The quality of mercy is not strained

The nonpareil Maggie Smith as the eloquent Portia

Honestly, there are two things I remember most about The Merchant of Venice: the test of the three caskets to win Portia's hand, and the repeated line "pound of flesh" because the taking of which is graphically illustrated in the David Fincher film Se7en. Indeed, the concept of giving a pound of flesh for anything harkens back to this reference in Shakespeare, and the idiom today is meant to convey the idea of an excessive, cruel, and ultimately impossible payment for a debt. It's this debt that the moneylender Shylock wishes the hapless Antonio to pay. Of course, it takes the reasoning of a woman, albeit in drag (doubly so, since the women in Shakespeare's time were played by young boys), to convince Shylock that this is not the best idea on the planet.

The speech I chose feels philosophical, but it's delivered as a legal argument. This logical, articulate monologue doesn't convince Shylock, however, and it takes the threat of losing his material wealth to make him stand down. Portia boldly adopts Shylock's cold literalism and points out that his original bond with Antonio does not include blood, and if he were to take a single drop of blood with the flesh, he would break the contract.

Portia's plea of mercy-seasoned justice is as humanist as they come, and in a canon richly populated by many mighty, merciless males, her words stand up and stand out. I'm proud to make hers the first lady's speech I copy to the book and volume of my brain.

The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Sc. I

Portia (as Bellario): The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven,
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed.
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
It is mightiest in the mightiest,
It becomes the throned monarch better than his crown.
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
An 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 dost then become likest God's,
Where mercy seasons justice. Therefore Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That in the course of justice we all must see salvation,
We all do pray for mercy
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render the deeds of mercy.
I have spoke thus much to mitigate the justice of thy plea,
Which if thou dost follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentance gainst the merchant there.