Merchant of Venice: Antonio's hypocrisy

Early in Merchant of Venice, an exchange between Shylock and Antonio struck me as profoundly puzzling. Check it out:

Shylock:

Signior Antonio, many a time and oft
In the Rialto you have rated me
About my moneys and my usances:
Still have I borne it with a patient shrug,
For sufferance is the badge of all our tribe.
You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog,
And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine,
And all for use of that which is mine own.
Well then, it now appears you need my help:
Go to, then; you come to me, and you say
'Shylock, we would have moneys:' you say so;
You, that did void your rheum upon my beard
And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur
Over your threshold: moneys is your suit
What should I say to you? Should I not say
'Hath a dog money? is it possible
A cur can lend three thousand ducats?' Or
Shall I bend low and in a bondman's key,
With bated breath and whispering humbleness, Say this;
'Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last;
You spurn'd me such a day; another time
You call'd me dog; and for these courtesies
I'll lend you thus much moneys'?

Antonio:

I am as like to call thee so again,
To spit on thee again, to spurn thee too.
If thou wilt lend this money, lend it not
As to thy friends; for when did friendship take
A breed for barren metal of his friend?
But lend it rather to thine enemy,
Who, if he break, thou mayst with better face
Exact the penalty.

You could read this scene in two ways. If we want to sympathize with Antonio—he is, after all, one of the protagonists—we can view his brazenness as integrity. His friendship with Bassanio forces him to associate with Shylock, but that doesn’t mean he’ll grovel to a loan shark. He won’t compromise his beliefs for Shylock’s money. This reading likens Antonio’s behavior to the way Isabella defies Angelo in Measure for Measure, resisting coercion even when doing so makes it more difficult to accomplish a goal.  

Antonio makes a pretty compelling point at the end. Accepting Shylock’s “friendship” would tarnish Antonio’s idea of friendship, because friends don’t charge friends for loans. He argues that it’s vastly easier to commit usury against strangers than friends. Antonio, the ethical businessman, lends money to all his friends whenever they need cash—without interest or collateral, either because he trusts them or because he can afford the loss. He expects everyone else to do the same and publicly denounces people who charge interest. This makes sense if we view Shylock as a predatory financier exploiting uninformed borrowers. Speak truth to power, Antonio!

Except that Antonio obviously has all the power here. He can kick, insult, and spit on Shylock without any repercussions. Antonio isn’t retaining his integrity while facing overwhelming pressure. He’s strolling into the Venetian ghetto and demanding that Shylock lend to him out of professional respect. He has good credit, he’s got several ships coming in, you can fleece him without hurting a friend—what else does Shylock need?

Shylock’s resentment makes a lot more sense when we examine the scene this way. Even when Antonio needs Shylock, he won’t muster up the faintest regret for his past abuse. Or even basic respect for Shylock’s agency. Why bother, when Antonio’s certain that he will get the loan anyway? And why does he feel so certain? Why does he feel entitled to Shylock’s wealth? Either Antonio believes Shylock doesn’t care as long as he can make money, or Antonio plans to strongarm the money out of him regardless of his protests. Given the abhorrent penalty that the court later inflicts on Shylock, Antonio likely could have gotten his way.

We can't deny that this play is fundamentally anti-Semitic, and maybe that's biasing the way I interpret this section. But neither the favorable nor the unfavorable reading relies on the fact that Shylock’s Jewish. We could recast him as a moneylender from any other persecuted group, and the facts don’t change. Antonio punches down and expects his victims to forget his abuse as soon as he needs their help. In these circumstances, I’d want a pound of his flesh too.

I guess this self-contradictory character does credit to Shakespeare's artistic depth, but I'm still having trouble figuring out what it all means.