Recall that dowries were an integral part of a marriage contract until recent history; women were not welcomed in a marriage unless they could add something to the financial prospects of the couple. So Jessica steals what she believes her just dowry would be.
In summary, the father-daughter relationship between Shylock and Jessica seems to be sound on the person-to-person level but they part ways on the ideological level. Jessica doesn't want to remain a Jewish outcast whose life options are restricted and constrained, whereas Shylock clings devotedly to his religion and ethnicity and, therefore, to his position as an outcast. In fact, Shylock turns the tables and casts out the Christians. this is illustrated when he tells Jessica to protect his house and keep the sounds of the Christian celebration out of his house.
However, Jessica’s escape seems like another cruel circumstance inflicted on Shylock, and her behaviour offstage is callous and unfeeling. In many ways Jessica could be seen to be very much like her father. Shylock is never more sympathetic than when he bemoans the fact that Jessica has taken a ring given to him by his wife and has traded it for a monkey, the most banal of objects. Jessica’s behavior is that of a thoughtless and selfish young woman. Like any young woman however Jessica strives to gain her independence and rebels against her father’s extremely controlling manner. At no point does Jessica ever produce satisfactory evidence that life in her father’s house is miserable which implies maybe that her criticism of her father is not totally justified. Her seeming indifference to Antonio’s fate reinforces the idea that she is indeed a self centered and shallow character—she and Lorenzo are more interested in doing what they want—which makes us wonder whether Jessica is actually more selfish and self-absorbed than the father she condemns. While Shylock is no saint, his resolve to collect his debt only seems to strengthen beyond reason after...