Parent child- Jessica and Shylock + Portia and her deceased father
             Despite the lack of a strong paternal figure in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, two separate father-daughter relationships play an integral role in the central plot of the play. The strained relationship of Venetian moneylender Shylock and his daughter Jessica, as well as the nonexistent association between Portia and her deceased father. The demanding, unwavering standards set by the respective fathers of Jessica and Portia further complicates the delicate subject of love. It is these strict rules, decreed by the two powerful patriarchs, which bring Jessica and Portia together as sympathetic characters in the eyes of the reader; two women deeply in love, unable to consummate their feelings with the men they care for because of the iron rule of their fathers. However, as the play progresses, it becomes apparent that the two women are quite different. While love consumes Jessica, clouding her judgment and eventually bringing harm upon Shylock, Portia chooses to respect the dying wish of her father, letting the situation work itself out correctly.
             Throughout the play, Shylock is portrayed as a selfish man, concerned only with monetary gain, often at the sacrifice of others. The moneylender takes his love of money to such an extreme, it permeates his daily life, as well as the lives of his family. When Jessica successfully elopes with her Christian lover Lorenzo, stealing her father's gold and jewels on the way out, Shylock is equally upset about the loss of his daughter as his is about the loss of his money. Solanio witnesses Shylock's outburst in the streets of Venice after the robbery, quoting the incensed Jew as saying, ³My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter! Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats! Justice! The law! My ducats and my daughter²(II.8.15-18 )Is he upset because his daughter has escaped his rule, to be wed to a Christian? Or is he more ...