Shylock is Content

Late in act 4, scene 1 of Shakespeare’s provocative play The Merchant of Venice, its most problematic and controversial character, Shylock, the Jewish moneylender, finds himself in a peripety, a reversal of circumstance and fortune. He believes he has successfully conspired against the merchant Antonio’s life by demanding the penalty agreed upon in a loan that Antonio has failed to repay in the contracted time period. That penalty is a pound of flesh from the area closest to Antonio’s heart. This penalty will surely result in Antonio’s death, but Shylock has insisted on that penalty alone, and has refused generous and highly profitable alternatives. When Portia, posing as Balthazar, turns the tables on him, essentially finding him guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, Shylock finds his own life threatened by the state. The state proves less bloodthirsty than Shylock. The Duke pardons his life. Antonio foregoes the monetary penalty he could exact from Shylock, stipulating three conditions: Shylock must let Antonio manage half of his estate on behalf of Jessica and Lorenzo, he must become a Christian, and he must will the rest of his estate to Jessica and Lorenzo upon his death. Shylock agrees to these provisions, stating: “I am content” (4.1.394). ¹