indicates the other meaning of the adjective: considerate and kindly. Mercy is an act of kindness.Inolden times the wordgentlealso meant noble and chivalrous. Portia is thus implying that showing mercy is also an act ofhonor.
Portia also indicates that an act ofmercyblesses both the giver and the receiver. Antonio would obviously be blessed in aphysicalsense: his life would be spared. But Shylock would be blessed in aspiritualsense: his act of kindness and goodness would be rewarded by God. Mercy is the other side of the coin, so to speak. It is necessary to balance the power of justice. Justice without mercy is the quality of a tyrant, not of a good king. Justice is an act of cool reason, but mercy is an act of warm and tender feeling. Portia metaphorically suggests that the king’scrownandscepteraresymbolsof temporal orearthly power, but hisheartis asymbolof heavenly orspiritual power. Mercy is superior to justice, then, because it is an attribute of the eternal soul and of God.
Portia further reminds Shylock that all people on earth seek mercy fromGod. All people are sinners. If God was a just God but not a merciful one as well, then all people would be damned to hell for all eternity. All people thus hope for mercy: all people hope to be blessedbyGod.
Toward the end of her speech, Portia makes reference to a Christian prayer (lines 195-96). She is referring to the best known and most often recited prayer in Christianity,The Lord’sPrayer: