Cop-out Ending to The Merchant of Venice

I felt as though the ending to The Merchant of Venice was not completely a cop-out.  I thought that it answered questions about Portia and Nerissa and how they dealt with the fact that their husbands gave away their rings.  I thought that this was necessary to show Portia and Nerissa’s true emotions because there were many unanswered questions after the court scene such as if they would forgive their husbands or not.  I am glad that Shakespeare included act five in the play because the answer of whether or not the wives would forgive their husbands was different from my idea of what would happen.

Although it showed how all the characters reacted after the court scene, it could be considered a cop-out ending.  Shakespeare did not include Shylock at all in the last act which caused many unanswered questions to how he reacted after the court scene and how he dealt with all his loss.  Throughout the play, there are examples where Shakespeare could be persuading the audience to give up their prejudice against Jews, but in the last act no one shows any mercy or compassion to Shylock.  By not appearing in the last act, Shylock is depicted as less than a Christian which could give a counterexample to this fact.  I personally thought that the ending to The Merchant of Venice was not entirely a cop-out, but it could have included Shylock’s character to provide answers to questions about his reaction and for Shakespeare to further his point on whether he is against prejudice to Jews or not.