The Merchant of Venice in the court of the Duke of Venice. Shylock refuses Bassanio's offer of 6,000 ducats, twice the amount of the loan. He demands his pound of flesh from Antonio. The Duke, wishing to save Antonio but unable to nullify a contract, refers the case to a visitor. He identifies himself as Balthasar, a young male "doctor of the law", bearing a letter of recommendation to the Duke from the learned lawyer Bellario. The doctor is Portia in disguise, and the law clerk who accompanies her is Nerissa, also disguised as a man. As Balthasar, Portia repeatedly asks Shylock to show
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