Ner. Bass. Nor I in yours Sweet Portia, Till I again see mine. If you did know to whom I gave the ring, 200 When nought would be accepted but the ring, You would abate the strength of your displeasure. Por. 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. What man is there so much unreasonable, If you had pleased to have defended it With any terms of zeal, wanted the modesty To urge the thing held as a ceremony? Nerissa teaches me what to believe: I'll die for 't but some woman had the ring. Bass. No, by my honour, madam, by my soul, No woman had it, but a civil doctor, 210 Which did refuse three thousand ducats of me, Even he that had held up the very life Of my dear friend. What should I say, sweet lady? I was beset with shame and courtesy; Pardon me, good lady; For, by these blessed candles of the night, 220 Had you been there, I think you would have begg'd The ring of me to give the worthy doctor, Por. Let not that doctor e'er come near my house: And that which you did swear to keep for me, I'll not deny him any thing I have. Ant. I am the unhappy subject of these quarrels. Por. Bass. And, in the hearing of these many friends, Mark you but that! And there's an oath of credit. 240 Nay, but hear me: Ant. I once did lend my body for his wealth; Had quite miscarried: I dare be bound again, Will never more break faith advisedly. Por. Then you shall be his surety. Give him this, Ant. Here, Lord Bassanio; swear to keep this ring. Por. You are all amazed: Here is a letter; read it at your leisure: Ant. Por. There you shall find that Portia was the doctor, Shall witness I set forth as soon as you, And even but now return'd; I have not yet I am dumb. Sweet lady, you have given me life and living; Are safely come to road. How now, Lorenzo! My clerk hath some good comforts too for you. Ner. Ay, and I'll 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. Lor. Fair ladies, you drop manna in the way Of starved people. Por. It is almost morning, Gra. Well, while I live I'll fear no other thing 270 290 [Exeunt. Critical and Explanatory Notes АСТ І. Scene I. The first few scenes of a drama are usually devoted to what is technically called the Exposition; that is, to explaining the situation, to giving some idea of the characters of the drama, and to getting the story, or action, started. There are various ways in which this may be done. In the Comedy of Errors, for instance, the old merchant Ægeon relates in the first scene the whole story of his life, introducing among other things the two pairs of twin boys on whose amazing similarity the whole action of the drama turns. In Richard III. the chief character advances at once to the footlights and tells the audience that he is the villain of the play and that he proposes to usurp the crown of England. These two plays are early works of Shakespeare, and do not show by any means such mastery of the playwright's art as does the Merchant of Venice. Here the characters are introduced and the story started in the simplest and most natural manner, that is, in conversation between the personages of the play. We see the great merchant who gives his name to the play, and hear of his richly-laden ships at sea and of the melancholy that has overshadowed his spirits. Gratiano, the comic gentleman, reveals his own character in his attempt to laugh Antonio out of his sadness. Finally, Bassanio, the hero, or, at least, the leading gentleman of the drama, sets the story going by his appeal to Antonio for a loan wherewith he may go a-courting. Antonio's answer shows on how precarious a footing his riches rest, and his willingness to borrow at any risk in order to oblige his friend is the direct cause of the future complications of the play. 1. sad. This quiet sadness is one of the distinguishing features of Antonio's character. It is not, however, easy to assign a definite reason for it. We ought, perhaps, to think of it merely as a constitutional disposition toward melancholy. Antonio seems to be one of those unhappy rich men who have nothing in particular to live for. If he had any object in life, it was to assist his young friend, Bassanio, and he now suspects that this friend is soon to be separated from him by marriage. This melancholy, which leads him to regard the world as a stage where he has but a sad part to play, seems also to make him somewhat careless as to how he plays his part, and perhaps explains why he was foolish enough to sign a bond with such a penalty as Shylock suggested. 5. I am to learn; I have yet to learn. 8. ocean; a trisyllable: o-ce-an. So in 11. 102 and 139 opinion and occasions have one syllable more than our present pronunciation gives them. In Shakespeare's day the pronunciation of such terminations as -ean, -ion, etc., was unsettled. Sometimes they were pronounced as two syllables, sometimes as one. Thus affections, 1. 16, and opinion, 1. 91, are pronounced in our present fashion. The rhythm of the line will always show the proper pronunciation. When such a termination occurred at the close of the line, it was usually, though not always, as 1. 91 shows, pronounced as a dissyllable. 12. petty traffickers; the little ships that dance and seem to curt'sy in the wake of the portly argosies. 18. where sits the wind. This passage was, perhaps, suggested by some lines in the first scene of the Jew of Malta, where Barrabas is represented as watching the wind and calculating what effect it will have on his ships at sea. 23. blow me to an ague; give me a chill, make me shake with fear. 27. Andrew; used here as the name of a ship. It was common in Shakespeare's day to name ships after saints. Thus |