He
hath refused it in the open court:
He
shall have merely justice and his bond.
-Portia (as Balthasar)
The Merchant Of Venice Act IV,
Scene i, Line 338
Okay, we’re back. Rule number one of a good blog is frequent posts. The last post was July 4 and today is July 13. Oooof. Sorry about that. Let’s see if we
can’t ramp it up a bit as we move toward the one year mark, starting with
today. I'll do the best I can.
So today we are deep into the scene where Shylock gets
royally screwed. With today's lines Shylock is being told that not only is he not getting his
pound of flesh, neither is he getting any of his interest or principle paid
back. And I’m guessing, though I really don’t know, that Shakespeare’s audience
in 1600 found it funny that Shylock got so screwed. Was it because at that they
enjoyed making fun of a Jew (and a lot of other groups; heck you could get
disemboweled for being a catholic, or a non-catholic, depending on who happened
to be sitting on the throne)? Or was it just funny because of the quick turn of
events (Shylock went from thinking that he was going to get his pound of flesh in
one minute to realizing that he was getting nothing, and losing most of the
property in the next minute) irrespective of the fact that he was a Jew? Or
perhaps this section wasn’t supposed to be that funny at all? I don’t know.
Maybe Mr. Shapiro or Mr. Bloom know the answer, but I sure don’t’. Guys?
And what about ‘merely justice’? Was it really justice at all? This
story has a lot about justice in it. They say that Measure For Measure is all about justice, but what about this play?
And in the end is justice really served? I’m not so sure. Antonio agreed to the
loan. If it wasn’t repaid by the established date Shylock would be owed a pound
of his flesh. It was right there in black and white. And in the end Portia
(acting as Balthazar) got him out of it on a technical loophole. But was justice served. Again, I’m not
sure. James? Harold? What do you think?
You're right, this picture's got nothing whatsoever to do with today's line. I tried and tried and I just could not find a relevant picture. I tried so hard that I feel like I could use some time in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Unfortunately I took this picture three years ago in a place far, far away from here. So I'm afraid that hall is not available to me now. Shylock got no pound of flesh, and no money back. I got no picture and no Hall of Mental Cultivation. Oh well.
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