Jessica (The Merchant of Venice) Jessica (The Merchant of Venice) Jessica is the daughter of Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, in William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" (). In the play, she elopes with Lorenzo, a pennyless Christian, and a chest of her father's money, eventually ending up in Portia and Bassanio's household. In the play's dramatic structure, Jessica is a minor but pivotal role. Her actions motivate Shylock's vengeful insistence on his "pound of flesh" from Antonio; her relationships with Lorenzo and Shylock serves as a mirror and contrast to Portia's with Bassanio and with her father; her conversion to Christianity is the end of
The quality of mercy (Shakespeare quote) eloquence to beg Shylock for mercy after traveling from the fictional town of Belmont to Venice. Mercy and forgiveness are enduring themes that pervade Shakespeare's works. The quote is an example of the esteem Shakespeare held for those who showed mercy as expressed in his poetry. Shakespeare presented mercy as a quality most valuable to the most powerful, strongest and highest people in society. Professor Harold Fisch, formerly of Bar-Ilan University, argued that the words of “My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew; as the small rain upon the tender grass, and as