Once Shylock realizes he’s been outfoxed by Portia’s legal maneuvering, he offers to settle his suit for the return of the principal he lent Antonio. Portia refuses to grant him even that. Shylock had earlier refused offers of several times his initial principal and declared himself unsatisfied with any settlement except the pound of Antonio’s flesh that he is entitled to. Portia’s vengeance is to hold him to this declaration, determining that he is not entitled even to his principal funds, but must take the pound or nothing. It’s harsh and a bit mean-spirited to refuse even to give him back the money he lent in the first place, but Shylock’s implacability and insistence on his payment in flesh was equally harsh and Portia is determined to subject him to his own merciless sense of justice.
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