Often in literature justice is dispense in various ways by different characters. In Shakespeare�s plays this is seen with Portia in The Merchant of Venice and with the Duke in Measure for Measure. As with two real people, one can find both similarities and differences in their methods, ethics, and philosophies. In the course of this paper I will discuss various ways that these two characters compare and contrast.
I will first look at ways that they compare. One way that they compare is in their willingness to offer character at fault a means of backing out of a potentially ugly situation. Portia shows this through her line �Be merciful:/Take thrice thy money; bid me tear the bond.� (IV, 1, 242-3) She wants Shylock to take the money. In my opinion, this is a sign that she knows there will be some sort of fall out for Shylock if he continues the way is going and that she wants to spare him from those repercussions. The Duke shows this several times in Act V. By bringing forward Isabella and others to speak against Angelo, he is giving Angelo a chance to confess that he did wrong. It is my belief that while he is setting Angelo up for a fall, he is also hoping that Angelo will do right and confess he did wrong.
A second thing that these two characters have in common is that they test an important individual. The Duke sets up his leaving as a test of sorts for Angelo, as can be seen in his line �What figure of us think you he will bear?� (I, 1, 17) I take this to mean that the Duke is questioning whether or not Angelo can hold the power that he does and not let it corrupt his virtue. In a way he is testing whether Angelo can prove the statement �power corrupts� wrong. Portia tests Bassanio when she asks him to give up her ring which she had given him. This ring is shown to be a symbol of her love in:
I give them with this ring;
Which when you part from, lose, or give away,
Let it presage the ruin of your love
And be my vantage to exclaim on you.(The Merchant of Venice, III, 2, 175-78)
In asking him to give the ring up later in the play, she is in a way testing him to see what he feels is more important in marriage, the symbols, that can be stolen, traded, or bought, or the emotions themselves, that can�t be stolen, traded, or bought.
Another thing that they both display is a sense that mercy should be considered in justice. Portia shows this by the fact that she asks Shylock several times if he will reconsider his demand that the bond be met word for word. The Duke also shows his belief that mercy must exist in law as well as virtue. He even goes as far as to remind Angelo of this, when he gives him his commission.
While displaying like qualities, these two characters also display contrasting ones as well. Forth most is their individual interpretation of the law. Portia tends to see the law as it as written. This is seen in:
This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood;
The words expressly are 'a pound of flesh:'
Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh;
But, in the cutting it, if thou dost shed
One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods
Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate
Unto the state of Venice. (The Merchant of Venice, IV, 1, 319-25)
On the other side of things, the Duke tends to be more liberal. He sees more in terms of grey instead of just black and white. An example of this would be his ordering Claudio to marriage, instead of death like the law required.
Secondly, both display different outlooks toward the law. The Duke seems to believe that the ruler is bound to live by the law even more so than their people. They must rule by example for society to prosper. He also states the importance of law in:
We have strict statutes and most biting laws.
The needful bits and curbs to headstrong weeds,
Which for this nineteen years we have let slip;
Even like an o'ergrown lion in a cave,
That goes not out to prey. Now, as fond fathers,
Having bound up the threatening twigs of birch,
Only to stick it in their children's sight
For terror, not to use, in time the rod
Becomes more mock'd than fear'd; so our decrees,
Dead to infliction, to themselves are dead;
And liberty plucks justice by the nose;
The baby beats the nurse, and quite athwart
Goes all decorum. (Measure for Measure, I, 3, 20-32)
I see this to mean that if the law is not upheld, than the society had a greater potential of falling into chaos. Portia�s outlook is shown in her speech:
The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. (The Merchant of Venice, IV, 1, 190-203)
In it she says the law must be upheld, but mercy in our right to give. In fact if we want to be the better people that we often strive to be, we must be more like God and show mercy.
A third way that they differ is in the methods that they use to produce justice. Portia uses the law its self as a weapon. She, cleverly, uses it to turn the tide on Shylock, placing him in the wrong instead of Antonio. The Duke, on the other hand, tends to use more discreet mean that involve deception to expose wrong. An example of this would be his asking Marianna to sleep with Angelo in Isabella�s place.
Like with two real live people, Portia from The Merchant of Venice and the Duke from Measure for Measure, hold both similarities and differences. They share the belief that mercy should be present in justice, the fact that they test someone important in their lives, and in the fact that they offer the chance for a character to back out of an ugly situation. They differ in their philosophy of justice, how they interpret the law, and their method of practicing justice.