<P> At Venice, Antonio's ships are reported lost at sea so the merchant cannot repay the bond . Shylock has become more determined to exact revenge from Christians because his daughter Jessica eloped with the Christian Lorenzo and converted . She took a substantial amount of Shylock's wealth with her, as well as a turquoise ring which Shylock had been given by his late wife, Leah . Shylock has Antonio brought before court . </P> <P> At Belmont, Bassanio receives a letter telling him that Antonio has been unable to repay the loan from Shylock . Portia and Bassanio marry, as do Gratiano and Portia's handmaid Nerissa . Bassanio and Gratiano leave for Venice, with money from Portia, to save Antonio's life by offering the money to Shylock . Unknown to Bassanio and Gratiano, Portia sent her servant, Balthazar, to seek the counsel of Portia's cousin, Bellario, a lawyer, at Padua . </P> <P> The climax of the play takes place in the court of the Duke of Venice . Shylock refuses Bassanio's offer of 6,000 ducats, twice the amount of the loan . He demands his pound of flesh from Antonio . The Duke, wishing to save Antonio but unable to nullify a contract, refers the case to a visitor . He identifies himself as Balthazar, a young male "doctor of the law", bearing a letter of recommendation to the Duke from the learned lawyer Bellario . The doctor is Portia in disguise, and the law clerk who accompanies her is Nerissa, also disguised as a man . As Balthazar, Portia repeatedly asks Shylock to show mercy in a famous speech, advising him that mercy "is twice blest: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes" (IV, i, 185). However, Shylock adamantly refuses any compensations and insists on the pound of flesh . </P> <P> As the court grants Shylock his bond and Antonio prepares for Shylock's knife, Portia deftly appropriates Shylock's argument for "specific performance". She says that the contract allows Shylock only to remove the flesh, not the "blood", of Antonio (see quibble). Thus, if Shylock were to shed any drop of Antonio's blood, his "lands and goods" would be forfeited under Venetian laws . She tells him that he must cut precisely one pound of flesh, no more, no less; she advises him that "if the scale do turn, But in the estimation of a hair, Thou diest and all thy goods are confiscate ." </P>

What is the climax of the merchant of venice
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