. 3 
 
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 After Faed. 
 
SHAKESPEARE'S 
 
 COMEDY OF 
 
 THE MERCHANT OF" VENICE 
 
 . EDITED, WITH NOTES 
 
 BY 
 WILLIAM J. ROLFE, Lirr.D. 
 
 FORMERLY HEAD MASTER OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 
 CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 NEW YORK : CINCINNATI : CHICAGO 
 
 AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1870, 1883, AND 1898, BY 
 HARPER & BROTHERS. 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY 
 WILLIAM J ROLFE. 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY 
 JOHN C. ROLFE. 
 
 MERCHANT OF VENICE. 
 K. P. 21 
 
Co 
 
 Horace l&otoartr jfurness 
 
 " THE DEAREST FRIEND TO ME, THE KINDEST MAN, 
 
 THE BEST-CONDITION'D AND UNWEARIED SPIRIT 
 
 IN DOING COURTESIES " 
 
 THIS BOOK AND THE EDITION OF SHAKESPEARE 
 
 WHICH IT INTRODUCES 
 ARE GRATEFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY 
 
 DEDICATED 
 
 W. J. R. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 MY edition of The Merchant of Venice was first pub- 
 lished in 1870. It was the initial volume of the com- 
 plete' edition of Shakespeare's plays and poems, in forty 
 volumes, which was finished in 1883. 
 
 As I stated in the original preface, the book was 
 planned and nearly completed more than three years 
 earlier, but was laid aside for other work and not taken 
 up again until the summer .of 1870. Meanwhile the 
 notes had been used with classes in school and out of 
 school, and received such revision as was suggested by 
 that experience and by further study of Shakespeare. 
 
 When I began to prepare the book, Shakespeare was 
 just coming to be studied in the secondary schools. 
 Only a few annotated editions of single plays had been 
 published in England, and none, so far as I am aware, 
 in this country. Helps for the school study of Shake- 
 speare were few and expensive. The Cowden-Clarke 
 Concordance cost ten or twelve dollars. The first vol- 
 ume of Dr. Furness's " New Variorum " edition (Romeo 
 and Juliet') was published in 1871, but the second (Mac- 
 beth, the first of the plays commonly read in schools) 
 not until 1873. Critical commentaries on Shakespeare 
 were, as a rule, to be had only in costly English edi- 
 tions. High school libraries were few and small, and 
 public libraries, except in the larger cities, contained 
 but little Shakespearian literature. Few teachers in 
 secondary schools throughout the country were better 
 equipped than I was, some fifteen years earlier, when 
 
 7 
 
8 Preface 
 
 the only Shakespeare I had was a one-volume edition 
 without notes, and my pupils had to use such editions 
 as they found at home or among their friends. 
 
 In editing this play, therefore, it was my aim, as I 
 said in the preface, to furnish " a pure text and the 
 notes needed for its thorough elucidation and illustra 
 tion." Having in mind the needs of the teacher as 
 well as the student, I preferred, in these notes, to err, if 
 at all, on the side of fullness. The book was favourably 
 received, but the publishers were surprised, as I was, 
 when the demand for similar editions of all the plays 
 generally read in schools and colleges was followed by 
 a call from the reading public for the rest of Shake- 
 speare's works in the same form. 
 
 The changes made now in revising the book have 
 been mainly due to the changes that have taken place 
 in the educational situation during the past thirty-five 
 years. For instance, I have omitted the greater part 
 of the notes on textual variations. This play, with most 
 of the others read in schools, is now among the twelve 
 plays that Dr. Furness has edited. No teacher can 
 afford to do without his encyclopedic volumes, in which 
 all the readings and notes of the early editions and of 
 the standard modern editions are epitomized, together 
 tvvith large extracts from the best commentaries and 
 much admirable criticism by Dr. Furness himself. The 
 textual readings, however, are for the average teacher 
 the least important part of the material in that monu- 
 mental edition. The text of Shakespeare is now virtu- 
 . ally settled. Many emendations have been proposed in 
 recent years, but those that have been generally ac- 
 cepted could be counted on the fingers of one hand, 
 with possibly a finger or two to spare. Scattered cruces, 
 due to the corruption of the earlier editions, still re- 
 main to perplex the critics, who will probably quarrel 
 
Preface 9 
 
 over them to the end of time ; and to some of these, 
 as illustrations of an interesting but exasperating class 
 of Shakespearian problems, I make brief reference in 
 the present notes. 
 
 I have also omitted most of the " Critical Comments " 
 from the introduction, as the books from which they 
 were taken are now readily accessible in public and 
 school libraries. For these extracts I have substituted 
 familiar comments of my own, and have added more of 
 the same kind in the Appendix. A concise account of 
 Shakespeare's metre has also been inserted as an intro- 
 duction to the notes. 
 
 Minor changes have been made throughout the 
 notes. Some have been abridged or condensed, some 
 have been expanded, and new ones have been added 
 here and there. In very few instances, however, have 
 I found it necessary to make any radical alterations, as 
 the work of revision has been going on ever since the 
 book was published. It has been so often reprinted 
 that I have had opportunities every year sometimes 
 several times in a year for making the slight changes 
 and additions that seemed to be necessary or desirable. 
 In 1883, when line numbers were first inserted, new 
 plates were required, and the introduction and notes 
 were thoroughly revised. More than five pages were 
 added to the introduction, and about five more were 
 afterwards appended to the notes. 
 
 The present edition is, nevertheless, substantially a 
 new book, and many teachers will, I think, prefer it to 
 the old one. Both can be used, without serious incon- 
 venience, in the same class or club. 
 
 I may add that, in the revision, I have not been 
 inclined to insert the " Hints for Teachers " that are to 
 be found in some good school editions. The teacher 
 who does not need them must regard them as an imper- 
 
io Freface 
 
 tinence. Those who do need them are, in my opinion, 
 quite as likely to misuse them as to profit by them. If 
 they are made full enough and explicit enough to be of 
 real service to the young and inexperienced teacher, 
 they should be printed in a separate booklet, like my 
 Elementary Study of English, which was prepared 
 mainly as a guide to the use of certain books for 
 younger students. I intend to prepare something of 
 the kind on the study of Shakespeare. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGB 
 
 THE LIFE AND WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE . . , 13 
 
 INTRODUCTION TO THE MERCHANT OF VENICE . . .21 
 
 The History of the Play 21 
 
 The Sources of the Plot 23 
 
 Shakespeare and Italy 26 
 
 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 35 
 
 Act I 37 
 
 Act II 56 
 
 Act III 84 
 
 Act IV no 
 
 ActV . .129 
 
 NOTES ..... 143 
 
 APPENDIX 207 
 
 Comments on Some of the Characters .... 207 
 
 The Law in the Trial Scene 227 
 
 The Time-Analysis of the Play 229 
 
 List of Characters in the Play . . . . . 230 
 
 INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES EXPLAINED . . . 233 
 
 II 
 
MONUMENT AT STRATFORD 
 
 12 
 
JOHN SHAKESPEARE'S HOUSE IN HENLEY STREET 
 
 THE LIFE AND WORKS OF 
 SHAKESPEARE 
 
 His Life. William Shakespeare was born at Strat- 
 ford-upon-Avon, in the county of Warwick, England, in 
 April, 1564. He was baptized on the 26th of April 
 (Old Style) ; and, as it was a common practice to christen 
 infants when three days old, the tradition which makes 
 his birthday the 23d (May 3, as dates are now reckoned) 
 is generally accepted. His father, John Shakespeare, 
 who had been a farmer in a neighbouring village, came 
 to Stratford about 1553, and adopted the trade of a 
 glover. His mother, Mary Arden, belonged to a younger 
 branch of a good old Warwickshire family, and inherited 
 a considerable estate from her father. John Shake- 
 speare was evidently shrewd, energetic, ambitious, and 
 public-spirited. He made money, and was popular with 
 
 13 
 
14- 
 
 The Life and Works of 
 
 his fellow-townsmen. After passing through the lowef 
 grades of office, he was elected alderman, and in 1568 
 became high bailiff or mayor. 
 
 INNER COURT OF THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL, STRATFORD 
 
 Of a family of four sons and four daughters, William 
 was the third child, but the eldest son. When he was 
 seven years old, he was doubtless sent to the Stratford 
 grammar school, where he got all the regular schooling 
 he ever had. In 1582, when he was only eighteen, he 
 married Anne Hathaway, of the hamlet of Shottery, near 
 
Shakespeare 1 5 
 
 Stratford, who was some eight years older than himself. 
 A daughter was born to him in 1583, and twins a 
 boy and a girl two years later. He had no other 
 children. 
 
 STRATFORD CHURCH 
 
 It was probably in the next year, 1586, that Shake- 
 speare went to London, where he became, first an actor, 
 then a writer for the stage. As an actor he seems to 
 have made no special mark, but as a writer he very soon 
 distinguished himself, and in a few years had won the 
 foremost rank among the dramatists of his time. In 
 1598, Francis Meres, in his Palladis Tamia, or Wifs 
 
i6 
 
 The Life and Works of 
 
 Treasury, speaks of him as " the most excellent among 
 the English for both kinds of tragedy and comedy." 
 His works not only became widely popular, but they 
 brought him special marks of favour and approval from 
 Queen Elizabeth and her successor, James, and gained 
 
 CHAPEL OF GUILD AND GRAMMAR SCHOOL 
 
 for him the patronage and friendship of some of the 
 most accomplished men of rank of that day. 
 
 But while thus prosperous and honoured in London, 
 Shakespeare continued to look upon Stratford as his 
 home. There he had left his wife and children, and 
 thither, after he had secured a competency, he returned 
 to spend the evening of his days. It was probably 
 about the year 1611 that he settled down in Stratford, 
 
Shakespeare 17 
 
 at New Place, an estate purchased in 1597. His wife 
 was still living, and also his two daughters, of whom 
 the elder, Susanna, was married in June, 1607, to Dr. 
 John Hall, an eminent physician of the time. The 
 younger daughter, Judith, was married to Mr. Thomas 
 Quiney, a Stratford vintner, in February, 1616. Ham- 
 net, the poet's son, had died in 1596, in his twelfth year. 
 
 Shakespeare died at Stratford on the 23d of April, 
 1616, and was buried in the parish church. 
 
 The poet's family became extinct with his grand- 
 children. Elizabeth, the only child of the Halls, was 
 twice married, but had no offspring. Thomas and 
 Judith Quiney had three sons, one of whom died in 
 babyhood, the others at eighteen and twenty respec- 
 tively. Judith lived to the age of seventy-six, dying in 
 February, 1638. Lady Barnard (Elizabeth Hall) died 
 in February, 1669, at the age of sixty-one. 
 
 His Works. The first work of Shakespeare which 
 was printed with his name was the poem of Venus and 
 Adonis, which appeared in 1593. In the dedication to 
 the Earl of Southampton the author styles it " the first 
 heir of his invention. " In 1 594, The Rape of Lucrece was 
 published. Both these poems were reprinted several 
 times in the poet's lifetime. His only other works, 
 besides the plays, are a few of the pieces in The Pas- 
 sionate Pilgrim (a small collection of poems, first printed 
 in 1599), and his Sonnets (154 in number), with a poem 
 entitled A Lovers Complaint, which appeared together 
 in 1609. 
 
 MER. OF YEN. 2 
 
i8 
 
 The Life and Works of 
 
 The first edition of his collected dramatic works 
 contained all the plays generally included in modern 
 editions, with the exception of Pericles, and was pub- 
 lished in a folio volume, in 1623, or not till seven years 
 after his death. It was put forth by two of his friends 
 
 FIRESIDE. KITCHEN OF HOUSE IN HENLEY STREET 
 
 f 
 
 and fellow-actors, John Heminge and Henrie Condell, 
 and the title-page declares it to be printed " according 
 to the true original copies." The preface also con- 
 demns all preceding editions of separate plays 1 as 
 
 1 Eighteen of the plays are known to have been separately printed, 
 some of them more than once, in Shakespeare's lifetime. Othello was 
 also printed separately in 1622. All these editions are in quarto form; 
 and are commonly known as the old or early quartos. 
 
Shakespeare 1 9 
 
 " stolen and surreptitious copies, maimed and deformed 
 by the frauds and stealths of injurious impostors," while 
 it claims that the publishers of this volume had the use 
 of the author's manuscripts. They probably had the 
 use of such of his papers as were in the possession of 
 the Blackfriars Theatre, to which they, like himself, 
 belonged. The volume, however, had no proper edit- 
 ing, and every page is disfigured by the grossest typo- 
 graphical errors. While it is the earliest and the only 
 authentic edition of the plays, it cannot be accepted as 
 anything like an infallible authority in all cases for 
 what Shakespeare actually wrote. The quartos, though 
 they were all piratical ventures, are of considerable 
 value in the correction of its errors and imperfections. 
 
 The volume just described is commonly known as 
 the " first folio." A second folio edition, including the 
 same plays, appeared in 1632. It contains some new 
 readings, which are probably nothing more than the 
 conjectural emendations of the unknown editor. 
 
 The third folio, a reprint of the second, with few 
 variations of any value or interest, was first published 
 in 1663. It was reissued the next year, with the addi- 
 tion of seven plays : Pericles , The London Prodigal, 
 Thomas Lord Cromwell, Sir John Oldcastle, The Puritan 
 Widow, A Yorkshire Tragedy, and Locrine. Pericles is 
 the only one of these in which Shakespeare could have 
 had any hand. 
 
 A fourth and last folio was brought out in 1685. It 
 was a reprint of that of 1664 (including the seven plays 
 
2O The Life and Works of Shakespeare 
 
 just mentioned), with the spelling somewhat modernized, 
 but few other changes. 
 
 These four folios were the only editions of the plays 
 brought out in the seventeenth century. The eigh- 
 teenth century produced a long succession of editors 
 Rowe, Pope, Theobald, Hanmer, Warburton, Johnson, 
 Steevens, Capell, Reed, Malone, and Rann. In 1803 
 (2d edition, 1813) appeared what is known as Reed^s 
 Second Edition of Johnson and Steevens ', in twenty-one 
 volumes, in which were incorporated most of the notes 
 of the preceding editions. This was followed by the 
 Variorum of 1821 ', also in twenty-one volumes, mostly 
 prepared by Malone, but completed and carried through 
 the press by his friend Boswell. The most important 
 English editions of more recent date are those of 
 Knight, Collier, Singer, Staunton, Dyce, Clark and 
 Wright (the " Cambridge " edition), Charles and Mary 
 Cowden-Clarke, Halliwell-Phillipps, and Irving and 
 Marshall (the " Henry Irving " edition). Of American 
 editions the most noteworthy are Verplanck's (1847). 
 Hudson's (1855 and 1881), Grant White's (1857-1865 
 and 1883), and Furness's (" New Variorum " edition, 
 begun in 1871). 
 
COLONNADE OF DUCAL PALACE, VENICE 
 
 INTRODUCTION TO THE MERCHANT 
 OF VENICE 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE PLAY 
 
 The Merchant of Venice is the last on a list of Shake- 
 speare's plays given by Francis Meres in his Palladis 
 Tamia, 1598. In the same year it was entered as fol- 
 lows on the Register of the Stationers' Company : 
 
 "22 Julii, 1598 James Robertes.] A booke of the 
 Marchaunt of Venyce, or otherwise called the Jewe of 
 
 21 
 
22 The Merchant of Venice 
 
 Venyce. Provided that yt bee not prynted by the said 
 James Robertes, or anye other whatsoever, without 
 lycence first had from the Right honorable the lord 
 Chamberlen." 
 
 The company of players to which Shakespeare be- 
 longed, and for which he wrote, was " the Lord Cham- 
 berlain's Servants " ; and the above order was meant 
 to prohibit the publication of the play until the patron 
 of the company should give his permission. This he 
 appears not to have done until two years later, when 
 the following entry was made in the Register : 
 
 " 28 Octobris, 1600, Thomas haies.] . . .the booke of 
 the merchant of Venyce." 
 
 Soon after this entry, or before the end of 1600, the 
 play was published by Heyes in quarto form; and 
 another edition, also in quarto, was issued the same 
 year by Roberts. 
 
 Philip Henslowe, a theatrical manager of the time> 
 in his Diary, in which he kept his accounts, with the 
 dates of plays that he brought out, etc. (a book of great 
 value to students of dramatic history), records, under 
 the date "25 of aguste, 1594," the performance of "the 
 Venesyon comodey," which is marked ne, as a new 
 play. Some critics take this to be The Merchant of 
 Venice, since the company of players to which Shake- 
 speare belonged was then acting at Henslowe 's theatre ; 
 but it is quite impossible that the play could have been 
 written as early as 1594. The more probable date is 
 1596 or 1597. 
 
Introduction 23 
 
 THE SOURCES OF THE PLOT 
 
 In the plot of The Merchant of Venice two distinct 
 stories that of the bond and that of the caskets are 
 skilfully interwoven. Both are found in the Gesta Roma- 
 norum, a Latin collection of fictitious narratives, which 
 had been translated into English as early as the time of 
 Henry VI. It is probable, however, that Shakespeare 
 was indebted, directly or indirectly, for the incidents 
 connected with the bond to a story in // Pecorone, a 
 collection of tales by Giovanni Fiorentino, first pub- 
 lished at Milan in 1558, though written almost two 
 centuries earlier. In this story we have a rich lady 
 at Belmont, who is to be won on certain conditions of 
 a nature unsuited for dramatic purposes ; and she is 
 finally won by a young merchant, whose friend, having 
 become surety for him to a Jew under the same penalty 
 as in the play, is rescued by the adroitness of the mar- 
 ried lady, disguised as a lawyer. She receives, as in 
 the play, her marriage ring as a gratuity, and afterwards 
 banters her husband, as Portia does, upon the loss of it. 
 An English translation of the book was extant in Shake- 
 speare's time. 
 
 Possibly the dramatist was somewhat indebted to The 
 Orator, translated from the French of Alexander Sil- 
 vayn (London, 1596). Portions of the 95th Declama- 
 tion in this book are strikingly like some of Shylock's 
 speeches at the trial. It is doubtful whether the old 
 ballad of Gernutus, which some critics believe that 
 
24 The Merchant of Venice 
 
 Shakespeare used, is earlier or later than the play; 
 but even if it was earlier, it is improbable that he 
 was indebted to it, or to sundry other versions of the 
 story, in prose or verse, which editors and commen- 
 tators have discovered. 
 
 There is good reason, however, to believe that the 
 bond and casket legends had been blended in dramatic 
 form before Shakespeare began to write for the stage. 
 Stephen Gosson, a Puritan author, in his Schoole of 
 Abuse (1579), excepts a few plays from the sweeping 
 condemnation of his " plesaunt invective against Poets, 
 Pipers, Plaiers, Jesters, and such-like caterpillers of a 
 Common welth." Among these exceptions he mentions 
 " The Jew, . . . representing the gree dines se of worldly 
 chusers, and the bloody minds of usurers" We have no 
 other knowledge of this play of The Jew ; but the 
 nationality of its hero and the double moral, agree- 
 ing so exactly with that of The Merchant of Venice, 
 render it probable that the plots of the two dramas 
 were essentially the same, and that Shakespeare, in 
 this instance as in others, worked upon some rough 
 model already prepared for him. The question, how- 
 ever, is not of great importance. " Be the merit of 
 the fable whose it may, the characters, the language, 
 the poetry, and the sentiment are his, and his alone. 
 To no other writer of the period could we be indebted 
 for the charming combination of womanly grace, and 
 dignity, and playfulness which is found in Portia ; for 
 the exquisite picture of friendship between Bassanio 
 
Introduction 25 
 
 and Antonio ; for the profusion of poetic beauties scat- 
 tered over the play ; and for the masterly delineation 
 of that perfect type of Judaism in olden times, the 
 character of Shy lock himself " (Staunton). 
 
 Similarly, Mr. Grant White, after referring to Shake- 
 speare's indebtedness for the materials of his plot to 
 the old story-tellers, and probably for their combination 
 in dramatic form to an earlier playwright, asks : " What 
 then remains to Shakespeare? and what is there to 
 show that he is not a plagiarist? Everything that 
 makes The Merchant of Venice what it is. The people 
 are puppets, and the incidents are all in these old stories. 
 They are mere bundles of barren sticks that the poet's 
 touch causes to bloom like Aaron's rod ; they are heaps 
 of dry bones till he clothes them with human flesh and 
 breathes into them the breath of life. Antonio ', grave, 
 pensive, prudent save in his devotion to his young kins- 
 man, as a Christian hating the Jew, as a royal merchant 
 despising the usurer ; Bassanio, lavish yet provident, a 
 generous gentleman although a fortune-seeker, wise 
 although a gay gallant, and manly though dependent ; 
 Gratiano, who unites the not too common virtues of 
 thorough good nature and unselfishness with the some- 
 times not unserviceable fault of talking for talk v o sake ; 
 Shylock, crafty and cruel, whose revenge is as mean as 
 it is fierce and furious, whose abuse never rises to 
 invective, and who has yet some dignity of port a? the 
 avenger of a nation's wrongs, some claim upon our 
 sympathy as a father outraged by his only child ; and 
 
26 The Merchant of Venice 
 
 Portia, matchless impersonation of that rare woman 
 who is gifted even more in intellect than loveliness, 
 these, not to notice minor characters no less perfectly 
 organized or completely developed after their kind 
 these, and the poetry which is their atmosphere, and 
 through which they beam upon us, all radiant in its 
 golden light, are Shakespeare's only ; and these it is, 
 and not the incidents of old and, but for these, forgotten 
 tales, that make The Merchant of Venice a priceless and 
 imperishable dower to the queenly city that sits en- 
 throned upon the sea a dower of romance more 
 bewitching than that of her moonlit waters and beauty- 
 laden balconies, of adornment more splendid than that 
 of her pictured palaces, of human interest more endur- 
 ing than that of her blood-stained annals, more touching 
 even than the sight of her faded grandeur." 
 
 SHAKESPEARE AND ITALY 
 
 In As You Like It, Rosalind, bantering the affected 
 Jaques on having been in foreign lands and come home 
 only to " disable all the benefits of his own country and 
 be out of love with his nativity," says, " Look you lisp 
 and wear' strange suits, or I will scarce think you have 
 swam in a gondola." To have swam in a gondola was 
 to Rosalind and to Shakespeare, we may say the 
 typical achievement of a traveller ; and it may still be 
 so regarded. There is nothing else so novel in all one's 
 tourist experiences nothing that so makes one feel 
 
Introduction 27 
 
 his distance from his native land and all its ways and 
 habits. 
 
 If he comes by rail to Venice he finds the station 
 much like that in any other large city. He leaves 
 the train, goes with the crowd toward the 'door, steps 
 out into the open air and into a new world, or rather 
 an old one, though new to him. It is a step from the 
 nineteenth century to the fifteenth. It seems for the 
 moment like magic. He looks back to see if the rail- 
 way station has not vanished into thin air ; and this 
 seems actually to have happened, for the handsome 
 front of the building might belong to any other structure 
 as well. He is in a small square on the bank of the 
 Grand Canal, where a whole fleet of gondolas is drawn 
 up, waiting for passengers like the hackney carriages 
 at one of our railway terminals. He jumps on board 
 one of them, gives the name of his hotel to the gondo- 
 lier, and is soon afloat on the marine Broadway of 
 Venice. 
 
 It is now that, swimming in a gondola, he really feels 
 the significance of Rosalind's allusion to it. And he is 
 not only in a strange land, but in a long-past age. 
 From the railway train to the gondola is from our land 
 to Venice, and from our day to Shakespeare's. There 
 is something in the noiseless, gliding motion of the 
 craft, especially in this sudden transition to it from 
 the clatter and jar and rush of the train, which adds 
 indescribably to the dreamy, delusive effect. Every- 
 thing around him is in keeping with the bewildering 
 
28 The Merchant of Venice 
 
 enchantment Nothing distinctively modern is to be 
 seen on either hand. He has actually been transported 
 to an old world of history, poetry, and romance, of 
 which hitherto he has had only a vague idea. Soon 
 the gondola turns out of the Grand Canal into one of 
 the narrow canals that afford a short cut across its 
 immense curves, and he is in a stream only a few yards 
 wide, hemmed in by lofty time-worn walls one of the 
 watery back alleys of the old city; but he emerges 
 upon the Grand Canal again near the Rialto Bridge. 
 The gondolier points it out, but it was not necessary ; 
 he could not possibly mistake it. Near the end of the 
 canal he reaches his hotel, fronting upon it. It is an 
 old palace three or four hundred years old but for 
 the most part so remodeled within that one could not 
 distinguish it from any modern hotel ; and our tourist 
 is back into the twentieth century again as the elevator 
 takes him to his room. 
 
 This may seem a long introduction, and rather in- 
 tended to air my memories of travel, in the manner of 
 our friend Jaques, than to lead up to my subject. I 
 have dwelt upon it as illustrating our entrance upon the 
 study of Shakespeare. In coming to Venice, I have 
 said, we enter upon an old world of history, poetry ? 
 and romance ; and to such a world of poetry and 
 romance and history does Shakespeare introduce us 
 a world full of life and action, crowded with per- 
 sonages real and unreal, yet the latter none the less 
 real because they were born of the poet's brain a 
 
Introduction 29 
 
 world with its England and France, its Greece and 
 Italy, its London, Paris, Rome, and Venice, where we 
 may travel at will without stirring from our home fire- 
 side, and see and learn quite as much as some do who 
 have actually swam in a gondola. 
 
 I cannot but envy those to whom this Shakespearian 
 world is as yet a new and unknown world, to which 
 they come, as I did to Venice, at sunset of a lovely 
 April day, floating in a gondola on the Grand Canal 
 for the first time. They may return to it again and 
 again, as to Venice, and in some respects with in- 
 creased enjoyment; but there is something in the fas- 
 cination of that first experience which can never be 
 renewed. 
 
 England and Italy are preeminently the countries of 
 Shakespeare's plays. The scenes of fourteen of them 
 (including the historical plays) are laid wholly or partly 
 in England, and of eleven (including the Roman plays), 
 wholly or partly in Italy. I count The Tempest among 
 the latter because the characters are Italian, though the 
 scene is an island not put down in any prosaic manual 
 of geography. The other plays, twelve in number, are 
 scattered through various lands, Greece, Illyria, Bohe- 
 mia, France, Sicily (not a part of Italy in Shakespeare's 
 day), Denmark, etc. 
 
 Some of these are mere names. The Illyria of 
 Twelfth Night and the Bohemia and Sicily of The 
 Winter's Tale, for instance, might be anywhere else. 
 In the Elizabethan age the theatres had no painted 
 
30 The Merchant of Venice 
 
 scenery, and a sign or placard was often put up at 
 the back of the stage to indicate the locality, Athens, 
 Rome, Venice, or whatever it might be. The sign was 
 the only aid to the spectator's imagination, which had 
 to furnish a local habitation for the name as best it 
 could. And so with the Messina of Much Ado, the 
 Vienna of Measure for Measure, the Ephesus of The, 
 Comedy of Errors, and the like. They are nothing 
 more than names stuck up on a stage without scenery. 
 Transpose these names from one play to another, and 
 it would make no difference except in the measure of 
 a few lines in which they occur. 
 
 But the Italian scenes are veritably Italian. In The 
 Two Gentlemen of Verona, indeed, this local tone is not 
 so marked, and the poet is guilty of the blunder of 
 sending a ship from Verona to Milan ; 1 but that is 
 one of the earliest plays of Shakespeare, and it is evi- 
 dent that he was not then so familiar with Italy as 
 when he wrote the later plays of which that country 
 is the scene. 
 
 And here the question arises, Did the poet visit 
 Italy ? Did he ever swim in a gondola ? It is not 
 impossible though it seems to me, on the whole, im- 
 probable that he may have done so. There are sev- 
 eral years of his life after he went to London about 
 
 1 It is said that there was a canal between the two cities when 
 Shakespeare wrote; but the allusions to the tide and to the danger 
 of shipwreck (i. I. 117, ii. 3. 36) prove that he had in mind a voyage 
 by sea. 
 
Introduction 31 
 
 which we know absolutely nothing, and where he was 
 and what he was doing can be only matter of con- 
 jecture. Critics who have been in Italy, and some 
 who have long resided there, find it difficult to explain 
 his minute acquaintance with the manners of the coun- 
 try except on the theory that he had visited it. It 
 may be said that he got this knowledge from friends 
 who had traveled, as some of his fellow-actors are 
 known to have done ; but, on the other hand, it is 
 urged that such second-hand information could hardly 
 have made him so perfectly at home in Italy that he 
 never falls into any mistakes, even in those little mat- 
 ters which are rarely noted in books of travel or talked 
 about by tourists. 
 
 In The Merchant of Venice, for instance (ii. 2), Old 
 Gobbo brings .a present of a " dish of doves " for 
 Launcelot's master. " Where," asks Mr. Charles A. 
 Brown (Shakespeare's Autobiographical Poems, 1858), 
 " did the poet obtain his numerous graphic touches of 
 national manners ? Where did he learn of an old vil- 
 lager's coming into the city with a dish of doves as a 
 present to his son's master? A present thus given, 
 and of doves, is not uncommon in Italy. I myself 
 have partaken there, with due relish, in memory of 
 poor old Gobbo, of a dish of doves presented by the 
 father of a servant." The Taming of the Shrew has 
 many of these little Italian touches, and they are to 
 be found in other of the Italian plays. 
 
 In The Merchant of Venice the very atmosphere is 
 
32 The Merchant of Venice 
 
 Italian. In the charming fifth act, which is so refresh- 
 ing and restful to our feelings after the almost tragic 
 interest of the trial scene, like the calm and repose of 
 a beautiful moonlit evening after the exhaustion of an 
 anxious and exciting day, Portia says : 
 
 "This night, methinks, is but the daylight sick; 
 It looks a little paler : 'tis a day 
 Such as the day is when the sun is hid." 
 
 There is no such moonlight in England; but there is 
 in Italy as in New England, where we have skies as 
 blue and clear as bend over Venice or Florence or 
 Naples. To one going from England to Italy the 
 difference in the transparency of the atmosphere is 
 as striking as that in the climate or the vegetation. 
 
 But, whether Shakespeare was ever in Italy in bodily 
 presence, or saw its cities and its people, its skies and 
 its moonlight, only with the mind's eye, he takes us to 
 the real Italy in his plays, and not to a theatrical cari- 
 cature of the country. As some critic has said, the 
 merchant of Venice is a merchant of no other city in 
 the world ; and it may be added that everything in the 
 play is equally Venetian. And yet the strictly topo- 
 graphical allusions are only one or two. The Rialto 
 is mentioned, but it should be understood that it is 
 not the bridge so called, but the merchants' exchange, 
 which was on the Rialto, one of the islands on which 
 the city was built, and originally its political and com- 
 mercial centre. The bridge, one end of which is on 
 
Introduction 33 
 
 this island (whence it gets its name), was begun in 
 1588 and finished in 1591, or several years before the 
 earliest date ascribed to the play. The exchange was 
 held in the open place in front of the church of San 
 Giacomo, a little way from the bridge. No merchants, 
 except humble dealers in fruit and vegetables, congre- 
 gate there now, and the locality has a thoroughly ple- 
 beian character ; but in the olden time it was thronged 
 by the Shylocks and Antonios, and their patrons and cus- 
 tomers, during the business hours of the day. Thomas 
 Coryat, in his Crudities, published in 1611, says : " The 
 Rialto, which is at the farthest side of the bridge, as 
 you come from St. Marks, is a most stately building, 
 being the Exchange of Venice, where the Venetian gen- 
 tlemen and the merchants doe meete twice a day, betwixt 
 eleven and twelve of the clocke in the morning, and 
 betwixt five and sixe of the clocke in the afternoone. 
 This Rialto is of a goodly height, . . . adorned with 
 many faire walkes or open galleries, . . . and hath a 
 pretty quadrangular court adjoining to it." Fynes Mory- 
 son, in his Ten Yeares Travell (1617), describes it thus : 
 " The foure square market-place of Rialto is compassed 
 with publike houses, under the arches whereof, and in 
 the middle part lying open, the merchants meet." Archi- 
 tecturally it remains the same to-day, an open square 
 surrounded by the arcaded buildings (like St. Mark's 
 Place, on a smaller scale) erected in the early part of 
 the sixteenth century. Near one corner of the square 
 >s a short column of Egyptian granite, supported by a 
 
 MER. OF VEN. 3 
 
34 The Merchant of Venice 
 
 kneeling hunchback (" II Gobbo di Rialto," also of the 
 sixteenth century), from which the laws of the Republic 
 were promulgated. 
 
 Perhaps the only other local allusion in the play, 
 aside from the mention of gondolas, is that to " the 
 common ferry that trades to Venice," which recognizes 
 the insular position of the city, connected with the main- 
 land only by ferries, as it continued to be until the 
 building of the railway bridge in 1845. But we feel 
 that we are in Venice all the time Venice in the old 
 days of its power and wealth, when the argosies of the 
 world thronged its port, and, as Antonio says, " the 
 trade and profit of the city consisted of all nations." 
 It is no absurdity that suitors, not only from all parts 
 of Italy, but from France, England, Scotland, Germany, 
 Spain, and Morocco, are made to come as rivals for the 
 hand of Portia, so many Jasons in quest of the golden 
 fleece at Belmont. 
 
 The mention of the ferry to Venice indicates that 
 Shakespeare supposed Belmont to be on the mainland, 
 though he probably had no definite locality in mind. 
 We may imagine it to have been in the country west- 
 ward of Venice, where there were then, as now, many 
 villas of the Venetian nobility. This is on the direct 
 road to Padua, about halfway between that city and 
 Venice, which is twenty-two miles from Padua by the 
 present railway, or twenty-six by steam tramway to 
 Fusina and steamer from there (probably the termi- 
 nus of the ancient ferry) to Venice. 
 
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 
 
 35 
 
DRAMATIS PERSONS 
 
 THE DUKE OF VENICE 
 
 THE PRINCE OF MOROCCO, | .. . t , 
 
 THE PRINCE OF ARRAGON, f smtors to Portia - 
 
 ANTONIO, the Merchant of Venice. 
 
 BASSANIO, his friend. 
 
 SALANIO, \ 
 
 SALARINO, > friends to Antonio and Bassanio. 
 
 GRATIANO, ) 
 
 LORENZO, in love with Jessica. 
 
 SHYLOCK, a Jew. 
 
 TUBAL, a Jew, his friend. 
 
 LAUNCELOT GOBBO, a clown. 
 
 OLD GOBBO, father to tauncelot. 
 
 SALERIO, a messenger. 
 
 LEONARDO, servant to Bassanio. 
 
 PORTIA, a rich heiress. 
 NERISSA, her waiting-maid. 
 JESSICA, daughter to Shy lock. 
 
 Magnificoes of Venice, Officers of the Court of Jus- 
 tice, Gaoler, Servants, and other Attendants. 
 
 SCENE : Partly at Venice, and partly at Belmont. 
 
ST. MARK'S PLACE 
 
 ACT I 
 
 SCENE I. Venice. A Street 
 
 Enter ANTONIO, SALARINO, and SALANIO 
 
 Antonio. In sooth, I know not why I am so sad. 
 It wearies me, you say it wearies you ; 
 But how I caught it, found it, or came by it, 
 What stuff 't is made of, whereof it is born, 
 I am to learn ; 
 
 And such a want-wit sadness makes of me 
 That I have much ado to know myself. 
 
 Salarino. Your mind is tossing on the ocean; 
 There where your argosies with portly sail, 
 Like signiors and rich burghers on the flood, 
 
 37 
 
38 The Merchant of Venice [Acti 
 
 Or, as it were, the pageants of the sea, 
 Do overpeer the petty traffickers, 
 That curtsy to them, do them reverence, 
 As they fly by them with their woven wings. 
 
 Salanio. Believe me, sir, had I such venture forth, 
 The better part of my affections would 
 Be with my hopes abroad. I should be still 
 Plucking the grass, to know where sits the wind, 
 Peering in maps for ports and piers and roads; 
 And every object that might make me fear 20 
 
 Misfortune to my ventures, out of doubt, 
 Would make me sad. 
 
 Salarino. My wind, cooling my broth, 
 
 Would blow me to an ague when I thought 
 What harm a wind too great might do at sea. 
 I should not see the sandy hourglass run 
 But I should think of shallows and of flats, 
 And see my wealthy Andrew dock'd in sand, 
 Vailing her high-top lower than her ribs, 
 To kiss her burial. Should I go to church 
 And see the holy edifice of stone, 30 
 
 And not bethink me straight of dangerous rocks, 
 Which, touching but my gentle vessel's side, 
 Would scatter all her spices on the stream, 
 Enrobe the roaring waters with my silks, 
 And, in a word, but even now worth this, 
 And now worth nothing? Shall I have the thought 
 To think on this, and shall I lack the thought 
 That such a thing bechanc'd would make me sad? 
 
Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 39 
 
 But tell not me ; I know Antonio 
 
 Is sad to think upon his merchandise. 40 
 
 Antonio. Believe me, no. I thank my fortune for it, 
 My ventures are not in one bottom trusted, 
 Nor to one place ; nor is my whole estate 
 Upon the fortune of this present year. 
 Therefore my merchandise makes me not sad. 
 
 Salarino. Why, then you are in love. 
 
 Antonio. Fie, fie ! 
 
 Salarino. Not in love neither? Then let us say 
 
 you 're sad 
 
 Because you are not merry ; and 't were as easy 
 For you to laugh and leap, and say you 're merry 
 Because you are not sad. Now, by two-headed Janus, 
 Nature hath fram'd strange fellows in her time : 51 
 
 Some that will evermore peep through their eyes 
 And laugh, like parrots, at a bag-piper ; 
 And other of such vinegar aspect 
 That they '11 not show their teeth in way of smile, 
 Though Nestor swear the jest be laughable. 
 
 Enter BASSANIO, LORENZO, and GRATIANO 
 
 Salanio. Here comes Bassanio, your most noble 
 
 kinsman, 
 
 Gratiano, and Lorenzo. Fare ye well ; 
 We leave you now with better company. 
 
 Salarino. I would have stay'd till I had made you 
 merry > 60 
 
 If worthier friends had not prevented me. 
 
4<D The Merchant of Venice [Act I 
 
 Antonio. Your worth is very dear in my regard. 
 I take it, your own business calls on you, 
 And you embrace the occasion to depart. 
 
 Salarino. Good morrow, my good lords. 
 
 Bassanio. Good signiors both, when shall we laugh ? 
 
 Say, when ? 
 You grow exceeding strange ; must it be so? 
 
 Salarino. We '11. make our leisures to attend on yours. 
 \Exeunt Salarino and Salanio. 
 
 Lorenzo. My Lord Bassanio, since you Ve found 
 
 Antonio, 
 
 We two will leave you ; but at dinner-time, jo 
 
 I pray you, have in mind where we must meet. 
 
 Bassanio. I will not fail you. 
 
 Gratiano. You look not well, Signior Antonio. 
 You have too much respect upon the world ; 
 They lose it that do buy it with much care. 
 Believe me, you are marvellously chang'd. 
 
 Antonio. I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano, 
 A stage where every man must play a part, 
 And mine a sad one. 
 
 Gratiano. Let me play the fool ; 
 
 With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come, 80 
 
 And let my liver rather heat with wine 
 Than my heart cool with mortifying groans. 
 Why should a man whose blood is warm within 
 Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster ? 
 Sleep when he wakes, and creep into the jaundice 
 By being peevish ? I tell thee what, Antonio, 
 
Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 41 
 
 I love thee, and it is my love that speaks, 
 
 There are a sort of men whose visages 
 
 Do cream and mantle like a standing pond, 
 
 And do a wilful stillness entertain, 90 
 
 With purpose to be dress'd in an opinion 
 
 Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit ; 
 
 As who should say, ' I am Sir Oracle, 
 
 And when I ope my lips let no dog bark ! ' 
 
 my Antonio, I do know of these 
 That therefore only are reputed wise 
 
 For saying nothing ; when, I am very sure, 
 
 If they should speak, would almost damn those ears 
 
 Which, hearing them, would call their brothers fools. 
 
 I'll tell thee more of this another time ; 100 
 
 But fish not, with this melancholy bait, 
 
 For this fool gudgeon, this opinion. 
 
 Come, good Lorenzo. Fare ye well awhile ; 
 
 I'll end my exhortation after dinner. 
 
 Lorenzo. Well, we will leave you then till dinner-time. 
 
 1 must be one of these same dumb wise men, 
 For Gratiano never lets me speak. 
 
 Gratiano. Well, keep me company but two years moe, 
 Thou shalt not know the sound of thine own tongue. 
 Antonio. Farewell ; I'll grow a talker for this gear. 
 Gratiano. Thanks, i' faith ; for silence is only com- 
 mendable in 
 In a neat's tongue dried. 
 
 \Exeunt Gratiano and Lorenzo. 
 Antonio. Is that any thing now ? 
 
42 The Merchant of Venice [Act I 
 
 Bassanio. Gratiano speaks an infinite deal of nothing, 
 more than any man in all Venice. His reasons are as 
 two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff ; you 
 shall seek all day ere you find them, and when you have 
 them they are not worth the search. 
 
 Antonio. Well, tell me now, what lady is the same 
 To whom you swore a secret pilgrimage, 120 
 
 That you to-day promis'd to tell me of? 
 
 Bassanio. J T is not unknown to you, Antonio, 
 How much I have disabled mine estate, 
 By something showing a more swelling port 
 Than my faint means would grant continuance ; 
 Nor do I now make moan to be abridg'd 
 From such a noble rate, but my chief care 
 Is to come fairly off from the great debts 
 Wherein my time, something too prodigal, 
 Hath left me gag'd. To you, Antonio, 130 
 
 I owe the most, in money and in love ; 
 And from your love I have a warranty 
 To unburthen all my plots and purposes, 
 How to get clear of all the debts I owe. 
 
 Antonio. I pray you, good Bassanio, let me know it ; 
 And if it stand, as you yourself still do, 
 Within the eye of honour, be assur'd, 
 My purse, my person, my extremest means, 
 Lie all unlocked to your occasions. 
 
 Bassanio. In my school days, when I had lost one 
 shaft, 140 
 
 I shot his fellow of the selfsame flight 
 
Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 43 
 
 The selfsame way, with more advised watch, 
 
 To find the other forth ; and by adventuring both 
 
 I oft found both. I urge this childhood proof 
 
 Because what follows is pure innocence. 
 
 I owe you much, and, like a wilful youth, 
 
 That which I owe is lost ; but if you please 
 
 To shoot another arrow that self way 
 
 Which you did shoot the first, I do not doubt, 
 
 As I will watch the aim, or to find both 150 
 
 Or bring your latter hazard back again, 
 
 And thankfully rest debtor for the first. 
 
 Antonio. You know me well, and herein spend but time 
 To wind about my love with circumstance ; * 
 And, out of doubt, you do me now more wrong 
 In making question of my uttermost 
 Than if you had made waste of all I have. 
 Then do but say to me what I should do, 
 That in your knowledge may by me be done, 
 And I am prest unto it ; therefore speak. 160 
 
 Bassanio. In Belmont is a lady richly left ; 
 * And she is fair and, fairer than that word, 
 Of wondrous virtues. Sometimes from her eyes 
 I did receive fair speechless messages. 
 Her name is Portia, nothing undervalued 
 To Cato's daughter, Brutus' Portia. 
 Nor is the wide world ignorant of her worth, 
 For the four winds blow in from every coast 
 Renowned suitors ; and her sunny locks 
 Hang on her temples like a golden fleece, 170 
 
44 The Merchant of Venice [Act I 
 
 Which makes her seat of Belmont Colchos' strand, 
 And many Jasons come in quest of her. 
 
 my Antonio, had I but the means 
 To hold a rival place with one of them, 
 
 1 have a mind presages me such thrift 
 That I should questionless be fortunate. 
 
 Antonio. Thou know'st that all my fortunes are at sea ; 
 Neither have I money nor commodity 
 To raise a present sum. Therefore go forth ; 
 Try what my credit can in Venice do. 180 
 
 That shall be rack'd, even to the uttermost, 
 To furnish thee to Belmont, to fair Portia. 
 Go, presently inquire, and so will I, 
 Where money is, and I no question make 
 To have it of my trust or for my sake. \_Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE II. Belmont. A Room in Portia's House 
 Enter PORTIA and NERISSA 
 
 Portia. By my troth, Nerissa, my little body is 
 aweary of this great world. 
 
 Nerissa. You would be, sweet madam, if your 
 miseries were in the same abundance as your good 
 fortunes are ; and yet, for aught I see, they are as sick 
 that surfeit with too much as they that starve with 
 nothing. It is no mean happiness, therefore, to be 
 seated in the mean ; superfluity comes sooner by 
 white hairs, but competency lives longer. 
 
 Portia. Good sentences, and well pronounced. 10 
 
Scene HJ The Merchant of Venice 45 
 
 Nerissa. They would be better if well followed. 
 
 Portia. If to do were as easy as to know what were 
 good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's 
 cottages princes' palaces. It is a good divine that fol- 
 lows his own instructions ; I can easier teach twenty 
 what were good to be done than be one of the twenty 
 to follow mine own teaching. The brain may devise 
 laws for the blood, but a hot temper leaps o'er a cold 
 decree ; such a hare is madness, the youth, to skip 
 o'er the meshes of good counsel, the cripple. But 20 
 this reasoning is not in the fashion to choose me a 
 husband." O me, the word ' choose ! ' I may neither 
 choose whom I would, nor refuse whom I dislike ; so 
 is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of 
 a dead father. Is it not hard, Nerissa, that I cannot 
 choose one, nor refuse none? 
 
 Nerissa. Your father was ever virtuous, and holy 
 men at their death have good inspirations ; therefore 
 the lottery that he hath devised in these three chests 
 of gold, silver, and lead whereof who chooses his 30 
 meaning chooses you will, no doubt, never be 
 chosen by any rightly but one who you shall rightly 
 love. But what warmth is there in your affection 
 towards any of these princely suitors that are already 
 come? 
 
 Portia. I pray thee, over-name them, and as thou 
 namest them I will describe them; and, according 
 to my description, level at my affection. 
 . Nerissa. First, there is the Neapolitan prince. 
 
46 The Merchant of Venice [Act I 
 
 Portia. Ay, that 's a colt indeed, for he doth 40 
 nothing but talk of his horse ; and he makes it a 
 great appropriation to his own good parts that he can 
 shoe him himself. 
 
 Nerissa. Then is there the County Palatine. 
 
 Portia. He doth nothing but frown, as who should 
 say, ' An you will not have me, choose.' He hears 
 merry tales, and smiles not ; I fear he will prove the 
 weeping philosopher when he grows old, being so 
 full of unmannerly sadness in his youth. I had 
 rather to be married to a death's-head with a bone 5 
 in his mouth than to either oi these. God defend 
 me from these two ! 
 
 Nerissa. How say you by the French lord, Mon- 
 sieur Le Bon ? 
 
 Portia. God made him, and therefore let him pass 
 for a man. In truth, I know it is a sin to be a 
 mocker ; but he ! why, he hath a horse better than 
 the Neapolitan's, a better bad habit of frowning thap 
 the Count Palatine. He is every man in no man ; 
 if a throstle sing, he falls straight a-capering; he 60 
 will fence with his own shadow. If I should marry 
 him, I should marry twenty husbands. If he would 
 despise me, I would forgive him ; for if he love me 
 to madness, I shall never requite him. 
 
 Nerissa. What say you then to Falconbridge, the 
 young baron of England ? 
 
 Portia. You know I say nothing to him, for he 
 understands not me, nor I him; he hath neither 
 
Scene II] The Merchant of Venice 47 
 
 Latin, French, nor Italian, and you will come into 
 the court and swear that I have a poor pennyworth 7 
 in the English. He is a proper man's picture ; but, 
 alas ! who can converse with a dumb show ? How 
 oddly he is suited ! I think he bought his doublet 
 in Italy, his round hose in France, his bonnet in 
 Germany, and his behaviour every where. 
 
 Nerissa. What think you of the Scottish lord, his 
 neighbour ? 
 
 Portia. That he hath a neighbourly charity in 
 him ; for he borrowed a box of the ear of the English- 
 man, and swore he would pay him again when he 80 
 was able. I think the Frenchman became his surety 
 and sealed under for another. 
 
 Nerissa. How like you the young German, the 
 Duke of Saxony's nephew ? 
 
 Portia. Very vilely in the morning when he is 
 sober, and most vilely in the afternoon when he 
 is drunk. When he is best, he is a little worse than 
 a man ; and when he is worst, he is little better than 
 a beast. An the worst fall that ever fell, I hope I 
 shall make shift to go without him. 90 
 
 Nerissa. If he should offer to choose, and choose 
 the right casket, you should refuse to perform your 
 father's will if you should refuse to accept him. 
 
 Portia. Therefore, for fear of the worst, I pray 
 thee, set a deep glass of Rhenish wine on the con- 
 trary casket; for if the devil be within and ttiat 
 temptation without, I know he will choose it. I will 
 
48 The Merchant of Venice [Act 1 
 
 do any thing, Nerissa, ere I will be married to a 
 sponge. 
 
 Nerissa. You need not fear, lady, the having any 100 
 of these lords. They have acquainted me with their 
 determinations ; which is, indeed, to return to their 
 home, and to trouble you with no more suit, unless 
 you may be won by some other sort than your father's 
 imposition depending on the caskets. 
 
 Portia. If I live to be as old as Sibylla, I will die 
 as chaste as Diana, unless I be obtained by the 
 manner of my father's will. I am glad this parcel 
 of wooers are so reasonable, for there is, not one 
 among them but I dote on his very absence ; and no 
 I wish them a fair departure. 
 
 Nerissa. Do you not remember, lady, in your 
 father's time, a Venetian, a scholar and a soldier, 
 that came hither in company of the Marquis of Mont- 
 ferrat ? 
 
 Portia. Yes, yes, it was Bassanio ; as I think, so 
 was he called. 
 
 Nerissa. True, madam ; he, of all the men that 
 ever my foolish eyes looked upon, was the best 
 deserving a fair lady. 120 
 
 Portia. I remember him well, and I remember 
 him worthy of thy praise. 
 
 Enter a Servant 
 
 Servant. The four strangers seek for you, madam, 
 to take their leave ; and there is a forerunner come 
 
Scene ill] The Merchant of Venice 49 
 
 from a fifth, the Prince of Morocco, who brings word 
 the prince his master will be here to-night. 
 
 Portia. If I could bid the fifth welcome with so 
 good heart as I can bid the other four farewell, I 
 should be glad of his approach ; if he have the con- 
 dition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had 1 3 
 rather he should shrive me than wive me. 
 Come, Nerissa. Sirrah, go before. 
 Whiles we shut the gates upon one wooer, another 
 knocks at the door. \Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE III. Venice. A Public Place 
 Enter BASSANIO and SHYLOCK 
 
 Shylock. Three thousand ducats, well. 
 
 Bassanio. Ay, sir, for three months. 
 
 Shylock. For three months, well. 
 
 Bassanio. For the which, as I told you, Antonio 
 shall be bound. 
 
 Shylock. Antonio shall become bound, well. 
 
 Bassanio. May you stead me ? Will you pleasure 
 me ? Shall I know your answer ? 
 
 Shylock. Three thousand ducats for three months, 
 and Antonio bound. 10 
 
 Bassanio. Your answer to that. 
 
 Shylock. Antonio is a good man. 
 
 Bassanio. Have you heard any imputation to the 
 contrary ? 
 
 Shylock. Ho, no, no, no, no ; my meaning, in say- 
 
 MER. OF YEN. 4 
 
50 The Merchant of Venice [Act I 
 
 ing he is a good man, is to have you understand me 
 that he is sufficient. Yet his means are in supposi- 
 tion : he hath an argosy bound to Tripolis, another 
 to the Indies ; I understand, moreover, upon the 
 Rialto, he hath a third at Mexico, a fourth for Eng- 20 
 land, and other ventures he hath, squandered abroad. 
 But ships are but boards, sailors but men : there 
 be land-rats and water-rats, land-thieves and water- 
 thieves, I mean pirates; and then there is the 
 peril of waters, winds, and rocks. The man is, not- 
 withstanding, sufficient. Three thousand ducats, 
 I think I may take his bond. 
 
 Bassanio. Be assured you may. 
 
 Shylock. I will be assured I may ; and that I may 
 be assured I will bethink me. May I speak with 3* 
 Antonio ? 
 
 Bassanio. If it please you to dine with us. 
 
 Shylock. Yes, to smell pork ; to eat of the habita- 
 tion which your prophet, the Nazarite, conjured the 
 devil into. I will buy with you, sell with you, talk 
 with you, walk with you, and so following ; but I will 
 not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you. 
 What news on the Rialto? Who is he comes 
 
 here? 
 
 Enter ANTONIO 
 
 Bassanio. This is Signior Antonio. 40 
 
 Shylock. \Aside\ How like a fawning publican he 
 
 looks 1 
 I hate him for he is a Christian, 
 
Scene in] The Merchant of Venice . 51 
 
 But more for that, in low simplicity, 
 
 He lends out money gratis and brings down 
 
 The rate of usance here with us in Venice. 
 
 If I can catch him once upon the hip, 
 
 I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. 
 
 He hates our sacred natipn ; and he rails, 
 
 Even there where merchants most do congregate, 
 
 On me, my bargains, and my well-won thrift, 50 
 
 Which he calls interest. Cursed be my tribe 
 
 If I forgive him 1 
 
 Bassanio. Shylock, do you hear ? 
 
 Shylock. I am debating of my present store ; 
 And, by the near guess of my memory, 
 I cannot instantly raise up the gross 
 Of full three thousand ducats. What of that? 
 Tubal, a wealthy Hebrew of my tribe, 
 Will furnish me. But soft ! how many months 
 Do you desire? \To Antonio] Rest you fair, good 
 
 signior ; 
 Your worship was the last man in our mouths. 6n 
 
 Antonio. Shylock, albeit I neither lend nor borrow 
 By taking nor by giving of excess, 
 Yet, to supply the ripe Wants of my friend, 
 I '11 break a custom. Is he yet possess'd 
 How much you would ? 
 
 Shylock. Ay, ay, three thousand ducats. 
 
 Antonio. And for three months. 
 
 Shylock. I had forgot, three months ; you told me so. 
 Well then, your bond ; and let me see but hear you : 
 
52 The Merchant of Venice [Act i 
 
 Methought you said you neither lend nor borrow 
 Upon advantage. 
 
 Antonio. I do never use it. 70 
 
 Shylock. When Jacob graz'd his uncle Laban's 
 
 sheep 
 
 This Jacob from our holy Abram was, 
 As his wise mother wrought in his behalf, 
 The third possessor ; ay, he was the third 
 
 Antonio. And what of him ? did he take interest ? 
 
 Shylock. No, not take interest, not, as you would say, 
 Directly interest ; mark what Jacob did. 
 When Laban and himself were compromis'd 
 That all the eanlings which were streak'd and pied 
 Should fall as Jacob's hire, So 
 
 The skilful shepherd pill'd me certain wands 
 And stuck them up before the fulsome ewes, 
 Who, then conceiving, did in eaning time 
 Fall parti-colour 'd lambs ; and those were Jacob's. 
 This was a way to thrive, and he was blest ; 
 And thrift is blessing, if men steal it not. 
 
 Antonio. This was a venture, sir, that Jacob served for ; 
 A thing- not in his power to bring to pass, 
 But sway'd and fashion 'd by v the hand of heaven. 
 Was this inserted to make interest good ? 90 
 
 Or is your gold and silver ewes and rams ? 
 
 Shy lock. I cannot tell ; I make it breed as fast. 
 But note me, signior. 
 
 Antonio. Mark you this, Bassanio, 
 
 The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. 
 
Scene III] The Merchant of Venice 53 
 
 An evil soul, producing holy witness, 
 Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, 
 A goodly apple rotten at the heart. 
 O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath I 
 
 Shylock. Three thousand ducats, 't is a good round 
 
 sum. 99 
 
 Three months from twelve, then, let me see the rate. 
 
 Antonio. Well, Shylock, shall we be beholding to you? 
 
 Shy lock. 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 spet upon my Jewish gaberdine, 
 And all for use of that which js mine own. 
 Well then, it now appears you need my help. no 
 
 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, 
 
 1 Hath a dog money ? Is it possible 
 
 A cur should lend three thousand ducats ? ' Or 
 
 Shall I bend low, and in a bondman's key, 
 
 With bated breath and whispering humbleness, 120 
 
 Say this : 
 
 * Fair sir, you spet on me on Wednesday last ; 
 
54 The Merchant of Venice [Act i 
 
 You spurn'd me such a day ; another time 
 You -call'd me dog ; and for these courtesies 
 I '11 lend you thus much moneys ? ' 
 
 Antonio. I am as like to call thee so again, 
 To spet 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 of barren metal of his friend ? 130 
 
 But lend it rather to thine enemy, 
 Who if he break, thou mayst with better face 
 Exact the penalty. 
 
 Shy lock. Why, look you, how you storm I 
 
 I would be friends with you, and have your love, 
 Forget the shames that you have stain 'd me with, 
 Supply your present wants, and take no dou 
 Of usance for my moneys, and you '11 not hear me. 
 This is kind I offer. 
 
 Bassanio. This were kindness. 
 
 Shylock. This kindness will I show. 
 
 Go with me to a notary ; seal me there 140 
 
 Your single bond ; and, in a merry sport, 
 If you repay me not on such a day, 
 In such a place, such sum or sums as are 
 Express 'd in the condition, let the forfeit 
 Be nominated for an equal pound 
 Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken 
 In what part of your body pleaseth me. 
 
 Antonio. Content, i' faith ; I '11 seal to srch a bond, 
 And say there 's much kindness in the JVw 149 
 
Scene ill] The Merchant of Venice 55 
 
 Bassanio. You shall not seal to such a bond for me ; 
 I '11 rather dwell in my necessity. 
 
 Antonio. Why, fear not, man ; I will not forfeit it. 
 Within these two months - that 's a month before 
 This bond expires I do expect return 
 Of thrice three times the value of this bond. 
 
 Shylock. O father Abram ! what these Christians are 
 Whose own hard dealings teaches them suspect 
 The thoughts of others ! Pray you, tell me this : 
 If he should break his day, what should I gain 
 By the exaction of the forfeiture ? 160 
 
 A pound of man's flesh, taken from a man, 
 Is not so estimable, profitable neither, 
 As flesh of muttons, beefs, or goats. I say, 
 To buy his favour I extend this friendship. 
 If he will take it, so ; if not, adieu ; 
 And, for my love, I pray you wrong me not. 
 
 Antonio. Yes, Shylock, I will seal unto this bond. 
 
 Shylock. Then meet me forthwith at the notary's. 
 Give him direction for this merry bond, 
 And I will go and purse the ducats straight, 170 
 
 See to my house, left in the fearful guard 
 Of an unthrifty knave, and presently 
 I will be with you. [Exit. 
 
 Antonio. Hie thee, gentle Jew. 
 
 The Hebrew will turn Christian ; he grows kind. 
 
 Bassanio. I like not fair terms and a villain's mind. 
 
 Antonio. Come on : in this there can be no dismay ; 
 My ships come home a month before the day. [Exeunt. 
 
VENICE 
 
 ACT II 
 
 SCENE I. Belmont. A Room in Portia's House 
 
 Flourish of Cornets. Enter the PRINCE OF MOROCCO 
 and his train ; PORTIA, NERISSA, and others 
 attending., 
 
 Morocco. Mislike me not for my complexion, 
 The shadow'd livery of the burnish'd sun, 
 To whom I am a neighbour and near bred. 
 Bring me the fairest creature northward born, 
 Where Phoebus' fire scarce thaws the icicles, 
 And let us make incision for your love, 
 To prove whose blood is reddest, his or mine. 
 I tell thee, lady, this aspect of mine 
 Hath fear'd the valiant ; by my love, I swear 
 The best-regarded virgins of our clime IQ 
 
 56 
 
Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 57 
 
 Have lov'd it too. I would not change this hue, 
 Except to steal your thoughts, my gentle queen. 
 
 Portia. In terms of choice I am not solely led 
 By nice direction of a maiden's eyes ; 
 Besides) the lottery of my destiny 
 Bars me the right of voluntary choosing ; 
 But if my father had not scanted me, 
 And hedg'd me by his wit, to yield myself 
 His wife who wins me by that means I told you, 
 Yourself, renowned prince, then stood as fair 20 
 
 As any comer I have look'd on yet, 
 For my affection. 
 
 Morocco. Even for that I thank you ; 
 
 Therefore, I pray you, lead me to the caskets 
 To try my fortune. By ;this scimitar, 
 That slew the Sophy and a Persian prince 
 That won three fields of Sultan Solyman, 
 I would o'er-stare the sternest eyes that look, 
 Outbrave the heart most daring on the earth, 
 Pluck the young sucking cubs from the she-bear, 
 Yea, mock the lion when he roars for prey, 3c 
 
 To win thee, lady. But, alas the while ! 
 If Hercules and Lichas play at dice 
 Which is the better man, the greater throw 
 May turn by fortune from the weaker hand. 
 So is Alcides beaten by his page ; 
 And so may I, blind Fortune leading me, 
 Miss that which one unworthier may attain, 
 And die with grieving. 
 
58 The Merchant of Venice [Act n 
 
 Portia. You must take your chance, 
 
 And either not attempt to choose at all. 
 Or swear, before you choose, if you choose wrong 40 
 Never to speak to lady afterward 
 In way of marriage ; therefore be advis'd. 
 
 Morocco. Nor will not. Come, bring me unto my 
 chance. 
 
 Portia. First, forward to the temple ; after dinner 
 Your hazard shall be made. 
 
 Morocco. Good fortune then, 
 
 To make me blest or cursed 'st among men ! 
 
 [Cornets^ and exeunt. 
 
 SCENE II. Venice. A Street 
 Enter LAUNCELOT 
 
 Launcelot. Certainly my conscience will serve me 
 to run from this Jew my master. The fiend is at mine 
 elbow and tempts me, saying to me, ' Gobbo, Launce- 
 lot Gobbo, good Launcelot,' or 'good Gobbo,' or 
 ' good Launcelot Gobbo, use your legs, take the start, 
 run away.' My conscience says, ' No ; take heed, 
 honest Launcelot; take heed, honest Gobbo,' or, as 
 aforesaid, ' honest Launcelot Gobbo ; do not run ; 
 scorn running with thy heels.' Well, the most cour- 
 ageous fiend bids me pack : ' Via ! ' says the fiend ; 10 
 1 away ! ' says the fiend ; l for the heavens, rouse up 
 a brave mind,' says the fiend, ' and run.' Well, my 
 
Scene II] The Merchant of Venice 59 
 
 conscience, hanging about the neck of my heart, 
 says very wisely to me, ' My honest friend Launce- 
 lot, being an honest man's son,' or rather an 
 honest woman's son, well, my conscience says, 
 1 Launcelot, budge not,' * Budge,' says the fiend. 
 1 Budge not,' says my conscience. ' Conscience,' 
 say I, 'you counsel well;' ' Fiend,' say I, 'you 
 counsel well.' To be ruled by my conscience, 1 20 
 should stay with the Jew my master, who, God bless 
 the mark, is a kind of devil ; and, to run away from 
 the Jew, I should be ruled by the fiend, who, saving 
 your reverence, is the devil himself. Certainly the 
 - Jew is the very devil incarnation ; and, in my con- 
 science, my conscience is a kind of hard conscience, 
 to offer to counsel me to stay with the Jew. The 
 fiend gives the more friendly counsel. I will run, 
 fiend ; my heels are at your commandment ; I will 
 
 run. 30 
 
 Enter Old GOBBO, with a basket 
 
 Gobbo. Master young man, you ! I pray you, 
 which is the way to master Jew's ? 
 
 Launcelot. \Aside~\ O heavens! this is my true- 
 begotten father, who, being more than sand-blind, 
 ' high-gravel-blind, knows me not. I will try con- 
 fusions with him. 
 
 Gobbo. Master young gentleman, I pray you, 
 which is the way to master Jew's ? 
 
 Launcelot. Turn up on your right hand at the next 
 turning, but at the next turning of all, on your left ; 40 
 
60 The Merchant of Venice [Act n 
 
 marry, at the very next turning, turn of no hand, but 
 turn down indirectly to the Jew's house. 
 
 Gobbo. By God's sonties, 't will be a hard way to 
 hit. Can you tell me whether one Launcelot, that 
 dwells with him, dwell with him or no ? 
 
 Launcelot. Talk you of young Master Launcelot? 
 
 [Aside] Mark me now ; now will I raise the 
 waters. [To him] Talk you of young Master 
 Launcelot ? 
 
 Gobbo. No master, sir, but a poor man's son ; his 50 
 father, though I say 't, is an honest exceeding poor 
 man, and, God be thanked, well to live. 
 
 Launeelot. Well, let his father be what a' will, we 
 talk of young Master Launcelot. 
 
 Gobbo. Your worship's friend and Launcelot. 
 
 Launcelot. But I pray you, ergo, old man, ergo, I 
 beseech you, talk you of young Master Launcelot ? 
 
 Gobbo. Of Launcelot, an 't please your mastership. 
 
 Launcelot. Ergo, Master Launcelot. Talk not of 
 Master Launcelot, father ; for the young gentleman 60 
 
 according to fates and destinies and such odd 
 sayings, the sisters three and such branches of learn- 
 ing is indeed deceased, or, as you would say in 
 plain terms, gone to heaven. 
 
 Gobbo. Marry, God forbid ! the boy was the very 
 staff of my age, my very prop. 
 
 Launcelot. [Aside] Do I look like a cudgel or a 
 hovel-post, a staff or a prop ? [To him] Do you know 
 me, father? 
 
Scene II] The Merchant of Venice 61 
 
 Gobbo. Alack the day ! I know you not, young 70 
 gentleman; but, I pray you, tell me, is my boy 
 God rest his soul ! alive or dead ? 
 
 Launcelot. Do you not know me, father ? 
 
 Gobbo. Alack, sir, I am sand-blind ; I know you 
 not. 
 
 Launcelot. Nay, indeed, if you had your eyes, you 
 might fail of the knowing me ; it is a wise father that 
 knows his own child. Well, old man, I will tell you 
 news of your son. [Kneels.] Give me your bless- 
 ing : truth will come to light ; murther cannot be 80 
 hid long; a man's son may, but in the end truth 
 will out 
 
 Gobbo. Pray you, sir, stand up. I am sure you 
 are not Launcelot, my boy. 
 
 Launcelot. Pray you, let's have no more fooling 
 about it, but give me your blessing ; I am Launcelot, 
 your boy that was, your son that is, your child that 
 shall be. 
 
 Gobbo. I cannot think you are my son. 
 
 Launcelot. I know not what I shall think of that ; 90 
 but I am Launcelot, the Jew's man, and I am sure 
 Margery your wife is my mother. 
 
 Gobbo. Her name is Margery, indeed; I '11 be 
 sworn, if thou be Launcelot, thou art mine own flesh 
 and blood. Lord worshipped might he be! what a 
 beard hast thou got ! thou hast got more hair on thy 
 chin than Dobbin my fill-horse has on his tail. 
 
 Launcelot. It should seem, then, that Dobbin's tail 
 
62 The Merchant of Venice [Act n 
 
 grows backward ; I am sure he had more hair of his 
 tail than I have of my face, when I last saw him. 100 
 
 Gobbo. Lord ! how art thou changed ! How dost 
 thou and thy master agree ? I have brought him a 
 present. How gree you now ? 
 
 Launcelot. Well, well ; but, for mine own part, as 
 I have set up my rest to run away, so I will not rest 
 till I have run sonte ground. My master's a very 
 Jew ; give him a present ! give him a halter. I am 
 famished in his service ; you may tell every finger I 
 have with my ribs. Father, I am glad you are come. 
 Give me your present to one Master Bassanio, who no 
 indeed gives rare new liveries ; if I serve not him, I 
 will run as far as God has any ground. O rare 
 fortune! here comes the man. To him, father; 
 for I am a Jew if I serve the Jew any longer. 
 
 Enter BASSANIO, with LEONARDO and other followers 
 
 Bassanio. You may do so ; but let it be so hasted 
 that supper be ready at the farthest by five of the 
 clock. See these letters delivered ; put the liveries 
 tc making, and desire Gratiano to come anon to 
 my lodging. [Exit a Servant. 
 
 Launcelot. To him, father. * 2 o 
 
 Gobbo. God bless your worship ! 
 
 Bassanio. Gramercy ! wouldst thou aught with me ? 
 
 Gobbo. Here's my son, sir, a poor boy, 
 
 Launcelot. Not a poor boy, sir, but the rich Jew's 
 man ; that would, sir, as my father shall specify, 
 
Scene II] The Merchant of Venice 63 
 
 Gobbo. He hath a great infection, sir, as one 
 would say, to serve 
 
 Launcelot. Indeed, the short and the long is, I 
 serve the Jew, and have a desire, as my father shall 
 specify, 130 
 
 Gobbo. His master and he, saving your worship's 
 reverence, are scarce cater-cousins 
 
 Launcelot. To be brief, the very truth is, that the 
 Jew, having done me wrong, doth cause me, as my 
 father, being, I hope, an old man, shall frutify unto 
 you, 
 
 Gobbo. I have here a dish of doves that I would 
 bestow upon your worship; and my suit is 
 
 Launcelot. In very brief, the suit is impertinent v 
 to myself, as your worship shall know by this honest 140 
 old man ; and, though I say it, though old man, yet, 
 poor man, my father. 
 
 Bassanio. One speak for both. What would you ? 
 
 Launcelot. Serve you, sir. 
 
 Gobbo. That is the very defect of the matter, sir. 
 
 Bassanio. I know thee well; thog hast obtain 'd 
 
 thy suit. 
 
 Shylock thy master spoke with me this day, 
 And hath preferr'd thee ; if it be preferment 
 To leave a rich Jew's service, to become 
 The follower of so poor a gentleman. 150 
 
 Launcelot. The old proverb is very well parted 
 between my master Shylock and you, sir ; you have 
 the grace of God, sir, and he hath enough. 
 
64 The Merchant of Venice [Act n 
 
 Bassanio. Thou speak'st it well. Go, father, 
 
 with thy son. 
 
 Take leave of thy old master, and inquire 
 My lodging out. Give him a livery \To his followers \ 
 More guarded than his fellows' ; see it done. 
 
 Launcelot. Father, in. I cannot get a service, no ; 
 I have ne'er a tongue in my head. Well, if any 
 man in Italy have a fairer table which doth offer 160 
 to swear upon a book ! I shall have good fortune. 
 
 Go to, here's a simple line of life 1 here's a small 
 trifle of wives : alas ! fifteen wives is nothing ! aleven 
 widows and nine maids is a simple coming-in for one 
 man ; and then to scape drowning thrice, and to be 
 in peril of my life with the edge of a feather-bed, 
 
 here are simple scapes. Well, if Fortune be a 
 woman, she 's a good wench for this gear. Father, 
 come ; I '11 take my leave of the Jew in the twinkling 
 of an eye. [Exeunt Launcelot and Old Gobbo. 
 
 Bassanio. I pray thee, good Leonardo, think on 
 
 this. 171 
 
 These things being bought and orderly bestow'd, 
 Return in haste, for I do feast to-night 
 My best-esteem 'd acquaintance; hie thee, go. 
 
 Leonardo. My best endeavours shall be done 
 herein. 
 
 Enter GRATIANO 
 
 Gratiano. Where is your master ? 
 
 Leonardo. Yonder, sir, he walks. \Exit, 
 
 Gratiano. Signior Bassanio I 
 
Scene ii] The Merchant of Venice 65 
 
 Bassanio. Gratiano I 
 
 Gratiano. I have a suit to you. 
 
 Bassanio. You have obtained it. 
 
 Gratiano. You must not deny me. I must goiSo 
 with you to Belmont. 
 
 Bassanio. Why, then you must. But hear thee, 
 
 Gratiano : 
 
 Thou art too wild, too rude, and bold of voice, 
 Parts that become thee happily enough 
 And in such eyes as ours appear not faults ; 
 But where they are not known, why, there they show 
 Something too liberal. Pray thee, take pain 
 To allay with some cold drops of modesty 
 Thy skipping spirit, lest through thy wild behaviour 
 I be misconstrued in the place I go to, 190 
 
 And lose my hopes. 
 
 Gratiano. Signior Bassanio, hear me : 
 
 If I do not put on a sober habit, 
 Talk with respect, and swear but now and then, 
 Wear prayer-books in my pocket, look demurely, 
 Nay more, while grace is saying, hood mine eyes 
 Thus with my hat, and sigh, and say ' amen/ 
 Use all the observance of civility, 
 Like one well studied in a sad ostent 
 To please his grandam, never trust me more. 
 
 Bassanio. Well, we shall see your bearing. 200 
 
 Gratiano. Nay, but I bar to-night ; you shall not 
 
 gauge me 
 By what we do to-night. 
 
 MER. OF YEN. 5 
 
66 The Merchant of Venice [Act n 
 
 Bassanio. No, that were pity ; 
 
 I would entreat you rather to put on 
 Your boldest suit of mirth, for we have friends 
 That purpose merriment. But fare you well ; 
 I have some business. 
 
 Gratiano. And I must to Lorenzo and the rest; 
 But we will visit you at supper-time. [Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE III. The Same. A Room in Shyloctfs House 
 Enter JESSICA and LAUNCELOT 
 
 Jessica. I am sorry thou wilt leave my father so ; 
 Our house is hell, and thou, a merry devil, 
 Didst rob it of some taste of tediousness. 
 But fare thee well ; there is a ducat for thee. 
 And, Launcelot, soon at supper shalt thou see 
 Lorenzo, who is thy new master's guest. 
 Give him this letter ; do it secretly. 
 And so farewell ; I would not have my father 
 See me in talk with thee. 
 
 Launcelot. Adieu ! tears exhibit my tongue. Most 10 
 beautiful pagan, most sweet Jew, adieu ! these fool- 
 ish drops do somewhat drown my manly spirit; 
 adieu ! 
 
 Jessica. Farewell, good Launcelot. 
 
 [Exit Launcelot. 
 
 Alack, whar heinous sin is it in me 
 To be asham'd to be my father's child ! 
 But though I am a daughter to his blood, 
 
Scene IV] The Merchant of Venice 67 
 
 I am not to his manners. O Lorenzo, 
 
 If thou keep promise, I shall end this strife, 
 
 Become a Christian and thy loving wife ! \Exit. 20 
 
 SCENE IV. The Same. A Street 
 Enter GRATIANO, LORENZO, SALARINO, and SALANIO 
 
 Lorenzo. Nay, we will slink away in supper-time, 
 Disguise us at my lodging, and return, 
 All in an hour. 
 
 Gratiano. We have not made good preparation. 
 Salarino. We have not spoke us yet of torch- 
 bearers. 
 Salanio. 'T is vile unless it may be quaintly 
 
 order'd, 
 And better, in my mind, not undertook. 
 
 Lorenzo. 'T is now but four o'clock ; we have two 
 
 hours 
 To furnish us,, 
 
 Enter LAUNCELOT, with a letter 
 
 Friend Launcelot, what 's the news ? 
 Launcelot. An it shall please you to break up 10 
 this, it shall seem to signify. 
 
 Lorenzo. I know the hand. In faith, \ is a fair 
 
 hand ; 
 
 And whiter than the paper it writ on 
 Is the fair hand that writ 
 
68 The Merchant of Venice [Act II 
 
 Gratiano. Love-news, in faith. 
 
 Launcelot. By your leave, sir. 
 
 Lorenzo. Whither goest thou ? 
 
 Launcelot. Marry, sir, to bid my old master the 
 Jew to sup to-night with my new master the Christian. 
 
 Lorenzo. Hold here, take this. Tell gentle Jessica 
 I will not fail her ; speak it privately. 20 
 
 Go. Gentlemen, \Exit Launcelot. 
 
 Will you prepare you for this masque to-night ? 
 I am provided of a torch-bearer. 
 
 Salarino. Ay, marry, I '11 be gone about it straight 
 
 Salanio. And so will I. 
 
 Lorenzo. Meet me and Gratiano 
 
 At Gratiano 's lodging some hour hence. 
 
 Salarino. 'T is good we do so. 
 
 \Exeunt Salarino and Salanio. 
 
 Gratiano. Was not that letter from fair Jessica ? 
 
 Lorenzo. I must needs tell thee all. She hath 
 
 directed 
 
 How I shall take her from her father's house, 30 
 
 What gold and jewels she is furnish 'd with, 
 What page's suit she hath in readiness. 
 If e'er the Jew her father come to heaven, 
 It will be for his gentle daughter's sake ; 
 And never dare Misfortune cross her foot, 
 Unless she do it under this excuse, 
 That she is issue to a faithless Jew. 
 Come, go with me ; peruse this as thou goest. 
 Fair Jessica shall be my torch-bearer. \Exeunt. 
 
Scene V] The Merchant of Venice 69 
 
 SCENE V. The Same. Before ShylocVs House 
 Enter SHYLOCK and LAUNCELOT 
 
 Sky lock. Well, thou shalt see ; thy eyes shall be 
 
 thy judge, 
 
 The difference of old Shylock and Bassanio. 
 What, Jessica ! thou shalt not gormandize, 
 As thou hast done with me, what, Jessica ! 
 And sleep and snore, and rend apparel out 
 Why, Jessica, I say 1 
 
 Launcelot. Why, Jessica ! 
 
 Shylock. Who bids thee call ? I do not bid thee 
 call. 
 
 Launcelot. Your worship was wont to tell me I 
 could do nothing without bidding. 
 
 Enter JESSICA 
 
 Jessica. Call you ? what is your will ? 10 
 
 Shylock. I am bid forth to supper. Jessica ; 
 There are my keys. But wherefore should I go ? 
 I am not bid for love, they flatter me ; 
 But yet I '11 go in hate, to feed upon 
 The prodigal Christian. Jessica, my girl, 
 Look to my house. I am right loath to go ; 
 There is some ill a-brewing towards my rest, 
 For I did dream of money-bags to-night. 
 
 Launcelot. I beseech you, sir, go ; my young 
 master doth expect your reproach. 20 
 
 Shylock. So d*> I his. 
 
70 The Merchant of Venice [Act II 
 
 Launcelot. And they have conspired together ; 
 I will not say you shall see a masque ; but'if you do, 
 then it was not for nothing that my nose fell a-bleed- 
 ing.on Black-Monday last at six o'clock i' the morn- 
 ing, falling out that year on Ash-Wednesday was four 
 year in the afternoon. 
 
 Shylock. What ! are there masques ? Hear you 
 
 me, Jessica : 
 
 Lock up my doors ; and when you hear the drum 
 And the vile squealing of the wry-neck'd fife, 30 
 
 Clamber not you up to the casements then, 
 Nor thrust your head into the public street 
 To gaze on Christian fools with varnish 'd faces, 
 But stop my house's ears, I mean my casements ; 
 Let not the sound of shallow foppery enter 
 My sober house. By Jacob's staff, I swear, 
 I have no mind of feasting forth to-night ; 
 But I will go. Go you before me, sirrah ; 
 Say I will come. 
 
 Launcelot. I will go before, sir. Mistress, look ou\ 
 at window, for all this : 41 
 
 There will come a Christian by, 
 Will be worth a Jewess' eye. [Exit. 
 
 Shylock. What says that fool of Hagar's offspring, har 
 
 Jessica. His words were * Farewell, mistress ; ' noth- 
 ing else. 
 
 Shylock. The patch is kind enough, but a huge 
 
 feeder ; 
 Snail-slow in profit, and he sleeps by day 
 
Scene vi] The Merchant of Venice 71 
 
 More than the wild-cat. Drones hive not with me ; 
 
 Therefore I part with him, and part with him 
 
 To one that I would have him help to waste 50 
 
 His borrow'd purse. Well, Jessica, go in ; 
 
 Perhaps I will return immediately. 
 
 Do as I bid you ; shut doors after you. 
 
 Fast bind, fast find ; 
 
 A proverb never stale in thrifty mind. [Exit. 
 
 Jessica. Farewell ; and if my fortune be not crost, 
 I have a father, you a daughter, lost. [Exit. 
 
 SCENE VI. The Same 
 Enter GRATIANO and SALARINO, masqued 
 
 Gratiano. This is the pent-house under which Lorenzo 
 Desir'd us to make stand. 
 
 Salarino. His hour is almost past. 
 
 Gratiano. And it is marvel he outd wells his hour, . 
 For lovers ever run before the clock. 
 
 Salarino. O, ten times faster Venus' pigeons fly 
 To seal love's bonds new-made than they are wont 
 To keep obliged faith unforfeited ! 
 
 Gratiano. That ever holds. Who riseth from a feast 
 With that keen appetite that he sits down ? 
 Where is the horse that doth untread again 10 
 
 His tedious measures with the unbated fire 
 That he did pace them first ? All things that are 
 Are with more spirit chased than enjoy'd. 
 How like a younger or a prodigal, 
 
72 The Merchant of Venice [Act n 
 
 The scarfed bark puts from her native bay, 
 Hugg'd and embraced by the strumpet wind ! 
 How like the prodigal doth she return, 
 With over-weather 'd ribs and ragged sails, 
 Lean, rent, and beggar'd by the strumpet wind ! 
 
 Salarino. Here comes Lorenzo. More of this 
 hereafter. , 2 o 
 
 Enter LORENZO 
 
 Lorenzo. Sweet friends, your patience for my long 
 
 abode ; 
 
 Not I, but my affairs, have made you wait. v 
 When you shall please to play the thieves for wives, 
 I '11 watch as long for you then. Approach ; 
 Here dwells my father Jew. Ho ! who 's within ? 
 
 Enter JESSICA, above, in boy's clothes 
 
 Jessica. Who are you ? Tell me, for more certainty, 
 Albeit I '11 swear that I do know your tongue. 
 
 'Lorenzo. Lorenzo, and thy love. 
 
 Jessica. Lorenzo, certain ; and my love indeed, 
 For who love I so much ? And now who knows 30 
 But you, Lorenzo, whether I am yours ? 
 
 Lorenzo. Heaven and thy thoughts are witness that 
 thou art. 
 
 Jessica. Here, catch this casket ; it is worth the pains. 
 I am glad \ is night, you do not look on me, 
 For I am much asham'd of my exchange. 
 But love is blind, and lovers cannot see 
 
Scene vi] The Merchant of Venice 73 
 
 The pretty follies that themselves commit ; 
 For if they could, Cupid himself would blush 
 To see me thus transformed to a boy. 
 
 Lorenzo. Descend, for you must be my torch- 
 bearer. 40 
 
 Jessica. What, must I hold a candle to my shames? 
 They in themselves, 'good sooth, are too-too light. 
 Why, 't is an office of discovery, love, 
 And I should be obscur'd. 
 
 Lorenzo. So are you, sweet, 
 
 Even in the lovely garnish of a boy. 
 But come at once ; 
 
 ( For the close night doth play the runaway, 
 Antt we are stay'd for at Bassanio's feast. 
 
 Jessica. I will make fast the doors, and gild myself 
 With some more ducats, and be with you straight. 50 
 
 [Exit above. 
 
 Gratiano. Now, by my hood, a Gentile and no Jew. 
 
 Lorenzo. Beshrew me but I love her heartily 1 
 For she is wise, if I can judge of her ; 
 And fair she is, if that mine eyes be true ; 
 And true she is, as she hath prov'd herself ; 
 And therefore, like herself, wise, fair, and true, 
 Shall she be placed in my constant soul. 
 
 Enter JESSICA, below 
 
 What, art thou come ? On, gentlemen ; away I 
 Our masquing mates by this time for us stay. 
 
 [Exit with Jessica and Salarino* 
 
74 The Merchant of Venice [Act n 
 
 V 
 
 Enter ANTONIO 
 
 Antonio. Who 's there ? 60 
 
 Gratiano. Signior Antonio ! 
 
 Antonio. Fie, fie, Gratiano ! where are all the rest? 
 'T is nine o'clock ; our friends all stay for you. 
 No masque to-night : the wind is come about ; 
 Bassanio presently will go aboard. 
 I have sent twenty out to seek for you. 
 
 Gratiano. I am glad on 't ; I desire no more delight 
 Than to be under sail and gone to-night. [Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE VII. Belmont. ,A- Room in Portia's House 
 
 Flourish of cornets. Enter PORTIA, with the PRINCE OF 
 MOROCCO, and their trains 
 
 Portia. Go, draw aside the curtains, and discover 
 The several caskets to this noble prince. 
 Now make your choice. 
 
 Morocco. The first, of gold, who this inscription bears, 
 ' Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire? 
 The second, silver, which this promise carries, 
 
 * Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves.^ 
 This third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt, 
 
 * Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath? 
 How shall I know if I do choose the right ? 10 
 
 Portia. The one of them contains my picture, prince ; 
 If you choose that, then I am yours withal. 
 
 Morocco. Some god direct my judgment ! Let me see ; 
 
Scene VII] The Merchant of Venice 75 
 
 I will survey the inscriptions back again. 
 
 What says this leaden casket ? 
 
 ' Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath? 
 
 Must give for what ? For lead ? Hazard for lead ? 
 
 This casket threatens. Men that hazard all 
 
 Do it in hope of fair advantages. 
 
 A golden mind stoops not to shows of dross ; 20 
 
 I '11 then jior give nor hazard aught for lead. 
 
 What says the silver with her virgin hue ? 
 
 ' Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves? 
 
 As much as he deserves ? Pause there, Morocco, 
 
 And weigh thy value with an even hand. 
 
 If thou be'st rated by thy estimation, 
 
 Thou dost deserve enough ; and yet enough 
 
 May not extend so far as to the lady ; 
 
 And yet to be afeard of my deserving 
 
 Were but a weak disabling of myself. 30 
 
 As much as I deserve ? Why, that 's the lady : 
 
 I do in birth deserve her, and in fortunes, 
 
 In graces and in qualities of breeding ; 
 
 But more than these, in love I do deserve. 
 
 What if I stray'd no further, but chose here ? 
 
 Let 's see once more this saying grav'd in gold : 
 
 ' Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire? 
 
 Why, that 's the lady : all the world desires her ; 
 
 From the four corners of the earth they come, 
 
 To kiss this shrine, this mortal-breathing saint. 40 
 
 The Hyrcanian deserts and the vasty wilds 
 
 Of wide Arabia are as throughfares now 
 
76 The Merchant of Venice [Act n 
 
 For princes to come view fair Portia. 
 The watery kingdom, whose ambitious head 
 Spets in the face of heaven, is no bar 
 To stop the foreign spirits, but they come, 
 As o'er a brook, to see fair Portia. 
 One of these three contains her heavenly picture. 
 Is 't like that lead contains her ? 'T were damnation 
 To think so base a thought ; it were too gross 50 
 
 To rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave. 
 Or shall I think in silver she 's immur'd, 
 Being ten times undervalued to tried gold ? 
 O sinful thought 1 Never so rich a gem 
 Was set in worse than gold. They have in England 
 A coin that bears the figure of an angel 
 Stamped in gold, but that 's insculp'd upon ; 
 But here an angel in a golden bed 
 Lies all within. Deliver me the key ; 
 Here do I choose, and thrive I as I may 1 60 
 
 Portia. There, take it, prince ; and if my form lie 
 
 there, 
 Then I am yours. \He unlocks the golden casket, 
 
 Morocco. O hell ! what have we here ? 
 
 A carrion death, within whose empty eye 
 There is a written scroll ! I '11 read the writing. 
 
 'All that glisters is not gold ; 
 
 Often have you heard that told. 
 
 Many a man his life hath sold. 
 
 But my outside to behold ; 
 
 Gilded tombs do worms infold. 
 
hcene viii] The Merchant of Venice 77 
 
 Had you been as wise as bold, 70 
 
 Young in limbs, in judgment old. 
 Your answer had not been inscrolVd: 
 Fare you well ; your suit is cold.' 
 Cold, indeed, and labour lost ; 
 Then, farewell, heat, and welcome, frost I 
 Portia, adieu ! I have too griev'd a heart 
 To take a tedious leave ; thus losers part. 
 
 [Exit with his train. 
 
 Portia. A gentle riddance. Draw the curtains ; go. 
 Let all of his complexion choose me so. 
 
 [Exeunt. Flourish of cornets. 
 
 SCENE VIII. Venice. A Street 
 Enter SALARINO and SALANIO 
 
 Salarino. Why, man, I saw Bassanio under sail; 
 With him is Gratiano gone along, 
 And in their ship I am sure Lorenzo is not. 
 
 Salanio. The villain Jew with outcries rais'd the duke, 
 Who went with him to search Bassanio's ship. 
 
 Salarino. He came too late, the ship was under sail ; 
 But there the duke was given to understand 
 That in a gondola were seen together 
 Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica. 
 Besides, Antonio certified the duke o 
 
 They were not with Bassanio in his ship. 
 
 Salanio. I never heard a passion so confus'd, 
 So strange, outrageous, and so variable, 
 
7 8 The Merchant of Venice [Act n 
 
 As the dog Jew did utter in the streets : 
 
 ' My daughter 1 O my ducats ! O my daughter I 
 
 Fled with a Christian ! O my Christian ducats ! 
 
 Justice ! the law ! my ducats, and my daughter ! 
 
 A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats, 
 
 Of double ducats, stolen from me by my daughter ! 
 
 And jewels, two stones, two rich and precious stones, 20 
 
 Stolen by my daughter ! Justice ! find the girl ; 
 
 She hath the stones upon her, and the ducats.' 
 
 Salarino. Why, all the boys in Venice follow him, 
 Crying, his stones, his daughter, and his ducats. 
 
 Salanio. Let good Antonio look he keep his day, 
 Or he shall pay for this. 
 
 Salarino. Marry, well remember'd. 
 
 I reason 'd with a Frenchman yesterday, 
 Who told me, in the narrow seas that part 
 The French and English, there miscarried 
 A vessel of our country richly fraught. 30 
 
 I thought upon Antonio when he told me, 
 And wish'd in silence that it were not his. 
 
 Salanio. You were best to tell Antonio what you hear ; 
 Yet do not suddenly, for it may grieve him. 
 
 Salarino. A kinder gentleman treads not the earth, 
 I saw Bassanio and Antonio part. 
 Bassanio told him he would make some speed 
 Of his return ; he answer'd, ' Do not so ; 
 Slubber not business for my sake, Bassanio, 
 But stay the very riping of the time ; 40 
 
 And for the Jew's bond which he hath of me, 
 
Scene IX] The Merchant of Venice 79 
 
 Let it not enter in your mind of love. 
 
 Be merry, and employ your chiefest thoughts 
 
 To courtship and such fair ostents of love 
 
 As shall conveniently become you there.' 
 
 And even there, his eye being big with tears, 
 
 Turning his face, he put his hand behind him, . 
 
 And with affection wondrous sensible 
 
 He wrung Bassanio's hand ; and so they parted. 
 
 Salanio. I think he only loves the world for him. 50 
 I pray thee, let us go and find him out, 
 And quicken his embraced heaviness 
 With some delight or other. 
 
 Salarino. Do we so. \Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE IX. Belmont. A Room in Portia's House 
 Enter NERISSA with a Servitor 
 
 Nerissa. Quick, quick, I pray thee ; draw the curtain 
 
 straight. 
 
 The Prince of Arragon hath ta'en his oath, 
 And comes to his election presently. 
 
 Flourish of cornets. Enter the PRINCE OF ARRAGON, 
 PORTIA, and their trains 
 
 Portia. Behold, there stand the caskets, noble prince. 
 If you choose that wherein I am contain 'd, 
 Straight shall our nuptial rites be solemniz'd ; 
 But if you fail, without more speech, my lord, 
 You must be gone from hence immediately. 
 
8o The Merchant of Venice [Act n 
 
 Arragon. I am enjoin'd by oath to observe three 
 
 things : 
 
 First, never to unfold to any one 10 
 
 Which casket 't was I chose ; next, if I fail - 
 Of the right casket, never in my life 
 To woo a maid in way of marriage ; 
 Lastly, if I do fail in fortune of my choice, 
 Immediately to leave you and be gone. 
 
 Portia. To these injunctions every one doth swear 
 That comes to hazard for my worthless self. 
 
 Arragon. And so have I address 'd me. Fortune now 
 To my heart's hope ! Gold, silver, and base lead. 
 1 Who choose th me must give and hazard all he hath.' 1 20 
 You shall look fairer ere I give or hazard. 
 What says the golden chest ? ha ! let me see : 
 ' Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire? 
 What many men desire ! that many may be meant 
 By the fool multitude that choose by show, 
 Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach ; 
 Which pries not to the interior, but, like the martlet, 
 Builds in the weather, on the outward wall, 
 Even in the force and road of casualty. 
 I will not choose what many men desire, 30 
 
 Because I will not jump with common spirits 
 And rank me with the barbarous multitudes. 
 Why, then to thee, thou silver treasure-house ; 
 Tell me once more what title thou dost bear : 
 ' Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves : * 
 And well said too ; for who shall go about 
 
Scene IX] The Merchant of Venice 81 
 
 To cozen fortune and be honourable 
 
 Without the stamp pf merit ? Let none presume 
 
 To wear an undeserved dignity. 
 
 O, that estates, degrees, and offices 4* 
 
 Were not deriv'd corruptly, and that clear honour 
 
 Were purchased by the merit of the wearer ! 
 
 How many then should cover that stand bare 1 
 
 How many be commanded that command ! 
 
 How much low peasantry would then be glean 'd 
 
 From the true seed of honour ; and how much honour 
 
 Pick'd from the chaff and ruin of the times, 
 
 To be new- varnish 'd ! Well, but to my choice : 
 
 ' Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves? 
 
 I will assume desert. Give me a key for this, 50 
 
 And instantly unlock my fortunes here. 
 
 \He opens the silver casket. 
 
 Portia. Too long a pause for that which you find 
 there. 
 
 Arragon. What's here ? the portrait of a blinking 
 
 idiot, 
 
 Presenting me a schedule ! I will read it. 
 How much unlike art thou to Portia ! 
 How much unlike my hopes and my deservings ! 
 ' Who chooseth me shall have as much as he deserves? 
 Did I deserve no more than a fool's head ? 
 Is that my prize ? are my deserts no better ? 
 
 Portia. To offend and judge are distinct offices, 60 
 And of opposed natures. 
 
 Arragon. What is here ? 
 
 MER. OF VEN. 6 
 
82 The Merchant of Venice [Act II 
 
 * The fire seven times tried this ; 
 Seven times tried that judgment is. 
 That did never choose amiss. 
 Some there be that shadows kiss ; 
 Such have but a shadow V bliss. 
 There be fools alive , I wis^ 
 Silver* d o' er ; and so was this. 
 Take what wife you will to bed, 
 I will ever be your head. 70 
 
 So be gone ; you are sped? 
 Still more fool I shall appear 
 By the time I linger here ; 
 With one fool's head I came to woo, 
 But I go away with two. 
 Sweet, adieu ! I '11 keep my oath, 
 Patiently to bear my wroth. 
 
 \Exeunt Arragon and train. 
 Portia. Thus hath the candle sing'd the moth. 
 O, these deliberate fools 1 when they do choose, 
 They have the wisdom by their wit to lose. 80 
 
 Nerissa. The ancient saying is no heresy, 
 Hanging and wiving goes by destiny. 
 
 Portia. Come, draw the curtain, Nerissa. 
 
 Enter a Servant 
 
 Servant. Where is my lady ? 
 
 Portia. Here ; what would my lord ? 
 
 Servant. Madam, there is alighted at your gate 
 A young Venetian, one that comes before 
 
Scene IX] The Merchant of Venice 83 
 
 To signify the approaching of his lord, 
 
 From whom he bringeth sensible regreets ; 
 
 To wit, besides commends and courteous breath, 
 
 Gifts of rich value. Yet I have not seen 90 
 
 So likely an ambassador of love ; 
 
 A day in April never came so sweet, 
 
 To show how costly summer was at hand, 
 
 As this fore-spurrer comes before his lord. 
 
 Portia. No more, I pray thee ; I am half afeard 
 Thou wilt say anon he is some kin to thee, 
 Thou spend'st such high-day wit in praising him. 
 Come, come, Nerissa ; for I long to see 
 Quick Cupid's post that comes so mannerly. 
 
 Nerissa. Bassanio, lord Love, if thy will it be I 100 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
RIALTO BRIDGE 
 
 ACT III 
 
 SCENE I. Venice. A Street 
 
 Enter SALANIO and SALARINO 
 
 Salanio. Now, what news on the Rialto ? 
 
 Salarino. Why, yet it lives there unchecked that 
 Antonio hath a ship of rich lading wracked on the 
 narrow seas the Goodwins I think they call the 
 place ; a very dangerous flat and fatal, where the car- 
 casses of many a tall ship lie buried, as they say, if 
 my gossip Report be an honest woman of her word, 
 
 Satanio. I would she were as lying a gossip in 
 that as ever knapped ginger, or made her neigh- 
 
 
Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 85 
 
 bcurs believe she wept for the death of a third hus.- 10 
 band. But it is true, without any slips of prolixity 
 or crossing the plain highway of talk, that the good 
 Antonio, the honest Antonio, O that I had a title 
 good enough to keep his name company ! . 
 
 Salarino. Come, the full stop. 
 
 Salanio. Ha ! what sayest thou ? Why, the end 
 is, he hath lost a ship. 
 
 Salarino. I would it might prove the end of his 
 losses ! 
 
 Salanio. Let me say amen betimes, lest the devil 20 
 cross my prayer; for here he comes in the likeness 
 
 of a Jew. 
 
 Enter SHYLOCK 
 
 How now, Shy lock ? what news among the merchants ? 
 
 Shy lock. You knew, none so .well, none so well as 
 you, of my daughter's flight. 
 
 Salarino. That 's certain ; I, for my part, knew the 
 tailor that made the wings she flew withal. 
 
 Salanio. And Shylock, for his own part, knew the 
 bird was fledged ; and then it is the complexion of 
 them all to leave the dam. 30 
 
 Shylock. My own flesh and blood to rebel ! 
 
 Salarino. There is more difference between thy 
 flesh and ht/s than between jet and ivory; more 
 between your bloods than there is between red wine 
 and Rhenish. But tell us, do you hear whether 
 Antonio have had any loss at sea or no? 
 
 Shylock. There I have another bad match : a bank- 
 
86 The Merchant of Venice [Act ill 
 
 rupt, a prodigal, who dare scarce show his head on 
 the Rialto ; a beggar, that was used to come so smug 
 upon the mart. Let him look to his bond : he was 40 
 wont to call me usurer ; let him look to his bond : 
 he was Wont to lend money for a Christian courtesy ; 
 let him look to his bond. 
 
 Salarino. Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt 
 not take his flesh ; what 's that good for ? 
 
 Shylock. To bait fish withal ; if it will feed noth- 
 ing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced 
 me and hindered me half a million, laughed at my 
 losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, 
 thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated 50 
 mine enemies ; and what 's his reason ? I am a Jew. 
 Hath not a Jew eyes ? hath not a Jew hands, organs, 
 dimensions, senses, affections, passions ? fed with the 
 same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to 
 the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed 
 and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a 
 Christian is ? If you prick us, do we not bleed ? if 
 you tickle us, do we not laugh ? if you poison us, 
 do we not die ? and if you wrong us, shall we not 
 revenge ? If we are like you in the rest, we will 60' 
 resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, 
 what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian 
 wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be, by 
 Christian example? Why, revenge. The villany 
 you teach me, I will execute ; and it shall go hard 
 but I will better the instruction. 
 
Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 87 
 
 Enter a Servant 
 
 Servant. Gentlemen, my master Antonio is at his 
 house, and desires to speak with you both. 
 
 Salarino. We have been up and down to seek him. 
 
 Enter TUBAL 
 
 Salanio. Here comes another of the tribe ; a third 70 
 cannot be matched, unless the devil himself turn 
 Jew. [Exeunt Salanio, Salarino, and Servant. 
 
 Shy lock. How now, Tubal ? what news from Genoa ? 
 hast thou found my daughter ? 
 
 Tubal. I often came where I did hear of her, but 
 cannot find her. 
 
 Shy lock. Why, there, there, there, there ! a dia- 
 mond gone, cost me two thousand ducats in Frank- 
 fort ! The curse never fell upon our nation till now ; 
 I never felt it till now ; two thousand ducats in that, 80 
 and other precious, precious jewels. I would my 
 daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in 
 her ear 1 Would she were hearsed at my foot, and 
 the ducats in her coffin ! No news of them ? 
 Why, so ; and I know not how much is spent in the 
 search. Why, thou loss upon loss ! the thief gone 
 with so much, and so much to find the thief ; and no 
 satisfaction, no revenge ; nor no ill luck stirring but 
 what lights o' my shoulders ; no sighs but o' my 
 breathing, no tears but o' my shedding. 90 
 
 Tubal. Yes, other men have ill luck too. Antonio, 
 as I heard in Genoa, 
 
88 . The Merchant of Venice [Act in 
 
 Shylock. What, what, what ? ill luck, ill luck ? 
 
 TubaL Hath an argosy cast away, coming from 
 Tripolis. 
 
 Shylock. I thank God ! I thank God ! Is it true? 
 is it true ? 
 
 TubaL I spoke with some of the sailors that es- 
 caped the wrack. 
 
 Shylock. I thank thee, good Tubal ! Good news, 100 
 good news ! ha, ha ! Where ? in Genoa ? 
 
 Tubal. Your daughter spent in Genoa, as I heard, 
 in one night fourscore ducats. 
 
 Shylock. Thou stick'st a dagger in me. I shall 
 never see my gold again. Fourscore ducats at a sit- 
 ting ! fourscore ducats ! 
 
 Tubal. There came divers of Antonio's creditors 
 in my company to Venice, that swear he cannot 
 choose but break. 
 
 Shylock. I am very glad of it, I '11 plague him ; no 
 I '11 torture him. I am glad of it. 
 
 Tubal. One of them showed me a ring that he had 
 of your daughter for a monkey. 
 
 Shylock. Out upon her ! Thou torturest me, Tu- 
 bal. It was my turquoise ; I had it of Leah when I 
 was a bachelor. I would not have given it for a wil- 
 derness of monkeys. 
 
 Tubal. But Antonio is certainly undone. 
 
 Shylock. Nay, that 's true, that 's very true. Go, 
 Tubal, fee me an officer ; bespeak him a fortnight 120 
 before. I will have the heart of him, if he forfeit ; 
 
Scene II] The Merchant of Venice 89 
 
 for, were he out of Venice, I can make what mer- 
 chandise I will. Go, go, Tubal, and meet me at 
 our synagogue : go, good Tubal ; at our synagogue, 
 Tubal. \Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE II. Belmont. A Room in Portia's House 
 
 Enter BASSANIO, PORTIA, GRATIANO, NERISSA, and 
 Attendants 
 
 Portia. I pray you, tarry : pause a day or two 
 Before you hazard, for, in choosing wrong, 
 I lose your company ; therefore forbear a while. 
 There 's something tells me, but it is not love, 
 I would not lose you ; and you know yourself, 
 Hate counsels not in such a quality. 
 But lest you should not understand me well, 
 And yet a maiden hath no tongue but thought, 
 I would detain you here some month or two 
 Before you venture for me. I could teach you 
 How to choose right, but then I am forsworn ; 
 So will I never be. So may you miss me ; 
 But if you do, you '11 make me wish a sin, 
 That I had been forsworn. Beshrew your eyes, 
 They have o'erlook'd me and divided me ; 
 One half of me is yours, the other half yours, 
 Mine own, I would say; but if mine, then yours, 
 And so all yours. O, these naughty times 
 Put bars between the owners and their rights ! 
 And so, though yours, not yours. Prove it so, 
 
90 The Merchant of Venice [Act m 
 
 Let fortune go to hell for it, not I. 
 I speak too long; but 'tis to petze the time, 
 To eke it, and to draw it out in length, 
 To stay you from election. . 
 
 Bassanio. Let me choose ; 
 
 For as I am, I live upon the rack. 
 
 Portia. Upon the rack, Bassanio ! then confess 
 What treason there is mingled with your love. 
 
 Bassanio. None but that ugly treason of mistrust 
 Which makes me fear the enjoying of my love. 
 There may as well be amity and life 30 
 
 'Tween snow and fire as treason and my love. 
 
 Portia. Ay, but I fear you speak upon the rack, 
 Where men enforced do speak any thing. 
 
 Bassanio. Promise me life, and I'll confess the truth. 
 
 Portia. Well then, confess and live. 
 
 Bassanio. Confess and love 
 
 Had been the very sum of my confession. 
 O happy torment, when my torturer 
 Doth teach me answers for deliverance ! 
 But let me to my fortune and the caskets. 
 
 Portia. Away, then ! I am lock'd in one of them ; 40 
 If you do love me, you will find me out. 
 Nerissa and the rest, stand all aloof. 
 Let music sound while he doth make his choice ; 
 Then, if he lose, he makes a swan-like end, 
 Fading in music : that the comparison 
 May stand more proper, my eye shall be the stream 
 And watery death-bed for him. He may win ; 
 
Scene II] The Merchant of Venice 91 
 
 And what is music then ? Then music is 
 
 Even as the flourish when true subjects bow 
 
 To a new-crowned monarch ; such it is 50 
 
 As are those dulcet sounds in break of day 
 
 That creep into the dream ing l>ridegroom's ear 
 
 And summon him to marriage. Now he goes, 
 
 With no less presence, but with much more love, 
 
 Than young Alcides, when he did redeem 
 
 The virgin tribute paid by howling Troy 
 
 To the sea-monster. I stand for sacrifice ; 
 
 The rest aloof are the Dardanian wives, 
 
 With bleared visages, come forth to view 
 
 The issue of the exploit. Go, Hercules ! 60 
 
 Live thou, I live. With much more dismay 
 
 i view the fight than thou that mak'st the fray. 
 
 A Song, whilst BASSANIO comments on the caskets to 
 himself. 
 
 Tell me where is fancy bred, 
 Or in the heart or in the head? 
 How begot, how nourished? 
 Reply, reply. 
 
 It is engendered in the eyes, 
 
 With gazing fed ; and fancy dies 
 
 In the cradle where it lies. 
 
 Let us 1 all ring fancy 's knell; 70 
 
 1 'II begin it, Ding, dong, bell. 
 
 All. Ding, dong, bell. 
 
92 The Merchant of Venice [Act m 
 
 Bassanio. So may the outward shows be least them- 
 selves ; 
 
 The world is still deceiv'd with ornament. 
 In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt 
 But, being season 'd with a gracious voice, 
 Obscures the show of evil ? In religion, 
 What damned error, but some sober brow 
 Will bless it and approve it with a text, 
 Hiding the grossness with fair ornament? 8 
 
 There is no vice so simple but assumes 
 Some mark of virtue on his outward parts. 
 How many cowards, whose hearts are all as false 
 As stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins 
 The beards of Hercules and frowning Mars, 
 Who, inward search 'd, have livers white as milk ; 
 And these assume but valour's excrement 
 To render them redoubted ! Look on beauty, 
 And you shall see 't is purchased by the weight, 
 Which therein works a miracle in nature, 90 
 
 Making them lightest that wear most of it. 
 So are those crisped snaky golden locks, 
 Which make such wanton gambols with the wind, 
 Upon supposed fairness, often known 
 To be the dowry of a second head, 
 The skull that bred them in the sepulchre. 
 Thus ornament is but the guiled shore 
 To a most dangerous sea, the beauteous scarf 
 Veiling an Indian beauty, in a word, 
 The seeming truth which cunning times put on 100 
 
Scene ii] The Merchant of Venice 93 
 
 To entrap the wisest. Therefore, thou gaudy gold, 
 Hard food for Midas, I will none of thee ; 
 Nor none of thee, thou pale and common drudge 
 'Tween man and man ; but thou, thou meagre lead, 
 Which rather threatenest than dost promise aught, 
 Thy plainness moves me more than eloquence, 
 And here choose I. Joy be the consequence ! 
 
 Portia. [Aside] How all the other passions fleet to air, 
 As doubtful thoughts, and rash-embrac'd despair, 
 And shuddering fear, and green-eyed jealousy I no 
 
 love ! be moderate ; allay thy ecstasy ; 
 In measure rain thy joy ; scant this excess. 
 
 1 feel too much thy blessing; make it less, 
 For fear I surfeit. 
 
 Bassanio. What find I here ? 
 
 [ Opening the leaden casket. 
 Fair Portia's counterfeit ! What demigod 
 Hath come so near creation ? Move these eyes ? 
 Or whether, riding on the balls of mine 
 Seem they in motion? Here are sever 'd lips, 
 Parted with sugar breath ; so sweet a bar 
 Should sunder such sweet friends. Here in her hairs 120 
 The painter plays the spider, and hath woven 
 A golden mesh to entrap the hearts of men 
 Faster than gnats in cobwebs. But her eyes ! 
 How could he see to do them ? having made one, 
 Methinks it should have power to steal both his 
 And leave itself unfurnish'd. Yet look, how far 
 The substance of my praise doth wrong this shadow 
 
94 The Merchant of Venice [Act ill 
 
 In underprizing it, so far this shadow 
 
 Doth limp behind the substance. Here's the scroll. 
 
 The continent and summary of my fortune. 130 
 
 ' You that choose not by the view 
 Chance as fair and choose as true! 
 Since this fortune falls to you, 
 Be content and seek no new. 
 If you be well pleased with this, 
 And hold your fortune for your bliss > 
 Turn you where your lady is, 
 And claim her with a loving kiss? 
 
 A gentle scroll. Fair lady, by your leave ; 
 
 I come by note, to give and to receive. \Kissing her. 
 
 Like one of two contending in a prize, 141 
 
 That thinks he hath done well in people's eyes, 
 
 Hearing applause and universal shout, 
 
 Giddy in spirit, still gazing in a doubt 
 
 Whether those peals of praise be his or no ; 
 
 So, thrice-fair lady, stand I, even so, 
 
 As doubtful whether what I see be true, 
 
 Until confirm'd, sign'd, ratified by you. 
 
 Portia. You see me, .Lord Bassanio, where I stand, 
 Such as I am. Though for myself alone 150 
 
 I would not be ambitious in my wish, 
 To wish myself much better, yet for you 
 I would be trebled twenty times myself, 
 A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times more 
 rich, 
 
Scene II] The Merchant of Venice 95 
 
 That only to stand high in your account, 
 
 I might in virtues, beauties, livings, friends, 
 
 Exceed account. But the full sum of me 
 
 Is sum of nothing ; which, to term in gross, 
 
 Is an unlesson'd girl, unschool'd, unpractised : 
 
 Happy in this, she is not yet so old i6c 
 
 But she may learn ; happier than this, 
 
 She is not bred so dull but she can learn ; 
 
 Happiest of all in that her gentle spirit 
 
 Commits itself to yours to be directed, 
 
 As from her lord, her governor, her king. 
 
 Myself and what is mine to you and yours 
 
 Is now converted. But now I was the lord 
 
 Of this fair mansion, master of my servants, 
 
 Queen o'er myself ; and even now, but now, 
 
 This house, these servants, and this same myself 170 
 
 Are yours, my lord. I give them with this ring, 
 
 Which when you part from, lose, or give away, 
 
 Let it presage the ruin of your love, 
 
 And be my vantage to exclaim on you. 
 
 Bassanio. Madam, you have bereft me of all words, 
 Only my blood speaks to you in my veins ; 
 And there is such confusion in my powers 
 As, after some oration fairly spoke 
 By a beloved prince, there doth appear 
 Among the buzzing pleased multitude, 180 
 
 Where every something, being blent together, 
 Turns to a wild of nothing, save of joy, 
 Express'd and not express'd. But when this ring 
 
96 The Merchant of Venice [Act in 
 
 Parts from this finger, then parts life from hence ; 
 O, then be bold to say Bassanio's dead ! 
 
 Nerissa. My lord and lady, it is now our time, 
 That have stood by and seen our wishes prosper, 
 To cry, good joy. Good joy, my lord and lady ! 
 
 Gratiano. My lord Bassanio and my gentle lady, 
 I wish you all the joy that you can wish, 190 
 
 For I am sure you can wish none from me ; 
 And when your honours mean to solemnize 
 The bargain of your faith, I do beseech you, 
 Even at that time I may be married too. 
 
 Bassanio. With all my heart, so thou canst get a wife. 
 
 Gratiano. I thank your lordship, you have got me one. 
 My eyes, my lord, can look as swift as yours. 
 You saw the mistress, I beheld the maid ; 
 You lov'd, I lov'd ; for intermission 
 No more pertains to me, my lord, than you. 200 
 
 Your fortune stood upon the caskets there, 
 And so did mine too, as the matter falls ; 
 For wooing here until I sweat again, 
 And swearing till my very roof was dry 
 With oaths of love, at last, if promise last, 
 I got a promise of this fair one here 
 To have her love, provided that your fortune 
 Achiev'd her mistress. 
 
 Portia. Is this true, Nerissa ? 
 
 Nerissa. Madam, it is, so you stand pleas'd withal. 
 
 JBassanio. And do you, Gratiano, mean good faith ? 21? 
 
 Gratiano. Yes, faith, my lord. 
 
 
Scene ii] The Merchant of Venice 97 
 
 Bassanio. Our feast shall be much honoured in your 
 
 marriage. 
 Gratiano. But who comes here? Lorenzo and his 
 
 infidel ? 
 What ! and my old Venetian friend, Salerio ? 
 
 Enter LORENZO, JESSICA, and SALERIO, a messenger 
 from Venice 
 
 Bassanio. Lorenzo and Salerio, welcome hither ; 
 If that the youth of my new interest here 
 Have power to bid you welcome. By your leave, 
 I bid my very friends and countrymen, 
 Sweet Portia, welcome. 
 
 Portia. So do I, my lord ; 
 
 They are entirely welcome. 220 
 
 Lorenzo. I thank your honour. For my part, my lord, 
 My purpose was not to have seen you here ; 
 But meeting with Salerio by the way, 
 He did entreat me, past all saying nay, 
 To come with him along. 
 
 Salerio. I did, my lord, 
 
 And I have reason for it. Signior Antonio 
 Commends him to you. \Gives Bassanio a letter. 
 
 Bassanio. Ere I ope his letter, 
 
 I pray you, tell me how my good friend doth. 
 
 Salerio. Not sick, my lord, unless it be in mind, 
 Nor well, unless in mind ; his letter there 230 
 
 Will show you his estate. 
 
 MER. OF YEN. 7 
 
98 The Merchant of Venice [Act in 
 
 Gratiano. Nerissa, cheer yon stranger ; bid her wel- 
 come. 
 
 Your hand, Salerio ; what 's the news from Venice ? 
 How doth -that royal merchant, good Antonio? 
 I know he will be glad of our success ; 
 We are the Jasons, we have won the fleece. 
 
 Salerio. I would you had won the fleece that he hath 
 lost! 
 
 Portia. There are some shrewd contents in yon same 
 
 paper, 
 
 That steals the colour fiorn Bassanio's cheek: 
 Some dear friend dead ; else nothing in the world 240 
 Could turn so much the constitution 
 Of any constant man. What, worse and worse ? 
 With leave, Bassanio ; I am half yourself, 
 And I must freely have the half of any thing 
 That this same paper brings you. 
 
 Bassanio. O sweet Portia, 
 
 Here are a few of the unpleasant'st words 
 That ever blotted paper ! Gentle lady, 
 When I did first impart my love to you, 
 I freely told you, all the wealth I had 
 Ran in my veins I was a gentleman, 250 
 
 And then 1 told you true ; and yet, dear lady, 
 Rating myself at nothing, you shall see 
 How much I was a braggart. When I told you 
 My state was nothing, I should then have told you 
 That I was worse than nothing ; for indeed 
 I have engag'd myself to a dear friend, 
 
Scene II] The Merchant of Venice 99 
 
 Engag'd my friend to his mere enemy, 
 
 To feed my means. Here is a letter, lady ; 
 
 The paper as the body of my friend, 
 
 And every word in it a gaping wound, 260 
 
 Issuing life-blood. But is it true, Salerio ? 
 
 Have all his ventures fail'd ? What, not one hit? 
 
 From Tripolis, from Mexico, and England, 
 
 From Lisbon, Barbary, and India, 
 
 And not one vessel scape the dreadful touch 
 
 Of merchant-marring rocks ? 
 
 Salerio. Not one. my lord. 
 
 Besides, it should appear that if he had 
 The present money to discharge the Jew, 
 He would not take it. Never did I know 
 A creature that did bear the shape of man, 270 
 
 So keen and greedy to confound a man. 
 He plies the duke at morning and at night, 
 And doth impeach the freedom of the state, 
 If they deny him justice.. Twenty merchants, 
 The duke himself, and the magnificoes 
 Of greatest port, have all persuaded with him ; 
 But none can drive him from the envious plea 
 Of forfeiture, of justice, and his bond. 
 
 Jessica. When I was with him I have heard him 
 
 swear 
 
 To Tubal and to Chus, his countrymen, 280 
 
 That he would rather have Antonio's flesh 
 Than twenty times the value of the sum 
 That he did owe him ; and I know, my lord, 
 
TOO The Merchant of Venice [Act m 
 
 If law, authority, and power deny not, 
 It will go hard with poor Antonio. 
 
 Portia. Is it your dear friend that is thus in trouble ? 
 
 Bassanio. The dearest friend to me, the kindest 
 
 man, 
 
 The best-condition'd and unwearied spirit 
 In doing courtesies ; and one in whom 
 The ancient Roman honour more appears 290 
 
 Than any that draws breath in Italy. 
 
 Portia. What sum owes he the Jew ? 
 
 Bassanio. For me, three thousand ducats. 
 
 Portia. What, no more "? 
 
 Pay him six thousand, and deface the bond ; 
 Double six thousand, and then treble that, 
 Before a friend of this description 
 Shall lose a hair through Bassahio's fault. 
 First go with me to church and call me wife, 
 And then away to Venice to your friend ; 
 For never shall you lie by Portia's side 300 
 
 With an unquiet soul. You shall have gold 
 To pay the petty debt twenty times over ; 
 When it is paid, bring your true friend along. 
 My maid Nerissa and myself, mean time, 
 Will live as maids and widows. Come, away I 
 For you shall hence upon- your wedding-day. 
 Bid your friends welcome, show a merry cheer ; 
 Since you are dear bought, I will love you dear. 
 But let me hear the letter of your friend. 
 
 Bassanio. [Reads] ' Sweet Bassanio, my ships 
 
Scene ill] The Merchant of Venice 101 
 
 all miscarried, my creditors grow cruel, my estate is very 
 low, my bond to the Jew is forfeit ; and since, in paying 
 it, it is impossible I should live, all debts are cleared 
 between you and I, if I might see you at my death. 
 Notwithstanding, use your pleasure ; if your love do 
 not persuade you to come, let not my letter? 
 
 Portia. O love, dispatch all business, and be gone ! 
 
 Bassanio. Since I have your good leave to go away, 
 I will make haste ; but, till I come again, 
 
 No bed shall e'er be guilty of my stay, 320 
 
 Nor rest be interposer 'twixt us twain. \Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE III. Venice. A Street 
 Enter SHYLOCK, SALARINO, ANTONIO, and Gaoler 
 
 Shylock. Gaoler, look to him ; tell not me of 
 
 mercy. 
 
 This is the fool that lends out money gratis. 
 Gaoler, look to him. 
 
 Antonio. Hear me yet, good Shylock. 
 
 Shylock. I '11 have my bond ; speak not against my 
 
 bond. 
 
 I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond. 
 Thou call'dst me dog before thou hadst a cause ; 
 But, since I am a dog, beware my fangs. 
 The duke shall grant me justice. I do wonder, 
 Thou naughty gaoler, that thou art so fond 
 To come abroad with him at his request. 10 
 
f02 The Merchant of Venice [Act m 
 
 Antonio. I pray thee, hear me speak. 
 
 Shylock. I '11 have my bond ; I will not hear thee 
 
 speak. 
 
 I '11 have my bond ; and therefore speak no more. 
 I '11 not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool, 
 To shake the head, relent, and sigh, and yield 
 To Christian intercessors. Follow not ; 
 I '11 have no speaking ; I will have my bond. [Exit. 
 
 Salarino. It is the most impenetrable cur 
 That ever kept with men. 
 
 Antonio. Let him alone ; 
 
 I '11 follow him no more with bootless prayers. 20 
 
 He seeks my life ; his reason well I know. 
 I oft deliver'd from his forfeitures 
 Many that have at times made moan to me ; 
 Therefore he hates me. 
 
 Salarino. I am sure the duke 
 
 Will never grant this forfeiture to hold. 
 
 Antonio. The duke cannot deny the course of law; 
 For the commodity that strangers have 
 With us in Venice, if it be denied, 
 Will much impeach the justice of the state, 
 Since that the trade and profit of the city 30 
 
 Consisteth of all nations. Therefore go ; 
 These griefs and losses have so bated me 
 That I shall hardly spare a pound of flesh 
 To-morrow to my bloody creditor. 
 Well, gaoler, on. Pray God, Bassanio come 
 To see me pay his debt, and then I care not ! \Exeunt 
 
Scene IV] The Merchant of Venice 103 
 
 SCENE IV. Belmont. A Room in Portia's House 
 
 Enter PORTIA, NERISSA, LORENZO, JESSICA, and 
 BALTHASAR 
 
 Lorenzo. Madam, although I speak it in your pres- 
 ence, 
 
 You have a noble and a true conceit 
 Of godlike amity, which appears most strongly 
 In bearing thus the absence of your lord. 
 But if you knew to whom you show this honour, 
 How true a gentleman you send relief, 
 How dear a lover of my lord your husband, 
 I know you would be prouder of the work 
 Than customary bounty can enforce you. 
 
 Portia. I never did repent for doing good, 10 
 
 Nor shall not now ; for in companions 
 That do converse and waste the time together, 
 Whose souls do bear an equal yoke of love, 
 There must be needs a like proportion 
 Of lineaments, of manners, and of spirit ; 
 Which makes me think that this Antonio, 
 Being the bosom lover of my lord, 
 Must needs be like my lord. If it be so, 
 How little is the cost I have bestow'd 
 In purchasing the semblance of my soul 20 
 
 From out the state of hellish cruelty ! 
 This comes too near the praising of myself, 
 Therefore no more of it ; hear other things. 
 
104 The Merchant of Venice [Act in 
 
 Lorenzo, I commit into your hands 
 
 The husbandry and manage of my house 
 
 Until my lord's return ; for mine own part, 
 
 I have toward heaven breath 'd a secret vow 
 
 To live in prayer and contemplation, 
 
 Only attended by Nerissa here, 
 
 Until her husband and my lord's return. 90 
 
 There is a monastery two miles off, 
 
 And there will we abide. I do desire you 
 
 Not to deny this imposition, 
 
 The which my love and some necessity 
 
 Now lays upon you. 
 
 Lorenzo. Madam, with all my heart ; 
 
 I shall obey you in all fair commands. 
 
 Portia. My people do already know my mind, 
 And will acknowledge you and Jessica 
 In place of Lord Bassanio and myself. 
 So fare you well till we shall meet again. 40 
 
 Lorenzo. Fair thoughts and happy hours attend ou 
 you! 
 
 Jessica. I wish your ladyship all heart's content. 
 
 Portia. I thank you for your wish, and am well pleas 'd 
 To wish it back on you; fare you well, Jessica. 
 
 \Exeunt Jessica and Lorenzo 
 Now, Balthasar, 
 
 As I have ever found thee honest-true, 
 So let me find thee still. Take this same letter, 
 And use thou all the endeavour of a man 
 In speed to Padua. See thou render this 
 
The Merchant of Venice 105 
 
 Into my cousin's hand, Doctor Bellario ; 50 
 
 And, look, what notes and garments "he doth give thee, 
 
 Bring them, I pray thee, with imagin'd speed 
 
 Unto the tranect, to the common ferry 
 
 Which trades to Venice. Waste no time in words, 
 
 But get thee gone ; I shall be there before thee. 
 
 Balthasar. Madam, I go with all convenient speed. 
 
 {Exit. 
 
 Portia. Come on, Nerissa ; I have work in hand 
 That you yet know not of. We '11 see our husbands 
 Before they think of us. 
 
 Nerissa. Shall they see us ? 
 
 Portia. They shall, Nerissa, but in such a habit 60 
 That they shall think we are accomplished 
 With that we lack. I '11 hold thee any wager, 
 When we are both accoutred like young men, 
 I '11 prove the prettier fellow of the two, 
 And wear my dagger with the braver grace, 
 And speak between the change of man and boy 
 With a reed voice, and turn two mincing steps 
 Into a manly stride, and speak of frays 
 Like a fine bragging youth ; and tell quaint lies, 
 How honourable ladies sought my love, 70 
 
 Which I denying, they fell sick and died, 
 I could not do withal ; then I '11 repent, 
 And wish, for all that, that I had not kill'd them. 
 And twenty of these puny lies I'll tell, 
 That men shall swear I have discontinued school 
 Above a twelvemonth. I have within my mind 
 
io6 The Merchant of Venice [Act m 
 
 A thousand raw tricks of these bragging Jacks 
 
 Which I will practise. 
 
 But come, I '11 tell thee all my whole device 
 
 When I am in my coach, which stays for us 80 
 
 At the park gate ; and therefore haste away, 
 
 For we must measure twenty miles to-day. [Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE V. The Same. A Garden 
 Enter LAUNCELOT and JESSICA 
 
 Launcelot. Yes, truly; for, look you, the sins of the 
 father are to be laid upon the children ; therefore, I 
 promise you, I fear you. I was always plain with 
 you, and so now I speak my agitation of the matter ; 
 therefore be of good cheer, for truly I think you are 
 damned. There is but one hope in it that can do 
 you any good. 
 
 Jessica. And what hope is that, I pray thee ? 
 
 Launcelot. Marry, you may partly hope that you 
 are not the Jew's daughter. 
 
 Jessica. So the sins of my mother should be visited 
 upon me. 
 
 Launcelot. Truly then I fear you are damned both 
 by father and mother ; thus when I shun Scylla,your 
 father, I fall into Charybdis, your mother. Well, 
 you are gone both ways. 
 
 Jessica. I shall be saved by my husband ; he hath 
 made me a Christian. 
 
Scene V] The Merchant of Venice 107 
 
 Launcelot. Truly, the more to blame he ; we were 
 Christians enow before, e'en as many as could well 20 
 live, one by another. This making of Christians 
 will raise the price of hogs ; if we grow all to be 
 pork-eaters, we shall not shortly have a rasher on 
 the coals for money. 
 
 Enter LORENZO 
 
 Jessica. I '11 tell my husband, Launcelot, what you 
 say ; here he comes. 
 
 Lorenzo. I shall grow jealous of v you shortly, 
 Launcelot. 
 
 Jessica. Nay, you need not fear us, Lorenzo ; 
 Launcelot and I are out. He tells me flatly, there 3 
 is no mercy for me in heaven, because I am a Jew's 
 daughter ; and he says you are no good member of 
 the commonwealth, for in converting Jews to Chris- 
 tians you raise the price of pork. 
 
 Lorenzo. I think the best grace of wit will shortly 
 turn into silence, and discourse grow commendable 
 in none only but parrots. Go in, sirrah ; bid them 
 prepare for dinner. 
 
 Launcelot. That is done, sir ; they have all 
 stomachs. 40 
 
 Lorenzo. Goodly Lord, what a wit-snapper are 
 you ! then bid them" prepare dinner. 
 
 Launcelot. That is done too, sir; only, cover is 
 the word. 
 
 Lorenzo. Will you cover then, sir ? 
 
io8 The Merchant of Venice [Act in 
 
 Launcelot. Not so, sir, neither ; I know my duty. 
 
 Lorenzo. Yet more quarrelling with occasion ! 
 Wilt thou show the whole wealth of thy wit in an 
 instant? I pray thee, understand a plain man in his 
 plain meaning : go to thy fellows ; bid them cover 50 
 the table, serve in the meat, and we will come in to 
 dinner. 
 
 Launcelot. For. the table, sir, it shall be served in ; 
 for the meat, sir, it shall be covered ; for your com- 
 ing in to dinner, sir, why, let it be as humours and 
 conceits shall govern. \Exit. 
 
 Lorenzo. O dear discretion, how his words are 
 
 suited ! 
 
 The fool hath planted in his memory 
 An army of good words ; and I do know 
 A many fools that stand in better place, 60 
 
 Garnish 'd like him, that for a tricksy word 
 Defy the matter. How cheer'st thou, Jessica ? 
 And now, good sweet, say thy opinion, 
 How dost thou like the lord Bassanio's wife ? 
 
 Jessica. Past all expressing. It is very meet 
 The lord Bassanio live an upright life, 
 For, having such a blessing in his lady, 
 He finds the joys of heaven here on earth ; 
 And if on earth he do not mean it, then 
 In reason he should never come to heaven. 70 
 
 Why, if two gods should play some heavenly match, 
 And on the wager lay two earthly women, 
 And Portia one, there must be something else 
 
Scene V] The Merchant of Venice 109 
 
 Pawn'd with the other, for the poor rude world 
 Hath not her fellow. 
 
 Lorenzo. Even such a husband 
 
 Hast thou of me as she is for a wife. 
 
 Jessica. Nay, but ask my opinion too of that. 
 
 Lorenzo. I will anon ; first, let us go to dinner. 
 
 Jessica. Nay, let me praise you while I have a 
 stomach. 
 
 Lorenzo. No, pray thee, let it serve for table-talk ; 80 
 Then, howsoe'er thou speak'st, 'mong other things 
 I shall digest it. 
 
 Jessica. Well, I '11 set you forth. \Exeunt. 
 
COURT OF DUCAL PALACE 
 
 ACT IV 
 
 SCENE I. Venice. A Court of Justice 
 
 Enter the DUKE, the Magnificoes, ANTONIO, BASSANIO, 
 GRATIANO, SALERIO, and others 
 
 Duke. What, is Antonio here ? 
 
 Antonio. Ready, so please your grace. 
 
 Duke. I am sorry for thee ; thou art come to answer 
 A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch 
 Uncapable of pity, void and empty 
 From any dram of mercy. 
 
 Antonio. I have heard 
 
 Your grace hath ta'en great pains to qualify 
 His rigorous course ; but since he stands obdurate 
 no 
 
Scene /] The Merchant of Venice in 
 
 And that no lawful means can carry me 
 
 Out of his envy's reach, I do oppose 10 
 
 My patience to his fury, and am arm'd 
 
 To suffer, with a quietness of spirit, 
 
 The very tyranny and rage of his. 
 
 Duke. Go one, and call the Jew into the court. 
 
 Salerio. He is ready at the door ; he comes, my lord. 
 
 Enter SHYLOCK 
 
 Duke. Make room, and let him stand before our 
 
 face. 
 
 Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so too, 
 That thou but lead'st this fashion of thy malice 
 To the last hour of act ; and then 't is thought 
 Thou 'It show thy mercy and remorse, more strange 20 
 Than is thy strange apparent cruelty ; 
 And where thou now exact'st the penalty, 
 Which is a pound of this poor merchant's flesh, 
 Thou wilt not only loose the forfeiture, 
 But, touch'd with human gentleness and love, 
 Forgive a moiety of the principal ; 
 Glancing an eye of pity on his losses. 
 That have of late so huddled on his back, 
 Enow to press a royal merchant down, 
 And pluck commiseration of his state 30 
 
 From brassy bosoms and rough hearts of flint, 
 From stubborn Turks and Tartars, never train 'd 
 To offices of tender courtesy. 
 We all expect a gentle answer, Jew. 
 
1 1 2 The Merchant of Venice [Act iv 
 
 Shy lock. I have possess 'd your grace of what I pur- 
 pose, 
 
 And by our holy Sabbath have I sworn 
 To have the due and forfeit of my bond. 
 If you deny it, let the danger light 
 Upon your charter and your city's freedom. 
 Vou '11 ask me why I rather choose to have 40 
 
 A weight of carrion flesh than to receive 
 Three thousand ducats. I '11 not answer that ; 
 But, say, it is my humour : is it answer'd ? 
 What if my house be troubled with a rat, 
 And I be pleas'd to give ten thousand ducats 
 To have it ban^d ? What, are you answer'd yet ? 
 Some men there are love'not a gaping pig, 
 Some that are mad if they behold a cat ; 
 Masters of passion sway it to the mood 
 Of what it likes or loathes. Now, for your answer ; 50 
 As there is no firm reason to be render'd 
 Why he cannot abide a gaping pig, 
 Why he a harmless necessary cat, 
 So can I give no reason, nor I will not, 
 More than a lodg'd hate and a certain loathing 
 I bear Antonio, that I follow thus 
 A losing suit against him. Are you answer'd ? 
 
 Bassanio. This is no answer, thou unfeeling man, 
 To excuse the current of thy cruelty. 
 
 Shy lock. I am not bound to please thee with my 
 answer. 60 
 
 Bassanio. Do all men kill the things they do not love ? 
 
-Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 113 
 
 Shylock. Hates any man the thing he would not kill ? 
 
 Bassanio. Every offence is not a hate at first. 
 
 Shylock. What, wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee 
 twice ? 
 
 Antonio. I pray you, think you question with the 
 
 Jew. 
 
 You may as well go stand upon the beach, 
 And bid the main flood bate his usual height; 
 You may as well use question with the wolf 
 Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb ; 
 You may as well forbid the mountain pines 70 
 
 To wag their high tops and to make no noise, 
 When they are fretted with the gusts of heaven ; 
 You may as well do any thing most hard, 
 As seek to soften that than which what 's harder ? 
 His Jewish heart. Therefore, I do beseech you, 
 Make no more offers, use no farther means, 
 But with all brief and plain conveniency 
 Let me have judgment, and the Jew his will. 
 
 Bassanio. For thy three thousand ducats here is six. 
 / Shylock. If every ducat in six thousand ducats 80 
 Were in six parts, and every part a ducat, 
 I would not draw them ; I would have my bond. 
 
 Duke. How shalt thou hope for mercy, rendering 
 none ? . , . 
 
 Shylock. What judgment shall I dread, doing no 
 
 wrong ? 
 
 You have among you many a purchas'd slave, 
 WJiich, like your asses and your dogs and mules, 
 
 MER. OF VEN. 8 
 
114 The Merchant of Venice [Act w 
 
 You use in abject and in slavish parts, 
 
 Because you bought them. Shall I say to you, 
 
 Let them be free, marry them to your heirs ? 
 
 Why sweat they under burthens ? let their beds 90 
 
 Be made as soft as yours, and let their palates 
 
 Be season 'd with such viands? You will answer, 
 
 The slaves are ours. So do I answer you : 
 
 The pound of flesh which I demand of him 
 
 Is dearly bought ; 't is mine, and I will have it. 
 
 If you deny me, fie upon your law ! 
 
 There is no force in the decrees of Venice. 
 
 I stand for judgment. Answer ; shall I have it? 
 
 Duke. Upon my power I may dismiss this court 
 Unless Bellario, a learned doctor, 100 
 
 Whom I have sent for to determine this ? 
 Come here to-day. 
 
 Salerio. My lord, here stays without 
 
 A messenger with letters from the doctor, 
 New come from Padua. 
 
 Duke. Bring us the letters ; call the messenger. 
 
 Bassanio. Good cheer, Antonio ! What, man, cour- 
 age yet ! 
 
 The Jew shall have my flesh, blood, bones, and all, 
 Ere thou shalt lose for me one drop of blood. 
 
 Antonio. I am a tainted wether of the flock, 
 Meetest for death ; the weakest kind of fruit 
 Drops earliest to the ground, and so let me. 
 You cannot better be employ 'd, Bassanio, 
 Than to live still and write mine epitaph, 
 
Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 115 
 
 Enter NERISSA, dressed like a lawyer's clerk 
 
 Duke. Came you from Padua, from Bellario ? 
 
 'Nerissa. From both, my lord. Bellario greets your 
 grace. [Presenting a letter. 
 
 Bassanio. Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly? 
 
 Shylock. To cut the forfeiture from that bankrupt 
 there. 
 
 Gratiano. Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew, 
 Thou mak'st thy knife keen ; but no metal can, 
 No, not the hangman's axe, bear half the keenness 120 
 Of thy sharp envy. Can no prayers pierce thee ? 
 
 Shylock. No, none that thou hast wit enough to make. 
 
 Gratiano. O, be thou damn'd, inexorable dogl 
 And for thy life let justice be accus'd ! 
 Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith, 
 To hold opinion with Pythagoras, 
 That souls of animals infuse themselves 
 Into the trunks of men. Thy currish spirit 
 Govern 'd a wolf, who, hang'd for human slaughter, 
 Even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet, 130 
 
 And, whilst thou lay'st in thy unhallow'd dam, 
 Infus'd itself in thee ; for thy desires 
 Are wolvish, bloody, starved, and ravenous. 
 
 Shylock. Till thou canst rail the seal from off my bond 
 Thou but offend'st thy lungs to speak so loud. 
 Repair thy wit, good youth, or it will fall 
 To cureless ruin. I stand here for law. 
 
 Duke. This letter from Bellario doth commend 
 
n6 The Merchant of Venice [Act IV 
 
 A young and learned doctor to our court. 
 Where is he ? 
 
 Nerissa. He attendeth here hard by, 140 
 
 To know your answer, whether you '11 admit him. 
 
 Duke. With all my heart. Some three or four of 
 
 you 
 
 Go give him courteous conduct to this place. 
 Meantime, the court shall hear Bellario's letter. 
 
 Clerk. [Reads] ' Your grace shall understand that 
 at the receipt of your letter I am very sick; but in the 
 instant that your messenger came, in loving visitation 
 was with me a young doctor of Rome ; his name is 
 Balthasar. I acquainted him with the cause in con- 
 troversy between the Jew and Antonio the merchant ; 150 
 we turned c?er many books together. He is furnished 
 with my opinion, which, bettered with his own learning, 
 the greatness whereof I cannot enough commend, comes 
 with him, at my importunity, to fill up your graced 
 request in my stead. I beseech you, let his lack of years 
 be no impediment to let him lack a reverend estimation ; 
 for I never knew so young a body with so old a head. 
 I leave him to your gracious acceptance, whose trial 
 shall better publish his commendation.'' 
 
 Duke. You hear the learn'd Bellario, what he writes; 160 
 And here, I take it, is the doctor come. 
 
 Enter PORTIA, dressed like a doctor of laws 
 
 Give me your hand. Came you from old Bellario ? 
 Portia, I did, my lord. 
 
Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 117 
 
 Duke. You are welcome ; take your place. 
 
 Are you acquainted with the difference 
 That holds this present question in the court ? 
 
 Portia. I am informed throughly of the cause. 
 Which is the merchant here, and which the Jew ? 
 
 Duke. Antonio and old Shylock, both stand forth. 
 
 Portia. Is your name Shylock ? 
 
 Shylock. Shylock is my name. 
 
 Portia* Of a strange nature is the suit you follow, 170 
 Yet in such rule that the Venetian law 
 Cannot impugn you as you do proceed. 
 You stand within his danger, do you not? 
 
 Antonio. Ay, so he says. 
 
 Portia. Do you confess the bond ? 
 
 Antonio. I do. 
 
 Portia. Then must the Jew be merciful. 
 
 Shylock. On what compulsion must I ? tell me that. 
 
 Portia. The quality of mercy is not strain 'd ; 
 It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 
 Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; 
 It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. 180 
 
 'T is mightiest in the mightiest ; it becomes 
 The throned monarch better than his crown. 
 His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, 
 The attribute to awe and majesty, 
 Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings ; 
 But mercy is above this sceptred sway ; 
 It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, 
 [t is an attribute to God himself ; 
 
n8 The Merchant of Venice [Act IV 
 
 And earthly power doth then show likest God's 
 
 When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, 190 
 
 Though justice be thy plea, consider this, 
 
 That, in the course of justice, none of us 
 
 Should see salvation ; we do pray for mercy, 
 
 And that same prayer doth teach us all to render 
 
 The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much 
 
 To mitigate the justice of thy plea, 
 
 Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice 
 
 Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there. 
 
 Shy lock. My deeds upon my head ! I crave the law, 
 The penalty and forfeit of my bond. 2ou 
 
 Portia. Is he not able to discharge the money ? 
 
 Bassanio. Yes, here I tender it for him in the court 
 Yea, twice the sum. If that will not suffice, 
 I will be bound to pay it ten times o'er, 
 On forfeit of my hands, my head, my heart ; 
 If this will not suffice, it must appear 
 That malice bears down truth. And I beseech you, 
 Wrest once the law to your authority ; 
 To do a great right, do a little wrong, 
 And curb this cruel devil of his will. 210 
 
 Portia. It must not be. There is no power in Venice 
 Can alter a decree established ; 
 'T will be recorded for a precedent, 
 And many an error by the same example 
 Will rush into the state. It cannot be. 
 
 Shylock. A Daniel come to judgment ! yea, a Daniel 1 
 O wise young judge, how do I honour thee ! 
 
Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 119 
 
 Portia. I pray you, let me look upon the bond. 
 
 Shy lock. Here 't is, most reverend doctor, here it is* 
 
 Portia. Shylock, there 's thrice thy money offer'd thee. 
 
 Shylock. An oath, an oath, I have an oath in heaven ; 
 Shall I lay perjury upon my soul ? 22* 
 
 No, not for Venice. 
 
 Portia. Why, this bond is forfeit ; 
 
 And lawfully by 'this the Jew may claim 
 A pound of flesh, to be by him cut off 
 Nearest the merchant's heart. Be merciful; 
 Take thrice thy money; bid me tear the bond. 
 
 Shylock. When it is paid according to the tenour. 
 It doth appear you are a worthy judge ; 
 You know the law ; your exposition 230 
 
 Hath been most sound. I charge you by the law, 
 Whereof you are a well-deserving pillar, 
 Proceed to judgment. By my soul I swear, 
 There is no power in the tongue of man 
 Tc alter me. I stay here on my bond. 
 
 Antonio. Most heartily I do beseech the court 
 To give the judgment. 
 
 Portia. Why then, thus it is: 
 
 You must prepare your bosom for his knife. 
 
 Shylock. O noble judge ! O excellent young man \ 
 
 Portia. For the intent and purpose of the law 240 
 Hath full relation to the penalty, 
 Which here appeareth due upon the bond. 
 
 Shylock. 'T is very true. O wise and upright judge 
 How much more elder art thou than thy looks ! 
 
120 The Merchant of Venice [Act iv 
 
 Portia. Therefore lay bare your bosom. 
 
 Shy lock. Ay, his breast ; 
 
 So says the bond doth it not, noble judge? 
 Nearest his heart ; those are the very words. 
 
 Portia. It is so. Are there balance here to weigh 
 the flesh ? 
 
 Shylock. I have them ready. 
 
 Portia. Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your 
 charge, 250 
 
 To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death. 
 
 Shylock. Is it so nominated in the bond ? 
 
 Portia. It is not so express 'd ; but what of that ? 
 'T were good you do so much for charity. 
 
 Shylock. I cannot find it ; -t is not in the bond. 
 
 Portia. You, merchant, have you any thing to say ? 
 
 Antonio. But little ; I am arm'd and well prepar'd. 
 Give me your hand, Bassanio ; fare you well ! 
 Grieve not that I am fallen to this for you ; 
 For herein Fortune shows herself more kind 260 
 
 Than is her custom. It is still her use 
 To let the wretched man outlive his wealth, 
 To view with hollow eye and wrinkled brow 
 An age of poverty; from which lingering penance 
 Of such misery doth she cut me off. 
 Commend me to your honourable wife. 
 Tell her the process of Antonio's end ; 
 Say how I lov'd you, speak me fair in death, 
 And when the tale is told bid her be judge 
 Whether Bassanio had not once a love. 270 
 
Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 121 
 
 Repent not you that you shall lose your friend, 
 And he repents not that he pays your debt ; 
 For if the Jew do cut but deep enough, 
 I '11 pay it instantly with all my heart. 
 
 Bassanio. Antonio, I am married to a wife 
 Which is as dear to me as life itself ; 
 But life itself, my wife, and all the world, 
 Are not with me esteem 'd above thy life. 
 I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all 
 Here to this devil, to deliver you. 280 
 
 Portia. Your wife would give you little thanks for that, * 
 If she were by to hear you make the offer. 
 
 Gratiano. I have a wife, whom, I protest, I love ; 
 I would she were in heaven, so she could 
 Entreat some power to change this currish Jew. 
 
 Nerissa. 'T is well you offer it behind her back ; 
 The wish would make else an unquiet house. 
 
 Shylock. [Aside] These be the Christian husbands. 
 
 I have a daughter ; 
 Would any of the stock of Barrabas 
 Had been her husband rather than a Christian ! 290 
 [To Portia] We trifle time ; I pray thee, pursue sentence. 
 
 Portia. A pound of that same merchant's flesh is 
 
 thine ; 
 The court awards it, and the law doth give it. 
 
 Shylock. Most rightful judge ! 
 
 Portia. And you must cut this flesh from off his 
 
 breast ; 
 The law allows it, and the court awards it. 
 
122 The Merchant of Venice [Act IV 
 
 Shylock. Most learned judge I A sentence 1 Come, 
 prepare 1 
 
 Portia. Tarry a little ; there is something else. 
 This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood ; 
 The words expressly are, a pound of flesh. 300 
 
 Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh ; 
 But, in the cutting it, if thou dost shed 
 One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods 
 Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate 
 Unto the state of Venice. 
 
 Gratiano. O upright judge ! Mark, Jew 1 O 
 learned judge ! 
 
 Shylock. Is that the law ? 
 
 Portia. Thyself shalt see the act ; 
 
 For, as thou urgest justice, be assur'd 
 Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desirest. 
 
 Gratiano. O learned judge ! Mark Jew ! a learned 
 judge ! 310 
 
 Shylock. I take this offer, then ; pay the bond thrice. 
 And let the Christian go. 
 
 Bassanio. Here is the money. 
 
 Portia. Soft! 
 
 The Jew shall have all justice ; soft 1 no haste : 
 He shall have nothing but the penalty. 
 
 Gratiano. O Jew ! an upright judge, a learned judge 1 
 
 Portia. Therefore prepare thee to cut off the flesh. 
 Shed thou no blood, nor cut thou less nor more 
 But just a pound of flesh ; if thou tak'st more 
 Or less than a just pound, be it but so much y.r 
 
Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 123 
 
 As makes it light or heavy in the substance, 
 
 Or the division of the twentieth part 
 
 Of one poor scruple nay, if the scale do turn 
 
 But in the estimation of a hair, 
 
 Thou diest, and all thy goods are confiscate. 
 
 Gratiano. A second Daniel, a Daniel, Jew ! 
 Now, infidel, I have thee on the hip. 
 
 Portia. Why doth the Jew pause? Take thy for- 
 feiture. 
 
 Shylock. Give me my principal, and let me go. 
 
 Bassanio. I have it ready for thee ; here it is. 330 
 
 Portia. He hath refus'd it in the open court ; 
 He shall have merely justice and his bond. 
 
 Gratiano. A Daniel, still say I, a second Daniel ! 
 I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word. 
 
 Shylock. Shall I not have barely my principal ? 
 
 Portia. Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, 
 To be so taken at thy peril, Jew. 
 
 Shylock. Why, then the devil give him good of it 1 
 I '11 stay no longer question. 
 
 Portia. Tarry, Jew ; 
 
 The law hath yet another hold on you. 340 
 
 It is enacted in the laws of Venice, 
 If it be prov'd against an alien 
 That by direct or indirect attempts 
 He seek the life of any citizen, 
 The party 'gainst the which he doth contrive 
 Shall seize one half his goods ; the other half 
 Comes to the privy coffer of the state ; 
 
124 The Merchant of Venice [Act iv 
 
 And the offender's life lies in the mercy 
 
 Of the duke only, 'gainst all other voice. 
 
 In which predicament, I say, thou stand'st ; 350 
 
 For it appears, by manifest proceeding, 
 
 That indirectly, and directly too, 
 
 Thou hast contriv'd against the very life 
 
 Of the defendant, and thou hast incurr'd 
 
 The danger formerly by me rehears'd. 
 
 Down therefore, and beg mercy of the duke. 
 
 Gratiano. Beg that thou mayst have leave to hang 
 
 thyself: 
 
 And yet, thy wealth being forfeit to the state, 
 Thou hast not left the value of a cord ; 
 Therefore thou must be hang'd at the state's charge. 360 
 
 Duke. That thou shalt see the difference of our spirits, 
 I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it. 
 . For half thy wealth, it is Antonio's ; 
 The other half comes to the general state, 
 Which humbleness may drive unto a fine. 
 
 Portia. Ay, for the state, not for Antonio. 
 
 Shy lock. Nay, take my life and all ; pardon not that. 
 You take my house when you do take the prop 
 That doth sustain my house ; you take my life 
 When you do take the means whereby I live. 370 
 
 Portia. W 7 hat mercy can you render him, Antonio ? 
 
 Gratiano. A halter gratis ; nothing else, for God's sake. 
 
 Antonio. So please my lord the duke and all the court 
 To quit the fine for one half of his goods, 
 I am content, so he will let me have 
 
Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 125 
 
 The other half in use, to render it, 
 
 Upon his death, unto the gentleman 
 
 That lately stole his daughter. 
 
 Two things provided more, that, for this favour, 
 
 He presently become a Christian ; 380 
 
 The other, that he do record a gift, 
 
 Here in the court, of all he dies possess 'd, 
 
 Unto his son Lorenzo and his daughter. 
 
 Duke. He shall do this, or else I do recant 
 The pardon that I late pronounced here. 
 
 Portia. Art thou contented, Jew ? what dost thou say ? 
 
 Shylock. I am content. 
 
 Portia. Clerk, draw a deed of gift. 
 
 Shylock. I pray you, give me leave to go from hence ; 
 I am not well. Send the deed after me, 
 And I will sign it. 
 
 Duke. Get thee gone, but do it. 390 
 
 Gratiano. In christening thou shalt have two god- 
 fathers ; 
 
 Had I been judge, thou shouldst have had ten more, 
 To bring thee to the gallows, not the font. \Exit Shylock. 
 
 Duke. Sir, I entreat you home with me to dinner. 
 
 Portia. I humbly do desire your grace of pardon ; 
 I must away this night toward Padua, 
 And it is meet I presently set forth. 
 
 Duke. I am sorry that your leisure serves you not. 
 Antonio, gratify this gentleman, 
 
 For, in my mind, you are much bound to him. 400 
 
 [Exeunt Duke and his train. 
 
126 The Merchant of Venice [Act iv 
 
 Bassanio. Most worthy gentleman, I and my friend 
 Have by your wisdom been this day acquitted 
 Of grievous penalties ; in lieu whereof 
 Three thousand ducats, due unto the Jew, 
 We freely cope your courteous pains withal. 
 
 Antonio. And stand indebted, over and above, 
 In love and service to you evermore. 
 
 Portia. He is well paid that is well satisfied ; 
 And I, delivering you, am satisfied, 
 And therein do account myself well paid. 410 
 
 My mind was never yet more mercenary. 
 I pray you, know me when we meet again ; 
 I wish you well, and so I take my leave. 
 
 .Bassanio. Dear sir, of force I must attempt you 
 
 further. 
 
 Take some remembrance of us, as a tribute, 
 Not as a fee ; grant me two things, I pray you, 
 Not to deny me, and to pardon me. 
 
 Portia. You press me far, and therefore I will yield. 
 \To Antonio'} Give me your gloves, I'll wear them for 
 
 your sake ; 
 
 \To Bassanio~\ And, for your love, I'll take this ring 
 from you. 420 
 
 Do not draw back your hand ; I'll take no more, 
 And you in love shall not deny me this. 
 
 Bassanio. This ring, good sir, alas ! it is a trifle ; 
 I will not shame myself to give you this. 
 
 Portia. I will have^ nothing else but only this ; 
 And now methinks I have a mind to it. 
 
Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 127 
 
 Bassanio. There's more depends on this than on the 
 
 value. 
 
 The dearest ring in Venice will I give you, 
 And find it out by proclamation ; 
 Only for this, I pray you, pardon me. 430 
 
 Portia. I see, sir, you are liberal in offers; 
 You taught me first to beg, and now methinks 
 You teach me how a beggar should be answered. 
 
 Bassanio. Good sir, this ring was given me by my 
 
 wife ; 
 
 And when she put it on she made me vow 
 That I should neither sell, nor give, nor lose it. 
 
 Portia. That 'scuse serves many men to save their 
 
 gifts ; 
 
 And if your wife be not a mad woman, 
 And know how well I have deserv'd the ring, 
 She would not hold out enemy for ever, 440 
 
 For giving it to me. Well, peace be with you I 
 
 [Exeunt Portia and Nerissa. 
 
 Antonio. My lord Bassanio, let him have the ring ; 
 Let his deservings and my love withal 
 Be valued 'gainst your wife's commandement. 
 
 Bassanio. Go, Gratiano, run and overtake him ; 
 Give him the ring, and bring him, if thou canst, 
 Unto Antonio's house. Away ! make haste. 
 
 \Exit Gratiano. 
 
 Come, you and I willthither presently ; 
 And in the morning early will we both 
 Fly toward Belmont. Come, Antonio. [Exeunt. 450 
 
128 The Merchant of Venice [Act IV 
 
 SCENE II. The Same. A Street 
 Enter PORTIA and NERISSA 
 
 Portia. Inquire the Jew's house out, give him this 
 
 deed, 
 
 And let him sign it ; we '11 away to-night, 
 And be a day before our husbands home. 
 This deed will be well welcome to Lorenzo. 
 
 Enter GRATIANO 
 
 Gratiano. Fair sir, you are well o'erta'en ; 
 My lord Bassanio, upon more advice, 
 Hath sent you here this ring, and doth entreat 
 Your company at dinner. 
 
 Portia. That cannot be. 
 
 His ring I do accept most thankfully, 
 And so, I pray you, tell him ; furthermore, 10 
 
 I pray you, show my youth old Shylock's house. 
 
 Gratiano. That will I do. 
 
 Nerissa. Sir, I would -peak with you. 
 
 [Aside to Portia~\ I '11 see if I can get my husband's ring, 
 Which I did make him swear to keep for ever. 
 
 Portia. [Aside to Nerissd\ Thou mayst, I warrant. 
 
 We shall have old swearing 
 That they did give the rings away to men ; 
 But we '11 outface them, and outs wear them too. 
 Away ! make haste ; thou know'st where I will tarry. 
 
 Nerissa. Come, good sir, will you show me to this 
 house? {Exeunt. 
 
GARDEN SCENE 
 
 ACT V 
 
 SCENE I. Belmont. Avenue to Portia's House 
 Enter LORENZO and JESSICA 
 
 Lorenzo. The moon shines bright. In such a night 
 
 as this, 
 
 When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees 
 And they did make no noise in such a night, 
 Troilus methinks mounted the Trojan walls, 
 And sigh'd his soul toward the Grecian tents, 
 Where Cressid lay that night. 
 
 HER. OF YEN. 9 129 
 
ijo The Merchant of Venice [Act v 
 
 Jessica. In such a night, 
 
 Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew, 
 And saw the lion's shadow ere himself, 
 And ran dismay'd away. 
 . Lorenzo. In such a night, 
 
 Stood Dido with a willow in her hand .to 
 
 Upon the wild sea banks, and waft her love 
 To come again to Carthage. 
 
 Jessica. . In such a night , 
 
 Medea gather 'd the enchanted herbs 
 That did renew old ^Eson. 
 
 Lorenzo. In such a night, 
 
 Did Jessica steal from the wealthy Jew, 
 And with an unthrift love did run from Venice 
 As far as Belmont. 
 
 Jessica. In such a night, 
 
 Did young Lorenzo swear he lov'd her well, 
 Stealing her soul with many vows of faith, 
 And ne'er a true one. 
 
 Lorenzo. In such a night, 20 
 
 Did pretty Jessica, like a little shrew, 
 Slander her love, and he forgave it her. 
 
 Jessica. I would out-night you, did nobody come ; 
 But, hark, I hear the footing of a man. 
 
 Enter STEPHANO 
 
 Lorenzo. Who comes so fast in silence of the night ? 
 Stephana. A friend. 
 
Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 131 
 
 Lorenzo. A friend ! what friend ? your name, I pray 
 you, friend ? 
 
 Stephano. Stephano is my name, and I bring word 
 My mistress will before the break of day 
 Be here at Belmont ; she doth stray about 30 
 
 By holy crosses, where she kneels and prays 
 For happy wedlock hours. 
 
 Lorenzo. Who comes with her ? 
 
 Stephano. None but a holy hermit and her maid. 
 I pray you, is my master yet return 'd ? 
 
 Lorenzo. He is not, nor we have not heard from 
 
 him. 
 
 But go we in, I pray thee, Jessica, 
 And ceremoniously let us prepare 
 Some welcome for the mistress of the house. 
 
 Enter LAUNCELOT 
 
 Launcelot. Sola, sola ! wo ha, ho ! sola, sola ! 
 
 Lorenzo. Who calls ? 40 
 
 Launcelot. Sola ! did you see Master Lorenzo and 
 Mistress Lorenzo ? sola, sola ! 
 
 Lorenzo. Leave hollaing, man ; here. 
 
 Launcelot. Sola ! where ? where ? 
 
 Lorenzo. Here. 
 
 Launcelot. Tell him there 's a, post come from my 
 master, with his horn full of good news ; my master will 
 be here ere morning. \Exit. 
 
 Lorenzo. Sweet soul, let 's in, and there expect their 
 coming. 
 
132 The Merchant of Venice [Act V 
 
 And yet no matter ; why should we go in ? 50 
 
 My friend Stephano, signify, I pray you, 
 Within the house, your mistress is at hand ; 
 And bring your music forth into the air. 
 
 [Exit Stephano. 
 
 How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank 1 
 Here will we sit and let the sounds of music 
 Creep in our ears ; soft stillness and the night 
 Become the touches of sweet harmony. 
 Sit; Jessica. Look how the floor of heaven 
 Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold. 
 There 's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st 60 
 But in his motion like an angel sings, 
 Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins ; 
 Such harmony is in immortal souls, 
 But whilst this muddy vesture of decay 
 Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it. 
 
 Enter Musicians 
 
 Come, ho ! and wake Diana with a hymn ; 
 
 With sweetest touches pierce your mistress' ear, 
 
 And draw her home with music. , . [Music. 
 
 Jessica. I am never merry when I hear sweet music. 
 
 Lorenzo. The reason is, your spirits are attentive. 70 
 For do but note a wild and' wanton herd, 
 Or race of youthful and unhandled colts, 
 Fetching mad bounds, bellowing and neighing loud, 
 Which is the hot condition of their blood ; 
 If they but hear perchance a trumpet sound, 
 
Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 133 
 
 Or any air of music touch their ears, 
 
 You shall perceive them make a mutual stand, 
 
 Their savage eyes turn'd to a modest gaze 
 
 By the sweet power of music. Therefore the poet 
 
 Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones, and floods ; 80 
 
 Since nought so stockish, hard, and full of rage, 
 
 But music for the time doth change his nature. 
 
 The man that hath no music in himself, 
 
 Nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds, 
 
 Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils ; 
 
 The motions of his spirit are dull as night, 
 
 And his affections dark as Erebus. 
 
 Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music. 
 
 Enter PORTIA and NERISSA 
 
 Portia. That light we see is burning in my hall. 
 How far that little candle throws his beams 1 90 
 
 So shines a good deed in a naughty world. 
 
 Nerissa, When the moon shone, we did not see the 
 candle. 
 
 Portia. So doth the greater glory dim the less ; 
 A substitute shines brightly as a king 
 Until a king be by, and then his state 
 Empties itself, as doth an inland brook 
 Into the main of waters. Music ! hark ! 
 
 Nerissa. It is your music, madam, of the house. 
 
 Portia. Nothing is good, I see, without respect ; 
 Methinks it sounds much sweeter than by day. 100 
 
 Nerissa. Silence bestows that virtue on it, madam. 
 
134 The Merchant of Venice [Act V 
 
 Portia. The crow doth sing as sweetly as the lark 
 When neither is attended ; and I think 
 The nightingale, if she should sing by day 
 When every goose is cackling, would be thought 
 No better a musician than the wren. 
 How many things by season season'd are 
 To their right praise and true perfection ! 
 Peace, ho ! the moon sleeps with Endymion, 
 And would not be awak'd. [Music ceases. 
 
 Lorenzo. That is the voice, no 
 
 Or I am much deceiv'd, of Portia. 
 
 Portia. He knows me as the blind man knows the 
 
 cuckoo, 
 By the bad voice. 
 
 Lorenzo. Dear lady, welcome home. 
 
 Portia. We have been praying for our husbands 
 
 welfare, 
 
 Which speed, we hope, the better for our words. 
 Are they return'd? 
 
 Lorenzo. Madam, they are not yet ; 
 
 But there is come a messenger before, 
 To signify their coming. 
 
 Portia. Go in, Nerissa ; 
 
 Give order to my servants that they take 
 No note at all of our being absent hence ; 
 Nor you, Lorenzo ; Jessica, nor you. [A tucket sounds 
 
 Lorenzo. Your husband is at hand ; I hear his trumpet. 
 We are no tell-tales, madam ; fear you not. 
 
 Portia. This night methinks is but the daylight sick, 
 
Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 135 
 
 It looks a little paler ; 't is a day 
 Such as the day is when the sun is hid. 
 
 Enter BASSANIO, ANTONIO, GRATIANO, and their 
 followers 
 
 Bassanio. We should hold day with the Antipodes 
 [f you would walk in absence of the sun. 
 
 Portia. Let me give light, but let me not be light ; 
 For a light wife doth make a heavy husband, 130 
 
 And never be Bassanio so for me. 
 But God sort all ! You are welcome home, my lord. 
 
 Bassanio. I thank you, madam. Give welcome to 
 
 my friend. 
 
 This is the man, this is Antonio, 
 To whom I am so infinitely bound. 
 
 Portia. You should in all sense be much bound to him, 
 For, as I hear, he was much bound for you. 
 
 Antonio. No more than I am well acquitted of. 
 
 Portia. Sir, you are very welcome to our house ; 
 It must appear in other ways than words, 140 
 
 Therefore I scant this breathing courtesy. 
 
 Gratiano. \To Nerissd\ By yonder moon I swear you 
 
 do me wrong ; 
 In faith, I gave it to the judge's clerk. 
 
 Portia. A quarrel, ho, already ! what 's the matter ? 
 
 Gratiano. About a hoop of gold, a paltry ring 
 That she did give me, whose poesy was 
 For all the world like cutler's poetry 
 Upon a knife, ' Love me, and leave me not.' 
 
136 The Merchant of Venice [Act v 
 
 Nerissa. What talk you of the poesy or the value ? 
 You swore, to me, when I did give it you, 150 
 
 That you would wear it till the hour of death, 
 And that it should lie with you in your grave ; 
 Though not for me, yet for your vehement oaths, 
 You should have been respective and have kept it. 
 Gave it a judge's clerk ! but well I know 
 The clerk will ne'er wear hair on 's face that had it. 
 
 Gratiano. He will, an if he live to be a man. 
 
 Nerissa. Ay, if a woman live to be a man. 
 
 Gratiano. Now, by this hand, I gave it to a youth, 
 A kind of .boy, a little scrubbed boy, , 160 
 
 No higher than thyself, the judge's clerk, 
 A prating boy, that begg'd it as 'a fee ; 
 I could not for my heart deny it him. 
 
 Portia. You were to blame, I must be plain with you, 
 To part so slightly with your wife's first gift ; 
 A thing stuck on with oaths upon your finger, 
 And so riveted with faith unto your flesh. 
 I gave my love a ring, and made him swear 
 Never to part with it ; and here he stands. 
 I dare be sworn for him, he would not leave it, 170 
 
 Nor pluck it from his finger, for the wealth 
 That the world masters. Now, in faith, Gratiano, 
 You give your wife too unkind a cause of grief ; 
 An >t were to me, I should be mad at it. 
 
 Bassanio. \Aside\ Why, I were best to cut my left 
 
 hand off, 
 And swear I lost the ring 'defending it. 
 
Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 137 
 
 Gratiano. My lord Bassanio gave his ring away 
 Unto the judge that begg'd it, and indeed 
 Deserv'd it too ; and then the boy, his clerk, 
 That took some pains in writing, he begg'd mine ; 180 
 And neither man nor master would take aught 
 But the two rings. 
 
 Portia. What ring gave you, my lord ? 
 
 Not that, I hope, which you receiv'd of me. 
 
 Bassanio. If I could add a lie unto a fault, 
 I would deny it, but you see my finger 
 Hath not the ring upon it ; ij; is gone. 
 
 Portia. Even so void is your false heart of truth. 
 By heaven, I will ne'er come in your bed 
 Until I see the ring. 
 
 Nerissa. Nor I in yours 
 
 Till I again see mine. 
 
 Bassanio. Sweet Portia, 190 
 
 If you did know to whom I gave the ring, 
 If you did know for whom I gave the ring, 
 And would conceive for what I gave the ring, 
 And how unwillingly I left the ring, 
 When nought would be accepted but the ring, 
 You would abate the strength of your displeasure. 
 
 Portia. If you had known the virtue of the ring, 
 Or half her worthiness that gave the ring, 
 Or your own honour to contain the ring, 
 You would not then have parted with the ring. 200 
 
 What man is there so much unreasonable, 
 If you had pleas'd to have defended it 
 
138 The Merchant of Venice [Act V 
 
 With any terms of zeal, wanted the modesty 
 To urge the thing heM as a ceremony ? 
 Nerissa teaches me what to believe ; 
 I '11 die for 1 t but some woman had the ring. 
 
 Bassanio. No, by my honour, madam, by my soul, 
 No woman had it, but a civil doctor, 
 Which did refuse three thousand ducats of me, 
 And begg'd the ring ; the which I did deny him, 210 
 And suffer'd him to go displeas'd away, 
 Even he that did uphold the very life 
 Of my dear friend. What should I say, sweet lady? 
 I was enforc'd to send it after him ; 
 I was beset with shame and courtesy;* 
 My honour would not let ingratitude 
 So much besmear it. Pardon me, good lady ; 
 For, by these blessed candles of the night, 
 Had you been there, I think you would have begg'd 
 The ring of me to give the worthy doctor. 220 
 
 Portia. Let not that doctor e'er come near my 
 
 house. 
 
 Since he hath got the jewel that I lov'd, 
 And that which you did swear to keep for me, 
 I will become as liberal as you ; 
 I '11 not deny him any thing I have. 
 
 Antonio. I am the unhappy subject of these quarrels. 
 
 Portia. Sir, grieve not you ; you are welcome not- 
 withstanding. 
 
 Bassanio. Portia, forgive me this enforced wrong ; 
 And, in the hearing of these many friends, 
 
Scene I] The Merchant of Venice 139 
 
 ^ .-.'-..:'"'" 
 
 I swear to thee, even by thine own fair eyes, 230 
 
 Wherein I see myself, 
 
 Portia. Mark you but that ! 
 
 In both my eyes he doubly sees himself ; 
 In each eye, one ! Swear by your double self, 
 And there 's an oath of credit. 
 
 Bassanio. Nay, but hear me : 
 
 Pardon this fault, and by my soul I swear 
 I never more will break an oath with thee. 
 
 Antonio. I once did lend my body for his wealth, 
 Which, but for him that had your husband's ring, 
 Had quite miscarried ; I dare be bound again, 
 My soul upon the forfeit, that your lord , 240 
 
 Will never more break faith advisedly. 
 
 Portia. Then you shall be his surety. Give him this, 
 And bid him keep it better than the other. 
 
 Antonio. Here, lord Bassanio ; swear to keep this ring. 
 
 Bassanio. By heaven, it is the same I gave the doctor! 
 
 Portia. You are all amaz'd. 
 Here is a letter, read it at your leisure ; l 
 It comes from Padua, from Bellario. 
 There you shall find that Portia was the doctor, 
 Nerissa there her clerk. Lorenzo here 250 
 
 Shall witness I set forth as soon as you, 
 And even but now re turn 'd ; I have not yet 
 Enter'd my house. Antonio, you are welcome ; 
 And I have better news in store for you 
 Than yon expect. Unseal this letter soon ; 
 There you shall find, three of your argosies 
 
140 The Merchant of Venice [Act V 
 
 Are richly come to harbour suddenly. 
 
 You shall not know by what strange accident 
 
 I chanced on this letter. 
 
 Antonio. Sweet lady, you have given me life and 
 living ; 26* 
 
 For here I read for certain that my ships 
 Are safely come to road. 
 
 Portia. How now, Lorenzo ? 
 
 My clerk hath some good comforts too for you. 
 
 Nerissa. Ay, and I '11 give them him without a fee. 
 There do I give to you and Jessica, 
 From the rich Jew, a special deed of gift, 
 After his death, of all he dies possess'd of. 
 
 Lorenzo. Fair ladies, you drop manna in the way 
 Of starved people. 
 
 Portia. It is almost morning, 
 
 And yet I am sure you are not satisfied 270 
 
 Of these events at full. Let us go in ; 
 And charge us there upon inter'gatories, 
 And we will answer all things faithfully, \Exeunt* 
 
NOTES 
 
 141 
 
THE CASKETS 
 
 NOTES 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 THE METRE OF THE PLAY. It should be understood at the 
 outset that metre, or the mechanism of verse, is something alto- 
 gether distinct from the music of verse. The one is matter of rule, 
 the other of taste and feeling. Music is not an absolute necessity 
 of verse; the metrical form is a necessity, being that which consti- 
 tutes the verse. 
 
 The plays of Shakespeare (with the exception of rhymed pas- 
 sages, and of occasional songs and interludes) are all in unrhymed 
 or blank verse; and the normal form of this blank verse is illus- 
 trated by the first line of the present play : " In sooth, I know not 
 why I am so sad." 
 
144 Notes 
 
 This line, it will be seen, consists of ten syllables, with the even 
 syllables (2d, 4th, 6th, 8th, and loth) accented, the odd syllables 
 (ist, 3d, etc.) being unaccented. Theoretically, it is made up of 
 five feet of two syllables each, with the accent on the second sylla- 
 ble. Such a foot is called an iambus (plural, iambuses, or the 
 Latin iambi}, and the form of verse is called iambic. 
 
 This fundamental law of Shakespeare's verse is subject to certain 
 modifications, the most important of which are as follows : 
 
 1. After the tenth syllable an unaccented syllable (or even two 
 such syllables) may be added, forming what is sometimes called a 
 female line; as in the third line of the first scene: "But how I 
 caught it, found it, or came by it." The rhythm is complete with 
 by, the it being an extra eleventh syllable. In line 69, we have two 
 extra syllables, the rhythm being complete with the second syllable 
 of Antonio. 
 
 2. The accent in any part of the verse may be shifted from an 
 even to an odd syllable; as in lines 18, 19 : 
 
 " Plucking the grass, to know where sits the wind, 
 Peering in maps for ports and piers and roads." 
 
 In both lines the accent is shifted from the second to the first syl- 
 lable. This change occurs very rarely in the tenth syllable, and 
 seldom in the fourth; and it is not allowable in two successive 
 accented syllables. 
 
 3. An extra unaccented syllable may occur in any part of the 
 line; as in lines 29, 47, and 48. In 29 the second syllable of burial 
 is superfluous; in 47 the word us ; and in 48 the second syllable of 
 merry. Line 48 has also the unaccented final syllable in easy, 
 making it a female line. 
 
 4. Any unaccented syllable, occurring in an even place immedi- 
 ately before or after an even syllable which is properly accented, is 
 reckoned as accented for the purposes. of the verse; as, for instance, 
 in lines 12 and 13. In 12 the first syllable of overpeer and the last 
 of traffickers are metrically equivalent to accented syllables ; and so 
 
Notes 145 
 
 with the last syllable of reverence in 13. Other examples are the 
 last syllable of Antonio in lines 39, 73, 122, and 130, and that of 
 Portia in 166. In 166 Portia must be made distinctly a trisyllable 
 (as in ii. 7. 43 and 47), but in 165 (as often) it is virtually a dis- 
 syllable. 
 
 5. In many instances in Shakespeare words must be lengthened 
 in order to fill out the rhythm : 
 
 (a) In a large class of words in which e or i is followed by 
 another vowel, the e or i is made a separate syllable; as ocean, 
 opinion, soldier, patience, partial, marriage, etc. For instance, 
 line 8 of the first scene of the present play appears to have only 
 nine syllables, but ocean (see note on the word) is a trisyllable. 
 In 102 opinion is a quadrisyllable (but a trisyllable in 91) ; occasions 
 has five syllables in 139; and many similar instances are mentioned 
 in the Notes. This lengthening occurs most frequently at the end 
 of the line. 
 
 (b) Many monosyllables ending in r, re, rs, res, preceded by a 
 long vowel or diphthong, are often made dissyllables; as fare, fear, 
 dear, fire, hair, hour, your, etc. In iii. 2. 297 : " Shall lose a hair 
 through Bassanio's fault," hair is a dissyllable. If the word is 
 repeated in averse it is often both monosyllable and dissyllable; 
 as in iii. 2. 20 : " And so, though yours, not yours. Prove it so," 
 where either yours (preferably the first) is a dissyllable, the other 
 being a monosyllable. In/. C. iii. i. 172: "As fire drives out fire, 
 so pity, pity," the first fire is a dissyllable. 
 
 (<:) Words containing / or r, preceded by another consonant, are 
 often pronounced as if a vowel ca.vie between the consonants; as 
 in T. of S. if. i. 158: "While she did call me rascal fiddler" [fid- 
 d(e)ler]; AWs Well, iii. 5. 43: " If you will tarry, holy pilgrim" 
 [pilg(e)rim]; C. of E. v. i. 360: "These are the parents of these 
 children " [childeren, the original form of the word] ; W. T. iv. 
 4. 76: "Grace and remembrance [rememb(e) ranee] be to you 
 both ! " etc. 
 
 (d) Monosyllabic exclamations (ay, O, yea, nay, hail, etc.) and 
 MER. OF YEN. IO 
 
146 Notes 
 
 monosyllables otherwise emphasized are similarly lengthened ; also 
 certain longer words; as commandement in the present play (iv. i. 
 444) ; safety (trisyllable) in Ham. i. 3. 21 ; business (trisyllable, as 
 originally pronounced) in J. C. iv. I. 22: "To groan and sweat 
 under the business " (so in several other passages) ; and other 
 words mentioned in the notes to the plays in which they occur. 
 
 6. Words are also contracted for metrical reasons, like plurals 
 and possessives ending in a sibilant, as balance (see note on iv. I. 
 248), horse (for horses and horse's}, princess, sense, marriage (plural 
 and possessive), image, etc. So spirit (see note on ii. 2. 189), 
 inter* gatories (see on v. I. 272), unpleasant' } st (see on iii. 2. 246), 
 and other words mentioned in the notes on this and other plays. 
 
 7. The accent of words is also varied in many instances for met- 
 rical reasons. Thus we find both revenue and revemie in the first 
 scene of the M. N. D. (lines 6 and 158), obscure (see note on ii. 7. 
 51) and obscure, pursue (see on iv. I. 291) and pursue, distinct (SZQ 
 on ii. 9. 60) and distinct, etc. 
 
 These instances of variable accent must not be confounded with 
 those in which words were uniformly accented differently in the 
 time of Shakespeare;^ like aspect (see on i. I. 54), impdrtune, per- 
 sever (never persevere], perseverance, rheumatic, etc. 
 
 8. Alexandrines, or verses of twelve syllables, with ,six accents, 
 occur here and there; as in the inscriptions on the caskets (and a 
 few' other instances) in this play. They must not be confounded 
 with female lines with two extra syllables (see on I above) or with 
 other lines in which two extra unaccented syllables may occur. 
 
 9. Incomplete verses, of on^ or more syllables, are scattered 
 through the plays. See note on i. i . 5 of this play. 
 
 10. Doggerel measure (i. iViii and the last line of i. 2 in this 
 play) is used in the very earliest comedies (Z. L. L. and C. of E. 
 in particular) in the mouths of comic characters, but nowhere eh 
 in those plays, and never anywhere after the date of the Merchant. 
 
 11. Rhyme occurs frequently in the early plays, but diminishes 
 with comparative regularity from that period until the latest. Thus, 
 
Notes 147 
 
 in L. Z. L. there are about 1 100 rhyming verses (about one-third 
 of the whole number), in the M. N. D. about 900, in Rich. II. 
 and R. and J. about 500 each, while in Cor. and A. and C. there are 
 only about 40 each, in the Temp, only two, and in the W. T. none 
 at all, except in the chorus introducing act iv. Songs, interludes, 
 and other matter not in ten-syllable measure are not included in 
 this enumeration. In the present play, out of some 2000 verses, 
 less than a hundred are in rhyme. 
 
 Alternate rhymes are found only in the plays written before 1599 
 or 1600. In the Merchant there are only four lines at the end 
 of iii. 2. In Much Ado and A. Y. L. we also find a few lines, but 
 none at all in subsequent plays. 
 
 Rhymed couplets, or " rhyme-tags," are often found at the end of 
 Scenes; as in the first scene, and twelve other scenes, of the present 
 play. In Ham., 14 out of 20 scenes, and in Macb., 21 out of 28, 
 have such "tags"; but in the latest plays they are not so frequent. 
 The Temp., for instance, has but one, and the W. T. none. 
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S USE OF VERSE AND PROSE IN THE PLAYS. 
 This is a subject to which the critics have given very little atten- 
 tion, but it is an interesting study. In the Merchant we find 
 scenes entirely in verse or in prose, and others in which the two are 
 mixed. In general, we may say that verse is used for what is dis- 
 tinctly poetical, and prose for what is not poetical. The distinction, 
 however, is not so clearly marked in the earlier as in the later 
 plays. The second scene of the Merchant, for instance, is in prose, 
 because Portia and Nerissa are talking about the suitors in a familiar 
 and playful way; but in the T. G. of V., where Julia and Lucetta 
 are discussing the suitors of the former in much the same fashion, 
 the scene is all in verse. Dowden, commenting on Rich. //., 
 remarks : " Had Shakespeare written the play a few years later, we 
 may be certain that the gardener and his servants (iii. 4) would 
 not have uttered stately speeches in verse, but would have spoken 
 homely prose, and that humour would have mingled with the 
 pathos of the scene. The same remark may be made with refer- 
 
148 Notes 
 
 ence to the subsequent scene (v. 5) in which his groom visits the 
 dethroned king in the Tower." Comic characters and those in low 
 life generally speak in prose in the later plays, as Dowden inti- 
 mates, but in the very earliest ones doggerel verse is much used 
 instead. See on 10 above. 
 
 The change from prose to verse is well illustrated in the third 
 scene of the Merchant. It begins with plain prosaic talk about a 
 business matter; but when Antonio enters, it rises at once to the 
 higher level of poetry. The sight of Antonio reminds Shylock of 
 his hatred of the Merchant, and the passion expresses itself in verse, 
 the vernacular tongue of poetry. We have a similar change in 
 the first scene of J. C, where, after the quibbling " chaff " of the 
 mechanics about their trades, the mention of Pompey reminds the 
 Tribune of, their plebeian fickleness, and his scorn and indignation 
 flame out in most eloquent verse. 
 
 The reasons for the choice of prose or verse are not always so 
 clear as in these instances. We are seldom puzzled to explain the 
 prose, but not unfrequently we meet with verse where we might 
 expect prose. As Professor Corson remarks (Introduction to Shake- 
 spear e, 1889), " Shakespeare adopted verse as the general tenor of 
 his language, and therefore expressed much in verse that is within 
 the capabilities of prose; in other words, his verse constantly 
 encroaches upon the domain of prose, but his prose can never be 
 said to encroach upon the domain of verse." If in rare instances 
 we think we find exceptions to this latter statement, and prose 
 actually seems to usurp the place of verse, I believe that careful 
 study of the passage will prove the supposed exception to be appar- 
 ent rather than real. 
 
 SOME BOOKS FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS. A few out of 
 the many books that might be commended to the teacher and the 
 critical student are the following: Halliwell-Phillipps's Outlines 
 of the Life of Shakespeare (yth ed. 1887); Sidney Lee's Life of 
 Shakespeare (1898; for ordinary students the abridged ed. of 1899 
 is preferable); Schmidt's Shakespeare Lexicon (3d ed. 1902); 
 
Notes 149 
 
 Littledale's ed. of Dyce's Glossary (1902); Bartlett's Concordance 
 to Shakespeare (1895); Abbott's Shakespearian Grammar (1873); 
 Furness's "New Variorum " ed. of The Merchant of Venice (1888, 
 encyclopaedic and exhaustive) ; Dowden's Shakspere : His Mind and 
 Art (American ed. 1881); Hudson's Life, Art, and Characters of 
 Shakespeare (revised ed. 1882); Mrs. Jameson's Characteristics of 
 Women (several eds., some with the title, Shakespeare Heroines} ; 
 Ten Brink's Five lectures on Shakespeare (1895); Boas's Shake- 
 speare and His Predecessors (1895); Dyer's Folk-lore of Shake- 
 speare (American ed. 1884); Gervinus's Shakespeare Commentaries 
 (Bunnett's translation, 1875); Wordsworth's Shakespeare's Knowl- 
 edge of the Bible (3d ed. 1880); Elson's Shakespeare in Music 
 (1901). 
 
 Some of the above books will be useful to all readers who are 
 interested in special subjects or in general criticism of Shakespeare. 
 Among those which are better suited to the needs of ordinary 
 readers and students, the following may be mentioned : Phin's 
 Cyclopedia and Glossary of Shakespeare (1902, more compact and 
 cheaper than Dyce); Dowden's Shakspere Primer (1877, small 
 but invaluable); Rolfe's Shakespeare the Boy (1896, treating of 
 the home and school life, the games and sports, the manners, 
 customs, and folk-lore of the poet's time) ; Guerber's Myths of 
 Greece and Rome (for young students who may need information 
 on mythological allusions not explained in the notes). 
 
 Black's Judith Shakespeare (1884, a novel, but a careful study 
 of the scene and the time) is a book that I always commend to 
 young people, and their elders will also enjoy it. The Lambs' 
 Tales from Shakespeare is a classic for beginners in the study of 
 the dramatist ; and in Rolfe's ed. the plan of the authors is carried 
 out in the Notes by copious illustrative quotations from the plays. 
 Mrs. Cowden-Clarke's Girlhood of Shakespeare's Heroines (several 
 eds.) will particularly interest girls ; and both girls and boys will 
 find Bennett's Master Skylark (1897) and Imogen Clark's Will 
 Shakespeare's Little Lad (1897) equally entertaining and instructive. 
 
1 50 Notes [Act I 
 
 H. Snowden Ward's Shakespeare's Town and Times (1896) and 
 John Leyland's Shakespeare Country (1900) are copiously illus- 
 trated books (yet inexpensive) which may be particularly com- 
 mended for school libraries. 
 
 It is proper to add that certain books specially useful in the 
 study of other plays than the Merchant are not included in the above 
 lists. 
 
 ABBREVIATIONS IN THE NOTES. -The abbreviations of the 
 names of Shakespeare's plays will be readily understood ; as 
 T. N. for Twelfth Night, Cor. for Coriolanus, 3 Hen. VI. for 
 The 7^hird Part of King Henry the Sixth, etc. P. P. refers to 
 The Passionate Pilgrim; V. and A. to Venus and Adonis ; L. C. 
 to Lover's Complaint ; and Sonn. to the Sonnets. 
 
 Other abbreviations that hardly need explanation are Cf. (confer, 
 compare), Fol. (following), Id. (idem, the same), and Prol. (pro- 
 logue). The numbers of the lines in the references (except for the 
 present play) are those of the " Globe " edition (the cheapest and 
 best edition of Shakespeare in one compact volume), which is now 
 generally accepted as the standard for line numbers in works of ref- 
 erence (Schmidt's Lexicon, Abbott's Grammar, Dowden's Primer^ 
 the publications of the New Shakspere Society, etc.). 
 
 ACT I 
 
 SCENE I. In the first folio the play is divided into acts, but 
 not into scenes, and there is no list of dramatis persona* The 
 quartos have no such list, and no division at all. 
 
 This scene, like many in this play (i. 3, ii. I, 3, 4, 5, 8, etc.) and 
 others, begins abruptly, the dialogue being already in progress. 
 Here Antonio's friends have evidently been trying to find out why 
 he is so melancholy. He says that he cannot explain it himself; 
 
Scene I] Notes 151 
 
 and the critics are puzzled by it. For myself, I have no doubt that 
 it is due to an indefinable presentiment of coming misfortune. 
 Shakespeare, whether he believed in such premonitions or not, 
 understood their dramatic value and often introduces them most 
 effectively. It has been objected, in the present instance, that 
 " this play is not a tragedy, but a comedy, wherein a tragic keynote 
 would be falsely struck.'^ But it comes perilously near proving a 
 tragedy. Antonio suffers all the pangs of death except the last and 
 least, and the shadow of that impending sorrow may already rest 
 upon him. No other explanation of the passage that has been 
 suggested seems to me so simple and satisfactory. 
 
 i. In sooth. In truth. The word sooth, which survives in sooth- 
 sayer (teller of hidden truth), seldom occurs in Shakespeare except 
 in asseverations, like in sooth, in good sooth, good sooth (as in ii. 6. 42 
 below), etc. 
 
 5. I am to learn. I have yet to find out. These imperfect lines 
 are not uncommon in the plays. 
 
 8. On the ocean. Ocean here is a trisyllable ; as in 2 Hen. IV. 
 iii. I. 50: "The beachy girdle of the ocean." Final syllables 
 containing e or i followed by another vowel are often thus length- 
 ened by Elizabethan and later poets. Cf. opinion, in line 102 
 below; complexion in ii. I. I; intermission in iii. 2. 199; descrip- 
 tion in iii. 2. 296; imposition in iii. 4. 33; and other instances in 
 the present play. Such words are often emphatic, and the length- 
 ening adds to the emphasis; as in ocean, complexion, etc. 
 
 9. Argosies. Merchant vessels, large for that day, though not 
 exceeding 200 tons. The word (formerly supposed to be from the 
 classical Argo) is from Ragnsa, a port in Dalmatia, as the old forms, 
 ragosie, rhaguse, ragusye, etc., indicate. 
 
 II. Pageants. The word in S. means usually a theatrical exhibi- 
 tion, literal or figurative. Originally it meant, the movable theatres 
 to which Dugdale {Antiquities of Warwickshire, 1656), in his 
 description of the old plays at Coventry, refers as " theatres for the 
 principal scenes, very large and high, placed upon wheels, and 
 
152 Notes [Act l 
 
 drawn to all the eminent parts of the city for the better advantage 
 of spectators." 
 
 12. Overpeer. Tower above; as in 3 Hen. VI. v. 2. 14: " Whose 
 top-branch overpeer'd Jove's spreading tree." 
 
 13. Curtsy. The same word as courtesy ; used of both sexes in 
 this sense. 
 
 15. Venture. Still used in this commercial sense. Forth = 
 abroad. 
 
 17. Still. Ever, constantly, as in 136 below. On plucking the 
 grass, etc., Ascham (Toxophilus) frequently refers to holding up 
 " a fether or a lytle lyght grasse," to learn " how the wynd stoode," 
 as boys sometimes do nowadays. 
 
 27. My wealthy Andrew. My richly freighted ship. Some sup- 
 pose the name to be taken from that of the famous Genoese admiral, 
 Andrea Doria, who died 1560. 
 
 28. Vailing. Lowering. Cf. " Vail your regard " ( = let fall 
 your look), M. for M. v. I. 20, etc. The word is contracted from 
 avail or avale, the French avaler (from Latin ad valient). Editors 
 and critics have sometimes confounded it with veil. 
 
 29. Her burial. That is, her burial place. 
 
 35. But even now worth this. The force of this (= all this, so 
 much) was doubtless meant to be expressed by a gesture -^ perhaps 
 a sweep of the right arm. Cf. /. C. iv. 3. 26 : " For so much trash 
 as may be grasped thus " ; where thus is explained by closing the 
 hand as if to hold the money. 
 
 40. To think upon. From thinking upon. 
 
 42. Bottom. This word, like venture, is still used in commerce 
 in the same sense as here. Cf. K. John, ii. I. 73 : "the English 
 bottoms." 
 
 50. Two-headed Janus. In some of the ancient images of Janus 
 a grave face was associated with a laughing one. 
 
 52. Peep through their eyes. That is, eyes half shut with laughter. 
 
 54. Other of such vinegar aspect. Other is often plural in S. and 
 pther writers of the time. Aspect is always accented on the last 
 
Scene I] 
 
 Notes 
 
 syllable by S. and his contemporaries. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 12. 23 : 
 "Most ugly shapes, and horrible aspects; " Milton, P. L. iii. 266: 
 " His words here ended, but his meek aspect," etc. 
 
 56. Nestor. The oldest of the Greek heroes in the Iliad, famed 
 for his wisdom and 
 gravity. See T. and 
 C. t in which he is a 
 character. 
 
 61. Prevented. 
 In its primitive sense 
 of anticipated. Cf. 
 Ham. ii. 2. 305, etc.; 
 also Psalms, cxix. 
 147, and I Thessa- 
 
 62-64. Your 
 
 worth, etc. This 
 speech is character- 
 istic of Antonio. He 
 takes Salarino's con- 
 ventional compli- 
 ment to his friends 
 too seriously. 
 
 67. Exceeding 
 strange. S. often TWO-HEADED JANUS 
 
 uses exceeding as an 
 
 adverb. He uses exceedingly only five times in four of which it 
 modifies the adverb well, while in the fifth it modifies an adjective 
 understood. Exceeding strange = our expression, " very much of a 
 stranger." 
 
 74. Respect upon the world. Regard for the world. 
 
 78. A stage. Cf. the famous passage, " All the world's a stage," 
 A. Y. L. ii. 7. 139 fol. 
 
 79. Let me play the fool. Let the part assigned to me be that of 
 
1 54' Notes [Act l 
 
 the fool, who was always one of the characters in the old come- 
 dies. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. ii. 2. 154 : "thus we play the fools with the 
 time." 
 
 80. Old wrinkles. The wrinkles of age. 
 
 81. Liver. Cf. A. and C. ii. I. 23 : "I had rather heat my live* 
 with drinking." 
 
 82. Than my heart cool, etc. There may be an allusion here to 
 the old belief that every sigh or groan robbed the heart of a drop 
 of blood. Cf. M. N. D. iii. 2. 97 : " Sighs of love that costs the 
 fresh blood dear." 
 
 84. Alabaster. All the early eds. have " alablaster," the more 
 common spelling in that day. 
 
 85. Creep into the jaundice. In the only other passage in which 
 S. mentions the jaundice, the cause of the disease is, as here, a 
 mental one. See T. and C. i. 3. 2. 
 
 89. Do cream and mantle. Cf. Lear, iii. 4. 139: "the green 
 mantle of the standing pool." 
 
 90. And do a wilful stillness entertain. And who do maintain 
 an obstinate silence. This kind of ellipsis is not uncommon when 
 the sense is clear. 
 
 91. Opinion of wisdom. Reputation for wisdom. Opinion is 
 here a trisyllable, but a quadrisyllable in 102 below. 
 
 92. Conceit. Intellect; as often. 
 
 93. As who should say. Like one who should say. The early 
 folios read, " I am sir an Oracle," which some editors prefer; but 
 cf. " Sir Prudence " ( Temp. ii. I. 286), " Sir Smile " ( W. T. i. 2. , 
 196), etc. 
 
 96. That therefore only are reputed wise, etc. That are reputed 
 wise only on this account, that they say nothing. Pope calls silence 
 " Thou varnisher of fools, and cheat of all the wise." 
 
 98. Would almost, etc. That is, they would; an ellipsis of the 
 nomina'ive, as in 90 above. The meaning is that the hearers could 
 hardly help calling them fools, and thus exposing themselves to 
 the judgment threatened in Scripture {Matthew t v. 22). 
 
Scene I] Notes 155 
 
 101. This melancholy bait. This bait of melancholy; this melan- 
 choly as a bait. 
 
 102. Fool gudgeon. Old Izaak Walton says of the gudgeon : 
 " It is an excellent fish to enter (initiate) a young angler, being 
 easy to be taken." On the adjective use oifool, cf. " fool multitude," 
 ii. 9. 25 below. 
 
 108. Moe. More; used only with a plural or collective noun. 
 
 no. For this gear. For this purpose, or matter; an expression 
 sometimes used, as here, without very definite meaning. 
 
 1 1 6. You shall seek all day. Shall and should are often used 
 in all three persons, by the Elizabethan writers, to denote mere 
 futurity. 
 
 124. By something shoiving. This adverbial use of something 
 (= somewhat), which occurs twice in this speech, is common in S. 
 
 More swelling port. Grander state. Cf. "greatest port," iii. 2. 
 276 below. 
 
 125. Would grant continuance. That is, continuance of. Such 
 ellipsis is common in the Elizabethan writers. Cf. ii. 6. 9 and iv. I. 
 380 below. 
 
 1 26. Make moan to be abridged. Complain that I am curtailed. 
 Cf. " made moan to me," iii. 3. 23 below. 
 
 129. My time. My time of life, my youth. 
 
 130. Gag*d. Engaged, bound. 
 
 136. Still. See on 17 above. 
 
 137. Within the eye of honour. Within the range of what can 
 be viewed (or regarded) as honourable. 
 
 139. Occasions. Needs; here a quadrisyllable. See on 8 
 above. 
 
 141. Flight. A technical term to denote the range of an arrow. 
 Cf. Ascham's Toxophihis : " You must have divers shafts of one 
 flight, feathered with divers wings, for divers winds." His = its t 
 which was then just coming into use. See on iii. 2. 82 below. 
 
 142. More advised. More careful. Cf. the modern use of un- 
 advised. 
 
1 5 6 
 
 Notes [Act i 
 
 143. To find the other forth. To find uhe other out. Cf. " to 
 find his fellow forth," C. of E. i. 2. 37. 
 
 144. Childhood proof. Experiment of my childhood. 
 
 146. Like a 'wilful youth. Elliptical for " like what will happen 
 with a wilful (that is, wilful in his prodigality) youth." 
 
 148. That self way. That same way. Cf. "this self place," 
 3 Hen. VI. iii. I. ii; "that self mould," Rich. II. i. 2. 23, etc. 
 
 154. Circumstance. Circumlocution; as in Ham. i. 5. 127, etc. 
 
 156. In making question, etc. In doubting my readiness to do 
 all that I can for you. 
 
 1 60. Prest. Ready; the old French prest (now pref), Italian 
 and Spanish presto, from Latin adv. prasto, through the late Latin 
 prastus. 
 
 161. Jtichty left. Left rich. Cf. v. i. 257: "richly come to 
 harbour." 
 
 162. And, fairer than that word. Some take this as connected 
 with what precedes and emphasizing fair; but it is clearly con- 
 nected with what follows. Bassanio places her beauty above her 
 wealth, and her virtues above her beauty. He had been acquainted 
 with Portia in her father's time (i. 2. 112), before she came into her 
 fortune, and began to love her then; and, as we see later, he did 
 not misinterpret the " fair speechless messages " of her eyes. Lady 
 Martin (Some of Shakespeare 1 s Female Characters], commenting on 
 the opening lines of the next scene, remarks : " Often, no doubt 
 has she wondered why he has not presented himself among her 
 suitors. Unconsciously, perhaps, the languor of hope deferred 
 speaks in these first words we hear from her. The one whom she 
 thought might possibly have been among the first comers comes 
 not at all." 
 
 163. Sometimes. In time past, formerly. Sometimes and some- 
 time are used interchangeably by S. in this and their other senses. 
 
 165- Nothing undervalued. Nowise inferior. Cf. ii. 7. 53 below. 
 1 66. Brutus' Portia. See J. C., in which this "woman well 
 reputed, Cato's daughter," is a prominent character. 
 
Scene II] Notes 157 
 
 170. Like a golden fleece, etc. The Argonautic expedition is 
 Alluded to again, iii. 2. 236 below : " We are the Jasons, we have 
 won the fleece." 
 
 175. I have a mind presages. That is, which presages. See on 
 90 above. 
 
 Thrift. Success. Cf. " well- won thrift " and " thrift is blessing," 
 i. 3. 50, 86 below. 
 
 177, 178. All my fortunes are at sea, etc. This is not strictly 
 consistent with 42-44 above; but S. is often careless in these 
 minor matters. 
 
 Commodity. Property. In iii. 3. 27 below the word is used in 
 the obsolete sense of advantage or gain. Cf. IV. T. iii. 2. 94: "To 
 me can life be no commodity." 
 
 183. Presently. Immediately. Cf. Temp. iv. I. 42: "Ariel. 
 Presently? Prosper o. Ay, with a twink;" and again, v. I. 101 : 
 " Prospcro. And presently, I prithee. Ariel. I drink the air before 
 me, and return Or ere your pulse beat twice." See also I Samuel, 
 ii. 1 6, and Matthew, xxvi. 53. 
 
 185. To have it of my trust, etc. Of obtaining it either on my 
 credit as a merchant, or as a personal favour. 
 
 Note the rhyme in the last couplet, as often at the close of a scene. 
 
 SCENE II. 2. Aweary. A poetical form of weary, but occa- 
 sionally used in prose, as here. 
 
 7. // is no mean happiness. So in the quartos. The folios have 
 "no small happiness." The repetition is in Shakespeare's manner. 
 
 8. Superfluity comes sooner by white hairs. The rich are more 
 likely to " live fast " and become prematurely old, and therefore to 
 die the sooner. 
 
 26. Nor refuse none. This old double negative is common in S., 
 and occasionally we find a triple one; as in T. N. iii. I. 171 : "nor 
 never none," etc. 
 
 32. But one who you shall rightly love. Who is the object, not 
 the subject, of love, as appears from the question which follows : 
 
i 5 8 
 
 Notes 
 
 [Act 
 
 What affection have you for any of the suitors that are alreaa 
 come ? Who for whom is not unusual in the writers of the time. 
 Cf. ii. 6. 30 below. 
 
 36. I pray thee, over-name them, etc. The dialogue that follows 
 is an elaboration of the scene between Julia and Lucetta in T. G. 
 of V. i. 2. 
 
 38. Level at. Aim at, guess. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iii. 2. 286 : "the 
 foeman may with as great aim level at the edge of a penknife." 
 
 41. Makes it a great appropriation, etc. That is, takes gre 
 credit to himself for it. S. nowhere else uses either appropriatio 
 or appropriate. 
 
 44. For county count, see R. and / (where it occurs eleven 
 times), A. W. iii. 7. 22, etc. 
 
 46. An you will not. The folio has "And you." And or an 
 for if is very common in old writers, as well as and if or an if. 
 Choose ; that is, choose where you will; I don't care. 
 
 47. The weeping philosopher. Heracleitus, of Ephesus, who, fron 
 his melancholy disposition, is represented in various old traditions 
 as the contrast to Democritus (" the laughing philosopher "), weep 
 ing over the frailties and follies at which the latter laughed. 
 
 49. / had rather to be married. Had rather and had better ar< 
 good English, though many writers of grammars tell us that 
 should say would rather, etc., instead. Rather is the comparative 
 of rath (see Milton, Lycidas : "the rath primrose"), and is often 
 found in the old writers in the sense of earlier, sooner. Thu 
 Spenser, Shep. Kal. Feb., speaks of "the rather lambes." For to 
 after had rather, cf. Oth. i. 3. 191 : "I had rather to adopt 
 child," etc. 
 
 53. How say you by, etc. By here, as not unfrequently = abou 
 or concerning. Cf. ii. 9. 24 : " may be meant By the fool multi- 
 tude." So Latimer (Serm.) : " How think you by the ceremo 
 nies," etc. 
 
 71. Proper. Comely, good-looking ; as often. Cf. Hebrnvs, xi. 
 23 : "a proper child," etc. 
 
Scene II] Notes 1 59 
 
 73. Suited. Dressed. Cf. "richly suited," A. W.\. I. 170, etc. 
 
 Doublet. " The doublet (so called from being originally lined or 
 wadded for defence) was a close-fitting coat, with skirts reaching a 
 little below the girdle." The " round hose " were coverings for the 
 legs, not the feet " trowsers or breeches, reaching to the knee." 
 The phrase " doublet and hose," as equivalent to " coat and 
 breeches," occurs often in S. Bonnet, originally the name of a stuff, 
 came to be applied to the man's cap made of it, as it still is in 
 Scottish. 
 
 76. The Scottish lord. The Scottish of the quartos, printed before 
 the accession of James I., was changed to other in the folio of 1623, 
 to avoid giving offence to that monarch. 
 
 82. Sealed under for another. Became surety for another box 
 on the ear. The whole passage is ironical. The Scotchman is toe 
 cowardly to return the blow, and the Frenchman offers to do it for 
 him. 
 
 92. You should refuse. Should is often thus used by S. where we 
 should use would. Cf. iii. 2. 267 below. 
 
 104. Some other sort. Some other way. Imposition = condition 
 imposed. In iii. 4. 33 the word is used again in this literal sense of 
 something " laid upon " one as a burden or duty. 
 
 106. Sibylla. Here used as a proper name, like " Sibyl " in T. of 
 S. i. 2. 70. So Bacon, in Colours of Good and Evil, 10, speaks of 
 " Sybilla, when she brought her three books." The reference here 
 is 'to the Cumaean Sibyl, who, according to Ovid, obtained from 
 Apollo a promise that her years should be as many as the grains of 
 sand she was holding in her hand. 
 
 108. This parcel of wooers. Cf. " This youthful parcel of noble 
 bachelors," A. W. ii. 3. 58. 
 
 123. The four strangers. There were six of them. Perhaps two 
 were added after the first draft of the play ; or, quite as likely, it is 
 another illustration of S.'s carelessness. See on i. I. 177, 178. 
 
 127. With so good heart as, etc. We now seldom use so . . . as, 
 preferring as . . . as 9 except where so requires special emphasis. 
 
160 Notes [Act I 
 
 129. Condition. Nature, disposition. Cf. Oth. ii. I. 255 : "she's 
 full of most blessed condition." Cf. also " best conditioned," iii, 2. 
 288 below. 
 
 1 33> Whiles. The genitive singular of while (which was origi- 
 nally a noun) used as an adverb. It occurs in Matthew, v. 25. 
 
 SCENE III. I. Ducats. The value of the Venetian silver ducat 
 was about that of the American dollar. 
 
 4. For the which. This archaism is occasionally found in S., as 
 in the Bible (Genesis, i. 29, etc.). 
 
 7. May you stead me ? Can you assist me ? May originally 
 expressed ability, as the noun might still does. Can, on the other 
 hand, signified " to know or have skill." On stead, cf. M. for M. 
 i. 4. 1 7 : " Can you so stead me As bring me to the sight of 
 Isabella?" 
 
 Pleasure me. So in M. W. i. I. 251 : " What I do is to pleasure 
 you, coz." 
 
 12. A good man. That is, "good" in the commercial sense 
 " having pecuniary ability ; of unimpaired credit." 
 
 17. In supposition. Doubtful, risked at sea. 
 
 1 8. Tripolis. The old name of Tripoli, a seaport of Syria, for- 
 merly of great commercial importance. Some take it to be the port 
 of the same name in Barbary ; but this would seem to be disproved 
 by the mention of both Tripolis and Barbary in iii. 2. 263, 264. 
 The mention of Mexico in both passages is a slip noted by Karl 
 Elze, as Venice does not appear to have had any trade with that 
 country. 
 
 20. Rialto. The chief of the islands on which Venice was built. 
 See p. 28 above. The name is from rivo (or rio) alto, deep stream ; 
 not, as often stated, from riva alta, high bank. Rivo alto is some- 
 times wrongly translated as " high shore " or " high bank." Some 
 editors also err in saying that the present bridge is not the one 
 built in 1588-91. It took the place of an earlier wooden bridge, 
 but has never been rebuilt. 
 
Scene III] Notes l6l 
 
 21. Squandered. Scattered. So in Howell's Letters, 1650, we 
 have " islands that lie squandered in the vast ocean." S. uses the 
 word only here and in A. Y. L. ii. 7. 57: "squandering glance's." 
 
 22. There be land-rats. In old English, besides the present 
 tense am, etc., there was also this form be, from the Anglo-Saxon 
 beon. The 2d pers. sing, was beest. The 1st and 3d pers. plu. be is 
 often found in S. and the Bible. 
 
 32. If it please you. This impersonal form (cf. the French s>il 
 vous plait}, after being contracted into if you please, has come to 
 be considered as personal, and we now say if I please, if he pleases, 
 etc. 
 
 34. Nazarite. In the time of S. confounded with Nazarene. 
 For Nazarite in the proper sense, see Numbers, vi. 
 
 36. And so following. And so forth. S. uses the phrase nowhere 
 else. 
 
 41. Publican. Probably a tax-collector, not an innkeeper. Some 
 critics consider fawning inconsistent with the former sense ; but 
 the publicans, while arrogant to inferiors, might find it politic to fawn 
 upon their superiors. 
 
 42. For he is a Christian. We should now say, for being a 
 Christian. When thus used, for is often followed by that, as in the 
 next line. Of course we could now say, " I hate him, for he is a 
 Christian," but the meaning would be different. In this case, as in 
 the other, the for is equivalent to because, but it connects more 
 loosely, as the comma indicates. The difference in meaning is 
 perhaps better illustrated by a case like the following ( M. for M. 
 
 " You may not so extenuate his offence 
 For I have had such faults ; " 
 
 that is, the fact that I have been guilty is no excuse for him. The 
 modern reading would make nonsense of it. 
 
 46. Upon the hip. To " catch upon the hip " was a phrase used 
 by wrestlers. Cf. iv. I. 327 below, and Oth. ii. I. 314. 
 
 51. Which he calls interest. Usance, usury, and interest were 
 
 HER. OF VEN. II 
 
1 62 Notes [Act i 
 
 equivalent terms in S.'s day. It was disreputable to take interest 
 at all. It was considered " against nature for money to beget 
 money." See Bacon's Essay on Usurie. 
 
 53. Debating of my present store. Of is often used by the 
 Elizabethan writers in the sense of about or concerning. Cf. Temp. 
 ii. i. 8 1 : " You make me study of that," etc. 
 
 59. Rest you fair. God grant you good fortune ! You is the 
 object, not the subject, of rest. Cf. " Rest you merry ! " {R. and J. 
 i. 2. 65) and "God rest you merry! " {A. Y. L. v. i. 165). 
 
 62. Excess. More than the sum lent or borrowed; interest. 
 
 63. Ripe wants. Wants that admit of no delay, like ripe fruit 
 that must be gathered at once. 
 
 64. Possessed. Informed. Cf. iv. i. 35 below: "I have pos- 
 sess'd your grace of what I purpose." The question is addressed 
 to Bassanio. 
 
 65. How much you would. Would is often used absolutely, as 
 here, for wish or require. 
 
 67. / had forgot. Of course this falsehood is part of Shylock's 
 strategy. You told me so is said to Bassanio. 
 
 69. Methought. This thought is from the Anglo-Saxon verb 
 thyncan, to seem, and not from thencan, to think. It is used im- 
 personally, the me being a dative. Methought = it seemed to me. 
 
 71. When Jacob, etc. See Genesis, xxvii. and xxx. 
 
 74. The third possessor. Jacob may be included, as some sup- 
 pose; but it is more likely that Shylock refers to Esau, who had 
 been cheated of his heritage by the trickery of his " wise mother." 
 
 78. Were compromised. Had mutually agreed. 
 
 79. Eanlings. Lambs just brought forth; from Anglo-Saxon 
 eanian, to bring forth. Yeanling is another form of the same 
 word, and was substituted by Pope here. 
 
 Pied. Spotted. We have " daisies pied " in L. L. L. v. 2. 904 
 (and in Milton's D ' Allegro} ; and in Temp. iii. 2. 71 Caliban calls 
 Trinculo a "pied ninny," from the particoloured coat which he 
 wore as a jester. 
 
Scene III] Notes 1 63 
 
 Si. Piird me. Peeled. Cf. the Bible narrative (Genesis, xxx. 
 37, 38). The me is expletive, as often. See the dialogue between 
 Petruchio and Grumio in T. of S. i. 2. 8 fol. 
 
 84. Fall. Let fall, bring forth. 
 
 90. Was this inserted, etc. Was this inserted in Scripture to 
 justify usury? 
 
 94. The devil can cite Scripture. See Matthew, iv. 4, 6. 
 
 95, Producing holy witness. Adducing sacred authority. 
 
 10 1. beholding. Often used by S., Bacon, and other writers of 
 the time, instead of beholden. 
 
 102. Many a time and oft. An old phrase, still familiar. Here 
 Shylock, perhaps irritated by Antonio's impatient question, which 
 reminds him of the Merchant's arrogant and contemptuous treat- 
 ment of him in the past, forgets for the moment the part he is 
 playing; but Antonio's angry and scornful reply shows him the 
 mistake he has made, and he at once resumes his artfully friendly 
 tone. 
 
 107. Misbeliever. Strictly, one who believes wrongly, as un- 
 believer is one who does not believe, or an infidel. S. uses the 
 word only here. 
 
 108. Spet. An obsolete spelling of spit, used occasionally by S., 
 as it is by Milton in the one instance {Comus, 132) in which he 
 employs the word. 
 
 Gaberdine. A long coarse frock. See Temp. ii. 2. 40, 115. 
 The garment and the name are still used by the peasantry in some 
 parts of England. 
 
 in. Go to. A phrase of exhortation or encouragement, some- 
 times used scornfully. Cf. Temp. v. I. 297, etc.; also Genesis, xi. 
 4, etc. 
 
 130. A breed of barren metal. Breed is money bred from the 
 principal. Shylock had used the same metaphor for interest. Cf. 
 Middleton, The Blacke Booke : " coming to repay both the money 
 and the breed of it for interest may well be called the usurer's 
 bastard," etc. 
 
164 Notes [Act i 
 
 132. Who if he break. The "relative with a supplementary 
 pronoun " often occurs in the writers of the time. Cf. V. and A. 
 
 935 
 
 " Who, when he liv'd, his breath and beauty set 
 
 Gloss on the rose, smell on the violet." 
 
 ' If he break? that is, "break his day," fail to fulfil his engage- 
 ment. Shylock uses the phrase in 159 below. 
 
 134. I would be friends with you. A " grammatical impropriety," 
 but even now a familiar idiom. 
 
 136. Doit. A small Dutch coin, worth about a quarter of a cent. 
 
 141. Your single bond. Your individual bond, without sureties. 
 
 In a merry sport. In the old ballad of Gernutus (see page 24 
 above) the Jew says : 
 
 11 But we will haue a merry iest, 
 
 for to be talked long : 
 You shall make me a Band (quoth he) 
 that shall be large and strong. 
 
 " And this shall be the forfeyture, 
 
 of your own Flesh a pound : 
 If you agree, make you the Band, 
 and here is a hundred Crownes." 
 
 144. Let the forfeit, etc. Let the forfeit named be an exact 
 {equal ) pound of your flesh. 
 
 147. Pleaseth me. That is, " it pleaseth me " (the folio reading). 
 See on 32 above. 
 
 151. Dwell. Continue, remain. 
 
 157. Dealings teaches them suspect. According to Abbott ( Gram- 
 mar, 333) and others, teaches is an instance of the old Northern 
 plural in es, which is sometimes found in Elizabethan writers. 
 They also sometimes omit the to of the infinitive (as here in suspect) 
 after certain verbs which now require it, and sometimes insert it 
 where now it is omitted. 
 
Scene III] Notes 165 
 
 163. Muttons, beefs. These Norman-French words are here used 
 in their original sense. The plural beeves is still used for the living 
 animals, and the singular form beeve is occasionally met with. 
 
 165. If he will take it, so. That is, so be it, or something of the 
 kind. So was often thus used as a particle of assent or affirmation. 
 
 1 66. For my love. " For love's sake," as we say; or, perhaps, 
 "as regards my love," or friendly feeling. 
 
 171. Fearful guard Of an unthrifty knave. Fearful = to be 
 feared or distrusted ; untrustworthy. Knave, which meant origi- 
 nally only a boy, and now means only a rogue, was in current use in 
 S.'s time with either signification. 
 
 ACT II 
 
 SCENE I. The stage direction in the first folio is : " Enter 
 Morochus a tawnie Moore all in white, and three or foure followers 
 accordingly, with Portia, Nerrissa, and their traine. Flo. Cornets." 
 
 I. Complexion. A quadrisyllable. See on i. 1.8 above. 
 
 6. Let us make incision, etc. Red blood was a traditionary sign 
 of courage. Below (iii. 2. 86) Bassanio talks of cowards who " have 
 livers white as milk." 
 
 7. Reddest. The use of the superlative in a comparison of two 
 objects, though condemned by most of the modern grammars, is 
 
 ' good old English. 9 
 
 8. Aspect . . . feared. On the accent of aspect, see on i. I. 54 
 above. Feared caused to fear, terrified. In T. of S. i. 2. 211 
 we have both senses of fear in close connection : " Petruchio. Tush ! 
 tush ! fear boys with bugs. Grumio. For he fears none." 
 
 10. Best-regarded. Of highest estimation. 
 
 12. To steal your thoughts. To gain your love. Thought (both 
 in the singular and the plural) not unfrequently refers to love in S., 
 and steal is often associated with love, as suggesting its gradual 
 and imperceptible development. Cf. v. i. 19 below, for instance. 
 
1 66 Notes [Act il 
 
 Note, by the way, that Morocco, though he may have come to 
 Belmont as a fortune hunter, is honestly enamoured of the lady, as 
 this entire speech, and all that he says, clearly prove. It is, indeed, 
 his admiration and love for her that lead him to choose the wrong 
 casket. Portia understands this, and, true woman that she is, 
 shows it in her gentle, half-pitying treatment of him, though she is 
 glad, of course, that he fails in the lottery. 
 14. Nice direction. Fastidious estimation. 
 
 17. Scanted. Limited, restricted. Cf. iii. 2. 112 below: "Scant 
 this excess "; and v. I. 141 : " Scant this breathing courtesy." 
 
 1 8. Wit. In its original sense of foresight, ivisdom, as in the 
 familiar expressions, " at his wit's end," " lost his wits," etc. 
 
 20. Yourself. The pronouns myself, thyself, etc., were often used 
 in S.'s time (as they still are in poetry) as the subject of a verb. 
 
 Stood as fair. Would have stood. In fair some suspect an 
 allusion to the Moor's complexion, but this is not probable. 
 
 25. The Sophy. The Sufi, or Shah of Persia. Cf. T. N. ii. 5. 
 197, and iii. 4. 307. Bacon {Essay 43) speaks of " Ismael, the 
 Sophy of Persia." 
 
 26. Sultan Solyman. The most famous sultan of this name was 
 Solyman the Magnificent, who reigned from 1520 to 1566. 
 
 31. Alas the while ! This expression, like Woe the while ! (J. C. 
 i. 3. 82), seems originally to have meant, " Alas for the present state 
 of things ! " but it came to be used as indefinitely as the simple alas ! 
 
 32. Hercules and Lichas. Lichaswas the servant who brought 
 to Hercules the poisoned tunic from Dejanira. 
 
 Play at dice Which is, etc. That is, in order to decide which is, 
 etc. " The Elizabethan writers objected to scarcely any ellipsis, 
 provided the deficiency could be easily supplied from the context." 
 
 35. Alcides beaten by his page. Alcides was the original name 
 of Hercules, given him on account of his descent from Alcaeus, the 
 son of Perseus. 
 
 42. Be advis'd. Consider well, do not decide in haste. Cf* 
 advised in. i. I. 142. 
 
Scene II] Notes 1 67 
 
 43. Nor will not. That is, will not " speak to lady," etc. 
 
 44. The temple. The chapel where the oath was to be taken. 
 46. Blest or cursed^st. Blest is an instance of the ellipsis of the 
 
 superlative ending, not unusual at that time. Cf. M. for M. iv. 6. 
 13: "The generous and gravest citizens." So Heywood: "Only 
 the grave and wisest of the land; " and Ben Jonson: "The soft 
 and sweetest music." In iii. 2. 288 we have " The best-conditioned 
 and unwearied spirit," where the ellipsis is in the second adjective. 
 
 SCENE II. The stage direction in the early eds. is " Enter the 
 flowne alone" 
 
 i. Certainly my conscience will serve, etc. This seems to express 
 a hope rather than an assurance that this will be the result of the 
 conflict between his conscience and the " fiend." 
 
 7. As aforesaid. From Launcelot's frequent use of legal phrase- 
 ology we might infer that he had been in a lawyer's employ before 
 he became the servant of Shylock; but the Jew, of course, was 
 often engaged in litigation, and Launcelot may have picked up his 
 law terms from that source. 
 
 9. Scorn running with thy heels. The play upon heels is obvi- 
 ous. Cf. Much Ado, iii. 4. 51 : "I scorn that with my heels." 
 
 10. Via ! Away ! (Italian). Cf. M. W. ii. 2. 159, L. L. L. v. i. 
 156, etc. 
 
 11. For the heavens! Mason proposed to change heavens to 
 haven, because " it is not likely that S. would make the Devil con- 
 jure Launcelot to do anything for Heaven 's sake ; " but obviously 
 the wit of the expression consists in that very incongruity. 
 
 19. ' Fiend? say /, * you counsel well. 1 This is the folio reading; 
 but some editors prefer that of the quarto, " counsel ill. 91 Launce- 
 lot probably says well because he prefers the fiend's advice. 
 
 21. God bless (or save) the mark ! The origin and the meaning 
 of this expression are alike obscure. It appears to be used most 
 frequently " as a parenthetic apology for some profane or vulgar 
 word*" 
 
1 68 Notes [Act II 
 
 25. Incarnation. For incarnate, of course. 
 
 31. Enter old Gobbo. The name is Italian for hunchback, and 
 Steevens inferred that S. intended the character " to be represented 
 with a hump back "; but the name was probably then a family one 
 in Italy, as it is now. The Washington Hotel in Florence is now 
 (1902) kept by a Gobbo, and I have seen the name in Pisa also. 
 For the statue called // Gobbo di Rialto, see p. 34 above. Tourists 
 who have been in Verona will recollect another venerable // Gobbo 
 which sustains a holy-water basin in the church of Santa Anastasia. 
 
 34. Sand-blind. Dim of sight; as if there were sand in the 
 eye, or perhaps floating before it. High-gravel-blind is Launcelot's 
 own exaggeration of the word. 
 
 35. Confusions. A blunder for conclusions, which is the reading 
 of one of the early quartos. To " try conclusions " (Ham. iii. 4. 
 195) was to try experiments. 
 
 41. Marry. A corruption of Mary. It was originally a mode 
 of swearing by the Virgin, but its origin had come to be forgotten 
 in S.'s day. 
 
 43. God's sonties. Corrupted from God's saints, or sanctities, or 
 sante (health) it is impossible to decide which. 
 
 50. No master, sir, etc. Furnivall quotes Sir Thomas Smith's 
 Commonwealth of England (ed. 1612) : "As for gentlemen, they be 
 made good cheap in England. For whosoeuer studieth the laws of 
 the Realm, who studieth in the Uniuersities, who professeth liberall 
 Sciences : and to be short, who can liue idely, and without manuall 
 labour, and will beare the port, charge and countenance of a Gen- 
 tleman, hee shall bee called master, for that is the tytle which men 
 giue to Esquires, and other Gentlemen, and shall bee taken for a 
 Gentleman." 
 
 52. Well to live. " With every prospect of a long life." 
 
 53. What a' will. A 1 for he is common in the old dramatists, in 
 the mouths of peasants and illiterate people. 
 
 55. Your worship's friend and Launcelot. This has perplexed 
 Ihe critics. We might expect " but Launcelot " from an/body 
 
Scene II] Notes 169 
 
 but Old Gobbo. He seems to mean, " He is your friend, and so 
 you treat him as an equal and call him Master, but I call him plain 
 Launcelot" 
 
 57. Talk you of young Master Launcelot? The early eds. make 
 this imperative, and not interrogative, and are followed by some 
 editors, but the majority are clearly right in regarding it as a 
 question. Master is emphatic. 
 
 60. Father. Launcelot twice calls Gobbo father, but the old 
 man does not even suspect with whom he is talking, since the 
 peasantry used to call all old people father or mother. 
 
 62. The sisters three. The Fates of classic fable. 
 
 87. Your child that shall be. Here some of the critics have been 
 mystified by Launcelot's incongruous talk. Malone says, " Launce- 
 lot probably here indulges himself in talking nonsense," but he is 
 not quite sure about it; and Steevens suggests that he "may mean 
 that he shall hereafter prove his claim to the title of child by his 
 dutiful behaviour," etc. 
 
 95. Lord worshipped. Perhaps, as some explain it = a lord 
 worshipful, referring to the beard and the claim to the title of 
 Master ; or Lord worshipped may he be! may be, as Mr. Gum- 
 mere suggests, " merely another way of saying ' Lord be praised ! ' '^ 
 According to stage tradition, Launcelot kneels with his back to the 
 old man, who, " being sand-blind," mistakes the hair on his head 
 for a beard. 
 
 97. Fill-horse. Fill for thill, or shaft, is a familiar word in New 
 England, but in old England it is not known except as a provin- 
 cialism in the Midland counties. We have " i' the fills " in T. and 
 C. iii. 2. 48. 
 
 103. Gree. The spelling of all the early eds. 
 
 105. I have set up my rest. That is, I have determined. "A 
 metaphor taken from play, where the highest stake the parties were 
 disposed to venture was called the rest." The expression occurs 
 several times in the plays. 
 
 Iio. Give me your present. See on i. 3. 81 above. 
 
i yo 
 
 Notes 
 
 [Act II 
 
 122. Gramercy. A corruption of the French grand merci^ 
 "great thanks"; but it was often used as an expression of sur- 
 prise, like " mercy on us ! " as if derived from grant mercy. 
 
 132. Cater-cousins. The origin of the word is doubtful, but the 
 meaning evidently is, that they do not seem much akin, or do not 
 
 agree very well. 
 
 137. A dish of doves. See p. 31 
 above. 
 
 148. Preferred thee. To prefer 
 often meant to " recommend for 
 promotion," and sometimes to 
 "promote." 
 
 151. The old proverb. Alluding 
 to the Scotch proverb, "The grace 
 of God is gear enough." 
 
 157. Guarded. Trimmed, orna- 
 mented. The broidered edging 
 guarded (protected) the cloth 
 from wear. See Hen. VIII. prol. 
 1 6 and Much Ado, i. I. 288. 
 
 158. In. Go in; as in C. of 
 E. v. i. 37, etc. 
 
 159. Well, if any man, etc. 
 The construction is, " Well, if any 
 man in Italy which doth offer to 
 swear upon a book have a fairer 
 table " the expression being like 
 
 After having thus admired his 
 As Johnson 
 
 FROM A BOOK ON CHIROMANCY, 
 1558. 
 
 "any man that breathes," etc. 
 
 table, he breaks off to predict his good fortune. 
 
 remarks, " the act of expanding his hand " reminds him of laying 
 
 it on the book in taking an oath. 
 
 In chiromancy, or palmistry, the table line, or line of fortune, is 
 the one running from the forefinger below the other fingers to the 
 side of the hand. The natural line is the one running through the 
 
Scene IV] Notes 17 1 
 
 middle of the palm. The line of life is the one which encircles 
 the ball of the thumb. The space between the two first is called 
 mensa, or the table. 
 
 163. Aleven. A vulgarism for eleven. 
 
 1 68. For this gear. See on i. i. no above. 
 
 172. Bestowed. Put away, disposed of. Cf. 2 Kings , v. 24, etc. 
 See also/. C. i. 3. 151, etc. 
 
 182. Hear thee. In this, as in some other expressions (" fare 
 thee well," etc.), thee appears to be used for thou, and not reflexively. 
 
 187. Liberal. Free, reckless; but not in so bad a sense as in 
 Much Ado, iv. 1.93 ("a liberal villain"), where it means licentious. 
 
 Take pain. We now use only the plural, " take pains." S. 
 uses both. See below, v. i. 180. 
 
 189. Thy skipping spirit. Thy frolicsome humour. Cf. Ham. 
 Hi. 4. 123: "Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper Sprinkle 
 cool patience." Spirit is often a monosyllable, as if pronounced 
 sprit (not sprite}. 
 
 198. Studied in a sad ostent. Trained to put on a sober aspect. 
 Below (ii. 8. 44) we have " fair ostents (manifestations, tokens) of 
 love." 
 
 207. / must to Lorenzo. This ellipsis of the verb was common, 
 especially after will; as "I '11 to him," R. and J. iii. 2. 141, etc. 
 
 SCENE III. 10. Exhibit. For inhibit (restrain). 
 
 15. What heinous sin. Possibly this is one of the instances in 
 which what is used for what a. Cf. /. C. i. 3. 42 : ' What night is 
 this ! " But sin may be used in the general sense of sinfulness. 
 
 SCENE IV. 5. We have not spoke us yet of. We have not yet 
 bespoken. 
 
 6. Quaintly. Tastefully, gracefully. Quaint in the old writers 
 means elegant, and hence artful, ingenious. In Johnson's day it 
 had come to mean affected, and now it has " the united sense of 
 antique and odd" Cf. " quaint lies " below, iii. 4. 69. 
 
172 Notes [Act ii 
 
 7. Not undertook. We have " undertaken " in W. T. iii. 2. 79, 
 and "to be undertook" in Oth. v. 2. 311. S. often uses two or 
 more forms of the participle. Thus in J. C. we have stricken, 
 struck, and strucken. So we find mistook and mistaken, etc. We 
 must bear in mind that the Elizabethan age was a transitional 
 period in the history of the language. 
 
 10. Break up. Break open. Break up was a term in carving; 
 and in L. L. L. iv. I. 56 we have "break up this capon," where 
 the " capon " is a letter. 
 
 13. Writ. S. uses both writ and wrote for the past tense, and 
 writ, written, and wrote for the participle. 
 
 23. Provided of. Of is often used of the agent (where we use 
 by), and of the instrument (for with), as here. Cf. Macb. i. 2. 13* 
 " supplied of kernes," etc. 
 
 26. Some hour. About an hour; as we say some two hours, some 
 six months ago, etc. 
 
 29. Needs. Of necessity ; a genitive used adverbially. 
 
 Directed . . . What gold, etc. The ellipsis here is very like what 
 is called a zeugma. 
 
 35. Dare. Either the "subjunctive used imperatively" or the 
 3d pers. of the imperative. 
 
 37. Faithless. Unbelieving; as in Matthew, xvii. 17. 
 
 SCENE V. 2. Difference of. Cf. Lear, iv. 2. 26 : " O, the differ- 
 ence of man and man ! " See also h. I. 361 below. 
 
 3. What, Jessica ! A customary exclamation of impatience, in 
 calling to persons; like when ( 7^emp. \. 2. 316, J. C. ii. I. 5, etc.). 
 
 11. Bid forth. Invited out. Cf. " find forth," i. I. 143 above, 
 and " feasting forth," 37 below. S. uses bidden only in Much Ado, 
 iii. 3. 32. He uses both bade and bid for the past tense. See on 
 ii. 5. 7 above. 
 
 17. Towards my rest. Against my peace of mind. To dream 
 of money was supposed to be unlucky. 
 
 18. To-night. That is. last night; as in /. C. iii. 3. I : "I 
 
Scene V] Notes 173 
 
 dream'd to-night that I did feast with Caesar." Usually in S. it has 
 its modern meaning. 
 
 21. So do I his. Shylock plays upon Launcelot's blunder of 
 reproach for approach. 
 
 25. Black- Monday. Easter Monday; so called, as the old 
 chronicler Stowe tells us, because "in the 34th of Edward III. 
 (1360), the 1 4th of April, and the morrow after Easter-day, King 
 Edward with his host lay before the city of Paris : which day was 
 full dark of mist and hail, and so bitter cold that many men died 
 on their horses' backs with the cold." 
 
 30. The wry-neck? d fife. Wry-necked may refer to the fife or to 
 the fifer, but the former is more probable, on account of the preced- 
 ing drum. Barnaby Rich (1618) says : "A fife is a wry-neckt musi- 
 cian, for he always looks away from his instrument." On the other 
 hand, the old English fife (like one used in classical times) had a 
 bent mouthpiece. It was called the flute a bee, as the mouthpiece 
 resembled the beak of a bird. 
 
 36. Jacob's staff. See Genesis, xxxii. 10, and Hebrews, xi. 21. In 
 Spenser, F. Q. i. 6. 35, " lacobs staffe " more probably refers to 
 St. James (Jacobus), who is usually represented with a pilgrim's 
 hat and staff. 
 
 37. Of feasting forth. Of for, as often. See on n above. 
 43. Jewess' eye. It is "Jewes" in the quartos and 1st and 2d 
 
 folios, " Jew's " in the later folios. Pope suggested Jewess 1 , which 
 has been generally adopted. Launcelot's phrase is a slight altera- 
 tion of the proverbial expression, Worth a Jew's eye. The Jews 
 were often threatened with the loss of an eye, or some other muti- 
 lation, in order to extort treasure from them. 
 
 46. Patch. A name given to the professional jester (from his 
 patched or particoloured coat), and afterwards used as a term of 
 contempt. 
 
 52. Perhaps I will return. The shade of meaning is such as 
 would now be expressed by will "Perhaps I may decide to re- 
 turn," or something of the sort. " I shall return " would be future 
 
174 Notes [Act ii 
 
 pure and simple; "I will return" adds the idea that the possible 
 future act depends upon the speaker's will. 
 
 SCENE VI. 5. Venus' pigeons. The chariot of Venus was 
 drawn by doves. In Temp. iv. I. 94 she is described as "dove- 
 drawn," and her " doves " are also referred to in M. N. D. i. I. 171, 
 etc. 
 
 7. Obliged. Pledged, plighted. 
 
 9. Sits down. That is, sits down with. So in the next sentence, 
 "pace them (with)." This ellipsis of a preposition which has 
 already been expressed before the relative is quite common in S. 
 Cf. below (iv. I. 382) : " A gift of all (of which) he dies possess'd." 
 See also on i. I. 125 above. 
 
 10. Untread again. Retrace. 
 
 14. Younger. The reading of all the early eds., changed by 
 some to younker, which S. uses in I Hen. IV. iii. 3. 92 and 3 Hen. 
 VL ii. i. 24. 
 
 15. Scarfed. Decked with flags and streamers. In A. W. ii. 3. 
 214 "scarfs" are associated with " bannerets " in the comparison 
 of a person to a " vessel." 
 
 17. How like the prodigal doth she return. The reference to the 
 Scripture parable is obvious. The she is naturally used of the bark. 
 
 1 8. Over-weathered. Weatherbeaten. 
 
 30. Who love 7, etc. -The inflection of who is often neglected. 
 Directly after a preposition, whom is usually found. Cf. L. L. L. ii. 
 I. 2: "Consider ivho the king your father sends, To whom he 
 sends." But in Cymb. iv. 2. 75 and Oth. i. 2. 52 we have the in- 
 terrogative who even after a preposition : " To who ? " See on i. 2. 
 32 above. Sweet, in his Short Historical English Grammar (Ox- 
 ford, 1892), says : " In present spoken English whom may be said 
 to be extinct, except in the rare construction with a preposition 
 immediately before it." 
 
 35. Exchange. That is, of apparel. 
 
 42. Too-too light. " Too-too " was often (as here) a compound 
 
Scene VII] Notes 175 
 
 epithet, and should then have the hyphen; but in some cases (as 
 in Ham. i. 2. 129: "this too, too solid flesh") it was an emphatic 
 repetition, just as it is now. 
 
 43. An office of discovery ', etc. The office of a torchbearer is to 
 show what is in the way, but I ought to keep in the shade. 
 
 47. Close. Secret, stealthy. 
 
 51. By my hood. Probably swearing by the hood of his masque 
 dress. In Gentile there is perhaps a play upon gentle, which is 
 found in some of the early eds. 
 
 52. Beshrew me. A very mild imprecation, often used playfully 
 and even tenderly. 
 
 54. If that. This use of that as " a conjunctional affix " was 
 common. Thus we have " when that," " why that," " while that," 
 " though that," " since that," etc. 
 
 67. Glad on V. S. often uses on where we should use of. In 
 Temp. i. 2, on 't = of it occurs three times. See also I Samuel, 
 xxvii. II. 
 
 SCENE VII. 4. Of gold, who. In the Elizabethan age, which 
 was not yet established as the neuter relative. It was often applied 
 to persons (as in the Lord's Prayer, " Our Father which art in 
 heaven ") and who to things. In the next line but one, we have 
 " silver, which." 
 
 5. Who chooseth, etc. The inscriptions are all in Alexandrines 
 (verses of six accents or twelve syllables). 
 
 26. If thou be'st rated. This beest must not be confounded with 
 the subjunctive be. It is the Anglo-Saxon bist, 2d pers. sing. pres. 
 indicative of bedn, to be. See on i. 3. 22 above. 
 
 29. Afeard. S. uses afeard and afraid interchangeably. 
 
 30. Disabling. Disparaging; as in A. Y. L. iv. I. 34. v. 4. 80, 
 etc. 
 
 34. But more than these, in lave I do deserve. This line alone 
 
 would prove that Morocco is really in love. See on ii. I. 12 above. 
 
 41. Hyrcanian. Hyrcania was an extensive tract of country 
 
I 7 6 
 
 Notes 
 
 [Act II 
 
 southeast of the Caspian. S. three times mentions the tigers of 
 Hyrcania: 3 Hen. VI. i. 4. 155, Macb. iii. 4. 101, and Ham. ii. 2. 
 472. Vasty = waste, desolate, like the Latin vastus. S. uses vast 
 several times as a noun waste. 
 
 42. Through/ares. Thorough and through are the same word, 
 and S. uses either as suits the measure. So with throughly and 
 thoroughly. We find throughfare again in Cymb. i. 2. n. 
 
 43. Come view. Come to view. See on i. 3. 157 above. 
 49. Like. Likely; as very often. 
 
 GOLDEN ANGEL OF QUEEN ELIZABETH 
 
 50. Too^gross, etc. Too coarse a material to enclose her shroud. 
 Cerecloth cerement (Ham. i. 4. 48), cloth smeared with melted 
 Wax (Lat. cerd) or gums, for embalming the dead. 
 I 51. Obscure has the accent on the first syllable, like many dis- 
 syllabic adjectives and participles when used before a noun. 
 
 53. Undervalued, etc. See on i. I. 165 above. During the 
 Middle Ages, and down to the sixteenth century, the value of 
 silver was T ^ and ^j, and even, as here stated, T \j that of gold. 
 In the latter part of the seventeenth century it fell to as low as T \. 
 In the eighteenth it rose to y^, and is now ^ or less. 
 
 57. Insculfd upon. Graven on the outside. The angel was 
 worth about ten shillings. It had on one side a figure of MichaeJ 
 piercing the dragon; The use of the device is said to have origi- 
 
Scene VIII] Notes 177 
 
 nated in Pope Gregory's pun of Angli and Angeli. Verstegan, in his 
 Restitution of Decayed Intelligence, says : " The name of Engel is 
 yet at this present in all the Teutonick tongues, to wit, the high 
 and low Dutch, &c., as much to say as Angel, and if a Dutch-man 
 be asked how he would in his language call an Angel-like-man, he 
 would answer, ein English-man, Engel being in their tongue an 
 Angel, and English, which they write Engehche, Angel-like. And 
 such reason and consideration may have moved our former kings, 
 upon their best coin of pure and fine gold, to set the image of an 
 angel." 
 
 63. A carrion death. That is, a skull. 
 
 65. Glisters. Glisten does not occur in S. nor in Milton. In 
 both we find glister several times. 
 
 77. Part. Depart, See Cor. v. 6. 73 : " When I parted hence/' 
 etc. Depart was also used where we should say part ; as in the 
 Marriage Service, " till death us do part " is a corruption of " till 
 death us depart." 
 
 SCENE VIII. 12. A passion. Passionate outcry. Cf. T. and 
 C. v. 2. 181 : "Your passion draws ears hither." 
 
 27. Reasoned. Talked, conversed; as in Rich. III. ii. 3. 39, etc. 
 
 28. The narrow seas. The English Channel a name not unfre- 
 quently applied to it in that day. It occurs again iii. I. 4 below. 
 
 30. Fraught. We now use fraught ( = freighted) only in a 
 figurative sense. Fraught is used as a noun in T. N. v. I. 64 and 
 Oth. iii. 3. 449. Freight does not occur in S. or Milton. 
 
 33. You were best. Originally the you was dative (to you it were 
 best), but it came to be regarded as a nominative. Cf. J. C. iii. 3. 
 13: "Ay, and truly, you were best;" Temp. i. 2. 366: "Thou'rt 
 best;" r. N. \. 2. 27: "She were better," etc. See also v. I. 175 
 below. 
 
 39. Slubber. To do carelessly or imperfectly. It also means to 
 obscure, or soil; as in Oth. i. 3. 227: "slubber the gloss of your 
 new fortunes." 
 
 MER. OF YEN. 12 
 
178 Notes [Act ii 
 
 40. Piping. Ripeness, maturity. 
 
 42. Mind of love. That is, loving mind. Cf. "mind of honour," 
 M. for M. ii. 4. 179. 
 
 44. Ostents. Manifestations, displays. See on ii. 2. 198 above. 
 
 45. Conveniently. In its original sense, fitly, suitably. Cf. the 
 adjective in iii. 4. 56 below. 
 
 47. Turning his face, etc. As Malone suggests, we have here 
 "the outline of a beautiful picture." 
 
 48. Sensible. Sensitive. Cf. L. L. L. iv. 3. 337 : " Love's feel- 
 ing is more soft and sensible Than are the tender horns of cockled 
 snails." 
 
 52. Quicken his embraced heaviness. Enliven the melancholy 
 he indulges. Cf. iii. 2. 109 below: " rash-embrac'd despair." 
 
 53. Do we so. ist pers. imperative (or " subjunctive used impera- 
 tively ") ; a form not uncommon in S. Cf. Hen. V. iv. 8. 127 : " Do 
 we all holy rites ! " See also v. I. 36 below. 
 
 SCENE IX. 18. Addressed me. Prepared myself. 
 Fortune now, etc. Success now to the hope of my heart ! 
 
 25. By the fool multitude. For by, see on i. 2. 53; and for the 
 adjective fool, on i. I. 102 above. 
 
 26. Fond. Foolish; as usually in S. Cf. iii. 3. 9 below. 
 
 27. The martlet. The house-martin. Cf. Macb. i. 6. 4: "the 
 temple-haunting martlet." 
 
 28. In the weather. Exposed to the weather. Cf. Cymb. iii. 3. 64 : 
 " left me bare to weather." 
 
 31. Jump with. Agree with. Cf. Rich. III. iii. I. ii: "out- 
 ward show, which . . . seldom or never jumpeth with the heart." 
 Jump also means to risk, hazard, as in Macb. i. 7. 7 : "jump the 
 life to come." 
 
 40. Estates. Ranks. Cf. Ham. v. i. 244: " 't was of some 
 estate" (that is, high rank). 
 
 43. Should cover, etc. Should wear their hats, that now take 
 them off, as to superiors. 
 
Scene ix] Notes 179 
 
 47. Ruin. Refuse, rubbish. 
 
 52. Too long a pause, etc. This is perhaps an Aside, as Capell 
 and Furness assume, but I doubt it. 
 
 60. To offend, etc. That is, an offender cannot be the judge of 
 his own case. For the accent of distinct, see on ii. 7. 51 above. 
 
 62. Fire. As often, a dissyllable. In /. C. iii. I. 171 we have 
 it both as a monosyllable and as a dissyllable : " As fire drives out 
 fire, so pity pity." Hours is a dissyllable four times in as many 
 lines in 3 Hen. VL ii. 5. 31-34, and a monosyllable four lines below. 
 Cf. iii. 2. 20 below. 
 
 67. I wis. This is a corruption of the adverbial ywis (certainly), 
 but S. no doubt regarded it as a pronoun and verb. 
 
 71. You are sped. Your fate is settled. Cf. "you two are sped," 
 T. of S. v. 2. 185. See also Lycidas, 122: "What need they? 
 They are sped." 
 
 77. Wroth. Some make the word = ruth (sorrow) ; but others 
 take it to be another form of wrath, used in the old sense of 
 misfortune or calamity. 
 
 84. My lord. Used jestingly in response to the my lady. So 
 in I Hen. IV. ii. 4. 317 the prince says, "How now, my lady the 
 hostess ? " in reply to her " My Ior4 the Prince ! " In Rich. II. v. 
 5. 67, also, a groom addresses the king, "Hail, royal prince ! " and 
 Richard replies, " Thanks, noble peer ! " 
 
 88. Sensible regreets. Tangible greetings, substantial salutations. 
 Regreet strictly means a responsive greeting. The noun occurs 
 again in K.John, iii. I. 241. 
 
 89. Commends. Cf. Rich. II. iii. I. 38 : "I send to her my 
 kind commends." 
 
 90. Yet I have not. I have not yet. Yet up to this time, is 
 now used only after a negative, but in the Elizabethan age it was 
 often used, as here, before a negative. Cf. T. of S. ind. I. 96: "For 
 yet his honour never heard a play ; " and this from Ascham's Schole- 
 master : " There be that kepe them out of fier and yet was never 
 burned " which would be nonsense nowadays. 
 
180 Notes [Act m 
 
 91. Likely. In the Yankee sense of promising. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. 
 iii. 2. 186: " a likely fellow ! " and Id. iii. 2. 273 : " your likeliest 
 men." 
 
 97. High-day wit. " Holiday terms," as Hotspur expresses it 
 (i Hen. IV. i. 3. 46). Cf. M. W. iii. 2. 60 : "he speaks holiday." 
 
 99. Cupid' 's post. So below (v. I. 46) we have " there 's a post 
 come from my master." For the adverbial mannerly, cf. Cymb. 
 iii. 6. 92, etc. 
 
 xoo. Bassanio, lord Love, etc* May it be Bassanio, O Cupid ! 
 
 ACT III 
 
 SCENE I. 2. // lives there unchecked. The report prevails there 
 uncontradicted. 
 
 3. Wracked. The only spelling of wrecked in the early eds. 
 The noun wrack (never wreck) rhymes with back in Macb. v. 5. 
 51 and four other instances in S. 
 
 4. The Goodwins. The Goodwin Sands, off the eastern coast of 
 Kent. According to tradition, they were once an island belonging 
 to Earl Godwin, which was swallowed up by the sea about A.D. 1 100. 
 
 9. Knapped, Nibbled ; originally, snapped, broke off. The 
 word occurs in Psalms, xlvi. 9 (Prayer-Book version) : " He knap- 
 peth the spear in sunder." Ginger was a favourite condiment with 
 old people. 
 
 27. The wings, etc. The boy's clothes she wore when she eloped. 
 
 37. Match. Bargain, compact. Cf. Cymb. iii. 6. 30 : " 't is our 
 match," etc. 
 
 39. Smug. Spruce, trim. Cf. Lear, iv. 6. 202 :" a smug bride- 
 groom." 
 
 48. Haifa million. That is, ducats. 
 
 62. Humility. The word is used in its ordinary sense, but is 
 spoken ironically : " What is his professed humility ? " the 
 humility, or patience under injuries inculcated by his " prophet the 
 
Scene I] 
 
 Notes 
 
 181 
 
 Nazarite " (in Matthew, v. 39, for instance). It has essentially the 
 same meaning as sufferance, which Shylock here opposes to it: 
 If the humility of the Christian is revenge, what should the 
 sufferance of the Jew be " by Christian example " ? Schmidt de- 
 fines it in this and a few other passages as " kindness, benevolence, 
 humanity," and some critics have been inclined to agree with him ; 
 
 THE GOODWIN SANDS, DURING A STORM 
 
 but in all these passages the ordinary sense of the word is equally or 
 more satisfactory. The New English Dictionary (Oxford) does not 
 recognize " humanity " among the meanings of humility, which it 
 illustrates by abundant examples from the fourteenth to the nine- 
 teenth century. 
 
 65. It shall go hard, etc. I will spare no effort to outdo you in 
 what you teach me. 
 
 71. Matched. That is, matched with them, found to match them. 
 
 85. Why, so. Well, well. Cf. Rich. II. ii. 2. 87, etc. 
 
1 82 Notes [Act in 
 
 115. My turquoise. The folio reads, " my Turkies." Tennyson 
 spells it turkis, which is still an allowed pronunciation. Marvellous 
 properties were ascribed to this " Turkey-stone." Its colour was 
 said to change with the health of the wearer. Cf. Ben Jonson, 
 Sejanus : 
 
 " And true as Turkise in the deare lord's ring, 
 Looke well or ill with him." 
 
 And Fenton {Secret Wonders of Nature, 1569) says: "The Tur- 
 keys doth move when there is any perill prepared to him that 
 weareth it." 
 
 SCENE II. 6. Hate counsels not, etc. Hatred would prompt 
 no such feeling. 
 
 8. And yet a maiden hath no tongue but thought. And yet a 
 maiden must not venture to speak all that she feels; or, if she 
 speak at all, she must speak what she feels. The line has been 
 much discussed. See more than a full page in fine print upon it in 
 Furness's " New Variorum " ed. 
 
 14. Beshreiv. See on ii. 6. 52 above. 
 
 15. CPerlooVd. Bewitched by the "evil eye." Cf. M. W. v. 5. 
 87 : " thou wast o'erlook'd even in thy birth." 
 
 1 8. Naughty. Evil. See on iii. 3. 9 below. 
 
 20. Though yours, not yours. One yours (preferably the sec- 
 ond) must be a dissyllable. See on ii. .9. 62 above. 
 
 Prove it so, etc. If it prove so (that is, that I am " not yours "), 
 let fortune, not me, bear the penalty. See on 314 below. 
 
 22. Peize. The French peser, to weigh. Here it means to 
 delay, as if weighing each moment deliberately, or (as some explain 
 the figure) as if the time were retarded by hanging weights to it. 
 S. uses the word in the sense of weigh in Rich. II. v. 3. 105, and in 
 that of poise in K.John, ii. I. 575. 
 
 26. Then confess, etc. Alluding to the use of the rack to extort 
 confession. 
 
Scene II] Notes 1 83 
 
 29. Fear the enjoying. Fear for the enjoying. Cf. iii. 5. 3 and 
 29 below. 
 
 44. A swan-like end. Cf. Oth. v. 2. 247 : " I will play the swan, 
 And die in music"; and K.John, v. 7. 21 : "this pale, faint swan, 
 Who chants a doleful hymn to his own death." 
 
 54. Presence. Dignity of mien. 
 
 55. Alcides. Laomedon, king of Troy, had offended Neptune, 
 who threatened to inundate the country unless the monarch should 
 sacrifice his daughter Hesione. Accordingly, she was fastened to 
 a rock on the seashore to become the prey of a sea monster. Her- 
 cules rescued her, not for " love," but to get possession of a pair of 
 famous horses belonging to the king. 
 
 58. Dardanian wives. Trojan women. Cf. Hen. V. iii. 3. 40, 
 etc. 
 
 63. Fancy. Love; as often. Cf. M. N. D. \. I. 155: " sighs 
 and tears, poor fancy's followers." So also in compounds, as 
 "fancy-free" (M. N. D. ii. I. 164), "fancy-sick" (Id. iii. 2. 96), 
 etc. The Song describes in exquisite imagery the birth and the 
 death of a transient affection, " engendered in the eye," not in the 
 heart. 
 
 74. Still. Ever. See on i. I. 17 above. 
 
 76. Seasoned. This carries on the metaphor suggested by tainted. 
 It is a homely figure, taken from the use of salt to preserve meat, 
 but it is a favourite one with S. 
 
 79. Approve. Justify, prove. 
 
 8 1. No vice so simple. So unmixed. 
 
 82. His outivard parts. Its outward parts. Its was just coming 
 into use in the Elizabethan age. It does not occur in the present 
 play, or in any earlier one, except once in 2 Hen. VI. iii. 2. 393, 
 where the folio has ifs and the old play has his. In the folio the 
 form its is found only in M. for M. i. 2. 4, while ifs occurs nine 
 times. // as a genitive (or " possessive ") is found fourteen times, 
 in seven of which it precedes own. This it is an early provincial 
 form of the old genitive. In King James's version of the Bible 
 
1 84 Notes [Act in 
 
 (1611) its does not occur at all, and the possessive it only in 
 Leviticus, xxv. 5 ("it own accord"), changed in modern editions 
 to " its own." 
 
 86. Livers white as milk. See on ii. 1.6 above. 
 
 87. Excrement. Used, as the related word excrescence still is, 
 for a superficial growth. It refers here to the beards; as in L. L. L. 
 v. I. 109: "dally with my excrement, with my mustachio." It is 
 also applied to the hair in C. of E. ii. 2. 79 and W. T. iv. 4. 734. 
 
 91. Lightest. That is, in a bad sense. Cf. below (v. I. 129), 
 " Let me give light, but let me not be light," etc. 
 
 92. Crisped. Curled. Milton (Comus, 984) speaks of "crisped 
 shades and bowers," referring to the leaves waved and curled by 
 the wind. 
 
 94. Upon supposed fairness. On the strength of their fictitious 
 beauty. The expression seems to be closely connected with the 
 preceding line, and not with the one before that, as some make it. 
 
 95. The dowry, etc. S. has several times expressed his antipathy 
 to false hair. In Sonn. 68 there is a passage very similar to the 
 one in the text. See also T. of A. iv. 3. 144: "Thatch your poor 
 thin roofs With burdens of the dead." In L. L. L. iv. 3. 258 Biron 
 
 savs : 
 
 " O, if in black my lady's brows be deck'd, ' 
 
 It mourns that painting and usurping hair 
 Should ravish doters with a false aspect.** 
 
 It was then comparatively a recent fashion. Stow says, " Women's 
 periwigs were first brought into England about the time of the 
 massacre of Paris" (1572). Barnaby Rich, in 1615, says of the 
 periwig sellers : " These attire-makers within these forty years were 
 not known by that name. . . . But now they are not ashamed to 
 set them forth upon their stalls such monstrous mop-poles of 
 hair so proportioned and deformed that but within these twenty 
 or thirty years would have drawn the passers-by to stand and gaze, 
 and to wonder at them." 
 97. GuileJ. Full of guile, treacherous. S. has many similar 
 
Scene II] Notes 185 
 
 participial adjectives derived from nouns, and meaning " endowed 
 with (the noun)." 
 
 99. An Indian beauty. This has been a great stumbling-block 
 to the critics, who have proposed " dowdy," " gipsy," " favour " 
 (= face), "visage," "feature," "beldam," etc., in place of beauty. 
 Indian is used in a derogatory sense, and the occurrence of beau- 
 teous and beauty in the same sentence is not at all unlike S.'s 
 manner. 
 
 1 02. Hard food for Midas. An allusion to the story of Midas, 
 king of Phrygia, who gained from Bacchus the power to change 
 whatever he touched to gold, and found to his sorrow that even his 
 food was thus transmuted. 
 
 I will none ofthee. See on ii. 2. 207 above. 
 
 1 06. Thy plainness. The folio and both quartos have " pale- 
 nesse." Warburton suggested the emendation, which is adopted 
 by the majority of editors. The antithesis of plainness and elo- 
 quence is more natural and more forcible, especially after that of 
 threatenest and promise in the preceding line. It is an objection to 
 paleness that pale has just been applied to the silver casket. 
 
 no. Green-eyed jealousy. Cf. "green-eyed monster," in Oth. iii. 
 3. 166. 
 
 112. Rain thy joy. The later quartos have rein, which some 
 prefer; but in measure expresses the idea of restraint, so that In 
 measure rain thy ioy corresponds to both allay thy ecstasy and 
 scant this excess. The succession of antitheses emphasizes the 
 idea. In measure rein would introduce a weak tautology. 
 
 115. Counterfeit. Portrait. Cf. T. of A. v. I. 83: "Thou 
 draw'st a counterfeit Best in all Athens." 
 
 120. Hairs. Cf. L. L. L. iv. 3. 142 : " her hairs were gold," etc. 
 
 126. Unfurnished. Unaccompanied by the other eye, or, per- 
 haps, by the other features. 
 
 130. Continent. In its original sense of that which contains. 
 Cf. Ham. iv. 4. 64 : " tomb enough and continent "; and v. 2. 115: 
 "you shall find in him* the continent of what part a gentleman 
 
1 86 Notes [Act ill 
 
 would see " (that is, find him containing every quality which a gen- 
 tleman would desire to contemplate for imitation). 
 
 140. I come by note, etc. "I come according to written warrant 
 (the scroll just read) to give a kiss and receive the lady." 
 
 141. Prize. By metonymy, for the contest. 
 
 156. Livings. Possessions, fortune. Cf. v. I. 260: "you have 
 given me life and living." See also Mark, xii. 44, etc. 
 
 158. Sum of nothing. This is the reading of the folio, and is 
 more in keeping with the negative characteristics which follow than 
 " sum of something," the reading of the quartos, which some edi- 
 tors adopt. To term in gross = to state in full; to make the 
 most of it. Cf. gross in i. 3. 55 above. 
 
 174. Be my vantage, etc. Be a sufficient ground for my crying 
 out against you. " Exclaim on " occurs elsewhere, but S. also uses 
 " exclaim against." 
 
 1 78. Fairly spoke. S. uses both spoke and spoken as participles. 
 See on ii. 4. 7 above. 
 
 191. None from me. That is, none away from me, since you 
 have enough yourselves. This meaning of from is not uncommon, 
 and is played upon in Rich. III. iv. 4. 256-261. 
 
 195. So thou canst get. If thou canst; a common use of so. 
 
 19*. As swiff. The Elizabethan writers use adjectives freely as 
 adverbs. 
 
 199. Intermission. Delay ; that is, I can be as prompt in 
 making love as you are. , Some editors follow the 1st folio, which 
 joins intermission to lotfd. The meaning then is, I made love for 
 pastime, or to occupy myself while you were wooing Portia. Inter" 
 mission is metrically five syllables. See on i. 1.8 above. 
 
 208. Achieved her mistress. S. often uses achieve in this sense. 
 Cf. T. of S. i. 1. 161 : " If I achieve not this young modest girl," etc. 
 
 212. Our feast shall be. Shall ' = will, as often. See on i. I. 117 
 above. 
 
 214. Salerio. Some critics have doubted whether this is the 
 name of a new character, or one of the various forms of Salarino 
 
Scene II] Notes 187 
 
 or Salanio found in the old editions ; but that it is the former is 
 probable from the fact that the name is spelt Salerio in every instance 
 in which it occurs (five times in the text and once in a stage direc- 
 tion) in both the quartos and the folios, while Salarino and Salanio 
 appear as Salarino, Salaryno, Salerino, Slarino, Solarino, Solanio, 
 Salino, Salinio, and Solania. Furness thinks that the limited num- 
 ber of actors in the old theatres would prevent the introduction of 
 a new character here ; but this play has fewer characters than the 
 average, even if we add Salerio. 
 
 216. If that. See on ii. 6. 54 above. 
 
 218. Very friends. True friends. Cf. R. and J. iii. I. 115: 
 " My very friend." See also John, vii. 26. 
 
 228. Doth. Dost and doth are the established forms for the 
 auxiliary; doest and doeth, in other cases. In old writers we find 
 the former used for the latter, as here. Cf. J. C.i.i.S: "What 
 dost thou with thy best apparel on ? " 
 
 231. Estate. State, condition ; as often. On the other hand, 
 state is sometimes found in the sense of estate. See 254 below. 
 
 235. Success. Elsewhere S. often uses this word in its old sense 
 of issue, result. 
 
 236. Won the fleece. Cf. i. I. 170 above. 
 
 238. Shrewd. Evil; the original sense of the word. 
 
 239. Steals. A relative in S. often takes a singular verb though 
 the antecedent be plural. 
 
 242. Constant. Steadfast, self-possessed. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 207 : 
 M Who was so firm, so constant," etc. 
 
 246. Unpleasant st. This harsh contraction of superlatives was 
 common. Cf. Macb. ij. i. 24: "At your kind'st leisure"; Id. ii. 2. 
 4: "stern'st good night," etc. 
 
 257. Mere. Absolute, thorough. Cf. Oth. ii. 2. 3 : "The mere 
 perdition of the Turkish fleet," etc. 
 
 261. Issuing. Pouring forth. Intransitive verbs are not un- 
 frequently used transitively by S. 
 
 262. Hit. Hit the mark, succeeded. 
 
1 88 Notes [Act m 
 
 265. Scape. Not to be printed " 'scape." It is found often in 
 prose. 
 
 267. Should appear. Would appear. See on i. 2. 92. 
 
 268. Discharge. Pay. Cf. C. of E. iv. 4. 122: "I will dis 
 charge thee." 
 
 271. Confound. Destroy, ruin ; as often. 
 
 273. Impeach the freedom of the state. Denies that strangers 
 have equal rights in Venice. Cf., however, iv. 1 . 38, where Shylock 
 
 Bays : 
 
 " If you deny me, let the danger light 
 
 Upon your charter and your city's freedom ; ** 
 
 as if the freedom depended upon a charter which might be revoked 
 by the power that had granted it. The thought here may be the 
 same. 
 
 275. Magnificoes of greatest port. Grandees of highest .rank. 
 
 276. Persuaded with. Used persuasion with. It is the only 
 instance in which S. joins with to this verb. 
 
 277. Envious. Malicious. So envy = malice, in iv. I. 10, 121 
 below ; as often. 
 
 280. To Tubal and to Chus. Karl Elze says that the names are 
 " taken from Genesis, x. 2, 6, without change "; but there the latter 
 name is Cush. Perhaps Chus in the old eds. was a misprint for 
 Cush. According to the dictionaries, ch is pronounced like k in all 
 Hebrew proper names, with the single exception of Rachel ; but 
 Chus, if it be a true Hebrew name, should probably be regarded as 
 another exception. 
 
 284. Deny. Forbid. Elsewhere it means refuse; as in ii. 2. 
 1 80, etc. 
 
 288. Best-conditioned and unwearied. That is, most unwearied. 
 See on ii. I. 46 above. For conditioned, see on i. 2. 129 above. 
 
 296. Description. A quadrisyllable. See on 199 above. 
 
 297. Hair. A dissyllable. See on ii. 9. 62 above. 
 
 307. Cheer. In its original meaning of countenance. Ct.M.N.D. 
 ii. 2. 96 : " pale of cheer," etc. It is the French chere, which even 
 
Scene III] Notes 189 
 
 up to the sixteenth century was used in the sense of head, face. In 
 some of the provincial dialects of France the word still retains its old 
 meaning. 
 
 308. Dear bought. "Dearly bought" (iv. 1.95); the adjective 
 used adverbially, as often. 
 
 One would suppose that the playfulness of this line, with its 
 pretty pun on dear, was self-evident, but some critics take it in all 
 seriousness. One, for instance, says : " Portia could not possibly 
 intend by these words ungenerously to remind Bassanio of the 
 benefits she had conferred upon him. They must, I think, relate 
 to that anxiety and distress of mind which she had undergone 
 during the time that his fate was in suspense ; possibly, too, to the 
 grief she was now about to suffer in his absence." In other words, 
 Portia does not refer to her marriage with Bassanio as a mercantile 
 transaction, but she does remind him that she has had to pay a 
 rather heavy price for him in mental anxiety on his behalf. 
 
 312. Is forfeit. Is forfeited. So below, iv. I. 358: "thy wealth 
 being forfeit." This contraction is not uncommon in the past par- 
 ticiple of verbs ending in -#/or -/. See on v. I. 1 1 below. 
 
 314. Yoit and /. Cf. " who you shall rightly love," i. 2. 32, and 
 " not I " for " not me," in 21 above. See also Oth. iv. 2. 3 : "you 
 have seen Cassio and she together." This disregard of the inflec- 
 tions of pronouns was common in writers of the time. 
 
 SCENE III. 9. Naughty. This word was formerly used in a 
 much stronger sense than at present. In Much Ado, v. i. 306 the 
 villain Borachio is called a " naughty man"; and Gloster, in Lear, 
 iii. 7. 37, when the cruel Regan plucks his beard, addresses her as 
 " Naughty lady ! " Cf. Proverbs, vi. 12, etc. See also v. i. 91 below. 
 
 Fond. Foolish; as in ii. 9. 26 above. This was the original 
 sense of the word, and is often found in S. 
 
 10. To come. That is, as to come. Cf. Rich. III. iii. 2. 26: 
 
 " I wonder he is so fond 
 To trust the mockery of unquiet slumbers." 
 
190 Notes [Act m 
 
 14. Dull-eyed. Wanting in perception, stupid; not with eyes 
 dimmed with tears, as some make it. 
 
 19. Kept. Kept company, dwelt. Cf. L. L. L. iv. I. 100, etc. 
 23. Made moan. See on i. I. 126 above. 
 
 25. Grant this forfeiture to hold. Allow it to hold good. 
 
 26. Deny the course of law. Interfere with it, refuse to let it 
 take its course. See on iii. 2. 284 above. 
 
 27. For the commodity, etc. For if the advantages heretofore 
 enjoyed by strangers in Venice be refused them, it will seriously 
 impeach the justice of the state. See on i. I. 178 above. 
 
 32. Bated. Reduced, lowered. Cf. "bated breath," i. 3. 120 
 above. It should not be printed ''bated, since it is not a mere 
 metrical contraction of abated, but a distinct word (cf. wake and 
 awake, etc.) often found in prose writers. 
 
 35. Pray God. The subject is omitted, as even now in "Would 
 to God," etc, 
 
 SCENE IV. 2. Conceit. Conception, notion. 
 
 6. Send relief. For the omission of the preposition, see on i. I. 
 125 above. 
 
 7. Lover. Friend. So just below, "bosom lover." Cf. J. C. iii. 
 2. 13: "Romans, countrymen, and lovers." See also Psabns, 
 xxxviii. II. The word, moreover, was formerly applied to both 
 sexes, as paramour and villain were. Even now we say of a man 
 and woman that they are lovers, or a pair of lovers. 
 
 9. J^han customary bounty, etc. Than ordinary benevolence 
 can constrain you to be. 
 
 11. Nor shall not. See on i. 2. 26 above. Companion was some- 
 times used contemptuously, as fellow still is. See /. C. iv. 3. 138: 
 "Companion, hence ! " etc. 
 
 12. Waste. Spend. Cf. Milton {Sonnet to Mr. Lawrence) : 
 "Help waste a sullen day"; where, however, the idea of "killing 
 time " is more evident than here. 
 
 14. Be needs. Just below we have the more familiar needs be* 
 For needs, see on ii. 4. 29 above. 
 
Scene IV] Notes 191 
 
 25. Husbandry. Stewardship. Cf. T. of A. ii. 2. 164: "If you 
 suspect my husbandry," etc. 
 
 Manage. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 70 : " The manage of my state." The 
 word is especially used of horses; as in I Hen. IV. ii. 3. 52: 
 "Speak terms of manage to thy bounding steed," etc. 
 
 28. Contemplation. Metrically five syllables. 
 
 30. Her husband, etc. An ellipsis like those in ii. i. 46 and iii. 
 2. 288 above. Cf. Hen. VIII. ii. 3. 16 : "As soul and body's sever- 
 ing," etc. 
 
 33. Deny this imposition. Refuse this charge laid upon you. 
 See on i. 2. 105 above. - 
 
 45. Balthasar. This name (sometimes Balthazar} is found also 
 in C. of ., R. and f., and Much Ado, and is always accented on 
 the first syllable. 
 
 46. As I have ever found the e, etc. Thou and thee are generally 
 used in addressing servants, and in affectionate familiarity with 
 relatives and friends. Portia generally addresses Nerissa, who is a 
 waiting-gentlewoman, not an ordinary servant, with you, but some- 
 times, as in i. 2 and here (62, 79), with thou. When you is used 
 with a servant it generally implies anger or reproof. 
 
 50. Cousin's hand. The word cousin in that day was often used 
 instead of our kinsman and kinswoman. 
 
 52. With imagined speed. With the speed of thought. Cf. 
 Hen, V. iii. chor. I : " Thus with imagin'd wing our swift scene 
 flies." 
 
 53. Tranect. The word occurs nowhere else. It may be a mis- 
 print for "traject," the English equivalent of the French trajet, 
 Italian traghetto. Coryat {Crudities, 1611) says: "There are in 
 Venice thirteen ferries or passages, which they commonly call 
 Traghetti, where passengers may be transported in a gondola to 
 what place of the city they will." 
 
 56. Convenient. Proper, suitable. See on ii. 8. 45 above. 
 
 59. Of us. That is, of our seeing them. 
 
 61. Accomplished. Furnished. Cf. Rich. //. ii. I. 177: "Ac- 
 
192 Notes [Act in 
 
 complish'd with the number of thy hours"; that is, when he was 
 of thy age. See also Hen. V. iv. chor. 12: "The armourers 
 accomplishing (that is, equipping) the knights." 
 
 65. Braver. Finer, more showy. Both brave and bravery are 
 often used in this sense with reference to dress, personal appear- 
 ance, etc. See Temp. i. 2. 6, 411, ii. 2. 122, iii. 2. 12, etc. Cf. 
 Isaiah, iii. 1 8. The Scottish braw is the same word. 
 
 67. Mincing. This word was not always contemptuous. In 
 the one instance in which Milton uses it (Comus, 964: "the minc- 
 ing Dryades") it appears to mean tripping lightly or gracefully. 
 Cf. also Drayton, Polyolb. Song 27 : " Ye maids, the hornpipe then 
 so mincingly that tread." 
 
 69. Quaint. Ingenious, elaborate. See on ii. 4. 6 above. 
 
 72. / could not do withal. I could not help it. In Palgrave's 
 Lesclaircissement de la Lang. Fr. t 1530, we find it thus explained: 
 " / can nat do withall, a thyng lyeth nat in me, or I am nat in 
 faulte that a thyng is done." 
 
 75. That men. This omission of so before that is very common. 
 See /. C. i. I. 50: "That Tiber trembled "; Macb. ii. 2. 7: "That 
 death and nature do contend," etc. 
 
 77. Raw. Crude, or, in Yankee parlance, "green." Cf. A. Y.L. 
 iii. 2. 76: "Thou art raw," etc. 
 
 Jacks. A common term of contempt. See Much Ado, v I. 91, 
 Rich. Iff. i. 3. 72, etc. 
 
 79. All my 'whole. Cf. I Hen. VI.\. I. 126: "All the whole 
 army"; Hen. VIII. i. I. 12: "All the whole time," etc. 
 
 SCENE V. 3. I fear you. That is, fear^br you; as in iii. 2. 29 
 above and in 29 below. Cf. Rich. III. i. i. 137: " his physicians 
 fear him mightily." 
 
 4. Agitation. The clown's blunder for cogitation. 
 
 14. When I shun Scylla, etc. In the Alexandreis of Philip 
 Gaultier, written in the early part of the thirteenth century, we find 
 the line," Incidis in Scyllam, cupiens vitare Charybdim," which had 
 
Scene V] Notes 193 
 
 been often quoted and translated by English writers before the 
 time of S. 
 
 20. Enow. A form of enough, generally plural. Cf. 'iv. I. 29 
 below. 
 
 43. Cover. Launcelot quibbles on the two meanings of the 
 word, to lay the table and to wear one's hat (see above, ii. 9. 43 : 
 "How many then should cover," etc.). 
 
 47. Quarrelling with occasion. Quibbling on every oppor- 
 tunity. 
 
 57. Discretion. Discrimination. Suited = suited to each other, 
 arranged. 
 
 60. A many. This expression is obsolete, though we still say a 
 few, and many a in a distributive sense. It is occasionally used in 
 poetry, as by Gerald Massey {Lovers Fairy Ring} : 
 
 " We've known a many sorrows, Sweet : 
 We've wept a many tears." 
 
 See also Tennyson {Miller's Daughter) : " They have not shed a 
 many tears." 
 
 61. Garnished. Furnished, equipped. 
 
 For a tricksy word, etc. For a quibbling word (or a play upon 
 words), set the meaning at defiance. 
 
 62. How cheer' st thou ? Equivalent to " What cheer ? How is 't 
 with you?" in W. T. i. 2. 148. 
 
 63. Good sweet. No term of compliment or endearment did 
 more service in that day than sweet. This combination of good 
 sweet occurs in Cor. i. 3. 119, M. W. iv. 2. 189, etc. Opinion is 
 here a quadrisyllable, as in i. I. 102. 
 
 69. Mean it. That is, intend to live an upright life. 
 
 74. Pawrtd. Staked, wagered. Cf. Cor. ii:. 1.15, Cymb. i. 4. 
 1 1 8, etc. 
 
 81. Howsoever. The folio has "how som ere" a common 
 vulgarism in that day. 
 
 MER. OF VEN. 13 
 
194 Notes [Act iv 
 
 ACT IV 
 
 SCENE I. 5. Uncapable. S. uses both in^^pable (six times) 
 and uncapable (twice). So we find uncertain and incertain, un- 
 constant and inconstant, unfortunate and infortunate, ungrateful 
 and ingrateful, etc. 
 
 6. From. S. generally has empty of. This is the only instance 
 of empty from. 
 
 7. Qualify. Moderate, temper; as often. 
 
 8. Obdurate. The accent is on the penult, as always in S. 
 
 9. And that. Here that is omitted after since, and is then in- 
 serted in the second clause without since. This is a common con- 
 struction in the Elizabethan writers. In most cases the subjects of 
 the clauses are different. Cf. T. and C. ii. 2. 177 : 
 
 " //"this law 
 
 Of nature be corrupted through affection, 
 And that great minds," etc. 
 
 On the use of that with if, since, when, etc., see on ii. 6. 54 above. 
 
 10. Envy's. See on iii. 2. 277 above. Cf. Mark, xv. 10. 
 
 18. Lead' } st this fashion, etc. You keep up this show of malice 
 only until the final hour of execution. 
 
 20. Remorse. Relenting, pity. This is its usual meaning in S. 
 Cf. K. John, ii. I. 478: "Soft petitions, pity, and remorse," etc. 
 So remorseful = compassionate, and remorseless = pitiless (as at 
 present). 
 
 22. Where. Whereas. Cf. T. G. of V. iii. i. 74: "Where I 
 thought the remnant of mine age," etc.; L. L. L. ii. I. 103: 
 "Where now his knowledge must prove ignorance"; Cor.\. 10. 13: 
 " Where I thought to crush him," etc. On the other hand, whereas 
 sometimes = where, as in 2 Hen. VI. i. 2. 58 : " Whereas the king 
 and queen do mean to hawk." 
 
 24. Loose. Release, reftti* 
 
Scene I] Notes 195 
 
 26. Moiety. Portion, share (not an exact half) ; as often in S. 
 Cf. Ham. i. I. 90: "a moiety competent" (a proper share), etc. 
 
 29. Royal merchant. This epithet was striking and well under- 
 stood in S.'s time, when Sir Thomas Gresham was honoured with 
 the title of the royal merchant, both from his wealth, and because 
 he transacted the mercantile business of Queen Elizabeth; and at 
 Venice the Giustiniani, the Grimaldi, and others were literally 
 " merchant princes," and known as such throughout Europe. For 
 enow, see on iii. 5. 20 above. 
 
 34. Gentle. No pun on Gentile is intended, as some have sup- 
 posed. It could only have angered the Jew. 
 
 35. Possessed. See on i. 3. 64 above. 
 
 36. Sabbath. One early ed. has " Sabaoth." Bacon and Spenser 
 confound the signification of the two words, and Dr. Johnson, ii> 
 the first edition of his Dictionary, treated them as identical. 
 
 39. Your charter. See on iii. 2. 273 above. 
 
 41. Carrion. A favourite term of contempt with S. 
 
 43. But, say, it is. But suppose it is. The commas are required 
 to make the sense clear. 
 
 47. Some men there are love not. The relative is omitted, as 
 often. A gaping pig is either a pig brought to table with a lemon 
 or apple in its mouth, or the living, squealing animal. 
 
 49. Masters of passion. Agencies (such as he has been speak- 
 ing of) that move either the sympathy or antipathy of any man. 
 Passion is used in the original sense of feeling or emotion. Cf. 
 /. C. i. 2. 48 : "I have much mistook your passion," etc. 
 
 52. Abide. Bear, endure. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 360: "which good 
 natures Could not abide to be with," etc. 
 
 55. Lodg'd. Settled, abiding. 
 
 59. Current. Persistent course. 
 
 65. Think you question. Consider that you are arguing with. 
 
 67. Main flood. The " ocean tide." Cf. "the flood,"!. I. 10. 
 *The main" generally means the sea (as in Rich. III. i. 4. 20: 
 "tumbling billows of the main"), but sometimes the main land. 
 
196 
 
 Notes [Act iv 
 
 L Ham. iv. 4. 15: "the main of Poland," and Lear, iii. I. 6: 
 " swell the curled waters 'bove the main." 
 
 77. With all brief and plain conveniency. With all proper 
 brevity and directness. 
 
 78. Have judgment. Receive sentence. Cf. Luke, xix. 22. 
 87. Parts. Capacities, employments. 
 
 99. Upon my power. By virtue of my prerogative. 
 
 101. Determine. Decide. The word sometimes means to put 
 an end to, as in 2 Hen. IV. iv. 5. 82 : " Till his friend sickness hath 
 determin'd me "; sometimes, to come to an end, as in Cor. v. 3. 1201 
 " till these wars determine." 
 
 1 1 8. Not on thy sole, but on thy soul. Cf. the quibble in J. . i. 
 I. 15: "a mender of bad soles." For the sentiment, cf. 2. Hen. 
 IV. iv. 5. 107 : 
 
 " Thou hid'st a thousand daggers in thy thoughts, 
 Which thou hast whetted on thy stony heart." 
 
 1 20. The hangman 1 s axe. So in Fletcher's Prophetess, iii. 2, 
 Dioclesian, who had stabbed Aper, is called "the hangman of Volu- 
 sius Aper"; and in Jacke Drums Entertainment (1616), when 
 Brabant Junior says, "let mine owne hand Be mine owne hang- 
 man," he refers to stabbing himself. In the Duke of Buckingham's 
 Rehearsal, Bayes speaks of " a great huge hangman, . . . with his 
 sword drawn." In Much Ado (iii. 2. n) Cupid is called "the 
 little hangman." 
 
 121. Envy. Malice. See on iii. 2. 277 above. 
 124. For thy life. For allowing thee to live. 
 
 126. Pythagoras. The philosopher of Samos, to whom was 
 attributed the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. Cf. T. N. 
 iv. 2. 54 : " Clown. What is the opinion of Pythagoras concerning 
 wild-fowl? Malvolio. That the soul of our grandam might haply 
 inhabit a bird." 
 
 129. Hanged for human slaughter. According to Jewish law 
 (Exodus, xxi. 28), ar. ox that gored a man to death was stoned. 
 
Scene I] Notes 197 
 
 In the Middle Ages animals that had injured or killed human beings 
 were often tried and executed. Many instances of such judicial pro- 
 ceedings in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries are mentioned by 
 Baring-Gould in his Curiosities of Olden Times (1896). In 1386 a 
 judge at Falaise condemned a sow to be hanged for having lacerated 
 and killed a child. In 1389 a horse was tried and condemned to die 
 for killing a man. In 1499 a bull was similarly sentenced at Cou- 
 roy, near Beauvais, for causing the death of a boy. The trials, 
 which were conducted with all the formalities, were sometimes 
 before the ordinary courts, sometimes before th^ ecclesiastical ones. 
 In some cases, appeals to a higher court were made, and decided 
 in due form. During the witch persecutions in Salem, Mass., dogs 
 were hanged for supposed complicity with persons accused. 
 
 133. Starved. The word originally meant to die, but in the latter 
 part of the sixteenth century came to be used in the narrower sense 
 of perishing with cold a meaning which it still has in the North 
 of England (see 2 Hen. VI. iii. I. 343, etc.) or with hunger. 
 
 143. Go give. Cf. "come view," ii. 7. 43; "go sleep," Rick. II. 
 iv. I. 139; "go seek the king," Ham. ii. I. 101, etc. 
 
 154. To fill up. To fulfil. 
 
 156. No impediment to let him lack. No hindrance to his 
 receiving. Of this peculiar form of " double negative " (which it 
 virtually is) there are several instances in S. 
 
 164. The difference^ etc. The dispute which is the subject of 
 the present trial. 
 
 1 66. Throughly. See on ii. 7. 42 above. 
 
 171. Such rule. Such due form. 
 
 173. Within his danger. Cf. V. and A. 639 : " Come not within 
 his danger," etc. 
 
 177. The quality of mercy, etc. The very nature of mercy 
 excludes the idea of compulsion. 
 
 1 78. It droppeth, etc. Cf. Ecclesiasticus, xxxv. 20 : " Mercy is 
 seasonable in the time of affliction, as clouds of rain in the time of 
 drought." 
 
198 Notes [Act iv 
 
 183. Shows. Represents. Cf. Rick. II. iii. 4. 42: " Showing, as 
 in a model, our firm estate." 
 
 189. Show. Show itself, appear. Cf. ii. 2. 186 above. 
 
 190. Seasons. Tempers. Cf. Edward III. (1596): 
 
 " And kings approach the nearest unto God 
 By giving life and safety unto men." 
 
 193. We do pray for mercy, etc. S. probably had the Lord's 
 Prayer immediately in his mind, but the sentiment is also found in 
 Ecclesiasticus, xxviii. 
 
 197. Follow. Insist upon. 
 
 20 1. Discharge. Pay. See on iii. 2. 268 above. 
 
 203. Twice. Some critics would change this to thrice, because 
 we have " thrice the sum " just below, but there is no necessity for 
 bringing the two passages into mathematical agreement. S. is often 
 careless in these little arithmetical matters. 
 
 207. Truth. Honesty. So " a true man " was an honest man, 
 as opposed to a thief. See M. for M. iv. 2. 46 : " Every true man's 
 apparel fits your thief"; I Hen. IV. ii. 2. 98: "the thieves have 
 bound the true men," etc. 
 
 216. A Daniel come to judgment. The allusion is to the History 
 of Susanna, 45 : " The Lord raised up the holy spirit of a young 
 youth, whose name was Daniel," etc. See also Ezekiel, xxviii. 3, 
 and Daniel, vi. 3. 
 
 241. Hath full relation, etc. Clearly recognizes that this pen- 
 alty (like any other) should be paid. 
 
 244. More *elder. Double comparatives and superlatives are 
 common in the Elizabethan writers. In S. we find " more larger " 
 (A. and C. iii. 6. 76), "more better" (Temp. i. 2. 19), "most 
 boldest" (/. C. iii. I. 121), " most unkindest " (Id. iii. 2. 187), etc. 
 In Rick. II. ii. I. 49 we find "less happier," the only instance with 
 less found in S. 
 
 248. Balance. A contracted plural, as the verb and them in 
 Shylock's answer prove. Such plurals often occur (as also do pos- 
 
Scene I] Notes 199 
 
 sessive cases) with nouns ending in a sibilant sound; as horse, sense, 
 place, service, etc. 
 
 250. On your charge. At your expense. 
 
 261. Still her use. Ever her custom. See on i. I. 17 above. 
 On use, cf. J. C. ii. 2. 25 : " these things are beyond all use." 
 
 265. Such misery. Misery may have the accent on the penult 
 both here and in 1C. John, iii. 4 : " And buss thee as thy wife. 
 Misery's love," etc. 
 
 268. Speak me fair in death. Speak well of me when I am 
 dead. "Romeo that spoke him fair" (R. and J. iii. I. 158) 
 means " Romeo that spoke to him in conciliatory terms; " and this 
 is the usual meaning of the phrase. 
 
 270. A love. Cf. lover in iii. 4. 17 above. 
 
 274. With all my heart. Cf. Rich. II. ii. I. 74 fol., where the 
 dying Gaunt jests on his name; and where, in reply to Richard's 
 question, " Can sick men play so nicely with their names? " he says : 
 " No, misery makes sport to mock itself. " The pun is the only one 
 that Antonio utters. He treats the matter lightly in the hope of 
 making his friend feel it less. 
 
 276. Which is as dear. See on ii. 7. 4 above. 
 
 288. These be. See on i. 3. 22 above. 
 
 289. Barrabas. So spelled and accented (on first syllable) in 
 the time of S. In Marlowe's Jew of Malta the name is Barabas, 
 not Barabbas. 
 
 291. Pursue. Accented on the first syllable. Cf. pursuit in 
 Sonn. 143. 4. 
 
 304. Confiscate. Confiscated. This Latinism is most frequent 
 in verbs derived from the first conjugation (as dedicate, consecrate, 
 degenerate, suffocate, etc.), but it is found in other Latin derivatives. 
 
 321. The substance. The amount. 
 
 327. I have thee on the hip. See on i. 3. 46 above. 
 
 340. The law hath yet another hold on you. S. is not willing to 
 let the case depend on the legal quibbles which he takes from the 
 old stories (their omission would have been resented by the theatre- 
 
200 Notes [Act iv 
 
 goers of that day), but adds the sound law of this speech, which is 
 entirely his own. 
 
 342. Alien. A trisyllable. See on i. I. 8 above. 
 
 345. Contrive. Plot. Cf./. C. ii. 3. 16 : " the fates with traitors 
 do contrive," etc. 
 
 365. Which humbleness, etc. Which humble entreaty on thy 
 part may induce me to commute for a fine. 
 
 366. Ay, for the state, etc. That is, the half which goes to the 
 state may be thus commuted, but not Antonio's. 
 
 376. In use. In trust for Shylock, for the purpose of securing it 
 at his death to Lorenzo. Use does not mean interest, which Anto- 
 nio has said (i. 3. 61 above) that he neither gives nor takes. 
 
 382. Of all he dies possessed. See on i. I. 125 above. 
 
 392. Ten more. To make up a jury of twelve. This appears to 
 have been an old joke. Of course it is out of place here, as trial by 
 jury was unknown in Venice. 
 
 395. Desire your grace of pardon. Cf. M. N. D. iii. I. 185: 
 " desire you of more acquaintance; " and Oth. iii. 3. 212 : " beseech 
 you of your pardon." 
 
 399. Gratify. Recompense. Cf. Cor. ii. 2. 44: "To gratify 
 his noble service," etc. 
 
 405. Cope. Reward, requite. 
 
 414. Offeree. Of necessity. Perforce is still used in this sense. 
 
 Attempt. Tempt. Cf. M. for M. iv. 2. 205 : " neither my coat, 
 integrity, nor persuasion can with ease attempt you." 
 
 444. Commandement. The spelling in all the early eds. The 
 word is also a quadrisyllable in i Hen. VI. i. 3. 20 : " From him I 
 have express commandement." 
 
 SCENE II. 6. Upon more advice. Upon further consideration. 
 Cf. M. for M. v. I. 469: "after more advice"; and Rich. If. i. 3. 
 233: "upon good advice" (after due deliberation), etc. 
 
 15. Old swearing. Old in this intensive or augmentative sense 
 is common in writers of the time. For other examples in S. ; see 
 
Scene II] Notes 2OI 
 
 Macb. ii. 3. 2, M. W. i. 4. 5, Much Ado, v. 2. 98, and 2 Hen. IV. ii. 
 4. 21. Cf. the slang phrase of our day, " a high old time," and other 
 familiar uses of old (" old fellow," "old boy," etc.). 
 
 ACT V 
 
 SCENE I. 4. Troilus. S. in the play of Troilus and Cressida 
 makes " Cressid " the daughter of the soothsayer Calchas, but her 
 name is not found in classic fable. The allusion here is borrowed 
 from Chaucer's Troilus and Cresseide, in which the prince is 
 described as watching " upon the walles " for Cressida's coming. 
 
 7. Thisbe. The story of the Babylonian lovers, Pyramus and 
 Thisbe, is told by Ovid. Golding's translation was published in 
 1564, but S. may have read the original. He probably drew more 
 directly from Chaucer's Legende of Goode Women, in which Thisbe, 
 Dido, and Medea are introduced one after another. He had already 
 used the story in the M. N. D. 
 
 10. Dido. The picture of Dido is not in accordance with Virgil's 
 narrative. It may have been suggested by that of Ariadne in the 
 Legende of Goode Women (2187 fol.) : 
 
 41 to the stronde barefote fast she went. 
 
 ****** 
 Hire kerchefe on a pole styked shee, 
 Ascaunce that he shulde hyt wel ysee, 
 And hym remembre that she was behynde, 
 And turn agayne, and on the stronde hire fynde." 
 
 The earliest reference to the willow as a symbol of forsaken love 
 is found in a manuscript collection of poems by John Heywood, 
 about 1530. Cf. Much Ado, ii. I. 194, 225, Oth. iv. 3. 28 fol., 
 3 Hen. VI. iii. 3. 228, etc. 
 
 I':. Waft. For wafted, as in K. John, ii. I. 73 : "Than now the 
 English bottoms have waft o'er." Cf. lift for lifted in I Hen. VI. 
 \. i. 1 6, Genesis, vii. 17, Psalms, xciii. 3, etc* 
 
2O2 Notes [Act v 
 
 13. Medea. The allusion is to the fable of her restoring ALson, 
 the father of Jason, to youthful vigour by her enchantments. Ovid 
 tells us that she drew blood from his veins, and supplied its place 
 with the juice of certain herbs. 
 
 16. Unthrift. We have the adjective again in T. of A. iv. 3. 311, 
 and the noun in Rich. II. ii. 3. 122, Sonn. 9. 9 and 13. 13. 
 
 28. Stephano. In the Temp, (written ten or more years later) 
 this name has the accent on the first syllable, where it belongs. 
 
 31. Holy crosses. These are very common in Italy. There is a 
 shrine of the Madonna del Mare in the midst of the sea between 
 Mestre and Venice, and another between Venice and Palestrina, 
 where the gondolier and mariner cross themselves in passing. 
 
 36. Go we in. See on ii. 8. 53 above. In "let us prepare," in 
 the next line, we have the ordinary form of the 1st pers. imperative. 
 
 39. Sola, etc. An imitation of the post-horn. 
 
 41. Master Lorenzo, etc. The early eds. have " M. Lorenzo, 
 M. Lorenzo," " M. Lorenzo & M. Lorenzo," and " M. Lorenzo and 
 Mrs. Lorenza." 
 
 53. Music. This word sometimes meant musical instruments, or 
 a band of music. See Hen. VIII. iv. 2. 94 : " Bid the music leave ; 
 They are harsh," etc. Cf. 98 below : " It is your music, madam, of 
 the house." 
 
 56. Creep in. In was often used for into. 
 
 59. Patines. The patine was the plate used for. the sacramental 
 bread, and was sometimes made of goldo Some editors prefer 
 " patterns," L he reading of the 2d folio. 
 
 61. His mrtion* His for its, as in 82 below. See on iii. 2. 82 
 above. For ether allusions to the " music of the spheres " in S., 
 see A. and C. v. 2. 84, T. N. iii. I. 121, A. Y. L. ii. 7. 6, etc. 
 
 62. Cherubins. The singular cherubin is found in Temp. i. 2. 
 152, Macb. i. 7. 22, Oth. iv. 2. 62, and L. C. 319; cherub only in 
 Ham. iv. 3. 50. Cherubin occurs m Spenser and other poets of the 
 time, and is used even by Dryden. 
 
 63. Such harmony, etc. Besides the music of the spheres, which 
 
Scene I] Notes 203 
 
 no mortal ear ever caught a note of, there was by some philosophers 
 supposed to be a harmony in the human soul. " Touching musical 
 harmony," says Hooker, " whether by instrument or by voice, it 
 being but of high and low sounds in a due proportionable disposition, 
 such, notwithstanding, is the force thereof, and so pleasing effects 
 it hath in that very part of man which is most divine, that some 
 have been thereby induced to think that the soul itself, by nature 
 is, or hath in it, harmony." But, though this harmony is within us, 
 " this muddy vesture of decay," as the poet tells us, " doth grossly 
 close it in " so that we cannot hear it. 
 
 72. Unhandled colts. Cf. Ariel's simile of the " unback'd colts," 
 Temp. iv. I. 176. 
 
 77. Mutual. Common. Cf. M. N. D. iv. I. 122 : " mutual cry," 
 etc. The confounding of imitual and common (as in "mutual 
 friend," etc.) is a familiar blunder nowadays. 
 
 79. The poet. Probably Ovid, who tells the story in his 
 Metamorphoses. 
 
 80. Orpheus. Cf. T. G. of V. iii. 2. 78 : 
 
 " For Orpheus' lute was strung with poet's sinews, 
 Whose golden touch could soften steel and stones," etc. ; 
 
 and^. VIII. iii. 1.3: 
 
 " Orpheus with his lute made trees, 
 And the mountain tops that freeze, 
 Bow themselves when he did sing." 
 
 87. Erebus. Cf. /. C. ii. I. 84: "Not Erebus itself were dim 
 enough," etc. The word, though sometimes used figuratively for 
 the lower world in general, denotes strictly " a place of nether dark- 
 ness between the Earth and Hades." 
 
 99. Without respect. Absolutely, without regard to circum- 
 stances. 
 
 103. Attended. Attended to, listened to attentively. Cf. Sonn. 
 102. 7 : 
 
204 Notes [Act v 
 
 " As Philomel in summer's front doth sing, 
 And stops her pipe in growth of riper days; 
 Not that the summer is less pleasant now 
 Than when her mournful hymns did hush the night, 
 But that wild music burthens every bough, 
 And sweets grown common lose their dear delight." 
 
 All the birds mentioned here the crow, lark, cuckoo, etc. are 
 found in Italy. 
 
 107. By season^ etc. " By fitness of occasion are adapted or 
 qualified to obtain their just appreciation, and to show their true 
 excellence." 
 
 109. Peace, ho ! In J. C. i. 2. I we find " Peace, ho ! " used, as 
 here, to silence the music. 
 
 Endymion. A beautiful shepherd beloved by Diana. Fletcher, 
 in the Faithful Shepherdess, tells 
 
 " How the pale Phoebe, hunting in a grove, 
 First saw the boy Endymion, from whose eyes 
 She took eternal fire that never dies ; 
 How she convey 'd him softly in a sleep, 
 His temples bound with poppy, to the steep 
 Head of old Latmos, where she stoops each night, 
 Gilding the mountain with her brother's light, 
 To kiss her sweetest." 
 
 The fable appears in many forms in the classic writers, and has 
 been a favourite one with poets ever since. 
 
 115. Which speed. See on ii. 7. 4 above. 
 
 121. A tucket sounds. This stage direction is found in the 1st 
 folio. A tucket (probably from the Italian toccata) is a flourish on 
 a trumpet. Cf. Hen. V. iv. 2. 35 : " Then let the trumpet sound 
 The tucket-sonance." 
 
 127. We should hold day, etc. We should have day when the 
 Antipodes do, if you, Portia, would walk abroad at night. 
 
Scene I] Notes 205 
 
 129. Let me give light, etc. See on iii. 2. 91 above. Puns on 
 \ight and dark and light and heavy are frequent in S. 
 
 132. God sort all! God dispose all things! Cf. Rich. III. ii. 
 
 t. ?6 : 
 
 41 All may be well ; but if God sort it so, 
 
 'T is more than we deserve or I expect." 
 
 136. In all sense. In all reason. 
 
 141. Breathing courtesy. Cf. Macb.v. 3. 27: "Mouth-honour, 
 breath." 
 
 146. Poesy. The poesy or posy (for the two words are the same) 
 of a ring was a motto or rhyme inscribed upon its inner side. 
 The fashion of putting such " posies " on rings prevailed from the 
 middle of the sixteenth to the close of the seventeenth centuries. 
 In 1624 a little book was published with the quaint title, Love's 
 Garland, or Posies for Rings, Handkerchiefs, and Gloves ; and such 
 pretty tokens, that lovers send their loves. Cf. Ham. iii. 2. 1 62 : 
 " Is this a prologue, or the poesy of a ring?" These are the only 
 instances in which S. uses the word in this sense. 
 
 148. Leave me not. Do not part with me. Leave is used in the 
 same sense by Portia in 1 70 below. 
 
 154. Respective. Considerate, regardful. Cf. R. and J. iii. 1. 1282 
 "respective lenity." See also K.John, \. I. 188. 
 
 156. On 's. See on ii. 6. 67 above. 
 
 1 60. Scrubbed. Stunted, dwarfish; generally used contempt- 
 uously. 
 
 175. I were best. See on ii. 8. 33 above. 
 
 191. The ring. For the repetition in this and the following 
 speech, Herford compares K. John, iii. I. 12-15 anc ^ Rich. III. i. 3. 
 292-294. See also Edward III. ii. I. 155-163, where nine lines 
 end with " the sun." 
 
 197. The virtue of the ring. The power it has; the right to me 
 and mine of which it is the pledge. See iii. 2. 171, where Portia 
 gives the ring. 
 
 199. Contain. Retain; as in Sonn. 77.9: "what thy memory 
 
206 Notes [Act v 
 
 cannot contain," etc. Your honour refers to his pledge in iii. 2. 
 
 IBS- 
 
 202. Had pleased to have defended. For " had pleased to de- 
 fend." The inaccuracy is sometimes found in good writers of our 
 day, and has sometimes been defended by grammarians. 
 
 203. Wanted. As to have wanted. 
 
 204. Urge. Urge you to give it to him; insist upon it. Cere* 
 mony a sacred thing. 
 
 208. Civil doctor. Doctor of civil law. 
 
 218. For, by these, etc. Cf. R. and J. iii. 5. 9: "Night's candles 
 are burnt out"; Macb. ii. I. 5: "There's husbandry in heaven; 
 Their candles are all out," etc. 
 
 237. Wealth. Weal, prosperity; as in Ham. iv. 4. 27: "much 
 wealth and peace." 
 
 238. Which. That is, which loan. 
 
 239. Miscarried. Perished; as in ii. 8. 29 and iii. 2. 311 
 above. 
 
 241. Advisedly. Deliberately. Cf. advised m \. I. 142 and ii. I. 
 42 above. 
 
 257. Richly. Richly laden. Cf. "richly left," i. I. 161 above. 
 
 260. Living. See on livings, iii. 2. 156 above. 
 
 262. To road. To harbour. Cf. " ports, and piers, and roads,*' 
 i. I. 19 above. 
 
 270. Satisfied of. Satisfied concerning ; that is, you wish to 
 know more about them. At full in full, fully. 
 
 272. And charge us, etc. " In the Court of Queen's Bench, 
 when a complaint is made against a person for 'contempt,' the 
 practice is that before sentence is finally pronounced he is sent 
 into the Crown Office, and being there 'charged upon interroga- 
 tories ' he is made to swear that he will answer all things faith- 
 fully' " (Lord Campbell's Shakespeare's Legal Acquirements). 
 
 Inter' gator ies. This contracted form was common in S.'s time. 
 We find it even in prose in A. W. iv. 3. 207, as printed in the 
 early eds. The full form occurs in K.John, iii. I. 147. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 COMMENTS ON SOME OF THE CHARACTERS 
 
 ANTONIO AND His FRIENDS. Antonio gives the name to the 
 play, though not in a sense its hero, because, through his relations 
 with Bassanio and with Shylock, he is the mainspring of the action. 
 He is one of Shakespeare's most beautiful characters. Professor 
 Moulton {Shakespeare as a Dramatic Artist} calls him " a perfect 
 character," his intolerance, interpreted in the light of his time, 
 being a virtue rather than a fault. But it 1 seems to me that the 
 critic misapprehends the type of Antonio's perfection. He says 
 that " Roman honour " is the idea which the Merchant's friends 
 are accustomed to associate with him; and he adds: "Of all the 
 national types of character the Roman is the most self-sufficient, 
 alike incorruptible by temptation and independent of the softer 
 influences of life." Antonio is incorruptible, the very soul of 
 honour, and it is to this that Bassanio refers in ascribing to him the 
 " ancient Roman honour." He would not have added the Roman 
 sternness and impassivity, the lack of sensibility to the softer in- 
 fluences of life. 
 
 Mistaking Antonio in this way, Professor Moulton naturally does 
 injustice to the group of friends with whom we find him associated 
 in the opening scene. Here, he says, " we see the dignified mer- 
 chant-prince suffering under the infliction of frivolous visitors, to 
 which his friendship with the young nobleman exposes him." The 
 German Gervinus in like manner regards these friends, Bassanio 
 included, as mere parasites; and Heine terms them "only so- 
 called friends, 'or, if you please, only half or three-quarters friends," 
 having " due regard to their own ease," in their apparent devotion 
 to " the excellent merchant who gave them such fine dinners." 
 
 207 
 
I 
 
 208 Appendix 
 
 There may be nothing in the first scene which makes it abso. 
 lately certain that Antonio's friends are not selfish "summer 
 friends " (such as the dramatist introduces in Timon of Athens} ; 
 but elsewhere in the play the question is settled past a doubt. Their 
 love for him endures the crucial test of adversity. When news of the 
 loss of his ships begins to come (ii. 8) Salanio says to Salarino : 
 
 " You were best to tell Antonio what you hear ; 
 Yet do not suddenly, for it may grieve him ; " 
 
 and his friend replies : " A kinder gentleman treads not the earth.'* 
 Then follows that exquisite passage in which the parting of Antonio 
 and Bassanio is described; and Salanio adds: 
 
 " I think he only loves the world for him. 
 I pray thee, let us go and find him out, 
 And quicken his embraced heaviness 
 With some delight or other." 
 
 Later on (Hi. i), when more bad news comes and Antonio is 
 threatened with bankruptcy, the devotion of these friends is none 
 the less to be noted and, as in the former instance, when they 
 are by themselves, and can have no motive for playing a false part. 
 Salanio speaks of the Merchant as " the good Antonio O that I 
 had a title good enough to keep his name company ! " Gratiano 
 also calls him " the good Antonio," and in the trial scene he cannot 
 find language intense enough to express his grief and wrath on 
 account of the Jew's merciless spite against Antonio, and his exult- 
 ant irony when the Daniel come to judgment has decided in favour 
 of the Merchant. Can these be parasitical friends? 
 
 Antonio has been often called a " melancholy " man, but he is 
 not such by nature, though grave and earnest. At the opening of 
 the play the shadow of coming misfortune already hangs over him. 
 He is sad, he knows' not why, but it is the poet's fondness for pre- 
 sentiments that has made him so. It surprises his friends, which, 
 no less than his own comments upon it, indicates that it is not his 
 ordinary mood. We are sure that he must be usually genial, or he 
 
Appendix 209 
 
 could not attract these lively young men, who, as we have seen, are 
 no parasites ; and we infer from their talk that he can even be 
 merry at times, though probably in no boisterous way. 
 
 In but one instance (see note on iv. I. 274) does he indulge in a 
 pun, and it is the most pathetic pun in all Shakespeare. It is in 
 what he supposes is to be his last speech before he dies: 
 
 " Repent not you that you shall lose your friend, 
 And he repents not that he pays your debt ; 
 For if the Jew do cut but deep enough, 
 I '11 pay it instantly with all my heart" 
 
 He puns that never punned before, out of pure love and pity for 
 his friend, whom he would fain keep from grieving at his death. 
 And this is the man who has been called " insensible to the softer 
 influences of life ! " 
 
 In the last scene of the play, where we see Antonio relieved from 
 the anxiety of the past two or three months, he has little to say, but 
 that little is in the same unselfish vein. He is troubled at the 
 apparent misunderstanding about the rings, and says, ' I am the 
 unhappy subject of these quarrels "; and he tries to make peace by 
 offering to become surety for Bassanio's good faith in the future. 
 
 This man, as I have said, is a favourite with Shakespeare, but 
 Shakespeare is never afraid to show the faults and weaknesses of 
 his best characters. He did not regard Antonio's treatment of the 
 Jew as a "virtue," although that was the medieval view of it. 
 Here, as everywhere, he holds the mirror up to nature, letting it 
 reflect the age as it was. If we consider what was then the general 
 feeling towards the Jews, and with what bitter contempt and detes- 
 tation they were regarded, even by the best Christians, how they 
 were abused, robbed, and persecuted, we cannot wonder at the 
 repugnance and scorn which the good Antonio manifests towards 
 Shylock that he calls him "dog," and spits upon him. When 
 the Jew reminds him of these " courtesies " at the time when he is 
 asking the loan, Antonio replies : 
 
 MER. OF YEN. 14 
 
2IO Appendix 
 
 " I am as like to call thee so again, 
 To spet 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 of barren metal of his friend ? 
 But lend it rather to thine enemy, 
 Who if he break, thou mayst with better face 
 Exact the penalty." 
 
 Shakespeare meant that Antonio should remember that speech 
 and that we should remember it when later he is fain to beg 
 mercy of the "dog" he has despised and defied, and gets for 
 answer : 
 
 " Thou call'dst me dog before thou hadst a cause; 
 But, since I am a dog, beware my fangs." 
 
 SHYLOCK. There are those who believe that Shakespeare shared 
 the prejudice of his time against the Jew; but to me nothing can 
 be clearer than that he has indirectly and the more effectively 
 because indirectly exposed and reproved its injustice. Here, as 
 so often in his works, he proves himself far in advance of his age. 
 Shylock is thwarted and punished, as he deserved to be; but he 
 shows his Christian adversaries that they have taught him the lesson 
 of revenge ; that if the Jewish maxim be " an eye for an eye, and a 
 tooth for a tooth," it has been fully indorsed and adopted by the 
 Christian an iron rule in place of his professed golden one. " If 
 you wrong us," he reasons, " shall we not revenge? If we are like 
 you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a 
 Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a 
 Jew, what should his sufferance be, by Christian example? Why, 
 revenge. The villany you teach me, I will execute; and it shall go 
 hard but I will better the instruction." 
 
 There is no possible answer to this, and it is a most significant 
 fact that Shakespeare makes his Christians attempt none. Shylock 
 is left master of the field; and this is the method the poet chooses 
 
Appendix 21 1 
 
 for reading a high moral lesson to the men of his time. Had he 
 ventured to do it more openly and directly, the play would have 
 been hooted from the stage. 
 
 It is safe, I think, to say that a decided majority of the commen- 
 tators and critics are now agreed that Shakespeare's sympathies are 
 with Shylock as the representative of a wronged and persecuted 
 race; and some of those on the other side appear to be there solely 
 because, as they say, Shakespeare was a dramatist and not a moral 
 teacher; or, as one of them expresses it, "he was too thoroughly 
 an artist to write a play with a moral purpose." Another says that, 
 if he had intended to enforce the lesson of toleration and charity 
 with regard to the Jews, he would not have selected " a rich mer- 
 chant plotting the murder of a Christian rival by means of a fraudu- 
 lent contract "; nor would he have made Shylock argue that " Jews 
 had a right to turn devils as freely as Christians had." 
 
 The answer to all this is easy and simple. Shakespeare did not 
 write the play to enforce the moral lesson. His purpose was to 
 dramatize a story, or combination of stories, which he found ready 
 to his hand, or which may have been suggested to him by the 
 manager of a theatre. But in depicting the Jew in the story he 
 saw him and his race as they were, not as they appeared to the 
 Christians of his time. He saw all that was bad in Shylock, but he 
 saw as well that the evil in him was mainly due to the treatment 
 he had received at the hands of the Christians. He was too great 
 a master of his art to preach his moral; and he knew that there 
 was no necessity for doing it. He simply sets the Jew himself 
 before us as he is, nothing extenuating but setting down naught in 
 malice, and the man gains oiir sympathy at once and inevitably. 
 Heine says : " When I saw this play at Drury Lane, there stood 
 (behind me in the box a pale, fair Briton who, at the end of the 
 fourth act, fell to weeping passionately, exclaiming several times, 
 'The poor man is wronged ! ' It was a face of the noblest Grecian 
 type, and the eyes were large and black. I have never been able 
 to forget those large and black eyes that wept for S.hylock." We 
 
212 Appendix 
 
 may not weep with the fair English girl, but we cannot help sharing 
 her pity and sympathy for Shylock; and in this result the genius 
 of the poet, or, as Heine expresses it, " the genius of humanity that 
 reigned in him," is triumphant over vulgar prejudice and fanaticism. 
 It would take too much space to explain in detail how Shake- 
 speare accomplishes this in his delineation of the Jew : by making 
 him one of his most intellectual characters; by giving him a gener- 
 ous enthusiasm for his ancient race, religion, and law; and by little 
 touches showing that he is not destitute of tenderness, or at least 
 of reminiscences of tenderness, as when he mourns the loss of the 
 ring that Leah gave him when he was a bachelor. There was one 
 soft spot in his heart, though the rest might be as hard as Gratiano 
 intimated when he exclaimed, while Shylock was whetting his knife 
 in the trial scene : 
 
 " Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew, 
 Thou mak'st thy knife keen." 
 
 If the reader would understand better that Shylock is what he is 
 because Shakespeare was what we know him to be, a poet not for 
 an age, but for all time, let him read Mario we'sy<?w of Malta, and 
 compare the hero with Shylock. The latter, with all his avarice 
 and cruelty, is a man ; the former is an impossible monster, who . 
 boasts that he "walks abroad o' nights, and kills sick persons 
 groaning under walls " ; poisons wells, and studies physic that he 
 may keep the sextons busy " with digging graves and ringing dead 
 men's knells"; by his extortions fills jails with bankrupts, and hos- 
 pitals with orphans; chuckles when his victims hang themselves in 
 their despair; and finally dies unrepentant and defiant, with curses 
 on his lips against these enemies and infidels. But this is the ideal 
 Jew of Marlowe's and Shakespeare's generation ! 
 
 And Martin Luther was no less prejudiced and intolerant. He 
 wrote thus : " Know, thou dear Christian, that, next to the devil, 
 thou canst have no bitterer, fiercer foe than a genuine Jew, one 
 who is a Jew in earnest. The true counsel I give thee is that fire 
 
Appendix 213 
 
 be put to their synagogues, and that, over what will not burn up, 
 the earth be heaped and piled, so that no stone or trace of them be 
 seen forevermore." * 
 
 PORTIA. About Portia there has been, and can be, but little 
 room for critics to differ and dispute. They are few who do not 
 cordially agree with Mrs. Kemble that she is " the ideal of the per- 
 fect woman " that she realizes Wordsworth's description of such 
 
 " A perfect woman, nobly planned 
 
 To warn, to comfort, and command," 
 and yet 
 
 41 A creature not too bright or good 
 For human nature's daily food ; 
 For transient sorrows, simple wiles, 
 Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles." 
 
 She is, in the words of the same sympathetic critic, " the wise, witty 
 woman, loving with all her soul and submitting with all her heart 
 to a man whom everybody but herself (who was the best judge) 
 would have judged her inferior; the laughter-loving, light-hearted, 
 true-hearted, deep-hearted woman, full of keen perception, of 
 active efficiency, of wisdom prompted by love, of tenderest unselfish- 
 ness, of generous magnanimity; noble, simple, humble, pure; true, 
 dutiful, religious, and full of fun; delightful above all others, the 
 woman of women." 
 
 I quote this because, in brief compass, it brings out all the 
 marked features of the character. What can we add to it ? What 
 can we take away? 2 
 
 As I have hinted, a small minority of the critics have their dis- 
 paraging comments on Portia. Hazlitt says that she is " not a 
 great favourite " with him; she " has a certain degree of affectation 
 and pedantry about her." Mr. C. A. Brown cannot go so far as 
 
 1 From Furness's " New Variorum " edition of the play, p. 453. 
 
 2 If anything, the intimation that Bassanio was not entirely worthy of 
 Portia ; but, as Mrs. Kemble admits, Portia was the best judge of that. 
 
214 Appendix 
 
 Hazlitt does, but thinks she is not quite so amiable as Mrs. Jameson 
 makes her out; he calls her "a feudal lady," who seems to "re- 
 joice in laying down the law, and feels a triumphant delight while 
 she detains the court in suspense." Hudson considers that she is 
 at times " too self-conscious," though he sees " nothing like ostenta- < 
 tion or conceit of intellect " in her. 
 
 These criticisms are all in the same vein, and Hazlitt's, being the 
 most severe, may be taken as including the rest; but Hazlitt, 
 though an acute critic, had his moods and prejudices, and he doubt- 
 less wrote what I have quoted when he was not in the humour for 
 appreciating a character like Portia. Certainly we can find noth- 
 ing of pedantry or affectation in her, even when she is playing the 
 doctor's part at the trial. An inferior woman, " coached " for the 
 occasion by the learned Bellario, would have been likely to overdo 
 the part in the endeavour to carry it out successfully and effectively. 
 She would have behaved more like a young lawyer in all the pride 
 of his first case in court, who felt that the aid and advice of his 
 experienced senior had insured his success. But Portia maintains 
 throughout the quiet dignity of a truly great lawyer, who is tempted 
 to no affectation of learning, no display of legal acumen, but states 
 his case clearly, simply, and briefly. The only eloquent passage in 
 her management of the cause using the word in its ordinary 
 sense is in the famous plea for mercy, which is surely not a dis- 
 play of rhetoric, but a natural outburst from the heart. In short, 
 her bearing from first to last is as modest as it is dignified. 
 
 Elsewhere in the play her modest opinion of herself is repeatedly 
 illustrated. She speaks of the suitors who come to hazard for her 
 "worthless self"; and in that matchless speech after Bassanio has 
 chosen the right casket, she disclaims ambition for herself, but 
 
 adds : 
 
 " Yet for you 
 
 I would be trebled twenty times myself, 
 
 A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times more rich, 
 
 That only to stand high in your account, 
 
 I might in virtues, beauties, livings, friends, 
 
Appendix 215 
 
 Exceed account. But the full sum of me 
 Is sum of nothing, which, to term in gross, 
 Is an unlesson'd girl, unschool'd, unpractis'd: 
 Happy in this, she is not yet so old 
 But she may learn ; happier than this, 
 She is not bred so dull but she can learn; 
 Happiest of all in that her gentle spirit 
 Commits itself to yours to be directed, 
 As from her lord, her governor, her king. 
 Myself and what is mine to you and yours 
 Is now converted. But now I was the lord 
 Of this fair mansion, master of my servants, 
 Queen o'er myself; and even now, but now, 
 This house, these servants, and this same myself 
 Are yours, my lord. I give them with this ring." 
 
 is there any " pedantry " in that ? Is this noble heiress, who thus 
 frankly gives herself and all that is hers to the lover who has won 
 her, affected and vain ? The utmost that she claims for herself is 
 that she is not so dull but she can learn which is far enough from 
 the pride of pedantry. Mr. Grant White was not fond of learned 
 women, or, at least, of a certain type of such women, but even 
 he does no injustice to Portia. He sums up her character in -a 
 single sentence as " the matchless impersonation of that rare 
 woman who is gifted even more in intellect Jlian_J_nJoyeliness, and 
 who yet stops gracefully short of the offence of intellectuality." 
 The word intellectuality, as he uses it, seems to bear somewhat the 
 same relation to intellect that sentimentality does to sentiment, sug- 
 gesting a self-consciousness or self-conceit which is an essential ele- 
 ment in pedantry. It carries a certain degree of reproach with it; 
 but White is unquestionably right in acknowledging that, with all 
 her high intellectual endowments, Portia is nowise liable to the 
 charge of "intellectuality." 
 
 The lighter and more playful side of Portia's character is well 
 displayed in the very first scene in which she appears. Her descrip- 
 tions of the suitors are as witty as they are graphic, showing alike . 
 
2 1 6 Appendix 
 
 her insight into character and her love of fun. How completely 
 the men are photographed in a sentence or two ! The Neapolitan 
 prince " doth nothing but talk of his horse." But a " horsey " man 
 is not necessarily a fool, like this fellow who plumes himself on 
 being able to shoe his horse. He is a prince, but his highest ambi 
 tion is to be his own blacksmith. Do we need to know anything 
 more about him ? What a husband for the peerless Portia if the 
 lottery of the caskets had given her to him ! But, as Nerissa philo- 
 sophically remarks, "holy men at their death have good inspira- 
 tions," and her father's device for getting her a mate is likely to be 
 governed by a wise Providence. She will escape this unprincely 
 prince; and the morose and self-conceited County Palatine, like a 
 death's head with a bone in his mouth; and the volatile French 
 lord, who would be twenty husbands in one, and that one worth- 
 less; and the young baron of England, who has travelled in many 
 lands and brought home nothing but his motley apparel and his 
 mcngrel behaviour; and the cowardly Scotchman, who lacks the 
 spirit to return a blow, but swears he will do it some day; and the 
 guzzling German, who at his best is worse than a man, and at his 
 worst is little better than a beast. Luckily this parcel of wooers 
 will trouble the lady with no more suit, unless she may be won 
 otherwise than by the chance of the caskets; and we may be sure 
 that she is sincere in wishing them a fair departure. 
 
 But, as Mrs. Jameson remarks, " all the finest parts of Portia's 
 character are brought to bear in the trial scene"; and here I 
 cannot do better than to go on with her admirable comments on 
 the scene, instead of attempting to make any of my own : 
 
 "There she shines forth, all her divine self. Her intellectual 
 powers, her elevated sense of religion, her high honourable princi- 
 ples, her best feelings as a woman, are all displayed. She maintains 
 at first a calm self-command, as one sure of carrying her point in 
 the end; yet the painful heart-thrilling uncertainty in which she 
 keeps the whole court until suspense verges upon agony, is not con- 
 trived for effect merely; it is necessary and inevitable. . . . Thus all 
 
Appendix 217 
 
 the speeches addressed to Shylock in the first instance are either 
 direct or indirect experiments on his temper and feelings. She 
 must be understood from the beginning to the end as examining, 
 with intense anxiety, the effect of her own words on his mind and 
 countenance; as watching for that relenting spirit which she hopes 
 to awaken either by reason or persuasion. She begins by an appeal 
 to his mercy, in that matchless piece of eloquence which, with an 
 irresistible and solemn pathos, falls upon the heart like gentle dew 
 from heaven ' : but in vain; for that blessed dew drops not more 
 fruitless and unfelt on the parched sand of the desert, than do these 
 heavenly words upon the ear of Shylock. She next attacks his 
 avarice : 
 
 " ' Shylock, there's thrice thy money offered thee ! * 
 
 Then she appeals, in the same breath, both to his avarice and his 
 
 '"Be merciful ! 
 Take thrice thy money. Bid me tear the bond.' 
 
 All that she says afterwards her strong expressions, which are 
 calculated to strike a shuddering horror through the nerves, the 
 reflections she interposes, her delays and circumlocution to give 
 time for any latent feeling of commiseration to display itself, all, 
 all are premeditated, and tend in the same manner to the object 
 she has in view. 1 
 
 " So unwilling is her sanguine and generous spirit to resign all 
 hope, or to believe that humanity is absolutely extinct in the bosom 
 of the Jew, that she calls on Antonio, as a last resource, to speak 
 for himself. His gentle, yet manly resignation, the deep pathos of 
 his farewell, and the affectionate allusion to herself in his last address 
 to Bassanio : 
 
 " ' Commend me to your honourable wife ; 
 Say how I lov'd you, speak me fair in death/ etc. 
 
 1 This is a sufficient answer to Mr. C. A. Brown's criticism, that she 
 delights in keeping the court in suspense. 
 
2 1 8 Appendix 
 
 are well calculated to swell that emotion which through the whole 
 scene must have been labouring suppressed within her heart. 
 
 " At length the crisis arrives, for patience and womanhood can 
 endure no longer; and when Shylock, carrying his savage bent ' to the 
 last hour of act,' springs on his victim * A sentence ! come, prepare ! ' 
 then the smothered scorn, indignation, and disgust burst forth with 
 an impetuosity which interferes with the judicial solemnity she had' 
 at first affected, particularly in the speech 
 
 '"Therefore, prepare thee to cut off the flesh,' etc. 
 
 But she afterwards recovers her propriety, and triumphs with a 
 cooler scorn and a more self-possessed exultation. 
 
 " It is clear that, to feel the full force and dramatic beauty of this 
 marvellous scene, we must go along with Portia as well as with 
 Shylock ; we must understand her concealed purpose, keep in mind 
 her noble motives, and pursue in our fancy the undercurrent of 
 feeling working in her mind throughout. The terror and the power 
 of Shylock's character, his deadly and inexorable malice, would be 
 too oppressive, the pain and pity too intolerable, and the horror of 
 the possible issue too overwhelming, but for the intellectual relief 
 afforded by this double source of interest and contemplation." 
 
 BASSANIO. Bassanio has been misrepresented and underrated 
 by some of the critics, and the reason is not far to seek. In a play, 
 as in real life, a person may have a part not at all proportionate to 
 his abilities, and may consequently fail to be appreciated as he 
 deserves. In the present play Portia has great and varied oppor- 
 tunities ; hence she can display her great and varied endowments. 
 Bassanio, on the other hand, has nothing to do except to marry 
 Portia, who was practically won before the play begins. The 
 prominent part she has in' the action, and the power and grace 
 with which she discharges it, throw her husband completely into 
 the shade. As Nerissa tells us, he is " a scholar and a soldier " 
 (we have the ideal man of the time in that simple statement), but 
 he has no opportunity to prove himself either soldier or scholar. 
 
Appendix 219 
 
 To a careless observer he seems to be, as he has often been called, 
 a fortune-hunter ; but Shakespeare is quick to foresee any possible 
 injustice we may do his favourite characters and to guard them well 
 against it, and he has done so in this instance. When Bassanio 
 tells Antonio about Portia, note how her fortune is subordinated to 
 her beauty and her character : 
 
 " In Belmont is a lady richly left ; 
 And she is fair and, fairer than that word, 
 Of wondrous virtues." 
 
 He has met her, moreover, and, as we learn in the next scene, 
 before her father's death ; and, like Ferdinand and Miranda in 
 The Tempest, at the first sight they " changed eyes." To remove 
 any possible doubt that the budding love was mutual, and that 
 Bassanio had not misapprehended the " fair speechless messages " 
 from the lady's eyes, the dramatist gives us that exquisite bit of 
 dialogue (i. 2. 112 fol.) in which the sly Nerissa, whose feminine 
 instinct has, perhaps, been quicker to discern the true state of the 
 case than the lovers themselves, entraps her mistress into an in- 
 voluntary betrayal of her interest in the young man : 
 
 "Nerissa. Do you not remember, lady, in your father's time, 
 a Venetian, a scholar and a soldier, that came hither in company 
 of the Marquis of Montferrat ? 
 
 Portia. Yes, yes, it was Bassanio; as I think, so was he called." 
 
 What significance in the duplication of thatjj/^/ It shows that 
 this speech is Portia's impulsive expression of what till then had 
 been shut up in her heart. It comes out before she is aware, and 
 with quick maidenly shyness she withdraws again into herself, 
 covering the retreat by that " as I think, so was he called," "I 
 believe that was- the man's name ! " And yet, what critic has 
 noticed the delicate touch, or what actress ever rightly rendered it ? 
 
 We see later (iii. 2. 248 fol.) how frankly Bassanio, when .he did 
 impart his love to Portia, told her that all the wealth he had ran in 
 his veins. Was that done like a fortune-hunter ? 
 
22O Appendix 
 
 But some may say that, however this may be, Bassanio is in no 
 respect a worthy mate for Portia. They will class him with Proteus 
 and Claudio (him of Much Ado) and Bertram and others, to whom 
 Shakespeare gives wives much too good for them. For myself, I 
 cannot put Bassanio in this ignoble company. If, as we have seen, 
 he is the mere "walking gentleman" of the stage, he is a gentle- 
 man in the best sense of the term, a man after Shakespeare's own 
 heart, and not unworthy of the friendship of Antonio and the love 
 of Portia. In the matter of the caskets, as Dowden well says, 
 " Bassanio is ennobled in our eyes by his choice ; for the gold, 
 silver, and lead, with their several inscriptions, are a test of true 
 lovers." He " does not come as a needy adventurer to choose the 
 golden casket, or to ' gain ' or ' get ' anything, but, in the true spirit 
 of self-abandoning love, to ' give,' not to ' get,' ' and hazard all he 
 hath '; and, having dared to give all, he gains all." And the 
 manner in which he receives this great good gift of Fortune is 
 characteristic. It is not the manner of the Jason who has won 
 the golden fleece and exults in the prize. He can scarce believe 
 that he has gained the lady, and stands bewildered, doubtful 
 whether it can be true, until confirmed, signed, ratified by her. 
 When his friends from Venice arrive a little later, what delicacy in 
 his greeting ! 
 
 " Lorenzo and Salerio, welcome hither ; 
 
 If that the youth of my new interest here 
 
 Have power to bid you welcome. By your leave, 
 
 I bid my very friends and countrymen, 
 
 Sweet Portia, welcome." 
 
 The lady had already recognized him as " her lord, her governor, 
 her king," and had said : 
 
 " Myself and what is mine to you and yours 
 Is now converted." 
 
 And how easily and confidently the man who had an eye to her 
 fortune rather than to herself would have entered into possession 
 
Appendix 221 
 
 on such a warrant! Bassanio, overwhelmed with the gift of 
 herself, cannot yet give a thought to his rights in what is hers. 
 Though lord of the fair mansion, the first claim upon his hospitality 
 takes him by surprise, and he appeals to Portia for authority to 
 exercise his newly acquired rights and privileges. 
 
 Several commentators agree in thinking that Portia selected the 
 Song in this scene in order to give Bassanio a clue to the right 
 casket. One of them remarks : " Its general purport may be stated 
 to be : * Do not choose by the eye by the glittering outside 
 for it is the source of all delusion.' Hence Portia, after observing 
 with the greatest care all the formalities of her father's will, breaks 
 it just at the point of its conflict with her subjective right " ; that is, 
 her right to choose her own husband. The critic believes that she 
 is fully justified in doing this. But she has declared in the first 
 speech of this very scene that she will not do it : 
 
 11 1 could teach you 
 
 How to choose right, but then I am forsworn ; 
 So will I never be. So may you miss me; 
 But if you do, you'll make me wish a sin, 
 That I had been forsworn." 
 
 Earlier in the play (i. 2. 106) she has said : " If I live to be as old 
 as Sibylla, I will die as chaste as Diana, unless I be obtained by the 
 manner of my father's will." In both cases we cannot doubt that 
 she means what she says. 
 
 For myself I do not believe that she had anything to do with 
 the selection of the song, which was probably left to the leader of 
 her household band of musicians (like the music for which Lorenzo 
 calls in v. I. 66); but if she selected it, this was done before the 
 scene opened, and before she declares to Bassanio that she will 
 never " teach him how to choose right." 
 
 I suspect that it would never have occurred to the commentators 
 that the song had a purpose if they had not been misled by the 
 first line the first word indeed of Bassanio's speech that fol- 
 
222 Appendix 
 
 lows : " So may the outward shows be least themselves." But the 
 So connects what he says, not with any suggestion of the song, but 
 with what has been going on in his mind while he was studying the 
 caskets. The thought that appearances are deceitful has already 
 occurred to him, and he continues the train of reasoning that it 
 starts. It is this that leads him to choose the meagre lead that 
 rather threatens than promises aught that bids him "give and 
 hazard all he hath " rather than seek what many men desire, or 
 hope to get what he may deserve. This inscription on the leaden 
 casket is Shakespeare's own, not taken, like the others, from the 
 old stories; and he doubtless intended that we should recognize 
 the unselfishness of genuine love at which it hints as the clue to the 
 right choice. 
 
 THE PRINCES OF MOROCCO AND OF ARRAGON. The subordi- 
 nate characters in the plays deserve more study than they ordinarily 
 get. Charles Cowden-Clarke, in his Shakespeare Characters, takes 
 up, as the title-page, states, " chiefly those subordinate"; but the 
 commentators generally have not much to say about them. In the 
 present play, for instance, these two princes have seldom been 
 noticed, and the few slight criticisms upon them seem to me very 
 unsatisfactory. Henry Morley takes Morocco to represent " the 
 love of money and what money can buy," while Arragon represents 
 "the pride of rank." The latter statement is obviously true, but 
 the former is absolutely without support in the text. Koenig thinks 
 that " what Morocco calls love is nothing but a desire to possess 
 Portia for her wealth and her fair reputation, a purely superficial 
 affection, not an honest love down deep in the heart"; and "Por- 
 tia's assurance that he stood as fair as any other of her suitors con- 
 veys to us, who know what her feelings towards those others are, a 
 keen satire, which becomes extremely comic when Morocco thanks 
 her for it." Now, to me nothing can be clearer than that Morocco 
 has an honest love for Portia, while Arragon has not. We might 
 expect that, in a pair of scenes necessarily so much alike as these in 
 which the two princes try their luck with the caskets, the dramatist 
 
Appendix 223 
 
 would endeavour to give variety in this way, which is the only one 
 natural or possible; and we might expect, also, that he would make 
 Portia recognize the difference in the two suitors, and that this 
 would inevitably affect her treatment of them. This is precisely 
 what we find on a careful reading of the scenes. Morocco is per- 
 mitted to appear twice, a significant fact in itself. In the first 
 scene he apparently meets Portia for the first time, and, although 
 he has come to Belmont as a mere adventurer for the golden fleece, 
 he falls in love with the lady at sight, and avows it at once. She 
 cannot help pitying him, and tells him, with gentle courtesy, that 
 she is not free to choose a husband, but that, if she were, he would 
 stand as fair a chance as any suitor who has yet come to try the 
 fortune of the caskets. He is the only one of these who has really 
 loved her. Bassanio has not come, and she has no reason to expect 
 him. There is no " satire " in what she says, and nothing " comic " 
 in Morocco's reply. With the intuition of a lover, he detects the 
 sympathetic touch in her words, and thanks her for it. There is a 
 lover's delicacy in the expression of his gratitude : " even for that 
 I thank you." It is not much in the way of encouragement, but, in 
 his " poverty of grace," he thankfully takes what he can get, and 
 only very timidly intimates his hope for more hereafter. He begs 
 that he may go to his trial at once, though, blind Fortune being 
 the arbiter, he may miss the prize " and die with grieving." Portia 
 tells him that he must take his chance, reminding him that if he 
 chooses wrong he can court no other lady. " Nor will not ! " is 
 the prompt and expressive response. If he fails, he will be the 
 " cursed'st among men," with no heart for further wooing. When 
 he stands before the caskets, he hastily rejects the lead, because it 
 " threatens," but tarries long in consideration of the silver, which 
 promises " as much as he deserves." His own desert, he thinks, 
 "may not extend -so far as to the lady." There spoke the true 
 lover; but, like a true lover, he takes heart again, and dares to 
 hope he may deserve her. His birth and breeding and fortune 
 equal hers. " but more than these" he adds, " in love I do deserve," 
 
224 Appendix 
 
 and that is no utterance of " a purely superficial affection," as 
 the German critic calls it. But before making his choice he will 
 look at the " saying graved in gold." " What many men desire ! 
 Why, that's the lady ! " And to the end of the speech the one 
 theme is " the lady." Alas ! it is his exalted idea of her that leads 
 to the fatal decision. It were damnation to imagine her heavenly 
 picture shut up in the base lead; nor can she, who is ten times 
 undervalued to tried gold, be immured in the inferior silver. Noth- 
 ing worse than gold can be the setting of so rich a gem; the 
 " angel " (whereon he puns in pretty loverlike fashion) can repose 
 only in a golden bed. But it is a carrion skull, not fair Portia's 
 counterfeit, that he finds in the deluding gold. He must depart, 
 but he has too grieved a heart to take a tedious leave. "A 
 gentle riddance," is the kindly comment of the lady when he is 
 gone. 
 
 Enter now the Prince of Arragon, who loves himself better than 
 he loves the lady, whose fortune, nevertheless, he fain would 
 have. He goes to the trial in business-like fashion,- first making 
 sure that the conditions are clearly understood. The gold is not 
 for him, because he scorns to choose what many men desire; but 
 the silver appeals to his self-sufficiency. He will " assume desert," 
 and demands the key of the casket. " Too long a pause for that 
 which you find there," Portia cannot help saying, disgusted as she 
 is with the arrogant fool. Capell made this speech an aside, because, 
 if addressed to Arragon, it has " the sound of twitting him," which 
 he thinks is not quite in character. It may possibly be an aside, 
 but it is quite in keeping with what she says to him afterwards. He 
 considers himself ill-treated. When he finds the portrait of the 
 blinking idiot, he says : 
 
 " How much unlike art thou to Portia ! 
 How much unlike my hopes and my deservings f 
 4 Who chooseth me shall have as much as he deserves.' 
 Did / deserve no more than a fool's head ? 
 Is that my prize ? Are my deserts no greater ? " 
 
Appendix 225 
 
 Still " my deserts," as throughout his soliloquy before the caskets, 
 and not a word about " the lady," who was the entire burden of 
 Morocco's musings. What could be more cutting than Portia's 
 quiet reply ? 
 
 " To offend and judge are distinct offices, 
 And of opposed natures." 
 
 His offence is in having made a fool of himself; and, being a 
 fool, he cannot see himself as others see him. Portia intimates 
 pretty plainly what 'her judgment would be; and, in his impotent 
 wrath at the issue of his mercenary wooing, he unwittingly passes a 
 similar sentence upon himself in his next speech : 
 
 " With one fool's head I came to woo, 
 But I go away with two." 
 
 How much unlike the parting of the heart -stricken if not heart- 
 broken M^iocco i "Thus hath the candle singed the moth! " is 
 Portia's contemptuous comment to Nerissa after the baffled fortune- 
 hunter has gone. 
 
 GRATIANO AND NERISSA. The loves of Gratiano and Nerissa 
 are kept duly subordinate to those of Bassanio and Portia. Shake- 
 speare's fine discrimination is apparent even in the minutest details 
 of the delineation of the two couples. In the trial scene, for in- 
 stance, the marked difference in speeches that at first sight seem 
 almost identical may be noted : 
 
 44 Bassanio. Antonio, I am married to a wife 
 Which is as dear to me as life itself; 
 But life itself, my wife, and all the world, 
 Are not with me esteem'd above thy life. 
 1 would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all 
 Here to this devil, to deliver you. 
 
 Portia. Your wife would give you little thanks for that, 
 If she were by to hear you make the offer. 
 
 Gratiano. 1 have a wife, whom, I protest, I love ; 
 I would she were in heaven, so she could 
 Entreat some power to change this currish Jew. 
 
 MER. OF YEN.- 15 
 
226 Appendix 
 
 Nerissa. Tis well you offer it behind her back ; 
 The wish would make else an unquiet house." 
 
 If this dialogue were shown to a person wholly unacquainted with 
 the rest of the play, and he were asked which pair were the more 
 refined in character, and probably the higher in the social scale, 
 would he have any difficulty in answering the question? 
 
 Nerissa, as Hunter remarks (New Illustrations of Shakespeare, 
 1845) is "not a waiting-maid, in the modern sense of the term," 
 but "a young lady," such persons being often found in that day 
 " attending on ladiec of superior distinction and fortune." She 
 belongs to the same class as Lucetta in 7^he Two Gentlemen of 
 Verona, Ursula and Margaret in Mttch Ado, Maria in Twelfth. 
 Night, and Helena in All's Well 
 
 Gratiano is a gentleman, like Salanio and Salarino, but not the 
 equal of Bassanio in rank and social standing. He goes to Belmont 
 with Bassanio as a companion or attendant, apparently holding for 
 the time being somewhat the same position with reference to his 
 friend as Nerissa does to Portia. Bassanio, as we see (ii. 2. 182, fol.), 
 thinks it necessary to give him some serious counsel as to his be- 
 haviour while at Belmont. 
 
 I may add what Mrs. Jameson says of the pair : " Nerissa is a 
 clever, confidential waiting-woman, who has caught a little of her 
 lady's elegance and romance; she affects to be lively and senten- 
 tious, falls in love, and makes her favour conditional on the fortune 
 of the caskets, and in short, mimics her mistress with good empha- 
 sis and discretion. Nerissa and the gay, talkative Gratiano are as 
 well matched as the incomparable Portia and her magnificent and 
 captivating lover." 
 
 JESSICA. The pretty daughter of the Jew is charming in her 
 way, and we do not wonder that Lorenzo, who is a romantic young 
 fellow, falls in love with her; but she has little filial feeling. Her 
 cool robbery of her father it is cool, as we see from her jesting 
 about it (ii. 6. 49) while committing it proves that she is lacking 
 
Appendix 227 
 
 in moral sense no less than in natural affection. But what has 
 Shylock done to make the girl love him or to cultivate her moral 
 perceptions? What has she seen in him but miserly greed, un- 
 feeling exaction, virtual robbery of the unfortunate; and in his 
 treatment of his family a niggardly parsimony that proved his love 
 of gold to be paramount to his affection for his own flesh and blood? 
 Brought up under such influences and with such surroundings, is it 
 strange that she feels no scruple in plundering the father who has 
 cheated her young life out of its dues of paternal love, education, 
 and kindness even out of its fair share of the good things of a 
 merely material sort to which the child of a rich man is entitled ? 
 As his only heir she feels that she may help herself to what honestly 
 belongs to her, and take by stealth the dowry she can secure in no 
 other way. If we cannot quite justify her conduct, we are, never- 
 theless, compelled to recommend her to mercy. This, we may be 
 sure, was the poet's unspoken verdict in the case. 
 
 Some critics have been severe upon her for eloping with Lorenzo, 
 and "leaving her poor old father" to his solitary existence; for it 
 is evident that Leah died long ago. But, as Jessica says, " Our 
 house is hell," where even the foolery of that merry devil, Launce- 
 lot, will be seriously missed when he goes to a new master. And 
 Shylock is not the aged man he is often represented on the stage. 
 It is doubtful whether we should regard him as more than fifty. 
 According to Hazlitt, Kean did not make him " the decrepit old 
 man, bent with age," that had formerly been the theatrical Jew. He 
 was, we may believe, still strong in body as in mind, and well able to 
 take care of himself after his daughter has gone. In his reproaches 
 of her he says nothing of his dependence upon her filial attentions 
 and services. 
 
 THE LAW IN THE TRIAL SCENE 
 
 According to pne of the early traditions concerning Shakespeare, 
 he was an attorney's clerk for a time before he left Stratford for 
 
228 Appendix 
 
 London ; and the many references, literal and figurative, in his 
 works to technicalities of the law, especially such as are not likely 
 to become known to non-professional people, have led Lord Camp- 
 bell and other specialists to believe that he must have studied law 
 somewhat thoroughly ; but Judge Allen, of the Supreme Judicial 
 Court of Massachusetts, in his recent Notes on the Bacon- Shakespeare 
 Question (1900), has shown that such legal allusions are equally 
 common in other dramatists of the time, and that Shakespeare, 
 instead of being uniformly accurate in these matters, as Lord 
 Campbell and others have assumed, is often guilty of mistakes 
 which a lawyer or student of law would never make. This may 
 be regarded as the final word on the question of the supposed legal 
 attainments of the dramatist. 
 
 Much has been written on the law in the present play, some taking 
 the ground that it favours the theory of Lord Campbell, while others 
 say it proves that the play could not have been written by one ac- 
 quainted with law. For an interesting summary of the discussion, 
 see Furness's " New Variorum " edition of the play, pp. 403-420, 
 besides scattered notes on the subject elsewhere in the volume. 
 Only one or two points can be referred to here. 
 
 The mention of a "single bond" in i. 3. 141 has been cited in 
 support of both sides of the controversy. Lord Campbell says: 
 " This bond to Shylock is prepared and talked about according to 
 all the forms observed in an English attorney's office. The dis- 
 tinction between a single bond ' and a ' bond with a condition ' is 
 clearly referred to." But Shylock's bond is obviously a bond with a 
 condition, and therefore is not " single " in the legal sense. For 
 myself, I believe (see note on the passage) that it means "indi- 
 vidual bond, or one without sureties." The term is used in its 
 popular sense, not in a technical one. It would perhaps be refining 
 overmuch to suppose that Shylock craftily employs it in the latter 
 sense because he wants to make the " condition " appear like none 
 at all, merely the "merry sport" he calls it; as if he had said, 
 " Give me your bond without any condition, at least none worthy 
 
Appendix 229 
 
 of the name or to be legally enforced, though for the joke of the 
 thing we will say that I am to have a pound of your flesh if you fail 
 to pay up at the appointed time." I have sometimes been inclined 
 to explain the passage in that way. Observe that, a moment later, 
 Shy lock refers to the " condition " as only a nominal one : 
 
 " If he should break his day, what should I gain 
 By the exaction of the forfeiture ? " 
 
 He implies that he has no intention of exacting it, so the bond is 
 virtually " single," or to be treated as such. 
 
 As to the obviously " bad law " in the trial scene, which some 
 critics ascribe to Shakespeare's ignorance of law, we must bear in 
 mind that he took it from the familiar story on which the play was 
 partly founded, and that it was too effective on the stage to be 
 omitted. But it is a significant fact to me, at least, for I believe 
 that no commentator or critic has referred to it that the dramatist, 
 after using this " bad law " from the old tale, makes Portia go on 
 
 to say : 
 
 " Tarry, Jew ; 
 
 The law hath yet another hold on you," 
 
 namely, on account of his having sought the life of Antonio. Note 
 at what length this is dwelt upon, and how much stress Portia lays 
 upon it. Note also that this is not in the various forms of the old 
 story, but is Shakespeare's own addition thereto. I have no doubt 
 that he added it solely because he knew that the original " law " was 
 " bad," and was not willing to rest the case upon it, as an inferior 
 dramatist might not improbably have done. He kept the " bad law " 
 for stage effect, but added the " good law " to satisfy his conscience 
 or his sense of justice. 
 
 THE TIME-ANALYSIS OF THE PLAY 
 
 In his paper "On the Times or Durations of the Action of 
 Shakspere's Plays'* (Transactions of New Shakspert Society^ 
 
230 Appendix 
 
 1877-1879), Mr. P. A. Daniel sums up the " time -analysis * 
 thus : 
 
 "Time: eight days represented on the stage; with intervals* 
 Total time : a period of rather more than three months. 
 
 Day i. Act I. 
 
 Interval say a week. 1 
 " 2. Act II. sc. i.-vii. 
 
 Interval one day. 2 
 " 3. Act II. sc. viii. and ix. 
 
 Interval bringing the time to within a fortnight of 
 
 the maturity of the bond. 
 4. Act III. sc. i. 
 
 Interval rather more than a fortnight. 8 
 " 5. Act III. sc. ii.-iv. 
 " 6. Act III. sc. v., Act IV. 
 " 7 and 8. Act V." 4 
 
 LIST OF CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY 
 
 In this list the numbers in parentheses indicate the lines the 
 characters have in each scene. 
 
 1 In ii. 2, we find Launcelot lamenting his hard life in Shylock's ser- 
 vice ; and later he becomes the servant of Bassanio. Meanwhile Bas- 
 sanio has engaged his ship, and is waiting for a fair wind ; and Lorenzo 
 has been courting Jessica. Note also what Jessica says in iii. 2. 279 fol. 
 All this supposes a lapse of time say a week since the signing of the 
 bond. 2 For Bassanio's journey to Belmont, etc. 
 
 8 In iii. i, Shylock says to Tubal: " Go, Tubal, fee me an officer; be- 
 speak him a fortnight before." This indicates an interval, between this 
 and the preceding scenes, of sufficient length to bring the three-months 
 bond to within a fortnight of its maturity. 
 
 4 After the trial Bassanio and Antonio propose to fly towards Belmont 
 early next morning. Portia and Nerissa start for home that night, and 
 arrive on the next night (Day 7) before their husbands. Act V. begins 
 at a late hour that night, and ends two hours before day (Day 8) . 
 
Appendix 23 1 
 
 Duke of Venice : iv. I (57). Whole number, 57. 
 
 Prince of Morocco : ii. I (32), 7 (71). Whole number, 103. 
 
 Prince of Arragon : ii. 9 (66). Whole number, 66. 
 
 Antonio: i. I (46), 3 (39); ii. 6 (6); iii. 3 (19); iv. I (66); v. I 
 
 (12). Whole number, 188. 
 Bassanio: i. I (51), 3 (16); ii. 2 (38); iii. 2(144); iv. I (50)? 
 
 v. i (42). Whole number, 341. 
 Salanio : i. I (ii); ii. 4 (3), 8 (21); iii. I (24). Whole number, 
 
 59- 
 Salarino: i. I (41); ii. 4 (3), 6 (5), 8 (34); iii. I (22), 3(4). 
 
 Whole number, 109. 
 Gratiano : i. I (34) ; ii. 2 (18), 4 (3), 6 (20) ; iii. 2 (31) ; iv. I (33), 
 
 2 (5); v - 1 (34) Whole number, 178. 
 Lorenzo: i. I (6); ii. 4 (27), 6 (21); iii. 2 (5), 4(12), 5 (34); 
 
 v. I (76). Whole number, 181. 
 Shylock: i. 3(134); " 5 (39); Hi- i (72), 3 06); iv. I (103). 
 
 Whole number, 364. 
 Tubal : iii. I (16). Whole number, 16. 
 Launcelot: ii. 2 (120), 3 (5), 4 (6), 5 (15); iii. 5 (35); v. I (7). 
 
 Whole number, 188. 
 
 Old Gobbo : ii. 2 (41). Whole number, 41. 
 Salerio : iii. 2(20); iv. i (4). Whole number, 24. 
 Leonardo : ii. 2 (2). Whole number, 2. 
 Balthazar : iii. 4 (i). Whole number, i. 
 Stephano : v. i'(8). Whole number, 8. 
 Servant: i. 2 (5); ii. 9 (n); iii. i (2). Whole number, 18. 
 Musician : iii. 2 (9). Whole number, 9. 
 Portia: i. 2 (96); ii. I (17), 7 (9), 9 (20); iii. 2 (118), 4 (71); 
 
 iv. i (138), 2 (12); v. i (108). Whole number, 589. 
 Nerissa: i. 2(46); ii. 9(6); iii. 2(5), 4(2); iv. I (22), 2 (4); 
 
 v. i (25). Whole number, no. 
 Jessica : ii. 3 (16), 5 (4), 6 (18) ; iii. 2 (7), 4 (i), 5 (29) ; v. I (14). 
 
 Whole number, 89. 
 AU " . iii. 2 (i). Whole number, I. 
 
23 2 Appendix 
 
 In the above enumeration, parts of lines are counted as whole 
 lines, making the total in the play greater than it is. The actual 
 number of lines in each scene (Globe edition numbering) is as 
 follows: i. I (186), 2(147), 3 O^S); i (46), 2 (215), 3 (21), 
 4(40), 5 (57). 6(68), 7 (79), 8(53), 9(101); in. i (136), 2(330), 
 3 (36), 4 (84), 5 (96); iv. i (458), 2 (19); v. i (307). Whole 
 number in the play, 2662. 
 
INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES 
 EXPLAINED 
 
 a' (=he), 168 
 
 beholding (=beholden), 
 
 complexion (quadrisylla- 
 
 a many, 193 
 
 163 
 
 ble), 165 
 
 abide (=bear), 195 
 
 beshrew, 175, 182 
 
 compromised, 162 
 
 accomplished, 191 
 
 best conditioned and un- 
 
 conceit, 154, 190 
 
 achieve, 186 
 
 wearied, 1 88 
 
 condition, 160 
 
 address, 178 
 
 bestow, 171 
 
 conditioned, 188 
 
 advice, 200 
 
 best-regarded, 165 
 
 confiscate (participle), 199 
 
 advised, 155, 166 
 
 bid forth, 172 
 
 confound, 188 
 
 advisedly, 206 
 
 Black-Monday, 173 
 
 confusions, 168 
 
 afeard, 175 
 
 blest or cursed'st, 167 
 
 constant, 187 
 
 agitation (= cogitation) , 
 
 bonnet, 159 
 
 contain, 205 
 
 192 
 
 bottom, 152 
 
 contemplation (metre) , 
 
 alablaster, 154 
 
 brave, 192 
 
 191 
 
 alas the while! 166 
 
 break his day, 164 
 
 continent, 185 
 
 Alcides, 166, 184 
 
 break up (=break open), 
 
 contrive (=ploO, 200 
 
 aleven, 171 
 
 172 
 
 conveniency, 196 
 
 alien (trisyllable), 200 
 
 breed of barren metal, 
 
 convenient, 191 
 
 all my whole, 192 
 
 163 
 
 conveniently, 178 
 
 an (=if), 158 
 
 Brutus' Portia, 156 
 
 cope, 200 
 
 and (=an), 158 
 
 burial, 152 
 
 could not do withal, 192 
 
 and so following, 161 
 
 by (=about), 158, 178 
 
 counterfeit (= portrait), 
 
 Andrew, 152 
 
 
 185 
 
 angel (coin), 176 
 
 can, 160 
 
 county (=count), 158 
 
 appropriation, 158 
 approve (=prove), 183 
 
 carrion (in contempt), 195 
 carrion death, 177 
 
 courtesy, 152, 205 
 cousin, 191 
 
 argosy, 151 
 
 cater-cousin, 170 
 
 cover, 178, 193 
 
 as (omitted), 189 
 
 cerecloth, 176 
 
 Cressida, 201 
 
 as who should say, 154 
 
 ceremony, 206 
 
 crisped, 184 
 
 aspect (accent), 152, 165 
 
 charge upon interroga- 
 
 current, 195 
 
 at full, 206 
 
 tories, 206 
 
 curtsy, 152 
 
 attempt (=tempt), 200 
 
 Charybdis, 192 
 
 
 attended, 203 
 
 cheer, 188, 193 
 
 danger, 197 
 
 avail (avale\ 152 
 
 cherubin, 202 
 
 Daniel come to judgment, 
 
 aweary, 157 
 
 childhood proof, 156 
 
 198 
 
 
 Chus, 188 
 
 Dardanian wives, 183 
 
 balance (plural), 198 
 
 circumstance, 156 
 
 dear (adverb), 189 
 
 Balthazar, 191 
 
 civil doctor, 206 
 
 deny, 188, 190, 191 
 
 Barrabas, 199 
 
 close (=secret), 175 
 
 depart (=part), 177 
 
 bate, 190 
 
 commandement, 200 
 
 description (quadrisylla 
 
 be (=are), 161, 175, 199 
 
 commends (noun), 179 
 
 ble), 188 
 
 be friends with, 164 
 
 commodity, 157, 190 
 
 desire you of pardon, 909 
 
 beefs, 165 
 
 companion (contemptu- 
 
 determine, 196 
 
 beest, 175 
 
 ous), 190 
 
 Dido, 201 
 
 233 
 
234 Index of Words and Phrases 
 
 Difference of, 172 
 disable, 175 
 
 gear, 155, 171 
 Gentile (play upon), 175 
 
 incision for your love, 165 
 Indian beauty, 185 
 
 discharge, 188, 198 
 
 ginger, 180 
 
 insculped, 176 
 
 discretion, 193 
 
 glister, 177 
 
 interest, 161 
 
 dish of doves, 31, 170 
 
 Gobbo, 168 
 
 inter'gatories, 206 
 
 distinct (accent), 179 
 
 go give, 197 
 
 intermission (metre), 186 
 
 do we so, 178 
 
 go hard, 181 
 
 issuing, 187 
 
 doit, 164 
 
 go to, 163 
 
 
 doth, 187 
 
 SD we in, 202 
 
 Jacks, 192 
 
 doublet, 159 
 
 od bless the mark! 167 
 
 Jacob's staff, 173 
 
 ducat, 160 
 
 God sort all ! 205 
 
 Janus, 152 
 
 dull-eyed, 190 
 
 God's sonties, 168 
 
 jaundice, 154 
 
 dwell (=contmue), 164 
 
 good (commercial), 160 
 
 Jewess, 173 
 
 
 good sweet, 193 
 
 judgment, 196 
 
 eanling, 162 
 
 Goodwins, 180 
 
 jump, 178 
 
 Endymion, 204 
 
 gramercy, 170 
 
 
 enow, 193 
 
 gratify, 200 
 
 keep (=dwell), 190 
 
 envious, 188 
 
 gree, 169 
 
 knap, 180 
 
 envy, 188, 194, 196 
 
 green-eyed jealousy, 185 
 
 knave, 165 
 
 Erebus, 203 
 
 guard (=trim), 170 
 
 
 estate, 178, 187 
 
 gudgeon, 155 
 
 leave (=part with), 205 
 
 exceeding (adverb), 153 
 
 guiled, 184 
 
 level at, 158 
 
 excess, 162 
 
 
 liberal, 171 
 
 exchange, 174 
 
 had better, 158 
 
 Lichas, 166 
 
 exclaim on, 186 
 
 had rather to, T58 
 
 light (play upon), 184, 205 
 
 excrement, 184 
 
 hair (dissyllable), 188 
 
 like (=likelv),i 7 6 
 
 exhibit, 171 
 
 hairs, 185 
 
 likely, 180 
 
 
 hangman, 196 
 
 line of life, 170 
 
 fair (play upon?) 166 
 
 hard food for Midas, 185 
 
 liver, 154, 184 
 
 faithless, 172 
 
 hear thee, 171 
 
 living, 186, 206 
 
 fall ^transitive), 163 
 
 heels (play upon), 167 
 
 lodged, 195 
 
 fancy (=love), 183 
 father, 169 
 fear (causative), 165 
 
 high-day, 180 
 high-gravel-blind, 168 
 his (=its), 183, 202 
 
 loose, 194 
 lord worshipped might he 
 be! 169 
 
 fear (=fearfor), 183, 192 
 
 hit, 187 
 
 love (=lover), 199 
 
 fearful, 165 
 
 holy crosses, 202 
 
 lover, 190 
 
 fill up (=fulfil), 197 
 
 hood, 175 
 
 
 fill-horse, 169 
 
 hose (round), 159 
 
 magnificoes, 188 
 
 find forth, 156 
 fire (dissyllable), 179 
 flight (of arrow), 155 
 
 hour (dissyllable), 179 
 humility, 180 
 husbandry, 191 
 
 main, 195 
 make moan, 155, 190 
 making question, 156 
 
 follow (=insist upon), 198 
 
 Hyrcanian, 175 
 
 manage (noun), 191 
 
 fond, 178, 189 
 
 
 mannerly (adverb), 180 
 
 fool (adjective), 155, 178 
 
 I (=me), 189 
 
 mantle (verb), 154 
 
 fool-gudgeon, 155 
 
 I were best, 177, 205 
 
 many a time and oft, 163 
 
 for (=because), 161 
 
 I wis, 179 
 
 marry, 168 
 
 for my love, 165 
 forfeit, 189 
 
 if that, 175, 187 
 impeach the freedom of 
 
 martlet, 178 
 master (as title), 168 
 
 forth, 156, 172, 173 
 
 the state, 188 
 
 masters of passion, 195 
 
 fraught, 177 
 
 imposition, 159, 191 
 
 match, 1 80 
 
 from (=away from), 186 
 
 in (=go in), 170 
 
 matched, 181 
 
 
 in (=into), 202 
 
 may, 160 
 
 gaberdine, 163 
 
 in all sense, 205 
 
 me (expletive), 163, 169 
 
 gaged, 155 
 
 in supposition, 160 
 
 Medea, 202 
 
 gaping pig, 195 
 
 in the weather, 178 
 
 melancholy bait, 155 
 
 garnished, 193 
 
 incarnation, 168 
 
 mere, 187 
 
Index of Words and Phrases 235 
 
 methought, 162 
 
 parts, 196 
 
 Rialto, 32, 160 
 
 Midas, 185 
 
 passion, 177, 195 
 
 richly left, 156 
 
 mincing, 192 
 
 patch, 173 
 
 ripe, 162 
 
 mind of love, 178 
 
 patine, 202 
 
 riping, 178 
 
 misbeliever, 163 
 
 pawned, 193 
 
 road, 206 
 
 miscarried, 206 
 
 peep through their eyes, 
 
 royal merchant, 195 
 
 misery (accent), 199 
 
 i5 2 
 
 ruin (=refuse), 179 
 
 moe, 155 
 
 peize, 182 
 
 rule, 197 
 
 moiety, 195 
 
 persuaded with, 188 
 
 
 more elder, 198 
 
 pied, 162 
 
 Sabaoth (=Sabbath), 195 
 
 music (=musicians), 202 
 
 pilled, 163 
 
 Salerio, 186 
 
 muttons, 165 
 
 play the fool, 153 
 
 sand-blind, 168 
 
 mutual, 203 
 
 please (impersonal), 161, 
 
 say by, 158 
 
 myself (subject), 166 
 
 164 
 
 scant (verb), 166 
 
 
 pleasure (verb), 160 
 
 scape, 188 
 
 narrow seas, 177 
 
 poesy, 205 
 
 scarfed bark, 174 
 
 naughty, 182, 189 
 
 port, 155, 188 
 
 scrubbed, 205 
 
 Nazarite, 161 
 
 possess, 162, 195, 200 
 
 Scylla, 192 
 
 needs, 172, 190 
 
 posy, 205 
 
 sealed under for another, 
 
 Nestor, 153 
 
 prefer, 170 
 
 J 59 
 
 nice, 166 
 
 presence, 183 
 
 season, 198, 204 
 
 no impediment to let him 
 
 presently, 157 
 
 seasoned, 183 
 
 lack, 197 
 nor (double negative), 
 
 prest, 156 
 prevent, 153 
 
 self (adjective), 156 
 sensible, 178, 179 
 
 i57 l6 7 
 
 prize (=contest), 186 
 
 shall (=will), 155, 186 
 
 note, 1 86 
 
 producing holy witness, 
 
 should, 155, 159, 188 
 
 nothing undervalued, 156 
 
 I6 3 
 
 show (=appear), 198 
 
 
 proof, 156 
 
 shows (= represents), 198 
 
 obdurate (accent), 194 
 
 proper, 158 
 
 shrewd, 187 
 
 obliged, 174 
 
 provided of, 172 
 
 Sibylla, 159 
 
 obscure (accent), 176 
 
 publican, 161 
 
 simple, 183 
 
 occasion, 155 
 
 pursue (accent), 199 
 
 single bond, 164 
 
 ocean (trisyllable), 151 
 
 Pythagoras, 196 
 
 sisters three, 169 
 
 o'erlooked, 182 
 of (=about). 162, 171 
 
 quaint, 171, 192 
 
 skipping spirit, 171 
 slubber, 177 
 
 of (=by, with), 172 
 of (=for), 173 
 of force, 200 
 
 qualify, 194 
 quality of mercy, 197 
 quarrelling with occasion, 
 
 smug, 1 80 
 so ... as, 159 
 so (=if ), 186 
 
 of (omitted), 155 
 
 J 93. 
 
 so (omitted), 192 
 
 office of discovery, 175 
 
 question, 195 
 
 so (=so be it), 165 
 
 old (intensive), 200 
 
 quicken his embraced 
 
 so (=well), 181 
 
 on 't, 175, 205 
 
 heaviness, 178 
 
 sola, 202 
 
 on your charge, 199 
 opinion (quadrisyllable), 
 
 rain thy joy, 185 
 
 some (=about), 172 
 something (adverb), 155 
 
 ?54, 193 - 
 opinion of wisdom, 154 
 
 rath, 158 
 rather, 158 
 
 sometime, 156 
 sometimes, 156 
 
 Orpheus, 203 
 
 raw, 192 
 
 sonties, 168 
 
 ostent, 171, 178 
 
 reason (=converse), 177 
 
 sooth, 151 
 
 other (plural), 152 
 
 regreet, 179 
 
 soothsayer, 151 
 
 overpeer, 152 
 
 remorse, 194 
 
 Sophy, 166 
 
 over- weathered, 174 
 
 reproach (play upon), 173 
 
 sort (=dispose), 205 
 
 
 respect, 153, 103 
 
 sort (noun), 159 
 
 pageant, 151 
 pain (=pains), 171 
 
 respect upon, 153 
 respective, 205 
 
 soul (play upon), 196 
 speak me fair, 199 
 
 parcel, 159 
 part (=depart), 177 
 
 rest (set up one's), 169 
 rest you fair, 162 
 
 sped, 179 
 spet, 163 
 
2j6 Index of Words and Phrases 
 
 spirit (monosyllable), 171 
 
 tricksy, 193 
 
 well to live, 168 
 
 spoke (=spoken), 186 
 spoke us of, 171 
 
 Tripolis, 160 
 Troilus, 201 
 
 what (of impatience), i 7 j 
 what (=what a), 141 
 
 squander, 161 
 
 truth (=honesty), 198 
 
 where (=whereas), 156 
 
 starve, 197 
 
 tucket, 204 
 
 which (omitted), 157 
 
 state, 187 
 
 turquoise, 182 
 
 which (the), 160, 199 
 
 stead, 1 60 
 
 
 which (=who), 175, 199, 
 
 steal your thoughts, 165 
 
 uncapable, 194 
 
 204 
 
 Stephano (accent), 202 
 
 underta'en, 172 
 
 whiles, 160 
 
 sterve, 197 
 
 undertook, 172 
 
 who (omitted), 129, 156 
 
 still, 152, 155, 183, 199 
 
 undervalued, 156, 176 
 
 who (=which), 175 
 
 studied in a sad ostent. 171 
 
 unfurnished, 185 
 
 who (=whom), 157, 174 
 
 substance ( =amount) , 199 
 
 unhandled colts, 203 
 
 who (with supplementary 
 
 success, 187 
 
 unpleasant'st, 187 
 
 pronoun), 164 
 
 suited, 159 
 
 unthrift, 202 
 
 why, so. 181 
 
 Sultan Solyman, 166 
 
 unthrifty, 165 
 
 wi ful stillness, 154 
 
 sum of nothing, 186 
 
 untread again, 174 
 
 will, 173 
 
 swan-like end, 183 
 
 upon more advice, 200 
 
 will (verb omitted), 171, 
 
 sweet, 193 
 
 upon my power, 196 
 
 .185 
 
 swelling port, 155 
 
 upon supposed fairness, 
 
 willow, 200 
 
 swift (adverb), 186 
 
 184 
 
 wit, 166 
 
 
 upon the hip, 161, 199 
 
 with all my heart Cplay 
 
 table (of the hand), 170 
 
 urge, 206 
 
 upon), 199 
 
 teaches (plural), 164 
 
 usance, 161 
 
 with imagined speed, 191 
 
 temple (=chapel), 167 
 
 use, 199, 200 
 
 within his danger, 197 
 
 that (with conj.)> i75> 187 
 
 usury, 161 
 
 within the eye of honour, 
 
 the which, 160 
 
 
 . T 55 
 
 thee (=thou), 171 
 
 ail, 152 
 
 wives (=women), 183 
 
 this (=-all this), 152 
 
 antage, 186 
 
 wolf hanged, 196 
 
 Thisbe, 201 
 
 asty, 176 
 
 would (=wish), 162 
 
 thorough (=through), 144 
 
 enture, 152 
 
 wracked, 180 
 
 thou (of servants), 191 
 
 T enus' pigeons, 174 
 
 writ, 172 
 
 thought (=love), 165 
 
 ery (adjective), 187 
 
 wroth, 179 
 
 throughfare, 176 
 
 ia! 167 
 
 wry-necked fife, 173 
 
 throughly, 176, 197 
 
 inegar aspect, 152 
 
 
 thrift, 157 
 
 irtue, 205 
 
 yeanling, 162 
 
 time (=time of life), 155 
 
 
 yet (with negative), 179 
 
 to (omitted), 176, 190, 197 
 
 waft (= wafted), 201 
 
 younger (=younker), 174 
 
 to-night (=last night), 172 
 too-too, 174 
 
 waste, 190 
 wealth, 206 
 
 yours (dissyllable), 182 
 yourself (subject), 166 
 
 towards my rest, 172 
 
 weather, 178 
 
 you were best, 177, 205 
 
 trailed, 101 
 
 weeping philosopher, 158 
 
 ywis, 179 
 
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