The most obvious example of dramatic irony is that Portia dresses as a man and acts as Antonio’s lawyer. The audience knows who she really is, but the characters do not (the essence of dramatic irony).

Literary devices are frequently used throughout acts four and five of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Some of the most prominent devices used on TMOF are dramatic irony, allusion and symbolism. These devices help further develop theme ingrained in the story such as marriage, deceive, wealth, and religion.

First, Portia compares mercy to rain through a simile in the second line: “it dropeth as the gentle rain from heaven.” The idea that both mercy and rain come from heaven, and by extension from God, and blesses both the giver and the ground or person on which it falls is meant to encourage mercy in the listener.

Salerio responds with a metaphor when he compares Antonio’s state of mind to a ship “tossing on the ocean.” Salanio, another friend, then uses visual imagery, describing something we can see, along with alliteration, when he says, Peering in maps for ports and piers and roads.

(2) Bassanio comes to know from Salarino that Antonio is in great trouble because Antonio has lost his ships at sea. He laments that it is because of him that his friend is in trouble. This makes him sad.

Shylock hates Antonio because Antonio has the privilege of being a wealthy Venetian who charges no interest on his loans, and he also hates Antonio for being a Christian. Antonio not only loans money interest-free to many, he has also covered the loans of Shylock’s victims without charging them interest to repay him.

Shylock is a combination of both victim and villain in The Merchant of Venice. He is a victim of discrimination and mistreated by Antonio and his daughter, Jessica. Shylock’s greedy, vengeful nature is what makes him a villain, which helps drive the plot of the play.

Antonio is unable to advance Bassanio cash because all his money is invested in ships at sea but he gladly offers to guarantee a credit loan.

though his intentions to kill antonio were wrong, his reasons to loath him were justified. the punishment he got was more of a triumph of the christians over the jews which was a a very inhuman thing to do.

1. Shylock does not die in Merchant. However, he does see his punishment as worse than death.

Because Portia seems to be ruling for Shylock, he calls her a Daniel to praise her mercy and wisdom. (It also reminds audiences that he’s Jewish, since Daniel’s story is found in the portion of the Bible that Jews and Christians share.)

Portia orders Shylock to beg for the duke’s mercy. Shylock claims that they may as well take his life, as it is worthless without his estate. Antonio offers to return his share of Shylock’s estate, on the condition that Shylock convert to Christianity and bequeath all his goods to Jessica and Lorenzo upon his death.

Shylock does not show any mercy as he feels that he has done nothing wrong and therefore need not fear judgement. Shylock reasons that he should be allowed to do what he wishes with the pound of flesh as he had bought it, in the same way slaves are under the power of their slave-owners.

(ii) Shylock is called inhuman by Duke because he demanded the pound of flesh from Antonio’s body and did not have a single grain to pity in his heart. Shylock will forgive him a part of the principal amount to be paid by Antonio along with forgiving their penalty.

Portia says that mercy is like the rain from heaven. It is so gentle and nice. She also mentions that mercy cannot be forced. She says that “Mercy is twice blessed”.

Portia saves Antonios life by: When they both go there, Portia uses her clever wit to save Antonio. she says that sure, the words are “a pound of flesh” but she analyzes the bond and quickly finds out that there is blood written so she uses that as a advantage against Shylock and wins the case.

Portia implores Shylock to forfeit the bond and show mercy because mercy, in itself will be rewarded by the giving and taking,”…it is twice bless’d.” Also, mercy is the most important asset of monarchs (kings), for a king who employs mercy does not let his power overtake him:”…it becomes the throned monarch better …

Portia’s answer is to explain and laud the equalities of mercy, saying mercy “droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven” and that it is an “attribute to awe and majesty.” By this argument, Portia hopes to convince Shylock of the high noble value of mercy and paint it as a quality held by kings and by “God himself.”

Essentially, Shylock wants Antonio’s flesh to satisfy his revenge and punish Antonio for the numerous times the merchant has wronged him. The reason he actually gives in demanding it is “to bait fish withal”.