What Portia is saying here is that mercy knows no
limits.
By the time Portia delivers this speech, Shylock
has refused payment of the money and turned down an offer of double the amount. For
Shylock, it has gone beyond the money. For him, it has become a chance for him to
strike a blow for all those personally suffered at the hands of Antonio plus
symbolically he was avenging all the injustices his people had suffered. He had made a
pact with god.
For Portia it would appear simple. In her
world, it is the Christian thing to do to be merciful. This is easy for her to say
since she has never experienced the prejudice and abusive treatment that Shylock has
experienced.
She appeals to his humanity knowing she has an
ace up her sleeve. Since he has not been treated humanely by the Venetian society, this
idea is totally alien to him.
She is telling this man that
mercy knows no limits, yet he has never in his life experienced
mercy.
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