The quality of mercy is not strained;/ 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.
I've always found the Anti-Semitic critique of The Merchant of Venice frustratingly shallow, especially since it is so easily disproven by the stirring, if flawed and vengeful speech Shylock gives in Act III. How can we say Shakespeare did not sympathize with Shylock after reading that speech? I doubt any truly unsympathetic man could even have written it. That's the way with Shakespeare--in my opinion, he could never resist making a character complex and interesting, and rightly so. All of his antagonists have depth and humanity, and are driven by human passions. Iago, Macbeth, Caliban, Richard III...none but a man who understood the sameness of every person, no matter how they looked or believed, could have made so many characters whose names we remember so easily.
Mercy trumps justice but it is best served when requested or given.
Many thanks and Amen! Thus do we pray for mercy from our merciful--but just Father. However,
mercy is not available for us if we are not merciful to others, as our Lord teaches us in His prayer.
I've always found the Anti-Semitic critique of The Merchant of Venice frustratingly shallow, especially since it is so easily disproven by the stirring, if flawed and vengeful speech Shylock gives in Act III. How can we say Shakespeare did not sympathize with Shylock after reading that speech? I doubt any truly unsympathetic man could even have written it. That's the way with Shakespeare--in my opinion, he could never resist making a character complex and interesting, and rightly so. All of his antagonists have depth and humanity, and are driven by human passions. Iago, Macbeth, Caliban, Richard III...none but a man who understood the sameness of every person, no matter how they looked or believed, could have made so many characters whose names we remember so easily.