il Giardino Romantico

The Merchant of Venice
Act IV, Scene i, Lines 184~205

 


Portia: 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.  Therefore, Jew,
           Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
           That in the course of justice, none of us
           Should see salvation.  We do pray for mercy,
           And that same prayer doth teaches us all to render 
           The deeds of mercy.  I have spoke thus much
           To mitigate the justice of thy plea,
           Which, if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
           Must needs give sentence, 'gainst the merchant there.

I must admit that Portia is my favorite female characters of all of Shakespeare's heroines.  Like Lady Macbeth, she will do anything to see that her husband gets the best deal in life.  Not unlike Cleopatra, she has the intelligence and grace of a noble woman.  But unlike neither of them, she depicts only innocence and grace.  Both Lady Macbeth and Cleopatra have their dark sides to their good intentions towards the good of the nation and their loved ones.  The moral behind their actions is debatable, but for Portia, she outwits men, and fools even the love of her life. 

For me, this is not just a speech that is used to attempt to talk the Jew out of seeking his 'justice', but a moral story that we all can learn from.  It is a memorable speech that speaks of what humanity should really be about, and how perversed 'the law' can sometimes be.  It should be used to protect people, and not a weapon for people who seek revenge to use against others. 

This is, by far, my favorite speech in all of Shakespeare's plays.  Thus, I chose to use this as a finale to this series.  

I hope you have enjoyed the Conversations with Shakespeare's Women.  There will be a couple more extra recordings for your entertainment and for the collection of my Literary Database, but as for the female characters in Shakspeare's plays, this is the last recording in this series.

『維尼斯商人』中的Portia是我最喜歡的女角色。她像Lady Macbeth一樣，願為讓丈夫得到最好的不擇手段。也像Cleopatra一樣敏銳、聰明。但與她們不同的地方在於她所表現出的僅是天真與無邪。Lady Macbeth與Cleopatra的動機必然是好的，但她們所做出的行為是非常具有爭議性的。而Portia在劇中的所作所為，只能稱讚她的才智過人，連她摯愛的男人都被矇騙過去。

對我來說，這段不只是一段為了說服Shylock不要為了自己的利益尋求他所謂的『正義』。而這段話所教導的其實是我們都能夠學習的：法律也是有爭議性的。它是拿來保護人民，而非被想尋求報復的人利用的工具。

這真的是我最喜歡的一段話。因而用它來作此系列的結尾。

希望大家喜歡這個系列。之後還會有一兩段錄音檔將收錄在文學資料庫裡。但『莎翁女角色對話』系列在此就先告一個段落。