Justice in The Tempest and the Merchant of Venice In both The Merchant of Venice and The Tempest, Shakespeare proposes ideas of justice and mercy that are true in both works. To see if the actions taken were just and/or merciful, it is necessary to establish the definitions of these words. If we were to assume that Shakespeare's definition of mercy was that set forth by Portia in Act Four, Scene One, particularly in lines 205-206, the definition of mercy must be viewed in a biblical sense. Therefore, to judge whether something is merciful, one must see whether it meets the qualifications of mercy in the New Testament. However, the idea of ​​justice is quite different, for my definition of justice I will turn to Charles Mill's definition, as in plays it applies more. Mill argued that justice for Europeans meant "us only," implying different standards for white Christians than for any other race or religion. Now that we have precise definitions of what mercy and justice are in the context of Shakespeare's time, it is possible to see how each of these played a role in these ...