1. Is there true justice? Why?
I think that there is no true justice in the scene. Shylock seek justice to take revenge against Antonio but in the end, the justice was twisted by Portia where he was allowed to take the penalty he seeks, Antonio's flesh, but could not take a drop of Antonio's blood. Portia uses justice to twist the law which it was impossible for human to take flesh without dropping a drop of blood. Thus I believe that the court was more of a trick to trap Shylock instead of giving true justice to Shylock.
2. Is there true mercy, as expounded by Portia? Why?
I think that true mercy was indeed given to Shylock. Portia and Bassanio requested Shylock more than 3 times for mercy, and I think that it is true mercy given to him because I believe that Portia already know how to trick Shylock into her trap but still giving him a chance to rescue himself. Also, I believe that Antonio has also given Shylock mercy by allowing him to convert to Christianity. Although this could be seen as an insult to Shylock, but I believe that Antonio did view it as mercy given to Shylock.
3. Justice and Law can be manipulated by people in power. Comment on this with reference to the text and other real-life cases and examples.
I think that Justice and laws can of course be manipulated in the text but only available for certain circumstances in real life. With reference to the text, the Duke did said that 'With my power I may dismiss this court' which clearly indicated that Justice and Law can be banned under the power of people. Justice and laws were also manipulated by Portia, she uses her status as a lawyer to imply laws against Shylock and making him receive punishments instead of getting the justice that he wants. Similarly, in real life, we know that in a court, the people with the most power is usually the judge. Laws are created by human and could be changed by human too! Thus I believe that the judge are given the power to manipulate justice and laws. For a real-life example, In the Lockerbie bomber case, justice and laws are manipulated and the bomber was set free due to the decision of the judge. However, what mentioned above could only be available in certain circumstances. In most of the cases, judgement are given stick to the law and regardless how rich or how powerful is, the people in power usually unable to change the laws, because court is a place where every people should be treated equally.
