I believe that Act V is very necessary to the integrity of this play, and for a few reasons. I found that Act V adds a quality of humor that tied the multiple elements of the play together rather well, for a sort-of..."happy ending". Though, the characters (other than Shylock) seemed to receive that. I enjoyed Act V, but it made me somewhat angry. At the beginning of Act V we have Lorenzo and Jessica comparing themselves to and discussing lovers throughout history. Such as Troilus, Cressid, Medea, Dido, Thisbe, and they seem to be caught inside this love-sick haze and la-de-da-ing about their love, etc when this man's (Shylock) life had just been shattered to pieces. It came off to me that there lives have instantly recovered from past events, and the fact that Shylock was ordered to convert to Christianity seems to be of no matter to them. Yes I am aware he was not the nicest of individuals and that he did not treat Jessica very well, but there comes this thought where you have to question the idea of respect and what it is, as well as human dignity. Did they just abandon their's entirely? This guy WAS SO WRONGED--he was discriminated against, spit on, hackled, etc and he wanted justice. I've read many times that Shakespeare wrote Shylock as the villain, yet Shylock had very redeeming qualities, especially within his dialogue. It's very complicated to really interpret whether or not he was set out to be labeled as a bad guy, but I can't help but take a little pity on him.

The Act really displayed how there lives seemed practically untouched by what this man had gone through, and was forced into with the conclusion. Maybe they felt that Shylock had gotten what he deserved, but I guess I'm too sensitive to just think one way. I feel for both sides. It just seems that now they can return to their "Christian" way of living and contently continue on all the while this man's life has been torn to pieces. It presented me with thoughts about how people will sometimes do whatever needs to be done, as fast as it can be done, in order to have contentment and security back in their lives. In the end everybody has their reasoning, and every character in this play had their reasoning so I just try to focus on that. I hold respect for that in itself. The Act that can be viewed in so many different lights, and there seem to be endless reasons as to why that is. So it is a difficult to really have a solid stance when everything seems rather subjective.

Overall, I feel that the play would have felt cut-off and absent of a fundamental element to tie everything together.