El pacto y la justicia. Reflexiones a partir del mercader de Venecia

Abstract

: Antonio’s ships have been wrecked and his insolvency enables Shylock to execute the contract, where it was agreed that in the event of non-compliance, he would be the creditor of a pound of meat from his debtor. It seems that there is no escape from this absurd clause, the parties have freely agreed on that penalty and the Dux is forced to comply with the deed. Shakespeare portrays an absurd conflict whose ironic solu-tion leads the reader to question the following: Is fairness equal to what is agreed? And therefore: what makes a contract fair? What is its source of validity?