Offer of double v. refusal of principal.
If every ducat in six thousand ducats
Were in six parts, and every part a ducat,
he answers, he would not accept them in lieu of his bond. iv. i. 318, 336.The wheel of Nemesis goes round, and Shylock would gladly accept not only this offer but even the bare principal; but he is denied, on the ground that he has refused it in open court. They try to bend him to thoughts of mercy:
Complete security v. total loss.
How shalt thou hope for mercy, rendering none?
He dares to reply:
What judgement shall I dread, doing no wrong?
The wheel of Nemesis goes round, and Shylock's life and all lie at the mercy of the victim to whom he had refused mercy and the judge to whose appeal for mercy he would not listen. Exultation v. irony.In the flow of his success, when every point is being given in his favour, he breaks out into unseemly exultation:
iv. i. 223, 246, 250, 301, 304.