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Meaning of Pound of Flesh. Something that is owed needs to be paid back at every cost. Shakespeare has coined this phrase in a figurative way, which refers to a lawful but unreasonable recompense during the late 18th century. Here, the mentioning of flesh suggests vengeful, bloodthirstiness, and inflexible behavior to get back borrowed money.
Someone demanding their pound of flesh is saying that they are determined to get what is theirs by right, no matter how it may affect anyone else and regardless of the consequences.
The expression a pound of flesh describes a ruthless or unreasonable demand often made at great personal cost or suffering to the person expected to fulfill it. In TV, books and movies, you’ll often see the phrase used by a villain when he’s coming to collect what is owed to them by the hero when he’s down to nothing.
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POUND OF FLESH definition: 1. something that you have the right to receive but is unreasonable to demand from someone 2…. Learn more.
A Pound of Flesh Meaning. Definition: Payment that is owed, which may be collected in a cruel or vengeful way. Origin of A Pound of Flesh. This expression comes from one of the works of the English playwright William Shakespeare. It appears in his play Merchant of Venice, from the year 1596.
A debt or punishment, especially a cruel or unreasonable one, that is harshly insisted upon. An allusion to Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, in which the moneylender Shylock demands he be paid the pound of flesh promised as collateral for a loan.
Something which is owed that is ruthlessly required to be paid back. What's the origin of the phrase 'Pound of flesh'? This of course derives from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, 1596. The insistence by Shylock of the payment of Antonio’s flesh is the central plot device of the play: SHYLOCK:
