r law" (Shakespeare, IV.i.115-117)! Laws may be laws but if they are not honored then they are worthless to Shylock.
Bonds of contracts, whether they are in law or between persons are very important in the play. According to Cynthia Lewis (29) in "Antonio and Alienation in 'The Merchant of Venice,'" Shylock "stands for the necessity of keeping contracts...a necessity that Portia is forced to recognize by keeping her oath to her father." Despite this, Portia will forswear even though she has promised her father she will not. Once she breaks this oath she continues to deceive others. We see that Antonio and Shylock appear more willing to keep their contracts or bonds and honor them than do either Portia or Bassanio. Antonio is in this situation because of Bassanio's deception or dishonorable behavior.
One of the biggest bonds in The Merchant of Venice may derive from the bond Shakespeare felt with the usurious money-lender Shylock. Contracts are important in the play. In Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare, Stephen Greenblatt maintains that both Shakespeare's father and the poet lent money at what could be considered a usurious rate. Yet Greenblatt argues this is why Shakespeare felt a bond with Shylock and d
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