Mercy seasons justice (the greatest of all Shakespearean speeches):
Rather pertinent in view of the manufactured controversy surrounding Cardinal Newman:
Note that at 8:04, Antonio asks for Bessario's hand, as he is about to receive the Jєω's knife.
They profess their love for eachother.
Not in foul sodomite fαɢɢօtry, but in the highest Platonic sense (Recall Bessario is, in the play, engaged to marry his beloved lady/fiance), according to elevated Christian charity, which is one of the primary sub-plots of the entire play.
Dr. White, in his conferences on the play, notes that once again, Jєωιѕн Hollywood contrived a different version of The Merchant of Venice (i.e., not the version posted above) where in fact the two are queer, which Dr. White rightly describes as either miserable or disgusting, and adding, "who can stand it!"
This kind of chaste, pure, Platonic charity has more or less passed from the modern world, and when examples of it are encountered by the modern, sullied mind, quite naturally, the basest rash suspicions become firm judgments of condemnation (and given the prevalence of the sodomite infestation in the modern world, that is almost understandable).
Nevertheless, I could not let Shakespeare's example pass without drawing attention to the equally and perfectly chaste and pure case of Cardinal Newman (whom also had a similar friendship).