Shakespeare Explained | The quality of mercy is not strained speech

"The quality of mercy is not strained" speech, from The Merchant Of Venice, is one of the most famous speeches.
In this episode of Shakespeare explained, we analyse this speech from The Merchant Of Venice line by line and explore its enduring meaning for us today.
The Shakespeare mercy speech, as it is often called, is the central scene in the play, where Portia reminds all of the need for mercy and that if we all demanded absolute justice, none of us would be well served.
Written in 1598, The Merchant Of Venice focuses on the enmity of Shylock and Antonio, a Jew and a Christian, and the principle of mercy vs judgement. Although called a Comedy, The Merchant Of Venice is really a Tragedy in that it deals with the collapse of a man, Shylock, who is persecuted to the point of becoming consumed by hate.
These videos are intended as shakespeare talks which have shakespeare explained line by line or at least take the study of shakespeare speeches in depth.
The way to understand the bards works is to simply understand what is being said. He wrote for everybody, and though the structure of language has changed, it is still easily understood if you take the small effort to listen to some videos which help to explain short speeches of shakespeare in depth.
And that is why I have created the Shakespeare explained series. Line by line Shakespeare which will enable you to become so familiar with his words, that you will be able to go away and enjoy the finest literature ever produced in the English language. Once you have discovered William Shakespeare properly, you will wish you had known him all of your life and will roll your eyes when somebody says: Why studyShakespeare?
Please take the time to watch the video all the way through, or save it to watch at a later time.
I would very much like to hear your thoughts on the videos and your own interpretation of Shakespeare and your favourite passages.
Please like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video and come back again for some more of Shakespeare Explained.
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Thank You
Tristan

[@jotaig8735]

This is so brilliant! Your explanation is so helpful and I think I am beginning to appreciate Shakespeare. I am going to listen to the rest of your Shakespeare Explained series! Thank you Tristan!

[@tristanandtheclassics6538]

So pleased you enjoyed it Jo. 😀 I hope that your journey with Shakespeare is magical.

[@AirForceChmtrails]

I absolutely agree with everything said here. This article is a most excellent lesson on the play and mercy.

[@arinasabirzanova1517]

this is just amazing! I had to choose any Shakespeare monologue to resite and after that video I do not hesitate any longer. I absolutely loved this breack down. Thank you very much!

[@tristanandtheclassics6538]

I'm pleased you enjoyed it Arina. 😀 It is a very good speech. If you want a lesser known but moving speech, look at my "The Kingmaker's Death Speech, from Shakespeare's Henry VI. Its only 18mins long.👍

[@shaundowling]

THANK YOU. This is a very clear explanation. I am using this speech and the scene when teaching English for law and this clarified the points I needed the students to understand. Much appreciated.

[@maggieattenborrow6725]

Just brilliant, I love Shakespeare but understand so little of his work! Finding you, Tristan, has changed all that, now I am on a quest to learn as much as I can, and enjoy Shakespeare to the full.

[@tristanandtheclassics6538]

Wonderful! It's the greatest of adventures. And more than any other author, you can visit Shakespeare endlessly and come away renewed and more linformed.

[@julianofrancisco4553]

Amazing!!! thanks for the explanation. A hello from Brazil!

[@ArkticDark]

Totally subbed! Great interpretation!

[@stevemcelmury4618]

This is GREAT... thanks! 😀

[@Mahimasinghrathore]

thank you so much. 🙏🏼

[@shabadanigh1347]

super useful for Yr11 cheers !

[@tristanandtheclassics6538]

Glad it helped! And thanks very much for taking the time to comment. I really appreciate it.😀👍

[@henrysangmaster4143]

very good video. many channels only examine the storyline but you concentrate on the content. thank you

[@tristanandtheclassics6538]

I appreciate that so much! Thank you. It really helps me to keep going . I hope that you win the lottery or something.😀

[@mauritateed8185]

Love the way you explain things, you make it sound very easy to enjoy these books

[@tristanandtheclassics6538]

Thank you so much. Is there any Shakespeare play that you particularly like?

[@mauritateed8185]

@@tristanandtheclassics6538 midsummer night dreams

[@tristanandtheclassics6538]

@@mauritateed8185 Great play!

[@merccadoosis8847]

Outstanding video, once again. No surprise at all and, in fact, quite expected given the excellent videos you have always presented. As a former law school student (my jurisprudence thesis was on Merchant of Venice) I was troubled by Portia's speech and the court's outcome in that while she called for mercy, she failed to practice what she preached. First, it is true that the audience was likely hostile to the Jewish protagonist. Indeed, antisemitic prejudice was quite rampant in those times. In fact, based on my research (this was over 30 years ago) I discovered that several British theaters would end their presentations by telling the audience "I hope there is not a Jew among you". While her speech was profound, it was a fraud for among other things, this was a court of equity, not a civil court. It threatened to sentence Shylock to death for his insistence on that pound of flesh. As a court of equity it was NOT authorized to impose a death sentence on a claimant. Forcing Shylock to convert to Christianity was called among Jews *apostasy* which to them was the equivalent of a death sentence. On top of all this Portia admits to Antonio in Act V Scene 1 that she knew "There you shall find three of your argosies Are richly come to harbor suddenly." His ships did come in safely which shows he had the means to pay Shylock. He never had been in any jeopardy of losing his pound of flesh and Shylock did not have to suffer this "death" sentence at all! Ask yourself, why on earth did Portia talk about Christian mercy while committing such a fraud on everyone? So yes, the quality of mercy speech was profound. But it was a profound FRAUD.

[@merccadoosis8847]

Erratum: while it was a court of equity, it was not a criminal court or what the British refer to as Old Bailey. As an officer of the court, Portia was required to disclose the fact that she had an interest or stake in the proceedings. Failure to do so constitutes a violation of court ethics. Thus, once again, while her speech is one of profound moralism she failed to back up her words with appropriate ethical action.

[@steveaustin6916]

A wonderful analysis, thank you. To my mind your opinions then gives the opening image a further layer of meaning with mercy like rain not just flowing without effort or force as you say but also falling from high to low, flowing from those with ( a rain laiden cloud) to those in need ( the parched earth beneath). Some very acute class imagery here. Is Shakespeare a socialist? It then also calls back to mercy being a quality born from the heavens. Stunning vocabulary and imagery. So many layers to all of Shakespeares writing that make him the best ever.

[@anaberdeja5624]

Thanks for sharing. Super interesting!

[@tristanandtheclassics6538]

Oh I say, jolly decent of you. Thank YOU for commenting. It really means a lot, you know. So kind of you. I hope that you win the lottery😃 If you have any suggestions or recommendations please feel free to share them and I will try to implement them.😃❤🎩

[@howboutthat3166]

This is really helpful,thank you for the explanation, it seems so clear now. My tests are coming up and I was so confused with this part but,now ,after listening to your video it is so easy. WELL EXPLAINED!

[@tristanandtheclassics6538]

Thank you! 😊 I'm pleased that it was helpful.

[@iddrisumunjamilu344]

Fantastic commentary

[@tristanandtheclassics6538]

Thank you kindly Iddrisu, that is very decent of you to take the time to say so. Shakespeare is great, isn't he?

[@teddydunton1829]

Thank you so much this helps with school a bunch

[@tristanandtheclassics6538]

Thank you Teddy. Really pleased that it assisted you. Is there any other aspect of Merchant of Venice which would be useful to your studies?

[@dianamills5243]

Love your stuff. Can you give details so we can give donations so that you can continue delivering more content?

[@devanarayanababu1996]

tysm ❤

[@tristanandtheclassics6538]

You are welcome 😊

[@devanarayanababu1996]

00:11 context 02:39 monologue + its explanation 23:25 afterword

[@sudeshsagar2864]

Hey i am a student from india and we have merchant of venice in our class 10 syllabus .this video was really helpful. Great explanation 👍🏻

[@tristanandtheclassics6538]

Hi Sudesh, thank you so much for taking the time to comment. Im pleased you found the video helpful.

[@jiahaust9593]

thank you so much for this! I'm doing it for a school monologue and this has helped me so much in knowing what portia is talking about! the bit about the our father prayer surprised me so much because you can see how he is actually talking to the christians and how this speech is about much more than a loud of flesh.

[@tristanandtheclassics6538]

Really glad it was helpful to you Jiah. It is amazing to see how Shakespeare was conveying a message to his audience about forgiveness isn't it? I hope that your monologue goes well.😃👍

[@xaviercrain7336]

You forget an essential thing: it is not Portia but her mask speaking Balthazar

[@h.n.4060]

I don't think that this is exactly what's being said regarding the overall social commentary. More likely, Shylock demanding the payment of his debt is as simple as that, a Jewish banker demanding the payment of debts to him from a Christian on Christian lands. Oppressor / oppressed narratives regarding how a people treats aliens in their own land were practically an unheard of philosophy during this time, and does not accurately reflect the dynamic of gentile relations that Shakespeare was so clearly trying to depict. That Portia appeals to him using Christian philosophy isn't a subversion either, if you consider that her character as well as most everyone in attendance of the play would have been devote Christians. She was speaking what she knew as a fundamental truth about the world, not trying to manipulate someone by twisting their own personally beliefs (which she would naturally be unfamiliar with and would likely think were false anyway). That said, I do think the speech is to the audience though, and the message is simple. The entire play is a retelling of the 'Parable of the Unforgiving Servant' from the Bible, Matthew 18:21-35. Peter asks Jesus "how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?" Jesus says "77 times" (meaning as often as you can), and then he tells a story of a servant with a huge debt (10,000 talents, speculated to be equal to several billions of pounds in today's money) owed to a king. The king had the power to take his family and enslave them to recover his losses, but decides in an act of mercy to write off his debts instead. The servant later refuses to forgive a much smaller debt owed to him by another servant, and has this other servant sent to a debtors prison until his debts to him are paid off. When the king hears of this, he reverses his decision and sentences him to the same punishment (which will never be paid off since it's so large, effectively he's been given a life sentence). The story ends with Jesus saying "So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." The point is that we all owe debts to someone, be it to God, to the king, to the bankers, to those whose land we live on, and to those beneath us. We should always strive to show mercy to those in debt to us, no matter who we are, as one day we too we too will beg for mercy from a higher power, as is the way of the world. In this case, Shylock's refusal to forgive the debts early on results in him crossing the Duke, and himself being punished. But it must also be stated from, from a Christian perspective, being forced to convert isn't a punishment but granting him salvation in the long term.

[@Laocoon283]

"We often feel more sympathy for shylock..." I'm real tired of hearing this line of thinking. It is quite literally people judging a character on his identity instead of his actions. It's as if they are scared to say shylock is bad just because he's a jew when he's a bad person who just happens to be Jewish. Usury is an objectively immoral practice. He is more concerned about his money than his own daughter. The only thing to make him second guess his cannibalistic quest for vengeance is when Balthazar threatens to confiscate his estate if he proceeds. Sure the other characters blamed his character defects on him being a jew and that makes them bigoted but it doesn't change the fact that in reality he was a villain regardless of him being Jewish.

[@susanstein6604]

Shakespeare is an antisemite. People say he’s the product of his time but in his time nearly everyone was an antisemite. There isn't a single monologue in this play that changes that. Shylock’s daughter is so good she has to become a Christian. There are people who can explain it better than I can such as James Shapiro who wrote a short book called Shakespeare and the Jews. David Nirenberg wrote a book called Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition. It has a chapter on the Merchant of Venice. Dara Horn, an American Jewish novelist has an essay on her teenage son’s reaction to The Merchant of Venice and her reacti. It's in a book of essays that’s well worth reading despite the off putting name of People Love Dead Jews.

[@xaviercrain7336]

I think you miss two essential things…there is an irony that in Shakespeare that comedies are not named by way of a character. Tragedies are. So, Antonio is somehow being made to escape what should have happened to him. He would have had it not been for the prejudice and racism of the day which I think you should have highlighted more at the beginning. Also, a woman would never have been allowed to speak in the court. You made another huge error. It is Balthazar who is speaking through Portia. Lastly, if this had been a tragedy it would have been named Shylock clearly but Shakespeare is writing for the court which would never have allowed a Jew to take center stage and especially when he is not of a high position in the society…tragedies have to see the high fall…by way of Hamartia which is not tragic flaw but misrecognition and therefore not innate but actually brought on by the society that surrounds him and the narrative of the play…

[@xaviercrain7336]

You got too excited in ur explanation…almost broke into Eliza Doolittle’s rain over the plains

[@xaviercrain7336]

Be careful it is not a Christian prayer…look and be careful about the difference between the Protestant prayer which it is and a Catholic one…she is in a Catholic country and misrepresenting it…the Catholic prayer does not use debts…

[@susanstein6604]

Shakespeare is gaslighting us. This play is profoundly antisemitic. The beat Jewish character in the play is Jessica. She’s so good and decent that she runs away from her father and becomes a Christian. There are more subtle depictions of Jews and anti~Judaism and antisemitism that don’t make sense unless you know some Jewish history and how Jews were thought of and depicted in Shakespearean England. I recommend that you read Shakespeare and the Jews by James Shapiro and the chapter on the Merchant of Venice in Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition by David Nirenberg.

[@susanstein6604]

You’ve been gaslighted and now you’re gaslighting your KZbin audience.