour fresh-fair virgins and your flowering infants.’ (3.3.1). in this section King Henry sends a warning to Governor Harfleur that failure of his immediate surrender will make his soldiers rape the virgins of the town, kill all newborns and put them on spikes and smash the old men’s heads. This makes King Henry look very merciless and ruthless.
‘Yea, strike the Dauphin blind to look on us and tell the pleasant prince this mock of his hath turn'd his balls to gun-stones’ (1.2.11). In this section Henry says that he is going to attack France after he receives tennis balls from Dauphin which he sees as a mockery. Henry says he will turn the balls of tennis to cannons and obliterate France. Henry views himself as the avenger of God by showing no mercy at all to the French.
‘But, hark! What new alarum is this same? The French have reinforced their scatter'd men: Then every soldier kill his prisoners: Give the word through’ (4.7.3). Henry sends out an order to his troops to murder all French prisoners of war. This makes him look like a monster that is incapable of having mercy.
Nym gets hanged for theft (Act 4 scene 4). This shows that society is not lenient and has no mercy for those who commit crimes. Small crimes like theft have a penalty of death and not even maybe jail-time.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William, and Roma Gill. Henry V. New ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Print.
Shakespeare, William, and Burton Raffel. The merchant of Venice. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006. Print.
