No, I believe that there was in some way a form of justice but not true justice. In the trail scene after Portia came in, she asked Shylock three times whether or not he was going to show some mercy towards Antonio by not taking his pound of flesh but the money instead. The vengeful Shylock wanted that pound of flesh so much because he knows that Antonio would surely bleed to death, thus rejecting the money for the flesh. The manipulative Portia then found a way to save Antonio's life after seeing a loophole in the bond they made. It stated that a pound of flesh is Shylock's to take but, it did not state that he could have any of Antonio's blood. Once Shylock heard Portia's point, he immediately wanted the money instead of the flesh because clearly, there would be bleeding once the knife goes into Antonio and being trapped in a corner and out of desperation, he pleaded to have his ducats instead. Using the Venetian law, Portia said that Shylock was to give up his life, but the Duke spared him mercy but took away his entire assets. There was justice towards Shylock because he clearly wanted to claim a life but did not succeed so he was punished yet justice was not done towards Antonio for not paying back Shylock.
Persons of power, authority, and wealth can easily manipulate Justice and Law. They bribe and bribe even more just to save their title and to keep away from embarrassment. A perfect example is corruption in certain countries. Using their power and the authority they have in the government, they take taxpayers' money as they wish, spending them like no one's business when in fact, they are themselves are in the wrong the they were suppose to be examples for the nation to follow, how ironic.
There wasnt even justice. Justice is when Antonio should have died under Shylock hands, due to the pound of flesh carved out. Portia did not administer that. She was biased and used every mean to save Antonio.
ReplyDeleteHmm, maybe you should define 'justice' and 'true justice' before proceeding on with your arguments? And also, just some food for thought, do you think that Portia believed what she was doing was actually justice? Or does she just solely want to save Antonio and to trick Shylock into believing that what she did was 'justice'?
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