Antonio is bidden to lay bare his breast, and Shylock is gleefully preparing to execute his cruel intent; the scene has reached its climax of dramatic intensity, when the tables are suddenly turned upon the Jew. The young judge stays his hand with these awful words:
“This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood.
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.”
Shylock has scarcely recovered from this thunderclap, and expressed his willingness to accept the money offered to him at first, when the judge interrupts him: “The Jew shall have all justice—nothing but the penalty”—just a pound of flesh, not a scruple more or less. If not, “thou diest and all thy goods confiscate.”
Shylock is now content to accept only the principal. But the judge again says: “Since the Jew refused the money in open Court, he shall have merely justice and his bond—nothing but the forfeiture,” under the conditions already named.
Shylock offers to give up his claim altogether. But no! the judge again says: