In this scene, an aggrieved Shylock laments his daughter’s elopement and betrayal. He expresses frustration at Antonio’s financial losses (“There I have another bad match”) until he realizes that “it will feed my revenge.” His speech justifying his hatred for Antonio is famous because it is so persuasive. First, Shylock lists the ways in which Antonio has personally wronged him:

He hath disgraced me, and hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies...

Shylock says that Antonio’s hatred of him is based in antisemitism. He proceeds to argue that Jews and Christians are very much alike, “warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer.” Both are made of flesh and blood, and both have an instinct for vengeance: “If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge.” Why should Jews be held to a higher standard than Christians?

Even though Shylock is rationalizing the bloody act of murdering someone by cutting out a piece of their flesh, his reasoning is quite sympathetic. Whether he is justified is up to the individual to decide.