Glass _^ iriana 
 
 Copyright! . 
 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
•. 
 
SHAKESPEARE'S 
 
 MERCHANT OF VENICE 
 
 WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES, AND 
 EXAMINATION PAPERS 
 
 (selected) 
 
 BY 
 
 BRAINERD KELLOGG, LL.D. 
 
 Professor of the English Language and Literature in the 
 
 Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, and one of the 
 
 authors of Reed and Kellogg' 's Language Series 
 
 NEW YORK 
 MAYNARD, MERRILL, & CO., PUBLISHERS 
 
g«gt*t«r of Copyright* 
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS 
 
 WITH NOTES 
 
 MERCHANT OF VENICE 
 
 KING HENRY V. 
 
 AS YOU LIKE IT 
 
 JULIUS CAESAR 
 
 KING LEAR 
 
 MACBETH 
 
 TEMPEST 
 
 HAMLET 
 
 KING HENRY VIII. 
 
 KING HENRY IV. Part I. 
 
 KING RICHARD III. 
 
 THE WINTER'S TALE 
 
 TWELFTH NIGHT 
 
 king john; \\ j \ 
 ! ' much ado ABOUT nothing: 
 
 A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM 
 
 "\\ ' 'OTKFLLO l 'I «' 
 
 c \< ^CORIOLANUS" \ * , 
 
 ROMEO AND JULIET 
 
 ■ HHh 
 
 » • « t 
 
 • • a 
 
 C C % I 
 
 Copyright, 1899, 
 By MAYNAKD, MERRILL, & CO. 
 
EDITOR'S NOTE 
 
 The text here presented, adapted for use in mixed 
 classes, has been carefully collated with that of six or 
 seven of the latest and best editions. Where there was 
 any disagreement those readings have been adopted 
 which seemed most reasonable and were supported by 
 the best authority. 
 
 Professor Meiklejohn's exhaustive notes form the sub- 
 stance of those here used ; and his plan, as set forth in 
 the " General Notice" annexed, has been carried out in 
 these volumes. But as these plays are intended rather 
 for pupils in school and college than for ripe Shake- 
 spearian scholars, we have not hesitated to prune his 
 notes of whatever was thought to be too learned for our 
 purpose, or on other grounds was deemed irrelevant to 
 it. The notes of other English editors have been freely^ 
 incorporated. 
 
GENEBAL NOTICE 
 
 "An attempt has been made in these new editions to 
 interpret Shakespeare by the aid of Shakespeare himself. 
 The Method of Comparison has been constantly em- 
 ployed ; and the language used by him in one place has 
 been compared with the language used in other places in 
 similar circumstances, as well as with older English and 
 With newer English. The text has been as carefully 
 and as thoroughly annotated as the text of any Greek or 
 Latin classic. 
 
 "The first purpose in this elaborate annotation is, of 
 course, the full working out of Shakespeare's meaning. 
 The Editor has in all circumstances taken as much pains 
 with this as if he had been making out the difficult and 
 obscure terms of a will in which he himself was per- 
 sonally interested ; and he submits that this thorough 
 excavation of the meaning of a really profound thinker 
 is one of the very best kinds of training that a boy or 
 girl can receive at school. This is to read the very mind 
 of Shakespeare, and to weave his thoughts into the fibre 
 of one's own mental constitution. And always new re- 
 wards come to the careful reader — in the shape of new 
 meanings, recognition of thoughts he had before missed, 
 
 5 
 
6 GENERAL NOTICE 
 
 of relations between the characters that had hitherto 
 escaped him. For reading Shakespeare is just like ex- 
 amining Nature ; there are no hollownesses, there is no 
 scamped work, for Shakespeare is as patiently exact and 
 as first-hand as Nature herself. 
 
 " Besides this thorough working-oat of Shakespeare's 
 meaning, advantage has been taken of the opportunity 
 to teach his English — to make each play an introduction 
 to the English of Shakespeare. For this purpose copi- 
 ous collections of similar phrases have been gathered from 
 other plays ; his idioms have been dwelt upon ; his pe- 
 culiar use of words ; his style and his rhythm. Some 
 teachers may consider that too many instances are given ; 
 but, in teaching, as in everything else, the old French 
 saying is true : Assez n'y «, s'il trop n'y a. The teacher 
 need not require each pupil to give him all the instances* 
 collected. If each gives one or two, it will probably be 
 enough ; and, among them all, it is certain that one or 
 two will stick in the memory. It is probable that, for 
 those pupils who do not study either Greek or Latin, this 
 close examination of every word and phrase in the text of 
 Shakespeare will be the best substitute that can be found 
 for the study of the ancient classics. 
 
 " It were much to be hoped that Shakespeare should 
 become more and more of a study, and that every boy 
 and girl should have a thorough knowledge of at least 
 one play of Shakespeare before leaving school. It would 
 be one of the best lessons in human life, without the 
 chance of a polluting or degrading experience. It would 
 
GENERAL NOTICE T 
 
 also have the effect of bringing back into the too pale 
 and formal English of modern times a large number of 
 pithy and vigorous phrases which would help to develop 
 as well as to reflect vigor in the characters of the readers. 
 Shakespeare used the English language with more power 
 than any other writer that ever lived — he made it do 
 more and. say more than it had ever done ; he made it 
 speak in a more original way ; and his combinations of 
 words are perpetual provocations and invitations to origi- 
 nality and to newness of insight." — J. M. D. Meikle- 
 john, M.A., Professor of the Theory, History, and. 
 Practice of Education in the University of St. Andrews^ 
 
SHAKESPEARE'S GRAMMAR 
 
 Shakespeare lived at a time when the grammar and 
 vocabulary of the English language were in a state of 
 transition. Various points were not yet settled ; and so 
 Shakespeare's grammar is not only somewhat different 
 from our own but is by no means uniform in itself. In 
 the Elizabethan age, "Almost any part of speech can 
 be used as any other part of speech. An adverb can be 
 used as a verb, ' They askance their eyes '; as a noun, 
 
 * the backward and abysm of time ' ; or as an adjective, 
 'a seldom pleasure. 1 Any noun, adjective, or intransi- 
 tive verb can be used as a transitive verb. You can 
 < happy ' your friend, ' malice ' or ' foot ' your enemy, or 
 
 * fall ' an axe on his neck. An adjective can be used as 
 an adverb ; and you can speak and act ' easy,' ' free,' ' ex- 
 cellent ' ; or as a noun, and you can talk of ' fair ' instead 
 of 'beauty,' and 'a pale' instead of 'a paleness.' Even 
 the pronouns are not exempt from these metamorphoses. 
 A ' he ' is used for a man, and a lady is described by a 
 gentleman as ' the fairest she he has yet beheld.' In the 
 second place, every variety of apparent grammatical in- 
 accuracy meets us. He for fo'm, him for he ; spoke and 
 took for spoken and taken ; plural nominatives with singu- 
 
 8 
 
GRAMMAR AND VERSIFICATION 9 
 
 lar verbs ; relatives omitted where they are now consid- 
 ered necessary ; unnecessary antecedents inserted ; shall 
 for will, should for would, would for wish; to omitted 
 after I ought, inserted after I durst ; double nega- 
 tives ; double comparatives ( ; more better,' etc.) and su- 
 perlatives ; such followed by which, that by as, as used 
 for as if; that for so that ; and lastly some verbs appar- 
 ently with two nominatives, and others without any nom- 
 inative at all." — Dr. Abbott's Shakesperian Grammar. 
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S VERSIFICATION 
 
 Shakespeare's plays are written mainly in what is 
 known as blank verse; but they contain a number of 
 riming, and a considerable number of prose, lines. As 
 a rule, rime is much commoner in the earlier than in the 
 later plays. Thus, Love's Labor's Lost contains nearly 
 1100 riming lines, while (if we except the songs) Winter's 
 Tale has none. The Merchant of Venice has 124. 
 
 In speaking, we lay a stress on particular syllables ; 
 this stress is called accent. When the words of a com- 
 position are so arranged that the accent recurs at regular 
 intervals, the composition is said to be rhythmical. In 
 blank verse the lines consist usually of ten syllables, of 
 which the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, and tenth are 
 accented. The line consists, therefore, of five parts, 
 each of which contains an unaccented, followed by an ac- 
 cented syllable, as in the word " attend." Each of these 
 
10 VERSIFICATION 
 
 five parts forms what is called a foot or measure ; and 
 the five together form a pentameter. "Pentameter" is 
 a Greek word signifying "five measures." This is the 
 usual form of a line of blank verse. But a long poem 
 composed entirely of such lines would be monotonous, 
 and for the sake of variety several important modifica- 
 tions have been introduced. 
 
 (a) After the tenth syllable, one or two unaccented 
 syllables are sometimes added ; as — 
 
 " Me-thought \ you said I you nei I ther lend \ nor bor \ row." 
 
 (b) In any foot the accent may be shifted from the sec- 
 ond to the first syllable, provided two accented syllables 
 do not come together. 
 
 "Pluck' the | young suck' \ ing cubs' \ from the' \ she bear'." 
 
 (c) In such words as "yesterday," "voluntary," "hon- 
 esty," the syllables -day, -ta-, and -ty falling in the place 
 of the accent, are, for the purposes of the verse, regarded 
 as truly accented. 
 
 " Bar's' me I the right' \ of vol'- \ un-ta' \ ry choos' \ ing.'''' 
 
 (d) Sometimes we have a succession of accented sylla- 
 bles ; this occurs with monosyllabic feet only. 
 
 " Why, now, blow wind, swell billow, and swim bark." 
 
 (e) Sometimes, but more rarely, two or even three 
 unaccented syllables occupy the place of one ; as — 
 
 u He says I he does, \ be-ing then | most flat\ter-ed." 
 
VERSIFICATION 11 
 
 (/) Lines may have any number of feet from one to six. 
 
 Finally, Shakespeare adds much to the pleasing variety 
 of his blank verse by placing the pauses in different parts 
 of the line (especially after the second or third foot), 
 instead of placing them all at the ends of lines, as was 
 the earlier custom. 
 
 N.B. — In some cases the rhythm requires that what 
 we usually pronounce as one syllable shall be divided 
 into two, as fi-er (fire), su-er (sure), mi-el (mile), etc. ; 
 too-elve (twelve), jaw-ee (joy), etc. Similarly, she-on 
 (-tion or -sion). 
 
 It is very important to give the pupil plenty of ear- 
 training by means of formal scansion. This will greatly 
 assist him in his reading. 
 
PLAN OF STUDY FOR "PERFECT 
 POSSESSION" 
 
 To attain to the standard of " Perfect Possession," the 
 reader ought to have an intimate and ready knowledge 
 of the subject. 
 
 The student ought, first of all, to read the play as a 
 pleasure ; then to read it over again, with his mind upon 
 the characters and the plot ; and lastly, to read it for the 
 meanings, grammar, etc. 
 
 With the help of the scheme, he can easily draw up 
 for himself short examination papers (1) on each scene, 
 (2) on each act, (3) on the whole play. 
 
 1. The Plot and Story of the Play. 
 
 (a) The general plot ; 
 (/>) The special incidents. 
 
 2. The Characters : Ability to give a connected account 
 
 of all that is done, and most of what is said by each 
 character in the play. 
 
 3. The Influence and Interplay of the Characters upon 
 
 -each other. 
 
 (a) Relation of A to B and of Bto A; 
 
 (b) Relation of A to C and D. 
 
 12 
 
PLAN OF STUDY 13 
 
 4. Complete Possession of the Language. 
 
 (a) Meanings of words ; 
 
 (6) Use of old words, or of words in an old- 
 meaning ; 
 
 (c) Grammar ; 
 
 (d) Ability to quote lines to illustrate a gram- 
 
 matical point. 
 
 5. Power to Reproduce, or Quote. 
 
 (a) What was said by A or B on a particular 
 
 occasion ; 
 (&) What was said by A in reply to B ; 
 
 (c) What argument was used by C at a particular 
 
 juncture ; 
 
 (d) To quote a line in instance of an idiom or of 
 
 a peculiar meaning. 
 
 6. Power to Locate. 
 
 (a) To attribute a line or statement to a certain 
 
 person on a certain occasion ; 
 (6) To cap a line ; j 
 
 (c) To fill in the right word or epithet. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 William Shakespeare. — "He was born, it is thought, 
 April 23, 1564, the son of a comfortable burgess of Strat- 
 ford-on-Avon. While he was still young, his father fell 
 into poverty, and an interrupted education left the son an 
 inferior scholar. He had ' small Latin and less Greek.' 
 But by dint of genius and by living in a society in which 
 all sorts of information were attainable, he became an 
 accomplished man. The story told of his deer-stealing in 
 Charlecote woods is without proof, but it is likely that 
 his youth was wild and passionate. At nineteen, he 
 married Ann Hathaway, seven years older than himself, 
 and was probably unhappy with her. For this reason or 
 from poverty, or from the driving of the genius that led 
 him to the stage, he left Stratford about 1586-1587, and 
 went to London at the age of twenty-two, and, falling in 
 with Marlowe, Greene, and the rest, became an actor and 
 a playwright, and may have lived their unrestrained and 
 riotous life for some years. 
 
 "His First Period. — It is probable that before leaving 
 Stratford he had sketched a part at least of his Venus 
 and Adonis. It is full of the country sights and sounds, 
 
 14 
 
INTRODUCTION 15 
 
 of the ways of birds and animals, such as he saw when 
 wandering in Charlecote woods. Its rich and overladen 
 poetry and its warm coloring made him, when it was 
 published, 1591-1593, at once the favorite of men like 
 Lord Southampton, and lifted him into fame. But be- 
 fore that date he had done work for the stage by touch- 
 ing up old plays, and writing new ones. We seem to 
 trace his ' prentice hand ' in many dramas of the time, 
 but the first he is usually thought to have retouched is 
 Titus Andronicus, and, some time after, the First Part 
 of Henry VI. 
 
 " Love's Labor's Lost, the first of his original plays, in 
 which he quizzed and excelled the Euphuists in wit, was 
 followed by the rapid farce of the Comedy of Errors. Out 
 of these frolics of intellect and action he passed into pure 
 poetry in the Midsummer Night's Dream, and mingled 
 into fantastic beauty the classic legend, the mediaeval 
 fairyland, and the clownish life of the English mechanic. 
 Italian story then laid its charm upon him, and the Two 
 Gentlemen of Verona preceded the southern glow of pas- 
 sion in Borneo and Juliet, in which he first reached tragic 
 power. They complete, with Love's Labor's Won, after- 
 wards recast as All's Well That Ends Well, the love plays 
 of his early period. We may, perhaps, add to them the 
 second act of an older play, Edward III. We should 
 certainly read along with them, as belonging to the same 
 passionate time, his Bape of Lucrece, a poem finally 
 printed in 1594, one year later than the Venus and Adonis. 
 
 The patriotic feeling of England, also represented in 
 
16 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Marlowe and Peele, now seized on him, and he turned 
 from love to begin his great series of historical plays with 
 Bichard II., 1593-1594. Richard III. followed quickly. 
 To introduce it and to complete the subject, he recast 
 the Second and Third Parts of Henry VI. (written by 
 some unknown authors), and ended his first period with 
 King John ; five plays in a little more than two years. 
 
 " His Second Period, 1596-1602. — In The Merchant of 
 Venice Shakespeare reached entire mastery over his art. 
 A mingled woof of tragic and comic threads is brought 
 to its highest point of color when Portia and Shylock 
 meet in court. Pure comedy followed in his retouch of 
 the old Taming of the Shrew, and all the wit of the 
 world, mixed with noble history, met next in the three 
 comedies of Falstaff, the First and Second Parts of 
 Henry IV., and the Merry Wives of Windsor. The his- 
 torical plays were then closed with Henry V., a splendid 
 dramatic song to the glory of England. 
 
 " The Globe theatre, in which he was one of the proprie- 
 tors, was built in 1599. In the comedies he wrote for it, 
 Shakespeare turned to write of love again, not to touch 
 its deeper passion as before, but to play with it in all 
 its lighter phases. The flashing dialogue of Much Ado 
 About Nothing was followed by the far-off forest world 
 of As You Like It, where ' the time fleets carelessly,' 
 and Rosalind's character is the play. Amid all its gra- 
 cious lightness steals in a new element, and the melan- 
 choly of Jaques is the first touch we have of the older 
 Shakespeare who had ' gained his experience, and whose 
 
INTRODUCTION 17 
 
 experience had made him sad.' And yet it was but a 
 touch ; Twelfth Night shows no trace of it, though the 
 play that followed, AIVs Well That Ends Well, again 
 strikes a sadder note. We find this sadness fully grown 
 in the later sonnets, which are said to have been finished 
 about 1602. They were published in 1609. 
 
 " Shakespeare's life changed now, and his mind changed 
 with it. He had grown wealthy during this period and 
 famous, and was loved by society. He was the friend of 
 the Earls of Southampton and Essex, and of William 
 Herbert, Lord Pembroke. The queen patronized him ; 
 all the best literary society was his own. He had rescued 
 his father from poverty, bought the best house in Strat- 
 ford and much land, and was a man of wealth and com- 
 fort. Suddenly all his life seems to have grown dark. 
 His best friends fell into ruin, Essex perished on the 
 scaffold, Southampton went to the Tower, Pembroke was 
 banished from the Court ; he may himself, as some have 
 thought, have been concerned in the rising of Essex. 
 Added to this, we may conjecture, from the imaginative 
 pageantry of the sonnets, that he had unwisely loved, 
 and been betrayed in his love by a dear friend. Disgust 
 of his profession as an actor, and public and private ill 
 weighed heavily on him, and in darkness of spirit, though 
 still clinging to the business of the theatre, he passed 
 from comedy to write of the sterner side of the world, to 
 tell the tragedy of mankind. 
 
 " His Third Period, 1602-1608, begins with the last days 
 of Queen Elizabeth. It contains all the great tragedies^. 
 
18 INTRODUCTION 
 
 and opens with the fate of Hamlet, who felt, like the 
 poet himself, that ' the time was out of joint. 1 Hamlet, 
 the dreamer, may well represent Shakespeare as he 
 stood aside from the crash that overwhelmed his friends, 
 and thought on the changing world. The tragi-comedy 
 of Measure for Measure was next written, and is tragic 
 in thought throughout. Julius Ccesar, Othello, Macbeth, 
 Lear, Troilus and Cressida (finished from an incomplete 
 work of his youth), Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, 
 Timon (only in part his own) were all written in these 
 five years. The darker sins of men, the unpitying fate 
 which slowly gathers round and falls on men, the aveng- 
 ing wrath of conscience, the cruelty aud punishment of 
 weakness, the treachery, lust, jealousy, ingratitude, mad- 
 ness of men, the follies of the great, and the fickleness 
 of the mob, are all, with a thousand other varying moods 
 and passions, painted, and felt as his own while he painted 
 them, during this stern time. 
 
 11 His Fourth Period, 1608-1613. — As Shakespeare wrote 
 of these things, he passed out of them, and his last days 
 are full of the gentle and loving calm of one who has 
 known sin and sorrow and fate but has risen above them 
 into peaceful victory. Like his great contemporary, 
 Bacon, he left the world and his own evil time behind 
 him, and with the same quiet dignity sought the inno- 
 cence and stillness of country life. The country breathes 
 through all the dramas of this time. The flowers Per- 
 dita gathers in Winter'' s Tale, and the frolic of the sheep- 
 shearing he may have seen in the Stratford meadows ; 
 
INTRODUCTION 19 
 
 the song of Fidele in Cymbeline is written by one who 
 already feared no more the frown of the great, nor slan- 
 der nor censure rash, and was looking forward to the 
 time when men should say of him — 
 
 ' Quiet consummation have ; 
 And renowned be thy grave ! ' 
 
 " Shakespeare probably left London in 1609, and lived 
 in the house he had bought at Stratford-on-Avon. He 
 was reconciled, it is said, to his wife, and the plays he 
 writes speak of domestic peace and forgiveness. The 
 story of Marina, which he left unfinished, and which two 
 later writers expanded into the play of Pericles, is the 
 first of his closing series of dramas. The Two Noble 
 Kinsmen of Fletcher, a great part of which is now, on 
 doubtful grounds, I think, attributed to Shakespeare, 
 and in which the poet sought the inspiration of Chaucer, 
 would belong to this period. Cymbeline, Winter's Tale, 
 and the Tempest bring his history up to 1612, and in the 
 next year he closed his poetic life by writing, with 
 Fletcher, Henry VIII. For three years he kept silence, 
 and then, on the 23d of April, 1616, the day he reached 
 the age of fifty-two, as is supposed, he died. 
 
 " His Work. — We can only guess with regard to Shake- 
 speare's life ; we can only guess with regard to his charac- 
 ter. It has been tried to find out what he was from his 
 sonnets and from his plays, but every attempt seems to 
 be a failure. We cannot lay our hand on anything and 
 say for certain that it was spoken by Shakespeare out of 
 
20 INTRODUCTION 
 
 his own character. The most personal thing in all his 
 writings is one that has scarcely been noticed. It is the 
 Epilogue to the Tempest ; and if it be, as is most proba- 
 ble, the last thing he ever wrote, then its cry for forgive- 
 ness, its tale of inward sorrow, only to be relieved by 
 prayer, give us some dim insight into how the silence 
 of those three years was passed ; while its declaration of 
 his aim in writing, ' which was to please,' — the true defi- 
 nition of an artist's aim, — should make us very cautious 
 in our efforts to define his character from his works. 
 Shakespeare made men and women whose dramatic 
 action on each other, and towards a catastrophe, was 
 intended to please the public, not to reveal himself. 
 
 " No commentary on his writings, no guesses about his 
 life or character, are worth much which do not rest on 
 this canon as their foundation : What he did, thought, 
 learned, and felt, he did, thought, learned, and felt as an 
 artist. And he was never less the artist, through all the 
 changes of the time. Fully influenced, as we see in 
 Hamlet he was, by the graver and more philosophic cast 
 of thought of the later time of Elizabeth ; passing on 
 into the reign of James I., when pedantry took the 
 place of gayety, and sensual the place of imaginative 
 love in the drama, and artificial art the place of that 
 art which itself is nature ; he preserves to the last the 
 natural passion, the simple tenderness, the sweetness, 
 grace, and fire of the youthful Elizabethan poetry. The 
 Winter's Tale is as lovely a love story as Borneo and 
 Juliet, the Tempest is more instinct with imagination 
 
INTRODUCTION 21 
 
 than the Midsummer Night's Dream, and as great in 
 fancy, and yet there are fully twenty years between 
 them. The only change is in the increase of power, and 
 in a closer and graver grasp of human nature. Around 
 him the whole tone and manner of the drama altered 
 for the worse as his life went on, but his work grew to 
 the close in strength and beauty." — Stopford Brooke. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF PLAY 
 
 " The Merchant of Venice is one of the most popu- 
 lar creations of the great poet, and unites within itself 
 all the charms of Shakespeare's poetry. In the first 
 place, let us consider the characterization. 
 
 "Apart from the numerous other characters, which 
 are as true to life as they are clearly and consistently 
 developed, and which balance and set off one another 
 in organic contrasts: — the noble and high-minded but 
 passive and melancholy Antonio, who is little suited to 
 bear the burden of an active, energetic life, and is so 
 well described in the words ' a princely merchant ' ; 
 his gay and sincere friend, Bassanio, who is certainly 
 somewhat frivolous, but amiable and intelligent, a true 
 Italian gentiluomo in the best sense of the word ; his 
 comrades Lorenzo and Gratiano ; further, Portia, who 
 is no less amiable than she is intellectual, and her grace- 
 ful maid, Nerissa ; also Jessica, that child of nature, 
 who loses herself in the enthusiasm of her Eastern pas- 
 sion of love, — apart from all these firmly and accurately 
 delineated characters, down to the silly Launcelot Gob bo 
 
22 INTRODUCTION 
 
 and his childish old father, we have in Shylock, the Jew, 
 a true masterpiece of characterization. . . . 
 
 "As we here have the most brilliant display of Shake- 
 speare's masterly skill in characterization, so his skill 
 as regards the composition, the arrangement, and the 
 development of the complicated substance of the action 
 is no less admirable. The invention, it is true, is not 
 altogether his own ; the greater part of it is taken from 
 a novel of Giovanni Fiorentino's, II Pecorone (which was 
 written in 1378, but not printed till 1558), and the sub- 
 ject of this novel again was borrowed from the Gesta 
 Bomanorum, another part of which contains the prin- 
 cipal features of the story of the three caskets, which, 
 however, is different in point. Still, these sources, and 
 more especially the Gesta Bomanorum, which probably 
 Shakespeare alone made use of, would have furnished 
 the poet with but a thin skeleton which he would have 
 had to clothe with flesh and blood ; besides which, he 
 has freely added several characters, and increased the 
 complication by the introduction of a new episode. 
 
 "Accordingly, we here find three strange and already 
 complex knots wound one into another : first, the law- 
 suit between Antonio and Shylock ; then, Bassanio's 
 courtship and that of the other three suitors for Portia, 
 and Gratiano's for Nerissa ; lastly, Jessica's love for and 
 elopement with Lorenzo. These manifold relations, 
 actions, and incidents, are arranged with such great 
 clearness (the one developed out of and with the other) 
 that we nowhere lose the thread, that every separate 
 
INTROD UCTION 23 
 
 part is harmoniously connected with the other, and that,, 
 in the end, all is rounded off into an organic whole. . . . 
 
 " We may add that Portia's fate, owing to the obstinacy 
 of her deceased father, appears bound to be the decision 
 of chance, and that, in contrast to this, her maid, Ne- 
 rissa, voluntarily makes her own happiness dependent 
 upon the fortune of her mistress ; and that, again, their 
 constrained will and inclinations form a decided contrast 
 to Jessica's voluntary choice, which offends both law 
 and right. 
 
 " Thus even the external arrangement of the manifold 
 situations exhibits that organic contrariety from which 
 life and action everywhere proceed. The one remain- 
 ing question is, where is the internal unity which — 
 before the tribunal of criticism — can alone justify the 
 combination of such heterogeneous elements in one 
 drama ? . . . 
 
 " An actual connection, by means of the thread of inci- 
 dents, is indeed clearly enough set forth, for it is owing 
 to Antonio's self-sacrificing readiness to comply with his 
 friend's wishes that he falls into the Jew's clutches, 
 and owing to Portia's wit and inventive genius that he 
 is saved ; and the courses of the two other love intrigues 
 are connected with these. But this bond is obviously, 
 purely external, accidental ; what, in its inner, essential 
 meaning, has the unhappy lawsuit (which verges upon 
 the tragic) to do with the gay, happy courtship of Bas- 
 sanio and Portia ? . . . 
 
 ' ' In regard to the question as to where this unity is to 
 
24 INTRODUCTION 
 
 be found, commentators disagree here more than in the 
 case of most of Shakespeare's dramas. And it certainly 
 does, in the present case, seem as if the multifarious 
 elements of the action were of a strange and opposite 
 kind of nature ; therefore we cannot feel surprised that 
 some critics should doubt whether the elements are com- 
 binable ; and the details also assert themselves with so 
 much decision, are so free and independent, stand out 
 of the picture in so full and well-rounded a manner, that 
 they involuntarily rivet the eye, and, so to say, lead 
 captive the mind. 
 
 "Hence it becomes difficult to withdraw one's gaze 
 from the graceful movements of the several figures, from 
 the beautiful coloring and the lovely play of light and 
 shade, in order to look for the invisible threads which 
 run through, and hold all the several parts together. 
 
 "In the first place, as regards the lawsuit between 
 Antonio and the Jew, there can, as I think, be scarcely 
 any doubt that its meaning and significance coincides 
 with the old juristic proposition : Summum jus summa 
 injuria [the strictest law, the greatest injustice]. . . . 
 The proposition merely maintains that an acknowledged 
 and positive law turns into its opposite and becomes a 
 wrong when carried to the extreme point of its limited 
 nature and one-sided conception, and when driven to its 
 extreme consequence. 
 
 "Shylock holds fast to the law. Forbearance, gentle- 
 ness, kindliness, and all the lovely names which greet 
 the happy on the threshold of life and accompany them 
 
INTRODUCTION 25 
 
 on their paths, he has never known ; injustice, harsh- 
 ness, and contempt stood around his cradle, hate and 
 persecution obstructed every step of his career. With 
 convulsive vehemence, therefore, he clutches hold of the 
 law, the small morsel of justice which cannot be with- 
 held even from the Jew. This legal, formal, external 
 justice Shylock obviously has on his side, but by taking 
 and following it to the letter, in absolute one-sidedness, 
 he falls into the deepest, foulest wrong, which then 
 necessarily recoils ruinously upon his own head. 
 
 "The same view of the double-edged nature of justice, 
 which is here set forth in its utmost subtility, is, how- 
 ever, I think, also exhibited in manifold lights and 
 shades through the other parts of the play. The deter- 
 mination of Portia's father, which deprives her of all 
 participation in the choice of a husband, is indeed based 
 upon paternal right, but this very right — even though 
 justified by the best intentions of anxious affection — is 
 again, at the same time, a decided wrong. . . . Who 
 would have cast a stone at her had she broken her vow 
 and guided her well-beloved, amiable, and worthy lover, 
 by hints and intimations, in making the right choice ? 
 The wrong, which is here again contained within what 
 is in itself right, would have fallen with tragic force had 
 not accident — in the form of a happy thought, as in the 
 case of the lawsuit — led to a happy result. 
 
 "Jessica's flight and her marriage in opposition to her 
 father's will is, according to generally recognized princi- 
 ples, a flagrant wrong. And yet, who would condemn 
 
26 INTRODUCTION 
 
 her for withdrawing herself from the power and rights 
 of such a father, of whom she is justly ashamed, and to 
 obey whom truly is a matter of impossibility to her con- 
 science and to her innocent heart ? Here again, there- 
 fore, we find a point of right at strife with the demands 
 of morality, and asserting itself emphatically. Shake- 
 speare himself brings it clearly enough forward in Act II. 
 iii., and still more so in III. v., and in the conversations 
 between Launcelot and Jessica. 
 
 " The penalty which the court imposes upon the Jew, 
 and by which he is compelled to sanction the marriage 
 of his daughter with Lorenzo, also neutralizes the con- 
 flicting elements more in an external and accidental 
 manner than by true and internal adjustment. Lastly, 
 right and wrong are no less carried to their extreme 
 points, and consequently placed in a balancing state of 
 uncertainty, in the quarrel between the two loving 
 couples about the rings which they had parted with, in 
 violation of their sworn promises, a scene with which 
 the play closes. . . . 
 
 "Thus we see that the meaning and significance of the 
 many, apparently, heterogeneous elements are united in 
 one point ; they are but variations of the same theme. 
 Human life itself is conceived as a great lawsuit, and 
 justice as the foundation and centre of all existence. . . . 
 No doubt the end of law and justice ought to be to main- 
 tain and support human life. But they do not form the 
 base and centre, they do not include the full value or the 
 whole truth of human existence. When conceived in so 
 
INTRODUCTION 27 
 
 one-sided a manner, they, on the contrary, neutralize 
 each other and all life as well ; right becomes wrong, and 
 wrong right. Law and justice form, rather, but a single 
 side of the whole. Their validity does not rest in and with 
 themselves, but upon the higher principle of morality, 
 from which they radiate but as single rays. . . . Life is 
 not based upon what is right, but upon love and mercy. 
 Love, with its indulgence and clemency, is the higher 
 stage above what is just, and up to which man has to 
 rise, because be cannot remain standing upon the stage 
 of what is just. . . . 
 
 '•' Objection has been raised against this drama, inas- 
 much as it has been supposed that the scene in court, with 
 its tragic seriousness, is inappropriate to the cheerful 
 coloring of the whole ; that the treatment of the Jew, 
 especially his being compelled to become a Christian, is 
 offensive to the feelings and disturbing to the state of 
 mind into which the play has thrown us — that, therefore, 
 it remains a matter of doubt as to which species of drama 
 this play ought to belong. But Shakespeare, as I think, 
 has clearly enough intimated that he does not in any 
 way consider Shylock a tragic character. . . . 
 
 "That Shakespeare himself intended the piece to be 
 regarded as a comedy is attested, not only by its being 
 included among his comedies by Heminge and Condell 
 (in the first part of the folio edition) , but especially by 
 the fifth act in the play itself, which follows directly 
 upon the trial scene. ... It not only entirely effaces 
 any tragic impressions that may have been left by the 
 
28 INTRODUCTION 
 
 fourth act, but all dissonances, all harsh discords, are 
 resolved into the purest harmony. The gay, graceful 
 dalliance of happy and genuine love puts an end to the 
 sharp contrasts between right and wrong, between ap- 
 pearance and reality, between the spirit and the letter ; 
 they neutralize each other because they cannot exist in 
 face of truth and love, which are the true anchorage of 
 human life. 
 
 " As previously, the tragic sorrow — which is a part of 
 Antonio's fate — was everywhere described in the softest 
 colors, and the bitterness appeared clothed in the form 
 of that peaceful, gentle, submissive sadness, into which 
 Antonio's melancholy resolves itself (which clearly 
 enough gives us a glimmer of the happy issue), so the 
 last act most distinctly gives the piece its comic stamp, 
 and playfully puts a mask over its serious character. 
 "We cannot but admire the artistic skill of the poet who, 
 while apparently violating the rules of his art, and thus 
 in danger of being accused by the multitude of failure of 
 effect, nevertheless pursued his object so steadily and 
 consistently, and attained it so surely. . . . 
 
 "Moreover, The Merchant of Venice must have been 
 written before 1598, as it is mentioned by Meres. Hence 
 it belongs to the first decade of Shakespeare's artistic 
 labors, and has, most probably, to be assigned to the 
 year 1597. This is also the opinion of Chalmers and 
 Drake, and with them of Tieck and others. Malone, 
 who places it in 1598 without giving any reason, does 
 not appear to have considered that if it had been written 
 
INTRODUCTION 29 
 
 in that year it could not well have been mentioned by 
 Meres. The oldest print, in two different quartos, be- 
 longs to the year 1600. It is astonishing what progress 
 Shakespeare had made in these few years, when we com- 
 pare this play with the Two Gentlemen of Verona, or 
 with The Comedy of Errors.' 1 '' — Ulrici, Shakespeare'' s 
 Dramatic Art. 
 
 CRITICAL OPINIONS 
 
 " The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare's 
 most perfect works ; popular to an extraordinary degree, 
 and calculated to produce the most powerful effect on the 
 stage, and at the same time, a wonder of ingenuity and 
 art for the reflecting critic. 
 
 " Shy lock, the Jew, is one of the inconceivable master- 
 pieces of characterization of which Shakespeare alone 
 furnishes us with examples. It is easy for the poet and 
 the player to exhibit a caricature of national sentiments, 
 modes of speaking, and gestures. Shylock, however, is 
 everything but a common Jew ; he possesses a very de- 
 terminate and original individuality, and yet we perceive 
 a light touch of Judaism in everything which he says or 
 does. . . . 
 
 "The melancholy and self-neglectful magnanimity of 
 Antonio is affectingly sublime. Like a loyal merchant, 
 he is surrounded with a whole train of noble friends. 
 The contrast which this forms to the selfish cruelty of the 
 usurer Shylock, was necessary to redeem the honor of 
 
30 INTRODUCTION 
 
 human nature. The danger which hangs over Antonio 
 till towards the conclusion of the fourth act, and which 
 the imagination is almost afraid to approach, would fill 
 us with too painful an anxiety, if the poet did not also 
 provide for our entertainment and dissipation. This is 
 particularly effected by the scenes at the country seat of 
 Portia, which transport the spectator into quite another 
 sphere. And yet they are closely connected by the con- 
 catenation of causes and effects, with the main business : 
 the preparations of Bassanio for his courtship are the 
 cause of Antonio's subscribing the dangerous bond ; and 
 Portia again, by nieans of the advice of her uncle, a 
 celebrated councillor, effects the safety of the friend of 
 her lover. 
 
 "But the relations of the dramatic composition are 
 still here admirably observed in another manner. The 
 trial between Shylock and Antonio, though it proceeds 
 like a real event, still remains an unheard-of and particu- 
 lar case. Shakespeare has consequently associated with 
 it a love intrigue not less extraordinary ; the one becomes 
 natural and probable by means of the other. A rich, 
 beautiful, and clever heiress, who can only be won by 
 the solving of a riddle ; the locked caskets ; the foreign 
 princes who come to try the adventure, — with all this 
 wonderful splendor the imagination is powerfully ex- 
 cited. The two scenes in which the Prince of Morocco, 
 in the language of Eastern hyperbole, and the self-con- 
 ceited Prince of Aragon, make their choice among the 
 caskets, merely raise our curiosity and give employment 
 
INTRODUCTION 31 
 
 to our wits ; in the third, where the two lovers stand 
 trembling before the inevitable choice, which in one 
 moment must unite or separate them forever, Shake- 
 speare has lavished all the seductions of feeling, all the 
 magic of poetry. We share in the rapture of Portia and 
 Bassanio at the fortunate choice ; we easily conceive why 
 they are fond of each other, for they are both most de- 
 serving of love. 
 
 "The judgment scene, with which the fourth act is 
 occupied, is alone a perfect drama, concentrating in 
 itself the interest of the whole. The knot is now untied, 
 and, according to the common ideas of theatrical satisfac- 
 tion, the curtain might drop. But the poet was unwill- 
 ing to dismiss his audience with the gloomy impressions 
 which the delivery of Antonio, accomplished with so 
 much difficulty, contrary to all expectation, and the pun- 
 ishment of Shylock were calculated to leave behind — he 
 has therefore added the fifth act by way of a musical 
 afterpiece in the piece itself. The episode of Jessica, 
 the fugitive daughter of the Jew, in whom Shakespeare 
 has contrived to throw a disguise of sweetness over the 
 national features, and the artifice by which Portia and 
 her companion are enabled to rally their newly married 
 husbands, supply him with the materials. The scene 
 opens with the playful prattling of two lovers in a sum- 
 mer evening ; it is followed by soft music and a rapturous 
 eulogy on this powerful disposer of the human mind and 
 the world ; the principal characters then make their ap- 
 pearance, and, after an assumed dissension, which is 
 
32 INTRODUCTION 
 
 elegantly carried on, the whole ends with the most exhil- 
 arating mirth. 1 ' — Schlegel, Lectures on Dramatic Art 
 and Literature. 
 
 " There is reason to conclude that the felicitous union 
 of the two principal actions of this drama, that concate- 
 nation of cause and effect which has formed them into a 
 whole, is to be ascribed almost exclusively to the judg- 
 ment and the art of Shakespeare. There is also another 
 unity of equal moment, seldom found wanting, indeed, 
 in any of the genuine plays of our poet, but which is par- 
 ticularly observable in this, that unity of feeling which, 
 in the present instance, has given a uniform but an ex- 
 traordinary tone to every part of the fable. Thus the 
 unparalleled nature of the trial between the Jew and 
 his debtor required, in order to produce that species of 
 dramatic consistency so essential to the illusion of the 
 reader or spectator, that the other important incident of 
 the piece should assume an equal cast of singularity ; 
 the enigma, therefore, of the caskets is a most suitable 
 counterpart to the savage eccentricity of the bond, and 
 their skilful combination effects the probability arising 
 from similitude of nature and intimacy of connection." 
 — Drake. 
 
 " The Merchant of Venice is generally esteemed the best 
 of Shakespeare's comedies. This excellent play is re- 
 ferred to the year 1597. In the management of the plot, 
 which is sufficiently complex without the slightest confu- 
 sion or incoherence, I do not conceive that it has been 
 surpassed in the annals of any theatre. Yet there are 
 
INTRODUCTION 33 
 
 those who still affect to speak of Shakespeare as a barba- 
 rian ; and others who, giving what they think due credit 
 to his genius, deny him all judgment and dramatic taste, 
 A comparison of his works with those of his contempo- 
 raries — and it is surely to them that we should look — 
 will prove that his judgment is by no means the least of 
 his rare qualities. This is not so remarkable in the mere 
 construction of his fable, though the present comedy is 
 absolutely perfect in that point of view, and several 
 others are excellently managed, as in the general keeping 
 of the characters and the choice of incidents. If Shake- 
 speare is sometimes extravagant, the Marstons and Mid- 
 dletons are seldom otherwise. The variety of characters 
 in The Merchant of Venice, and the powerful delineation 
 of those upon whom the interest chiefly depends, the 
 effectiveness of many scenes in representation, the copi- 
 ousness of the wit, and the beauty of the language, it 
 would be superfluous to extol ; nor is it our office to 
 repeat a tale so often told as the praise of Shakespeare. 
 In the language there is the commencement of a meta- 
 physical obscurity which soon became characteristic ; but 
 it is perhaps less observable than in any later play. ' ' — 
 Hallam. 
 
 Shylock 
 
 " In proportion as Shylock has ceased to be a popular 
 bugbear, 'baited with the rabble's curse,' he becomes a 
 half-favorite with the philosophical part of the audience, 
 who are disposed to think that Jewish revenge is at least 
 
34 INTRODUCTION 
 
 as good as Christian injuries. Shylock is a good hater, 
 'a man no less sinned against than sinning.' If he car- 
 ries his revenge too far, yet he has strong grounds for 
 'the lodged hate he bears Antonio,' which he explains 
 with equal force of eloquence and reason. 
 
 " He seems the depositary of the vengeance of his race ; 
 and, though the long habit of brooding over daily insults 
 and injuries has crusted over his temper with inveterate 
 misanthropy, and hardened him against the contempt of 
 mankind, this adds but little to the triumphant preten- 
 sions of his enemies. There is a strong, quick, and deep 
 sense of justice mixed up with the gall and bitterness of 
 his resentment. The constant apprehension of being 
 burnt alive, plundered, banished, reviled, and trampled 
 on, might be supposed to sour the most forbearing na- 
 ture, and to take something from that ' milk of human 
 kindness,' with which his persecutors contemplated his 
 indignities. 
 
 " The desire of revenge is almost inseparable from the 
 sense of wrong ; and we can hardly help sympathizing 
 with the proud spirit hid beneath his ' Jewish gaberdine,' 
 stung to madness by repeated undeserved provocations, 
 and laboring to throw off the load of obloquy and op- 
 pression heaped upon him and all his tribe by one des- 
 perate act of ' lawful ' revenge, till the ferociousness of 
 the means by which he is to execute his purpose, and the 
 pertinacity with which he adheres to it, turn us against 
 him ; but, even at last, when disappointed of the san- 
 guinary revenge with which he had glutted his hopes, and 
 
INTRODUCTION 35 
 
 exposed to beggary and contempt by tbe letter of the 
 law on which he had insisted with so little remorse, we 
 pity him, and think him hardly dealt with by his judges. 
 " In all his answers and retorts upon his adversaries, 
 he has the best, not only of the argument, but of the 
 question, reasoning on their own principles and practice. 
 They are so far from allowing of any measure of equal 
 dealing, of common justice or humanity between them- 
 selves and the Jew, that even when they come to ask a 
 favor of him, and Shylock reminds them that on such a 
 day they spit upon him ; another, spurned him ; another, 
 called him dog ; and for these courtesies they request he'll 
 lend them so much money, — Antonio, his old enemy, 
 instead of any acknowledgment of the shrewdness and 
 justice of this remonstrance, which would have been 
 preposterous in a respectable Catholic merchant in 
 those times, threatens him with a repetition of the same 
 treatment : — 
 
 ' I am as like to call thee so again, 
 To spit on thee again, to spurn thee too.' 
 
 "After this, the appeal to the Jew's mercy, as if there 
 were any common principle of right and wrong between 
 them, is the rankest hypocrisy or the blindest prejudice ; 
 and the Jew's answer to one of Antonio's friends who 
 asks him what his pound of forfeit flesh is good for, 
 is irresistible." — Hazlitt, Characters of Shakespeare' 's 
 Plays. 
 
36 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Portia 
 
 "Portia is endued with her own share of those de- 
 lightful qualities which Shakespeare has lavished on 
 many of his female characters ; but besides the dignity, 
 the sweetness, and the tenderness which should distin- 
 guish her sex generally, she is individualized by qualities 
 peculiar to herself ; by her high mental powers, her 
 enthusiasm of temperament, her decision of purpose, and 
 her buoyancy of spirit. These are innate. She has 
 other distinguishing qualities more external, and which 
 are the result of the circumstances in which she is placed. 
 Thus she is the heiress of a princely home and countless 
 wealth ; a train of obedient pleasures have ever waited 
 round her ; and from infancy she has breathed an atmos- 
 phere redolent of perfume and blandishment. Accord- 
 ingly, there is a commanding grace, a high-bred, airy 
 elegance, a spirit of magnificence, in all that she does 
 and says, as one to whom splendor had been familiar 
 from her very birth. . . . 
 
 " She is full of penetrative wisdom, and genuine 
 tenderness, and lively wit ; but as she has never known 
 want, or grief, or fear, or disappointment, her wisdom 
 is without a touch of the sombre or the sad ; her affections 
 are all mixed up with faith, hope, and joy, and her wit 
 has not a particle of malevolence or causticity. . . . 
 
 "The sudden plan which she forms for the release of 
 her husband's friend, her disguise, and her deportment 
 as the young and learned doctor would appear forced 
 
INTRODUCTION 37 
 
 and improbable in any other woman, but in Portia are 
 the simple and natural result of her character. The 
 quickness with which she perceives the legal advantage 
 which may be taken of the circumstances, the spirit of 
 adventure with which she engages in the masquerading, 
 and the decision, firmness, and intelligence with which 
 she executes her generous purpose are all in perfect 
 keeping, and nothing appears forced — nothing as intro- 
 duced merely for theatrical effect. 
 
 "But all the finest parts of Portia's character are 
 brought to bear in the trial scene. There she shines 
 forth all her divine self. Her intellectual powers, her 
 elevated sense of religion, her high, honorable principles, 
 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 contrived for 
 effect merely, it is necessary and inevitable. She has 
 two objects in view, — to deliver her husband's friend,, 
 and to maintain her husband's honor by the discharge 
 of his just debt, though paid out of her own wealth ten 
 times over. It is evident that she would rather owe the 
 safety of Antonio to anything rather than the legal 
 quibble with which her cousin Bellario has armed her, 
 and which she reserves as a last resource. Thus all the 
 speeches addressed to Shylock in the first instance are 
 either direct or indirect experiments on his temper and 
 feelings. ... 
 
38 INTRODUCTION 
 
 " At length the crisis arrives, for patience and woman- 
 hood can endure no longer ; and when Shylock, carry- 
 ing 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. . . . But she after- 
 ward recovers her propriety, and triumphs with a cooler 
 scorn and a more self-possessed exultation. . . . 
 
 " What shall be said of the casket scene with Bassanio, 
 where every line which Portia speaks is so worthy of 
 herself, so full of sentiment, and beauty, and poetry, and 
 passion ? Too naturally frank for disguise, too modest 
 to confess her depth of love while the issue of the trial 
 remains in suspense, the conflict between love and fear 
 and maidenly dignity cause the most delicious confusion 
 that ever tinged a woman's cheek or dropped in broken 
 utterance from her lips. . . . 
 
 "Portia's strength of intellect takes a natural tinge 
 from the flush and bloom of her young and prosperous ex- 
 istence, and from her fervid imagination. In the casket 
 scene, she fears indeed the issue of the trial, on which 
 more than her life is hazarded ; but while she trembles, 
 her hope is stronger than her fear. While Bassanio is con- 
 templating the caskets, she suffers herself to dwell for one 
 moment on the possibility of disappointment and misery. 
 . . . Then immediately follows that revulsion of feeling, 
 so beautifully characteristic of the hopeful, trusting, 
 mounting spirit of this noble creature. . . . 
 
INTRODUCTION 39 
 
 ' ' Her passionate exclamations of delight when Bas- 
 sanio has fixed on the right casket are as strong as though 
 she had despaired before. ' Fear and doubt she could 
 repel ; — the native elasticity of her mind bore up against 
 them ; yet she makes us feel that, as the sudden joy 
 overpowers her almost to fainting, the disappointment 
 would as certainly have killed her. . . . 
 
 "Because Portia is endued with that enlarged com- 
 prehension which looks before and after, she does not 
 feel the less, but the more ; because from the height 
 of her commanding intellect, she can contemplate the 
 force, the tendency, the consequences of her own sen- 
 timents, — because she is fully sensible of her own 
 situation and the value of all she concedes, — the con- 
 <«ssion is not made with less entireness and devotion 
 of heart, less confidence in the truth and worth of her 
 lover. . . . 
 
 "In the last act, Shylock and his machinations being 
 dismissed from our thoughts and the rest of the dramatis 
 personce assembled together at Belmont, all our interest 
 and all our attentions are riveted on Portia, and the con- 
 clusion leaves the most delightful impression on the 
 fancy. The playful equivoque of the rings, the sportive 
 trick she puts on her husband, and her thorough enjoy- 
 ment of the jest, which she checks just as it is proceed- 
 ing beyond the bounds of propriety, show how little she 
 was displeased by the sacrifice of her gift, and are all 
 consistent with her bright and buoyant spirit. In con- 
 clusion, when Portia invites her company to enter her 
 
40 INTRODUCTION 
 
 palace to refresh themselves after their travels and talk 
 over 'these events at full,' the imagination, unwilling to 
 lose sight of the brilliant group, follows them in gay pro- 
 cession from the lovely moonlit garden to marble halls and 
 princely revels, to splendor and festive mirth, to love and 
 happiness." — Mrs. Jameson, Characteristics of Women. 
 
 Bassanio 
 
 " Shakespeare has given emphasis to the alliance be- 
 tween Antonio and Bassanio, not merely by removing 
 all secondary solicitations, but by giving depth and 
 definition of the contrast of their characters, and, more- 
 over, by exhibiting the truth of the attachment at a time 
 when that contrast was still further enhanced by the 
 current of accidents. . . . 
 
 "Bassanio has lived like a prodigal, run in debt with 
 his friends, and now coolly proposes to his chief creditor 
 to make a serious addition to his debt, on the speculation 
 that it will give him a chance to pay all by that very 
 precarious as well as undignified resort of making up 
 to an heiress." We are not very seriously offended at 
 this because ' ' we believe Bassanio on the same ground 
 that Antonio does ; we approve of the consent of Antonio 
 on the same grounds that made Bassanio think it not 
 wrong to ask it. The character of an act or a proceed- 
 ing founds at last on the motive ; and the motive is the 
 man ; and poetrjy and romance are allowed to invent 
 perfections of humanity that may yet be unattainable. 
 And thus in a poetic drama we admire and sympathize 
 
INTRODUCTION 41 
 
 with a debt-burdened suitor to a wealthy lady, because 
 there is no moral impossibility, in the nature of things, 
 of such a suit, even when the contingencies of dowry 
 are recognized, being in truth unsordid — though, practi- 
 cally speaking, it will usually be a fool who allows him- 
 self, or herself, to think it can be otherwise. . . . 
 
 " Soundness at heart in a recipient makes imprudence 
 prudent ; and our faith is made happy when Bassanio, 
 who has nothing either to give or hazard, chooses the 
 casket of least promising exterior, which neither natters 
 the self-glory, the noble infirmity of Morocco, of being 
 an object of envy to mankind, nor appeals to the self- 
 complacency that betrayed the Prince of Arragon by 
 referring the chooser to the measure of his deserts, but, 
 repelling rather than inviting, demands the resolution of 
 self-sacrifice — ' Who chooses me must give and hazard 
 all he hath.' . . . His is a spirit of that rare stamp, 
 which fortunate persons even now meet with in the 
 world, to conciliate good will, to attract kindness, and 
 excite among those around a very rivalry of liberalities 
 and good offices, and yet not to grow selfish, unsympa- 
 thetic, and heartlessly incapable of conceiving, much less 
 of returning, the affection it is proper to them to inspire." 
 — Lloyd, Critical Essays on Shakespeare. 
 
 Jessica and Lorenzo 
 
 "It is observable that something of the intellectual 
 brilliance of Portia is reflected on the other female 
 
42 INTRODUCTION 
 
 characters of The Merchant of Venice, so as to preserve 
 in the midst of contrast a certain harmony and keep- 
 ing. Thus Jessica, though properly kept subordinate, is 
 certainly 
 
 4 A most beautiful Pagan — a most sweet Jew.' 
 
 She cannot he called a sketch, or, if a sketch, she is like 
 one of those dashed off in glowing colors from the rain- 
 how palette of a Rubens ; she has a rich tinge of Oriental- 
 ism shed over her, worthy of her Eastern origin. In any 
 other play, and in any other companionship than that of 
 the matchless Portia, Jessica would make a very beauti- 
 ful heroine of herself. Nothing can be more poetically, 
 more classically fanciful and elegant than the scenes be- 
 tween her and Lorenzo, — the celebrated moonlight dia- 
 logue, for instance, which we all have by heart. Every 
 sentiment she utters interests us for her ; more particu- 
 larly her bashful self-reproach when flying in the disguise 
 of a page. . . . And the enthusiastic and generous tes- 
 timony to the superior graces and accomplishments of 
 Portia comes with a peculiar grace from her lips. We 
 should not, however, easily pardon her for cheating her 
 father with so much indifference, but for the perception 
 that Shy lock values his daughter far beneath his wealth." 
 — Mrs. Jameson, Characteristics of Women. 
 
 "The love scenes in Borneo and Juliet are grand, by 
 reason of the tumult and ferment of the affections turn- 
 ing up the heart's root of passion, devotion, and self- 
 prostration to the soul's idol ; but for the calm and full 
 
INTRODUCTION 43 
 
 contentment of luxurious ease in the enjoyment of a 
 blissful consummation, there is no scene like this between 
 little Jessica and her Lorenzo. By the way, he is surely 
 quite as amenable to the charge of 'pedantry ' as the ill- 
 praised Portia [by Hazlitt] ; for he talks sentiment and 
 philosophy to his little wife like a professor in a college ; 
 whereas, in the hands of an inferior poet, he would have 
 talked the common platitudes of the lovemaker. Lorenzo 
 can, and very gracefully does, dally and sport with her in 
 a contest of similes to their marriage-night, and very 
 classical and pretty they are. Afterwards, turning upon 
 the full glory of the Italian moonlight, he breaks into 
 that angelic rapture : — 
 
 ' How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank ! ' etc. 
 
 ' ' Query — somewhat ' pedantic ? that, for a lover to 
 discuss the Platonic theory of the spheral motion to his 
 mistress. Lorenzo is a specimen of an elegant-minded, 
 happy young bridegroom, and that is one of the most en- 
 viable beings under God's heaven." — Charles Cowden- 
 Clarke, Shakespeare Characters. 
 
 Nerissa and Gratiano 
 
 "Nerissa is a fitting attendant-gentlewoman to Portia. 
 She is lively, intelligent, and ever prompt to enter into 
 the spirit of a plot, a disguise, or a playful equivoque,, 
 with her bridegroom-husband. . . . 
 
 " Of Madam Nerissa, however, be it rather more 
 
44 INTRODUCTION 
 
 than surmised from indications given, that she is one of 
 that clan who will keep her husband trotting, partly 
 from legitimate and sex-honored exaction, and partly, 
 perhaps, from liveliness of disposition ; and, also, because 
 that he, being a good-natured fellow, will evidently spoil 
 her ; and then, let us hope he may not have his head 
 tattooed. 
 
 "That husband, Gratiano, is a most delightful and 
 most natural character. He is one of those useful men 
 in society who will keep up the ball of mirth and good- 
 humor, simply by his own mercurial temperament and 
 agreeable rattle ; for he is like a babbling, woodside 
 brook, seen through at once, and presenting every ripple 
 of its surface to the sunbeams of good-fellowship. . . . 
 And, what is better than all, if a friend be in adversity, 
 Gratiano will champion him with good words and deeds, 
 if not with the most sagacious counsel. 
 
 " He would, no doubt, talk a man off his legs; and, 
 therefore, Shakespeare has brought him as a relief against 
 the two grave men, Antonio and Bassanio, who, being both 
 anxious on account of worldly cares, resent his vivacity, 
 and they are, at all events, as peevish as he is flippant 
 and inconsiderate. Bassanio says of Gratiano that he 
 ' speaks an infinite deal of nothing ' ; that ' 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.' The best of 
 all this is, that Bassanio himself advances no claim to be 
 the censor of his lively companion, for, in comparison 
 
INTRODUCTION 45 
 
 with him, he is dull in capacity, and the very observation 
 just quoted follows one of the most agreeable and sen- 
 sible speeches in the play, made by the infinite-deal-of- 
 nothing Gratiano. ' ' 
 
 Launcelot Gobbo 
 
 " And now, for a pleasant wind-up, talk we of Master 
 Launcelot ; or, Master Launcelot Gobbo ; or, good Gobbo ; 
 or, good Master Launcelot Gobbo. 
 
 ' ' In the old editions, Gobbo is called a clown, and in 
 character he is a sort of mongrel between the thorough- 
 bred jester-clown and the cur errand-boy. The vein 
 of humor that distinguishes this class of persons must 
 have been popular in Shakespeare's time, since he has 
 repeated the character on various occasions ; and, al- 
 though it has passed away from us, yet it still possesses 
 more than an obsolete interest by reason of its quaint 
 idiosyncrasy. 
 
 "Launcelot is a sort of ' arabesque' character in the 
 order of humanity ; exhibiting the prevalent feature of 
 likeness, with a portentous nourish of half-meaning, 
 which passes for embellishment. He is a fellow who will 
 scramble through the world with a ' light heart and a thin 
 pair of inexpressibles.' His spare diet at the Jew's does 
 not waste his humor, and conscience will scarcely sit 
 heavily on him in the night-watches, since the gravest 
 misdemeanor that can be laid to his charge is, that he 
 runs away from a master in whose service he swears he 
 is ' famished ' ; his master's character of him being : ' The 
 
46 INTRODUCTION 
 
 patch is kind enough, but a huge feeder. .' Nevertheless 
 he says, ' You may tell every ringer I have with my ribs.' 
 And yet, with all this inducement, he sedately balances 
 the question between his conscience to remain, and the 
 temptation of Old Scratch to run away ; and Old Scratch 
 being right, for once, carries the debate." — Charles 
 Cowden-Clarke, Shakespeare Characters. 
 
MERCHANT OF VENICE 
 
friends to Antonio and Bassanio. 
 
 PERSONS REPRESENTED 
 
 Duke of Venice. 
 
 Prince of Arragon, suitor to Portia. 
 Prince of Morocco, suitor to Portia. 
 Antonio, the Merchant of Venice. 
 Bassanio, friend to Antonio. 
 
 SOLANIO, 
 
 Salarino, 
 
 Gratiano, 
 
 Salerio, 
 
 Lorenzo, in love with Jessica. 
 
 Shylock, a Jew. 
 
 Tubal, a Jew, friend to Shylock. 
 
 Launcelot Gobbo, a Clown, servant to Shylock. 
 
 Old Gobbo, father to Launcelot. 
 
 Leonardo, servant to Bassanio. 
 
 Balthazar, ) , _ .. 
 
 > servants to Portia. 
 Stephano, ) 
 
 Portia, a rich heiress. 
 Nerissa, waiting-maid to Portia. 
 Jessica, daughter to Shylock. 
 
 Magnificoes of Venice, Officers of the Court of Justice, 
 Gaoler, Servants to Portia, and Attendants. 
 
 SCENE — Partly at Venice; and partly at Belmont, the 
 seat of Portia, on the Continent. 
 
 48 
 
THE MEKCHANT OF VENICE 
 
 ACT I 
 
 Scene I 
 
 Venice. A Street 
 
 Enter Antonio, Salarino, and Solanio 
 
 Ant. In sooth, I know not why I am so sad ; 
 It wearies me ; yon say it wearies you ; 
 But how I caught it, found it, or came by it, 
 What stuff 'tis 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. 
 
 Salar. Your mind is tossing on the ocean ; 
 There, where your argosies with portly sail, — 
 Like signiors and rich burghers on the flood, 10 
 
 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. 
 
 49 
 
50 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act 1 
 
 Solan. 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 ; 
 
 20 And every object that might make me fear 
 Misfortune to my ventures, out of doubt, 
 Would make me sad. 
 
 Salar. 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 hour-glass 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 
 
 30 And see the holy edifice of stone, 
 
 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, bechanced, would make me sad ? 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 51 
 
 But tell not me ; I know Antonio 
 
 Is sad to think upon his merchandise. 40 
 
 Ant. 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. 
 
 Salar. Why, then you are in love. 
 
 Ant. Fie, fie ! 
 
 Salar. Not in love neither ? Then let us say you are sad 
 Because you are not merry : and 'twere as easy 
 For you to laugh and leap and say you are merry, 
 Because you are not sad. Now, by two-headed Janus, 50 
 Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time : 
 Some that will evermore peep through their eyes, 
 And laugh, like parrots, at a bag-piper : 
 And other of such vinegar aspect, 
 That they'll not show their teeth in way of smile, 
 Though Nestor swear the jest be laughable. 
 
 Solan. Here comes Bassanio, your most noble kins- 
 man, 
 Gratiano, and Lorenzo. Fare you well ; 
 We leave you now with better company. 
 
 Salar. I would have stay'd till I had made you merry, 60 
 If worthier friends had not prevented me. 
 
52 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act I 
 
 Ant. Your worth is very dear in my regard. 
 I take it, your own business calls on you, 
 And you embrace th' occasion to depart. 
 
 Enter Bassanio, Lorenzo, and Gratiano 
 
 Salar. Good morrow, my good lords. 
 Bass. Good signiors both, when shall we laugh? 
 Say, when ? 
 You grow exceeding strange : must it be so ? 
 
 Salar. We'll make our leisures to attend on yours. 
 
 [Exeunt Salarino and Solanio. 
 Lor. My lord Bassanio, since you have found An- 
 tonio, 
 70 We two will leave you ; but at dinner-time 
 I pray you have in mind where we must meet. 
 Bass. I will not fail you. 
 Gra. 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 changed. 
 
 Ant. I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano; 
 A stage where every man must play a part, 
 And mine a sad one. 
 
 Gra. Let me play the Fool : 
 
 80 AVith mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come ; 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 53 
 
 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, — 
 
 1 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, 1 am Sir Oracle, 
 
 And when I ope my lips let no dog bark! 
 
 O my Antonio, I do know of these 
 
 That therefore only are reputed wise 
 
 For saying nothing; who I'm 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, a while ; 
 
 I'll end my exhortation after dinner. 
 
 Lor. Well, we will leave you, then, till dinner-time : 
 
54 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act I 
 
 I must be one of these same dumb wise men, 
 For Gratiano never lets me speak. 
 
 Gra. Well, keep me company but two years more, 
 Thou shalt not know the sound of thine own tongue. 
 110 Ant. Farewell : I'll grow a talker for this gear. 
 
 Gra. Thanks, i' faith ; for silence is only commend- 
 . able 
 In a neat's tongue dried. 
 
 [Exeunt Gratiano and Lorenzo. 
 
 Ant. Is that anything now ? 
 
 Bass. 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. 
 
 Ant. Well ; tell me now what lady is the same 
 120 To whom you swore a secret pilgrimage, 
 That you to-day promised to tell me of ? 
 
 Bass. 'Tis 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 abridged 
 From such a noble rate ; but my chief care 
 Is to come fairly off from the great debts 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 55 
 
 Wherein my time, something too prodigal, 
 
 Hath left me gaged. To you, Antonio, 130 
 
 I owe the most in money and in love ; 
 
 And from your love I have a warranty 
 
 To unburden all my plots and purposes, 
 
 How to get clear of all the debts I owe. 
 
 Ant. I pray you, good Bassanio, let me know it; 
 And, if it stand, as you yourself still do, 
 Within the eye of honor, be assured 
 My purse, my person, my extremist means 
 Lie all unlock'd to your occasions. 
 
 Bass. In my school-days, when I had lost one shaft* 140 
 I shot his fellow of the self-same flight 
 The self-same 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 botn 150 
 
 Or bring your latter hazard back again, 
 And thankfully rest debtor for the first. 
 
 A nt. You know me well : and herein spend but time 
 
56 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act I 
 
 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, 
 160 And I am prest unto it : therefore speak. 
 Bass. 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 
 170 Hang on her temples like a golden fleece ; 
 
 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. 
 
 Ant Thou know'st that all my fortunes are at sea; 
 Neither have I money nor commodity 
 
Scene 2] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 57 
 
 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 
 
 Por. By my troth, Nerissa, my little body is a-weary 
 of this great world. 
 
 Ner. 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 noth- 
 ing. It is no small happiness, therefore, to be seated 
 in the mean ; superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, 
 but competency lives longer. 
 
 Por. Good sentences, and well pronounced. 10 
 
 Ner. They would be better, if well followed. 
 
 Por. If to do were as easy as to know what were 
 
58 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act I 
 
 good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor 
 men's cottages princes' palaces. It is a good divine 
 that follows 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 
 
 20 youth, to skip o'er the meshes of good counsel the 
 cripple. But 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? 
 
 Ner. 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 
 
 30 gold, silver, and lead, (whereof who chooses his mean- 
 ing chooses you,) will, no doubt, never be chosen by 
 any rightly, but one who shall rightly love. But what 
 warmth is there in your affection towards any of these 
 princely suitors that are already come ? 
 
 Por. I pray thee over-name them ; and as thou 
 namest them I will describe them ; and, according to 
 my description, level at my affection. 
 
Scene 2] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 59 
 
 Ner. First, there is the Neapolitan prince. 
 
 Por. Ay, that's a colt, indeed, for he doth nothing 
 but talk of his horse ; and he makes it a great appro- 40 
 priation to his own good parts that he can shoe him 
 himself. 
 
 Ner. Then is there the County Palatine. 
 
 Por. He doth nothing but frown ; as who should 
 say, An you ivill 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 un- 
 mannerly sadness in his youth. I had rather be mar- 
 ried to a death's-head with a bone in his mouth than 
 to either of these. God defend me from these two ! 50 
 
 Ner. How say you by the French lord, Monsieur 
 Le Bon ? 
 
 Por. 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 Neapoli- 
 tan's ; a better bad habit of frowning than the Count 
 Palatine : he is every man in no man : if a throstle 
 sing, he falls straight a-capering; he will fence with 
 his own shadow : if I should marry him, I should 
 marry twenty husbands : if he would despise me, I 60 
 would forgive him ; for, if he love me to madness, 
 I shall never requite him. 
 
60 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act I 
 
 Ner. What say you, then, to Falconbridge, the 
 young baron of England? 
 
 Por. You know I say nothing to him ; for he 
 understands not me, nor I him : he hath neither 
 Latin, French, nor Italian ; and you will come into 
 the court and swear that I have a poor pennyworth in 
 the English. He is a proper man's picture. But, 
 70 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 Ger- 
 many, and his behavior everywhere. 
 
 Ner. What think you of the Scottish lord, his 
 neighbor ? 
 
 Por. That he hath a neighborly charity in him ; 
 
 . for he borrowed a box of the ear of the Englishman, 
 
 and swore he would pay him again when he was able : 
 
 I think the Frenchman became his surety, and sealed 
 
 80 under for another. 
 
 Ner. How like you the young German, the Duke of 
 Saxony's nephew ? 
 
 Por. 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. 
 
Scene 2] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 61 
 
 Ner. If he should offer to choose, and choose the 
 right casket, you should refuse to perform your 90 
 father's will if you should refuse to accept him. 
 
 Por. Therefore, for fear of the worst, I pray thee 
 set a deep glass of Rhenish wine on the contrary cas- 
 ket : for, if the devil be within and that tempta- 
 tion without, I know he will choose it. I will do any- 
 thing, Nerissa, ere I will be married to a sponge. 
 
 Ner. You need not fear, lady, the having any 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 100 
 you may be won by some other sort than your father's 
 imposition, depending on the caskets. 
 
 Por. If I live to be as old as Sibylla, I will die 
 as chaste as Diana, unless I be obtained by the man- 
 ner 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 I wish them 
 a fair departure. 
 
 Ner. Do you not remember, lady, in your father's 
 time, a Venetian, a scholar, and a soldier, that came 110 
 hither in company of the Marquis of Montf errat ? 
 
 Por. Yes, yes, it was Bassanio ; as I think, so was 
 he called. 
 
62 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act I 
 
 Ner. True, madam ; he, of all the men that ever my 
 foolish eyes looked upon, was the best deserving a fair 
 lady. 
 
 Par. I remember him well ; and I remember him 
 worthy of thy praise. How now ! what news ? 
 
 Enter a Servant 
 
 Serv. The four strangers seek you, madam, to take 
 120 their leave : and there is a forerunner come from a 
 fifth, the Prince of Morocco; who brings word the 
 prince, his master, will be here to-night. 
 
 Por. 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 condition of a 
 saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he 
 should shrive me than wive me. 
 . Come, Nerissa. Sirrah, go before. 
 Whiles we shut the gate upon one wooer, another 
 knocks at the door. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene III 
 
 Venice. A public Place 
 
 Enter Bassanio and Shylock 
 
 Shy. Three thousand ducats, — well. 
 Bass. Ay, sir, for three months. 
 
Scene 3] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 63 
 
 Shy. For three months, — well. 
 
 Bass. For the which, as I told you, Antonio shall 
 be bound. 
 
 Shy. Antonio shall become bound, — well. 
 
 Bass. May you stead me ? Will you pleasure me ? 
 Shall I know your answer? 
 
 Shy. Three thousand ducats, for three months, and 
 Antonio bound. -^ 
 
 Bass. Your answer to that. 
 
 Shy. Antonio is a good man. 
 
 Bass. Have you heard any imputation to the con- 
 trary ? 
 
 Shy. Ho ! no, no, no, no ; — my meaning in saying 
 he is a good man is to have you understand me that 
 he is sufficient : yet his means are in supposition ; 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 England ; and 20 
 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, notwithstanding, suffi- 
 cient ; — three thousand ducats ; — I think I may take 
 his bond. 
 
64 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act I 
 
 Bqss. Be assured you may. 
 
 Shy. I will be assured I may ; and, that I may be 
 30 assured, I will bethink, me. May I speak with An- 
 tonio? 
 
 Bass. If it please you to dine with us. 
 
 Shy. Yes, to smell pork; to eat of the habitation 
 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 Rial to? — Who is he comes here? 
 
 Enter Antonio 
 
 Bass. This is signior Antonio. 
 40 Shy. [Aside.] How like a fawning publican he 
 looks ! 
 I hate him for he is a Christian: 
 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 nation ; and he rails, 
 Even there where merchants most do congregate, 
 On me, my bargains, and my well-won thrift, 
 
Scene 3] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 65 
 
 Which he calls interest. Cursed be my tribe 50 
 
 If I forgive him ! 
 
 Bass. Shylock, do you hear ? 
 
 Shy. 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. 
 
 Ant. Shylock, albeit I neither lend nor borrow 60 
 
 By taking nor by giving of excess, 
 Yet, to supply the ripe wants of my friend, 
 I'll break a custom. — \_To Bass.] Is he yet possess'd, 
 How much you would ? 
 
 Shy. Ay, ay, three thousand ducats. 
 
 Ant. And for three months. 
 
 Shy. I had forgot ; three months, you told me so. 
 Well then, your bond; and, let me see. But hear, you : 
 Methought you said you neither lend nor borrow 
 Upon advantage. 
 
 Ant. I do never use it. 
 
 Shy. When Jacob grazed his uncle Laban's sheep — 70 
 
66 THE MERCHANT .OF VENICE [Act I 
 
 This Jacob from our holy Abraham was 
 (As his wise mother wrought in his behalf) 
 The third possessor ; ay, he was the third — 
 
 Ant. And what of him? did he take interest? 
 
 Shy. No, not take interest ; not, as you would say, 
 Directly interest : mark what Jacob did 
 When Laban and himself were compromised, 
 That all the eanlings which were streaked and pied 
 Should fall as Jacob's hire. 
 80 This was a way to thrive, and he was blest; 
 And thrift is blessing, if men steal it not. 
 
 Ant. 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 the hand of Heaven. 
 Was this inserted to make interest good ? 
 Or is your gold and silver ewes and rams ? 
 
 Shy. I cannot tell ; I make h) breed as fast : 
 But note me, signior. 
 
 Ant. Mark you this, Bassanio, 
 
 The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. 
 90 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 ! 
 
 Shy. Three thousand ducats, — 'tis a good round sum. 
 
Scene 3] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 67 
 
 Three months from twelve ; then, let me see, the 
 rate — 
 
 A nt. Well, Shylock, shall we be beholding to you ? 
 
 Shy. Signior Antonio, many a time and oft 
 In the Rialto you have rated me 
 About my moneys, and my usances : 
 
 Still I have borne it with a patient shrug ; 100 
 
 For sufferance is the badge of all our tribe : 
 You call me misbeliever, cut-throat, dog, 
 And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine, 
 And all for use of that which is mine own. 
 Well then, it now appears you need my help : 
 Go to, then : you come to me, and you say, 
 Shylock, we would have moneys ; you say so ; 
 You, that did void your rheum upon my beard, 
 And foot me, as you spurn a stranger cur 
 Over your threshold ; moneys is your suit. 110 
 
 What should I say to you ? Should I not say, 
 Hath a dog money ? is it possible 
 A cur can- lend three thousand ducats ? or 
 Shall I bend low, and in a bondman's key, 
 With 'bated breath and whispering humbleness, 
 Say this, — 
 
 Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last; 
 You spurn'd me such a day ; another time 
 
68 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act I 
 
 You calVd me dog ; and for these courtesies 
 120 I'll lend you thus much moneys ? 
 
 Ant. I am as like to call thee so again, 
 To spit on thee again, to spurn thee too. 
 If thou wilt lend this money, lend it not 
 As to thy friends ; (for when did friendship take 
 A breed 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. 
 
 Shy. Why, look you, how you storm ! 
 
 I would be friends with you, and have your love ; 
 130 Forget the shames that you have stain 'd me with ; 
 Supply your present wants, and take no doit 
 Of usance for my moneys, and you'll not hear 
 
 me : 
 This is kind I offer. 
 
 Bass. This were kindness. 
 
 Shy. This kindness will I show : 
 Go with me to a notary : seal me there 
 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 
 140 Be nominated for an equal pound 
 
Scene 3] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 69 
 
 Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken 
 In what part of your body pleaseth me. 
 
 Ant. Content, in faith ; I'll seal to such a bond, 
 And say there is much kindness in the Jew. ' 
 
 Bass. You shall not seal to such a bond for me ; 
 I'll rather dwell in my necessity. 
 
 Ant. 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. 150 
 
 Shy. 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 ? 
 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 favor I extend this friendship; 
 If he will take it, so ; if not, adieu ; 160 
 
 And, for my love, I pray you wrong me not. 
 
 A nt. Yes, Shylock, I will seal unto this bond. 
 
 Shy. Then meet me forthwith at the notary's; 
 Give him direction for this merry bond, 
 And I will go and purse the ducats straight ; 
 
70 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act I 
 
 See to my house, left in the fearful guard 
 
 Of an unthrifty knave ; and presently 
 
 I will be with you. [Exit. 
 
 Ant. Hie thee, gentle Jew. 
 
 This Hebrew will turn Christian ; he grows kind. 
 170 Bass. I like not fair terms and a villain's mind. 
 Ant. Come on; in this there can be no dismay, 
 My ships come home a month before the day. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
72 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act II 
 
 act n 
 
 Scene I 
 
 Belmont. A Room in Portia's House 
 
 Flourish of Cornets. Enter the Prince of Morocco, 
 and his Train ; Portia, Nerissa, and others attend- 
 ing 
 
 Mor. Mislike me not for my complexion, 
 The shadow'd livery of the burnish'd sun, 
 To whom I am a neighbor, and near bred. 
 Bring me the fairest creature northward born, 
 Where Phcebus' 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 
 10 The best-regarded virgins of our clime 
 
 Have loved it too : I would not change this hue, 
 Except to steal your thoughts, my gentle queen. 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 73 
 
 Por. 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 hedged me by his will 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. 
 
 Mor. 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 outstare 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, £0 
 
 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, 
 
74 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act II 
 
 Miss that which one unworthier may attain, 
 And die with grieving. 
 
 For. You must take your chance ; 
 
 And either not attempt to choose at all, 
 40 Or, swear before you choose, — if you choose wrong, 
 Never to speak to lady afterward 
 In way of marriage ; therefore be advised. 
 
 Mor. Nor will not ; come, bring me unto my chance. 
 
 Por. First, forward to the temple ; after dinner 
 Your hazard shall be made. 
 
 Mor. Good fortune then ! 
 
 To make me blest or cursed'st among men. 
 
 [Cornets. Exeunt. 
 
 Scene II 
 
 Venice. A Street 
 
 Enter Launcelot Gobbo 
 
 Laun. 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 ; 
 
Scene 2] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 75 
 
 take heed, honest Gobbo ; or (as aforesaid) honest 
 Launcelot Gobbo; do not run: scorn running with thy 
 heels. Well, the most courageous fiend bids me pack. 
 Via ! says the fiend ; away ! says the fiend, for the 10 
 heavens ; rouse up a brave mind, says the fiend, and run. 
 Well, my 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 ; for, indeed, my father did something 
 smack, something grow to, he had a kind of taste; — 
 well, my conscience says, Launcelot, budge not. Budge, 
 says the fiend. Budge not, says my conscience. Con- 
 science, say I, you counsel well ; fiend, say I, you counsel 
 well : to be ruled by my conscience I should stay with 20 
 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 conscience, my conscience is 
 but 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. 
 
76 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act II 
 
 Enter Old Gobbo with a basket 
 
 30 Gob. Master young man, you, I pray you ; which is 
 the way to Master Jew's? 
 
 Laun. \_Aside.~] O heavens, this is my true-begotten 
 father ! who, being more than sand-blind, high-gravel 
 blind, knows me not : I will try confusions with 
 him. 
 
 Gob. Master young gentleman, I pray you, which 
 is the way to Master Jew's ? 
 
 Laun. Turn up on your right hand at the next 
 turning, but, at the next turning of all, on your left ; 
 40 marry, at the very next turning, turn of no hand, but 
 turn down indirectly to the Jew's house. 
 
 Gob. By God's sonties, 'twill be a hard way to hit. 
 Can you tell me whether one Launcelot, that dwells 
 with him, dwell with him or no? 
 
 Laun. Talk you of young Master Launcelot? — 
 [aside'] — Mark me now — now will I raise the waters. 
 — Talk you of young Master Launcelot? 
 
 Gob. N"o master, sir, but a poor man's son : his 
 father, though I say it, is an honest exceeding poor 
 50 man, and, God be thanked, well to live. 
 
 Laun. Well, let his father be what 'a will, we talk 
 of young Master Launcelot. 
 
Scene 2] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 11 
 
 Gob. Your worship's friend and Launcelot, sir. 
 
 Laun. But I pray you, ergo, old man, ergo, I beseech 
 you, talk you of young Master Launcelot ? 
 
 Gob. Of Launcelot, an't please your mastership. 
 
 Laun. Ergo, Master Launcelot ; talk not of Master 
 Launcelot, father ; for the young gentleman (accord- 
 ing to fates and destinies, and such odd sayings, the 
 sisters three, and such branches of learning), is, in- 60 
 deed, deceased ; or, as you would say in plain terms, 
 gone to heaven. 
 
 Gob. Marry, God forbid ! the boy was the very staff 
 of my age, my very prop. 
 
 Laun. [Aside.] Do I look like a cudgel, or a 
 hovel-post, a staff, or a prop? — Do you know me, 
 father ? 
 
 Gob. Alack the day, I know you not, young gentle- 
 man : but, I pray you, tell me, is my boy (God rest 
 his soul !) alive or dead ? 70 
 
 Laun. Do you not know me, father? 
 
 Gob. Alack, sir, I am sand-blind, I know you 
 not. 
 
 Laun. 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 : give me your blessing : truth will come 
 
78 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act II 
 
 to light; murder cannot be hid long; a man's son 
 may; but, in the end, truth will out. 
 80 Gob. Pray you, sir, stand up ; I am sure you are 
 not Launcelot, my boy. 
 
 Laun. 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. 
 
 Gob. I cannot think you are my son. 
 
 Laun. I know not what I shall think of that : but 
 I am Launcelot, the Jew's man ; and I am sure Mar- 
 gery, your wife, is my mother. 
 90 Gob. Her name is Margery, indeed : I'll 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. 
 
 Laun. It should seem then that Dobbin's tail 
 grows backward; I am sure he had more hair of 
 his tail than I have of my face, when I last saw 
 him. 
 
 Gob. Lord, how art thou changed ! How dost thou 
 100 and thy master agree ? I have brought him a pres- 
 ent. How 'gree you now? 
 
 Laun. Well, well; but for mine own part, as I 
 
Scene 2] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 79 
 
 have set up my rest to run away, so I will not rest 
 till I have run some 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, indeed, gives rare new liveries ; if I serve not 
 him, I will run as far as God has any ground. — O 110 
 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 
 
 Bass. 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 
 to making ; and desire Gratiano to come anon to my 
 lodging. [Exit a Servant. 
 
 Laun. To him, father. 
 
 Gob. God bless your worship ! 
 
 Bass. Gramercy ! Wouldst thou aught with me ? 120 
 
 Gob. Here's my son, sir, a poor boy, — 
 
 Laun. Not a poor boy, sir, but the rich Jew's man ; 
 that would, sir, as my father shall specify, — 
 
 Gob. He hath a great infection, sir, as one would 
 say, to serve, — 
 
80 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act II 
 
 Laun. Indeed, the short and the long is, I serve 
 the Jew, and have a desire, as my father shall 
 specify, — 
 
 Gob. His master and he (saving your worship's 
 130 reverence) are scarce cater-cousins : — 
 
 Laun. 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, — 
 
 Gob. I have here a dish of doves, that I would 
 bestow upon your worship ; and my suit is, — 
 
 Laun. In very brief, the suit is impertinent to my- 
 self, as your worship shall know by this honest old 
 man ; and, though I say it, though old man, yet poor 
 man, my father. 
 140 Bass. One speak for both : — what would you? 
 
 Laun. Serve you, sir. 
 
 Gob. That is the very defect of the matter, sir. 
 
 Bass. I know thee well, thou 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. 
 
 Laun. The old proverb is very well parted between 
 my master Shylock and you, sir ; you have the grace 
 150 of God, sir, and he hath enough. 
 
Scene 2] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 81 
 
 Bass. Thou speak'st it well. Go, father, with thy 
 son: — 
 Take leave of thy old master, and inquire 
 My lodging out : — [to his Followers] give him a 
 
 livery 
 More guarded than his fellows' : see it done. 
 
 Laun. Father, in: — I cannot get a service, no! — 
 I have ne'er a tongue in my head ! — Well [looking 
 on his palm] ; if any man in Italy have a fairer table 
 which doth offer to swear upon a book I shall have 
 good fortune ! Go to, here's a simple line of life ! 
 here's a small trifle of wives : alas, fifteen wives is 160 
 nothing ; 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'll take my leave of the Jew in the twinkling 
 of an eye. [Exeunt Launcelot and Old Gobbo. 
 
 Bass. I pray thee, good Leonardo, think on this ; 
 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. 170 
 
 Leon. My best endeavors shall be done herein. 
 
82 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act II 
 
 Enter Gratiano 
 
 Gra. Where's your master? 
 
 Leon. Yonder, sir, he walks. 
 
 [Exit. 
 
 Gra. Signior Bassanio, — 
 
 Bass. Gratiano ! 
 
 Gra. I have a suit to you. 
 
 Bass. You have obtain'd it. 
 
 Gra. You must not deny me : I must go with you 
 to Belmont. 
 
 Bass. Why, then you must. — But hear thee, Grati- 
 ano; 
 Thou art too wild, too rude and bold of voice ; 
 Parts that become thee happily enough, 
 180 And in such eyes as ours appear not faults ; 
 
 But where thou art 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 behavior, 
 
 I be misconstrued in the place I go to, 
 
 And lose my hopes. 
 
 Gra. Signior Bassanio, hear me : 
 
 If I do not put on a sober habit, 
 Talk with respect, and swear but now and then, 
 
Scene 3] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 83 
 
 Wear prayer-books in my pocket, look demurely ; 
 
 Nay more, while grace is saying, hood mine eyes 190 
 
 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. 
 
 Bass. Well, we shall see your bearing. 
 
 Gra. Nay, but I bar to-night ; you shall not gage me 
 By what we do to-night. 
 
 Bass. 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, 200 
 
 I have some business. 
 
 Gra. And I must to Lorenzo and the rest ; 
 But we will visit you at supper-time. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene III 
 
 Venice. A Room in Shi/lock's House 
 
 Enter Jessica and Launcelot 
 
 Jes. 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. 
 
84 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act II 
 
 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. 
 
 10 Laun. Adieu ! — tears exhibit my tongue. Most 
 
 beautiful pagan, — most sweet Jew ! These foolish 
 
 drops do somewhat drown my manly spirit : adieu ! 
 
 [Exit. 
 Jes. Farewell, good Launcelot. 
 
 Alack, what heinous sin is it in me 
 
 To be ashamed to be my father's child ! 
 
 But, though I am a daughter to his blood, 
 
 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. 
 
 Scene IV 
 
 Venice. A Street 
 
 Enter Gratiano, Lorenzo, Salarino, and Solanio 
 
 Lor. Nay, we will slink away in supper-time, 
 Disguise us at my lodging, and return 
 All in an hour. 
 
Scene 4] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 85 
 
 Gra. We have not made good preparation. 
 
 Salar. "We have not spoke us yet of torchbearers. 
 
 Solan. 'Tis vile unless it may be quaintly order'd ; 
 And better, in my mind, not undertook. 
 
 Lor. 'Tis now but four o'clock ; we have two 
 hours 
 To furnish us. — 
 
 Enter Launcelot with a letter 
 
 Friend Launcelot, what's the news ? 
 
 Laun. An it shall please you to break up this, it 10 
 shall seem to signify. 
 
 Lor. I know the hand : in faith, 'tis a fair hand ; 
 And whiter than the paper it writ on 
 Is the fair hand that writ. 
 
 Gra. Love-news, in faith. 
 
 Laun. By your leave, sir. 
 
 Lor. Whither goest thou ? 
 
 Laun. Marry, sir, to bid my old master the Jew to 
 sup to-night with my new master the Christian. 
 
 Lor. Hold here, take this : — tell gentle Jessica, 
 I will not fail her ; speak it privately ; go. [Exit Laun. 20 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 Will you prepare you for this masque to-night ? 
 I am provided of a torchbearer. 
 
86 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act II 
 
 Salar. Ay, marry, I'll be gone about it straight, 
 
 Solan. And so will I. 
 
 Lor. Meet me and Gratiano 
 
 At Gratiano's lodging some hour hence. 
 
 Salar. 'Tis good we do so. 
 
 [Exeunt Salarino and Solanio. 
 
 Gra. Was not that letter from fair Jessica ? 
 
 Lor. I must needs tell thee all. She hath directed 
 30 How I shall take her from her father's house ; 
 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 torchbearer. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
Scene 5] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 87 
 
 Scene V 
 
 Venice. Before Shylock's House 
 
 Enter Shylock and Launcelot 
 
 Shy. 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 ! 
 
 Laun. Why, Jessica ! 
 
 Shy. Who bids thee call ? I do not bid thee call. 
 
 Laun. Your worship was wont to tell me I could do 
 nothing without bidding. 
 
 Enter Jessica 
 
 Jes. Call you ? What is your will ? 10 
 
 Shy. 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'll go in hate to feed upon 
 The prodigal Christian. — Jessica, my girl, 
 Look to my house. — I am right loth to go ; 
 
88 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act II 
 
 There is some ill a-brewing towards my rest, 
 For I did dream of money-bags to-night. 
 
 Laun. I beseech you, sir, go ; my young master 
 20 doth expect your reproach. 
 
 Shy. So do I his. 
 
 Laun. 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-bleeding on 
 Black-Monday last, at six o'clock i' the morning, 
 falling out that year on Ash- Wednesday was four 
 year in the afternoon. 
 
 Shy. What ! are there masques ? Hear you me, 
 Jessica : 
 Lock up my doors ; and, when you hear the drum 
 30 And the vile squealing of the wry-neck'd rife, 
 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 1 will go. — Go you before me, sirrah ; 
 Say I will come. 
 
 Laun. I will go before, sir. — 
 
Scene 5] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 89 
 
 Mistress, look out at window, for all this ; 40 
 
 There will come a Christian by, 
 
 Will be worth a Jewess' eye. [Exit. 
 
 Shy. What says that fool of Hagar's offspring ; ha ? 
 
 Jes. His words were Farewell, mistress ; nothing 
 else. 
 
 Shy. The patch is kind enough ; but a huge 
 feeder, 
 Snail-slow in profit, and he sleeps by day 
 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 
 His borrow'd purse. — Well, Jessica, go in ; 50 
 
 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. 
 
 Jes. Farewell ; and if my fortune be not cross'd, 
 I have a father, you a daughter, lost. [Exit. 
 
 Enter Gratiano and Salarino, masqued 
 
 Gra. This is the pent-house, under which Lorenzo 
 Desired us to make stand. 
 
 Salar. His hour is almost past. 
 
90 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act II 
 
 Gra. And it is marvel he out-dwells his hour, 
 
 60 For lovers ever run before the clock. 
 
 Salar. O, ten times faster Venus' pigeons fly 
 To seal love's bonds new made, than they are wont 
 To keep obliged faith unforfeited ! 
 
 Gra. That ever holds : who riseth from a feast 
 With that keen appetite that he sits down ? 
 Where is the horse that doth untread again 
 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. 
 
 70 How like a younker or a prodigal 
 
 The scarfed bark puts from her native bay, 
 Hugg'd and embraced by the wanton wind ! 
 How like a prodigal doth she return ; 
 With over-weather'd ribs, and ragged sails, 
 Lean, rent, and beggar'd by the wanton wind ! 
 
 Enter Lorenzo 
 
 Salar. Here comes Lorenzo ; — more of this here- 
 after. 
 Lor. Sweet friends, your patience for my long 
 abode : 
 Not I, but my affairs, have made you wait : 
 When you. shall please to play the thieves for wives, 
 
Scene 5] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 91 
 
 I'll watch as long for you then. — Approach ; 80 
 
 Here dwells my father Jew. — Ho ! who's within? 
 
 Enter Jessica, above, in boy's clothes 
 
 Jes. Who are you ? Tell me, for more certainty, 
 Albeit I'll swear that I do know your tongue. 
 
 Lor. Lorenzo, and thy love. 
 
 Jes. Lorenzo, certain ; and my love, indeed ; 
 For who love I so much? and now who knows 
 But you, Lorenzo, whether I am yours? 
 
 Lor. Heaven and thy thoughts are witness that 
 thou art. 
 
 Jes. Here, catch this casket; it is worth the pains. 
 I am glad 'tis night, you do not look on me, 90 
 
 For I am much ashamed of my exchange : 
 Bat love is blind, and lovers cannot see 
 The pretty follies that themselves commit ; 
 For if they could, Cupid himself would blush 
 To see me thus transformed to a boy. 
 
 Lor. Descend, for you must be my torchbearer. 
 
 Jes. What, must I hold a candle to my shames ? 
 They in themselves, good sooth, are too too light. 
 Why, 'tis an office of discovery, love ; 
 And I should be obscured. 
 
 Lor. So you are, sweet, 100 
 
92' THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act II 
 
 Even in the lovely garnish of a boy. 
 But come at once ; 
 
 For the close night doth play the runaway, 
 And we are stay'd for at Bassanio's feast. 
 
 Jes. I will make fast the doors, and gild myself 
 With some more ducats, and be with you straight. 
 
 [Exit from above. 
 
 Gra. Now, by my hood, a Gentile and no Jew. 
 
 Lor. Beshrew me, but I love her heartily : 
 For she is wise, if I can judge of her; 
 110 And fair she is, if that mine eyes be true ; 
 And true she is, as she hath proved 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 ; 
 Our masquing mates by this time for us stay. 
 
 [Exit, with Jessica and Salarino. 
 
 Enter Antonio 
 
 Ant. Who's there? 
 Gra. Signior Antonio? 
 
 Ant. Fie, fie, Gratiano ! where are all the rest? 
 'Tis nine o'clock : our friends all stay for you : 
 120 No masque to-night ; the wind is come about ; 
 
Scene 6] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 93 
 
 Bassanio presently will go aboard : 
 I have sent twenty out to seek for you. 
 
 Gra. I am glad on't; I desire no more delight 
 Than to be under sail and gone to-night. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene VI 
 
 Belmont. A Room in Portia's House 
 
 Flourish of Cornets. Enter Portia, with the Prince 
 of Morocco, and both their Trains 
 
 Por. Go, draw aside the curtains, and discover 
 The several caskets to this noble prince : — 
 Now make your choice. 
 
 Mor. 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 
 
 Por. The one of them contains my picture, prince; 
 If you choose that, then I am yours withal. 
 
94 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act II 
 
 Mor. Some god direct my judgment ! Let me 
 see. 
 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 : 
 20 A golden mind stoops not to shows of dross ; 
 I'll then nor 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 
 30 Were but a weak disabling of myself. 
 
 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. 
 
Scene 6] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 95 
 
 What if I stray'd no further, but chose here ? — 
 Let's see once more this saying graved 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, 
 
 For princes to come view fair Portia. 
 
 The watery kingdom, whose ambitious head 
 
 Spits 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 ? 'Twere 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 immured, 
 
 Being ten times undervalued to tried gold ? 
 
 O sinful thought ! 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 insculped upon ; 
 
 But here an angel in a golden bed 
 
96 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act II 
 
 Lies all within. — Deliver me the key ; 
 60 Here do I choose, and thrive I as I may. 
 
 Por. There, take it, prince; and, if my form lie 
 there, 
 Then I am yours. [He unlocks the golden casket. 
 
 Mor. O hell ! what have we here ? 
 
 A carrion death, within whose empty eye 
 There is a written scroll ! I'll 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. 
 70 Had you been as wise as bold, 
 
 Young in limbs, in judgment old, 
 Your answer had not been inscroll'd : 
 Fare you well; your suit is cold. 
 
 Cold, indeed ; and labor lost : 
 Then, farewell, heat ; and welcome, frost. — 
 Portia, adieu ! I have too grieved a heart 
 To take a tedious leave : thus losers part. 
 
 [Exit, with his Train. 
 Por. A gentle riddance. — Draw the curtains, 
 go; — 
 Let all of his complexion choose me so. [Exeunt. 
 
Scene 7] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 97 
 
 Scene VII 
 
 Venice. A Street 
 
 Enter Salarino and Solanio 
 
 Salar. Why, man, I saw Bassanio under sail; 
 With him is Gratiano gone along ; 
 And in their ship, I am sure Lorenzo is not. 
 
 Solan. The villain Jew with outcries raised the 
 duke ; 
 Who went with him to search Bassanio's ship. 
 
 Salar. 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 10 
 
 They were not with Bassanio in his ship. 
 
 Solan. I never heard a passion so confused, 
 So strange, outrageous, and so variable, 
 As the dog Jew did utter in the streets : 
 My daughter ! — O my ducats ! — my daughter ! 
 Fled with a Christian 1 ? — my Christian ducats! — 
 Justice I the law ! my ducats, and my daughter ! 
 A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats, 
 
"98 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act II 
 
 Of double ducats, stolen from me by my daughter ! 
 20 And jewels ; two stones, two rich and precious stones, 
 Stolen by my daughter ! — Justice ! find the girl ! 
 She hath the stones upon her, and the ducats ! 
 
 Salar. Why, all the boys in Venice follow him, 
 Crying — his stones, his daughter, and his ducats. 
 
 Solan. Let good Antonio look he keep his day, 
 Or he shall pay for this. 
 
 Salar. 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 
 30 A vessel of our country, richly fraught : 
 I thought upon Antonio when he told me, 
 And wish'd in silence that it were not his. 
 
 Solan. You were best to tell Antonio what you 
 hear ; 
 Yet do not suddenly, for it may grieve him. 
 
 Salar. A kinder gentleman treads not the earth. 
 1 saw Bassanio and Antonio part : 
 Bassanio told him he would make some speed 
 Of his return ; he answered — Do not so, 
 Slubber not business for my sake, Bassanio, 
 40 But stay the very riping of the time ; 
 
 And for the Jew's bond, which he hath of me, 
 
Scene 8] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 99 
 
 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. 
 
 Solan. 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. 
 
 Salar. Do we so. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene VIII 
 
 Belmont. A Room in Portia's House 
 
 Enter Nerissa with a Servant 
 
 Ner. Quick, quick, I pray thee, draw the curtain 
 straight ; 
 The Prince of Arragon hath ta'en his oath, 
 And comes to his election presently. 
 
100 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act II 
 
 Flourish of Cornets. Enter the Prince of Arragon, 
 Portia, and their Trains 
 
 Por. Behold, there stand the caskets, noble prince ; 
 If you choose that wherein I am contain'd, 
 Straight shall our nuptial rites be solemnized : 
 But if you fail, without more speech, my lord, 
 You must be gone from hence immediately. 
 
 Ar. I am enjoin'd by oath to observe three things : 
 10 First, never to unfold to any one 
 
 Which casket 'twas 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. 
 
 Por. To these injunctions every one doth swear 
 That comes to hazard for my worthless self. 
 
 Ar. And so have I address'd me. Fortune now 
 To my heart's hope! — Gold, silver, and base lead. 
 
 20 Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath. 
 
 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. 
 
Scene 8] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 101 
 
 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 th'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, 
 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 
 
 To cozen fortune, and be honorable 
 
 Without the stamp of merit ! Let none presume 
 
 To wear an undeserved dignity. 
 
 O, that estates, degrees, and offices 
 
 Were not derived corruptly! and that clear honor 
 
 Were purchased by the merit of the wearer ! 
 
 How many then should cover that stand bare ! 
 
 How many be commanded that command ! 
 
 How much low peasantry would then be glean'd 
 
 From the true seed of honor ! and how much honor 
 
 Pick'd from the chaff and ruin of the times, 
 
102 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act II 
 
 To be new-varnish'd ! Well, but to my choice : 
 
 Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves. 
 
 50 1 will assume desert. — Give me a key for this, 
 And instantly unlock my fortunes here. 
 
 Por. Too long a pause for that which you find 
 
 there. 
 Ar. 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 get as much as he deserves. 
 
 Did I deserve no more than a fool's head ? 
 
 Is that my prize? are my deserts no better? 
 
 60 Por. To offend and judge are distinct offices 
 
 And of opposed natures: 
 
 Ar. What is here? 
 
 [Reads] 
 
 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's bliss : 
 There be fools alive, I wis, 
 Silver'd o'er ; and so was this. 
 I will ever be your head : 
 70 So begone: you are sped. 
 
Scene 8] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 103- 
 
 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'll keep my oath, 
 
 Patiently to bear my wroth. 
 
 [Exeunt Arragon and Train. 
 Por. Thus hath the candle singed the moth. 
 O these deliberate fools ! when they do choose, 
 They have the wisdom by their wit to lose. 
 
 Ner. The ancient saying is no heresy ; — 80 
 
 Hanging and wiving goes by destiny. 
 Por. Come, draw the curtain, Nerissa. 
 
 Enter a Servant 
 
 Serv. Where is my lady ? 
 
 Por. Here ; what would my lord ? 
 
 Serv. Madam, there is alighted at your gate 
 A young Venetian, one that comes before 
 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 
 So likely an ambassador of love : 90 
 
 A day in April never came so sweet, 
 
104 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act III 
 
 To show how costly summer was at hand, 
 As this fore-spurrer comes before his lord. 
 
 Por. 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. 
 
 Ner. Bassanio, lord Love, if thy will it be ! 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 105 
 
 ACT III 
 
 Scene I 
 
 Venice. A Street 
 
 Enter Solanio and Salarino 
 
 Solan. Now, what news on the Rialto? 
 
 Salar. Why, yet it lives there unchecked that An- 
 tonio hath a ship of rich lading wrecked on the narrow 
 seas, — the Goodwins, I think they call the place ; a 
 very dangerous flat, and fatal, where the carcases of 
 many a tall ship lie buried, as they say, if my gossip 
 Report be an honest woman of her word. 
 
 Solan. I would she were as lying a gossip in that, 
 as ever knapped ginger, or made her neighbors believe 
 she wept for the death of a third husband. But, it is 10 
 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 ! — 
 
 Salar. Come, the full stop. 
 
 Solan. Ha, — what say'st thou ? — Why, the end is, 
 he hath lost a ship. 
 
106 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act III 
 
 Salar. I would it might prove the end of his losses ! 
 
 Solan. Let me say amen betimes, lest the devil cross 
 
 2Qmy prayer; for here he comes in the likeness of a 
 
 Enter Shylock 
 
 How now, Shylock? what news among the mer- 
 chants ? 
 
 Shy. You knew, none so well, none so well as you, 
 of my daughter's flight. 
 
 Salar. That's certain. I, for my part, knew the 
 tailor that made the wings she flew withal. 
 
 Solan. And Shylock, for his own part, knew the 
 bird was fledged ; and then it is the complexion of 
 30 them all to leave the dam. 
 
 Shy. She is damned for it. 
 
 Salar. That's certain, if the devil may be her judge. 
 
 Shy. My own flesh and blood to rebel ! 
 
 Solan. Oat upon it, old carrion ! rebels it at these 
 years ? 
 
 Shy. I say my daughter is my flesh and blood. 
 
 Salar. There is more difference between thy flesh 
 
 and hers than between jet and ivory ; more between 
 
 your bloods, than there is between red wine and 
 
 40 Rhenish ; — but tell us, do you hear whether Antonio 
 
 have had any loss at sea or no? 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 107 
 
 Shy. There I have another bad match : a bankrupt, 
 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 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. 
 
 Salar. Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt not 
 take his flesh ? What's that good for? 50 
 
 Shy. To bait fish withal : if it will feed nothing 
 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 
 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 60 
 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 i^" you wrong us, shall we not re- 
 venge? If we are like you in the rest, we will re- 
 semble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, 
 
108 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act III 
 
 what is his humility? revenge. If a Christian wrong 
 a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian ex- 
 ample? why, revenge. The villany you teach me I 
 70 will execute; and it shall go hard but I will better 
 the instruction. 
 
 Enter a Servant 
 
 Serv. Gentlemen, my master Antonio is at his 
 house, and desires to speak with you both. 
 
 Salar. We have been up and down to seek him. 
 
 Enter Tubal 
 
 Solan. Here comes another of the tribe ; a third 
 
 cannot be matched, unless the devil himself turn Jew. 
 
 [Exeunt Solanio, Salarino, qnd Servant. 
 
 Shy. How now, Tubal, what news from Genoa? 
 hast thou found my daughter ? 
 
 Tub. I often came where I did hear of her, but 
 80 cannot find her. 
 
 Shy. Why, there, there, there, there ! a diamond 
 gone, cost me two thousand ducats in Frankfort ! The 
 curse never fell upon our nation till now ; I never felt 
 it till now : — two thousand ducats in that ; and other 
 precious, precious jewels. — T would my daughter were 
 dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear ! would she 
 were hearsed at my foot, and the ducats in her coffin ! 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 109 
 
 No news of them ? — Why, so : — and I know not 
 what's spent in the search. Why, thou loss upon loss ! 
 the thief gone with so much, and so much to find the 90 
 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. 
 
 Tub. Yes, other men have ill luck too. Antonio, 
 as I heard in Genoa, — 
 
 Shy. What, what, what? ill luck, ill luck? 
 
 Tub. — hath an argosy cast away, coming from 
 Tripolis. 
 
 Shy. I thank God, I thank God : — is it true ? is it 
 true ? 100 
 
 Tub. I spoke with some of the sailors that escaped 
 the wreck. 
 
 Shy. I th^ank thee, good Tubal ; — good news, good 
 news : ha ! ha ! — Where ? in Genoa ? 
 
 Tub. Your daughter spent in Genoa, as I heard, 
 one night fourscore ducats ! 
 
 Shy. Thou stick'st a dagger in me : — I shall never 
 see my gold again. Fourscore ducats at a sitting ! 
 fourscore ducats ! 
 
 Tub. There came divers of Antonio's creditors in 130 
 my company to Venice, that swear he cannot choose 
 but break. 
 
110 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act III 
 
 Shy. I am very glad of it : I'll plague him ; I'll tor- 
 ture him ; I am glad of it. 
 
 Tub. One of them showed me a ring that he had of 
 your daughter for a monkey. 
 
 Shy. Out upon her ! Thou torturest me, Tubal : 
 it was my turquoise : I had it of Leah, when I was a 
 bachelor : I would not have given it for a wilderness 
 120 of monkeys. 
 
 Tub. But Antonio is certainly undone. 
 
 Shy. Nay, that's true, that's very true. Go, Tubal, 
 fee me an officer, bespeak him a fortnight before: I 
 will have the heart of him, if he forfeit ; for, were he 
 out of Venice, I can make what merchandise I will. 
 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 
 
 The caskets are set out 
 
 Por. I pray you, tarry : pause a day or two 
 Before you hazard ; for, in choosing wrong, 
 
Scene 2] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 111 
 
 I lose your company ; therefore, forbear awhile : 
 
 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 10 
 
 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. 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 : — 20 
 
 I speak too long ; but 'tis to peize the time ; 
 
 To eke it and to draw it out in length, 
 
 To stay you from election. 
 
 Bass. Let me choose ; 
 
 For, as I am, I live upon the rack. 
 
 Por. Upon the rack, Bassanio? then confess 
 What treason there is mingled with your love. 
 
112 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act III 
 
 Bass. 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. 
 
 Por. Ay, but I fear you speak upon the rack, 
 Where men enforced do speak anything. 
 
 Bass. Promise me life, and I'll confess the truth. 
 
 Por. Well, then, confess and live. 
 
 Bass. 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. 
 
 Por. 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 ; 
 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 
 
Scene 2] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 113 
 
 That creep into the dreaming bridegroom'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 ! 
 
 Live thou, I live. — With much, much more dismay 60 
 
 I view the fight than thou that mak'st the fray. 
 
 Music, whilst Bassanio comments on the caskets to him- 
 self 
 
 SONG 
 
 Tell me where is fancy bred, 
 Or in the heart or in the head ? 
 How begot, how nourished ? 
 
 Reply, reply. 
 It is engender'd in the eyes, 
 "With gazing fed ; and fancy dies 
 In the cradle where it lies : 
 Let us all ring fancy's knell ; 
 I'll begin it, — Ding, dong, bell. 70 
 
 All. Ding, dong, bell. 
 
114 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act III 
 
 Bass. So may the outward shows be least them- 
 selves ; 
 The world is still deceived 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 ? 
 
 80 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 valor's excrement 
 To render them redoubted ! Look on beauty, 
 And you shall see 'tis 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. 
 
Scene 2] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 115 
 
 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 
 
 To entrap the wisest. Therefore, thou gaudy gold, 100 
 
 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 ! 
 
 Por. \_Aside.~] How all the other passions fleet to air, 
 As doubtful thoughts and rash-embraced despair 
 And shuddering fear, and green-eyed jealousy ! 
 
 love, be moderate, allay thy ecstasy : 110 
 In measure rain thy joy, scant this excess ; 
 
 1 feel too much thy blessing, make it less 
 For fear I surfeit ! 
 
 Bass. What find I here? 
 
 [Opening the leaden casket 
 Fair Portia's counterfeit ! What demi-god 
 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 
 
116 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act III 
 
 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 
 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 : 
 
 [Kissing her. 
 I come by note to give and to receive. 
 140 Like one of two contending in a prize, 
 
 That thinks he hath done well in people's eyes, 
 Hearing applause and universal shout, 
 
Scene 2] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 117 
 
 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. 
 
 Por. You see me, lord Bassanio, where I stand, 
 Such as I am : though, for myself alone 
 I would not be ambitious in my wish, 150 
 
 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 ; 
 
 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 — something, which, to term in gross, 
 Is an unlesson'd girl, unschool'd, unpractised : 
 Happy in this, she is not yet so old 160 
 
 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 
 
118 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act III 
 
 Of this fair mansion, master of my servants, 
 Queen o'er myself ; and even now, but now, 
 
 170 This house, these servants, and this same myself 
 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. 
 
 Bass. 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 
 
 180 Among the buzzing, pleased multitude; 
 
 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 
 Parts from this finger, then parts life from hence ; 
 O, then be bold to say Bassanio's dead. 
 
 Ner. 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 ! 
 Gra. My lord Bassanio and my gentle lady, 
 
 190 1 wish you all the joy that you can wish ; 
 For I am sure you can wish none from me : 
 And, when your honors mean to solemnize 
 
Scene 2] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 119 
 
 The bargain of your faith, I do beseech you 
 Even at that time I may be married too. 
 
 Bass. With all my heart, so thou canst get a wife. 
 
 Gra. 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 loved, I loved ; 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 
 Achieved her mistress. 
 
 Por. Is this true, Nerissa? 
 
 Ner. Madam, it is, so you stand pleased withal. 
 
 Bass. And do you, Gratiano, mean good faith ? 210 
 
 Gra. Yes, faith, my lord. 
 
 Bass. Our feast shall be much honor'd in your 
 marriage. 
 
 Gra. But who comes here ? Lorenzo, and his 
 infidel ? 
 What, and my old Venetian friend, Solanio ? 
 
120 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act III 
 
 Enter Lorenzo, Jessica, and Solanio 
 
 Bass. Lorenzo and Solanio, 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. 
 
 Por. So do I, my lord ; 
 
 220 They are entirely welcome. 
 
 Lor. I thank your honor. — For my part, my lord, 
 My purpose was not to have seen you here ; 
 But meeting with Solanio by the way, 
 He did entreat me, past all saying nay, 
 To come with him along. 
 
 Solan. I did, my lord, 
 
 And I have reason for it. Signior Antonio 
 Commends him to you. [Gives Bassanio a letter. 
 
 Bass. # Ere I ope this letter, 
 
 I pray you tell me how my good friend doth. 
 
 Solan. Not sick, my lord, unless it be in mind ; 
 230 Nor well, unless in mind : his letter there 
 Will show you his estate. 
 
 Gra. Nerissa, cheer yon stranger; bid her welcome. 
 Your hand, Solanio. What's the news from Venice ? 
 How doth that royal merchant, good Antonio ? 
 
Scene 2] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 121 
 
 I know he will be glad of our success ; , 
 
 We are the Jason s, we have won the fleece. 
 
 Solan. I would you had won the fleece that he 
 hath lost ! 
 
 Por. There are some shrewd contents in yon same 
 paper, 
 That steal the color from 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 anything 
 That this same paper brings you. 
 
 Bass. 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 I 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 engaged myself to a dear friend, 
 
122 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act III 
 
 Engaged my friend to his mere enemy, 
 
 To feed my means. Here is a letter, lady ; 
 
 The paper as the body of my friend, 
 260 And every word in it a gaping wound, 
 
 Issuing life-blood. But is it true, Solanio ? 
 
 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 ? 
 
 Solan. 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 
 270 A creature that did bear the shape of man, 
 
 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. 
 Jes. When I was with him, I have heard him swear 
 280 To Tubal, and to Chus, his countrymen, 
 
Scene 2] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 123 
 
 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, 
 If law, authority, and power deny not, 
 It will go hard with poor Antonio. 
 
 Por. Is it your dear friend that is thus in trouble ? 
 
 Bass. 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 honor more appears 290 
 
 Than any that draws breath in Italy. 
 
 Por. What sum owes he the Jew? 
 
 Bass. For me three thousand ducats. 
 
 Por. 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 Bassanio's fault. 
 First, go with me to church, and call me wif e ; 
 And then away to Venice to your friend ; 
 For never shall you be 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 meantime 
 
124 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act III 
 
 Will live as maids and widows. Come, away ; 
 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. 
 
 310 Bass, [reads] Sweet Bassanio, my ships have all mis- 
 carried, 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 but see you at my death ; notwith- 
 standing, use your pleasure : if your love do not per- 
 suade you to come, let not my letter. 
 
 Por. O love, dispatch all business, and be gone. 
 Bass. Since I have your good leave to go away, 
 I will make haste : but, till I come again, 
 
 320 No bed shall e'er be guilty of my stay, 
 
 Nor rest be interposer 'twixt us twain. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene III 
 
 Venice. A Street 
 
 Enter Shylock, Salarino, Antonio, and Gaoler 
 
 Shy. Gaoler, look to him. Tell not me of mercy ; — 
 This is the fool that lends out money gratis ; — 
 Gaoler, look to him. 
 
Scene 3] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 125 
 
 Ant. Hear me yet, good Shylock. 
 
 Shy. I'll 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 
 
 Ant. I pray thee, hear me speak. 
 
 Shy. I'll have my bond ; I will not hear thee 
 speak : 
 I'll have my bond ; and therefore speak no more. 
 I'll not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool, 
 To shake the head, relent, and sigh, and yield 
 To Christian intercessors. Follow not ; 
 I'll have no speaking ; I will have my bond. [Exit. 
 
 Salar. It is the most impenetrable cur 
 That ever kept with men. 
 
 Ant. Let him alone: 
 
 I'll 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. 
 
126 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act III 
 
 Salar. I am sure the duke 
 
 Will never grant this forfeiture to hold. 
 
 Ant. 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 : 
 30 Since that the trade and profit of the city 
 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 
 
 Belmont. A Room in Portia's House 
 
 Enter Portia, Nerissa, Lorenzo, Jessica, and 
 Balthazar 
 
 Lor. Madam, although I speak it in your presence, 
 You have a noble and a true conceit 
 Of god-like amity ; which appears most strongly 
 In bearing thus the absence of your lord. 
 But, if you knew to whom you show this honor, 
 
Scene 4] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 127 
 
 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. 
 
 Por. 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. 
 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 breathed a secret vow 
 To live in prayer and contemplation, 
 Only attended by Nerissa here, 
 Until her husband and my lord's return : 30 
 
128 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act III 
 
 There is a monastery two miles off, 
 
 And there we will abide. I do desire you 
 
 Not to deny this imposition ; 
 
 The which my love and some necessity 
 
 Now lays upon you. 
 
 Lor. Madam, with all my heart, 
 
 I shall obey you in all fair commands. 
 
 Por. My people do already know r my mind, 
 And will acknowledge you and Jessica 
 In place of lord Bassanio and myself. 
 40 So fare you well till we shall meet again. 
 
 Lor. Fair thoughts and happy hours attend on you ! 
 
 Jes. I wish your ladyship all heart's content. 
 
 Por. I thank you for your wish, and am well 
 pleased 
 To wish it back on you : fare you well, Jessica. 
 
 [Exeunt Jessica and Lorenzo. 
 Now, Balthazar, 
 
 As I have ever found thee honest-true, 
 So let me find thee still. Take this same letter, 
 And use thou all the endeavor of a man 
 In speed to Padua ; see thou render this 
 50 Into my cousin's hand, Doctor Bellario ; 
 
 And, look, what notes and garments he doth give 
 thee 
 
Scene 4] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 129 
 
 Bring them, I pray thee, with imagined 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. 
 
 Balth. Madam, I go with all convenient speed. 
 
 [Exit. 
 
 Por. Come on, Nerissa; I have work in hand 
 That you yet know not of ; we'll see our husbands 
 Before they think of us. 
 
 Ner. Shall they see us ? 
 
 Por. They shall, Nerissa ; but in such a habit 60 
 
 That they shall think we are accomplished 
 With that we lack. I'll hold thee any wager, 
 When we are both accoutred like young men, 
 I'll 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 honorable ladies sought my love, 70 
 
 Which I denying, they fell sick and died ; 
 I could not do withal : then I'll repent, 
 And wish, for all that, that I had not kill'd them : 
 And twenty of these puny lies I'll tell, 
 
130 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act III 
 
 That men shall swear I've discontinued school 
 
 Above a twelvemonth : — I have within my mind 
 
 A thousand raw tricks of these bragging Jacks, 
 
 Which I will practise. 
 
 But come, I'll tell thee all my whole device 
 
 80 When I am in my coach, which stays for us 
 
 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 
 
 Laun. 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 ; and that is but a kind of base hope 
 neither. 
 
 Jes. And what hope is that, I pray thee? 
 10 Laun. Marry, you may partly hope that you are not 
 the Jew's daughter. 
 
Scene 5] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 131 
 
 Jes. That were a kind of base hope, indeed ; so the 
 sins of my mother should be visited upon me. 
 
 Laun. Truly then I fear ; when I shun Scylla, your 
 father, I fall into Charybdis, your mother; well, you 
 are gone both ways. 
 
 Jes. I shall be saved by my husband ; he hath made 
 me a Christian. 
 
 Laun. Truly, the more to blame he : we were 
 Christians enough 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 
 
 Jes. I'll tell my husband, Launcelot, what you say ; 
 here he comes. 
 
 Lor. I shall grow jealous of you shortly, Launce- 
 lot. 
 
 Jes. Nay, you need not fear us, Lorenzo. Launce- 
 lot and I are out : he tells me flatly, there is no mercy 30 
 for me in heaven, because I am a Jew's daughter : and 
 he says you are no good member of the common- 
 wealth ; for, in converting Jews to Christians, you 
 raise the price of pork. 
 
132 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act III 
 
 Lor. 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 pre- 
 pare for dinner. 
 
 Laun. That is done, sir ; they have all stomachs. 
 40 Lor. Goodly lord, what a wit-snapper are you ! then 
 bid them prepare dinner. 
 
 Laun. That is done, too, sir : only, cover is the 
 word. 
 
 Lor. Will you cover, then, sir ? 
 
 Laun. Not so, sir, neither; I know my duty. 
 
 Lor. 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 the table, 
 
 50 serve in the meat, and we will come in to dinner. 
 
 Laun. For the table, sir, it shall be served in ; for 
 the meat, sir, it shall be covered ; for your coming in 
 to dinner, sir, why, let it be as humors and conceits 
 shall govern. [Exit. 
 
 Lor. 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, 
 Garnish'd like him, that for a tricksy word 
 
Scene 5] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 133 
 
 Defy the matter. How cheer'st thou, Jessica? 60 
 
 And now, good sweet, say thy opinion ; — 
 How dost thou like the lord Bassanio's wife? 
 
 Jes. 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. 
 Why, if two gods should play some heavenly match, 
 And on the wager lay two earthly women, 70 
 
 And Portia one, there must be something else 
 Pawn'd with the other; for the pooiyrude world 
 Hath not her fellow. 
 
 Lor. Even such a husband 
 
 Hast thou of me, as she is for a wife. 
 
 Jes. Nay, but ask my opinion too of that. 
 
 Lor. I will anon; first, let us go to dinner. 
 
 Jes. Nay, let me praise you while I have a 
 stomach. 
 
 Lor. No, pray thee, let it serve for table-talk ; 
 Then, howsoe'er thou speak'st, 'mong other things 
 I shall digest it. 
 
 Jes. Well, I'll set you forth. 80 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
134 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act IV 
 
 ACT IV 
 
 Scene I 
 
 Venice. A Court of Justice 
 
 Enter the Duke, the Magnificoes, Antonio, Bassanio, 
 Gratiano, Salarino, Salerio, and others 
 
 Duke. What, is Antonio here ? 
 
 Ant. 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. 
 
 Ant. I have heard 
 
 Your grace hath ta'en great pains to qualify 
 His rigorous course ; but since he stands obdurate, 
 And that no lawful means can carry me 
 10 Out of his envy's reach, I do oppose 
 My patience to his fury ; and am arm'd 
 To suffer, with a quietness of spirit, 
 The very tyranny and rage of his. 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 135 
 
 Duke. Go one, and call the Jew into the court. 
 Salar. He's 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 'tis thought 
 Thou'lt show thy mercy and remorse, more strange 2(V 
 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, 
 Enough 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. 
 
 Shy. I have possess'd your grace of what I purpose ; 
 
136 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act IV 
 
 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. 
 40 You'll ask me why I rather choose to have 
 
 A weight of carrion flesh than to receive 
 
 Three thousand ducats : I'll not answer that : 
 
 But say it is my humor. Is it answer'd? 
 
 What if my house be troubled with a rat, 
 
 And I be pleased to give ten thousand ducats 
 
 To have it baned? What, are you answer'd yet ? 
 
 Some men there are love not a gaping pig ; 
 
 Some, that are mad if they behold a cat ; 
 
 Some, when they hear the bagpipe : for affection, 
 50 Mistress of passion, sways it to the mood 
 
 Of what it likes or loathes. Now, for your answer. 
 
 As there is no firm reason to be render'd, 
 
 Why he cannot abide a gaping pig ; 
 
 Why he, a harmless necessary cat ; 
 
 Why he, a wauling bagpipe, — but of force 
 
 Must yield to such inevitable shame, 
 
 As to offend, himself being offended ; 
 
 So can I give no reason, nor I will not, 
 
 More than a lodged hate and a certain loathing 
 60 I bear Antonio, that I follow thus 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 137 
 
 A losing suit against him. Are you answer'd? 
 
 Bass. This is no answer, thou unfeeling man, 
 To excuse the current of thy cruelty. 
 
 Shy. I am not bound to please thee with my 
 answer. 
 
 Bass. Do all men lull the things they do not love? 
 
 Shy. Hates any man the thing he would not kill ? 
 
 Bass. Every offence is not a hate at first. 
 
 Shy. What, wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee 
 twice? 
 
 A nt. I pray you, think you question with the Jew : 
 You may as well go stand upon the beach, 70 
 
 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 
 To wag their high tops and to make no noise 
 Wlien they are fretten with the gusts of heaven ; 
 You may as well do anything most hard, 
 As seek to soften that (than which what's harder?) 
 His Jewish heart : — therefore, T do beseech you 
 Make no more offers, use no further means, 80 
 
 But, with all brief and plain conveniency, 
 Let me have judgment and the Jew his will. 
 
 Bass. For thy three thousand ducats here is six. 
 
138 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act IV 
 
 Shy. If every ducat in six thousand ducats 
 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? 
 
 Shy. What judgment shall I dread, doing no wrong ? 
 You have among you many a purchased slave, 
 90 Which, like your asses and your dogs and mules, 
 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 burdens ? let their beds 
 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 ; 'tis mine, and I will have it : 
 100 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, 
 Whom I have sent for to determine this, 
 Come here to-day. 
 
 Saler. My lord, here stays without 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 139 
 
 A messenger with letters from the doctor, 
 New come from Padua. 
 
 Duke. Bring us the letters. Call the messenger. 
 
 Bass. Good cheer, Antonio ! What, man ! courage 
 yet ! 110 
 
 The Jew shall have my flesh, blood, bones, and all, 
 Ere thou shalt lose for me one drop of blood. 
 
 Ant. 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. 
 
 Enter Nerissa, dressed like a lawyer's clerk 
 
 Duke. Came you from Padua, from Bellario? 
 
 Ner. From both, my lord : Bellario greets your 
 grace. [Presents a letter. 
 
 Bass. Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly ? 120 
 
 Shy. To cut the forfeit from that bankrupt there. 
 
 Gra. 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 
 Of thy sharp envy. Can no prayers pierce thee ? 
 
 Shy. No, none that thou hast wit enough to make. 
 
 Gra. O, be thou damn'd, inexorable dog ! 
 
140 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act IV 
 
 And for thy life let justice be accused. 
 Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith 
 130 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, 
 And, whilst thou lay'st in thy unhallow'd dam, 
 Infused itself in thee ; for thy desires 
 Are wolfish, bloody, starv'd, and ravenous. 
 
 Shy. Till thou canst rail the seal from off my bond, 
 Thou but offend'st thy lungs to speak so loud : 
 140 Repair thy wit, good youth ; or it will fall 
 To cureless ruin. — I stand here for law. 
 
 Duke. This letter from Bellario doth commend 
 A young and learned doctor to our court : — 
 Where is he? 
 
 Ner. He attendeth here hard by 
 
 To know your answer, whether you'll 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 
 150 the receipt of your letter I am very sick ; but in the instant 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 141 
 
 that your messenger came, in loving visitation was ivith me 
 a young doctor of Rome; his name is Balthazar. I ac- 
 quainted him with the cause in controversy between the 
 Jew and Antonio the merchant: we turn'd o'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 importu- 
 nity, to fill up your grace's request in my stead. I be- 
 seech you, let his lack of years be no impediment to let him 
 lack a reverend estimation ; for I never knew so young a 160 
 body with so old a head. Heave him to your gracious ac- 
 ceptance, whose trial shall better publish his commendation. 
 Duke. You hear the learn'd Bellario, what he 
 writes : 
 And here, I take it, is the doctor come. — 
 
 Enter Portia, dressed like a doctor of laws 
 
 Give me your hand. Come you from old Bellario ? 
 
 Por. I did, my lord. 
 
 Duke. You are welcome : take your place. 
 
 Are you acquainted with the difference 
 That holds this present question in the court? 
 
 Por. I am informed throughly of the cause. 
 Which is the merchant here, and which the Jew? 170 
 
 Duke. Antonio and old Shylock, both stand forth. 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 143 
 
 Por. Is your name Shylock? 
 
 Shy. Shylock is my name. 
 
 Por. Of a strange nature is the suit you follow ; 
 Yet in such rule that the Venetian law 
 Cannot impugn you, as you do proceed. — 
 [To Antonio.] You stand within his danger, do you 
 not ? 
 
 Ant. Ay, so he says. 
 
 Por. Do you confess the bond ? 
 
 Ant. I do. 
 
 Por. Then must the Jew be merciful. 
 
 Shy. On what compulsion must I ? tell me that. 
 
 Por. The quality of mercy is not strain'd ; 
 It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 
 Upon the place beneath : it is twice bless'd ; 
 It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes : 
 'Tis 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, 
 It is an attribute to God himself ; 
 And earthly power doth then show likest God's 
 
144 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act IV 
 
 When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, 
 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 ; 
 200 Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice 
 Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there. 
 
 Shy. My deeds upon my head ! I crave the law, 
 The penalty and forfeit of my bond. 
 
 Por. Is he not able to discharge the money? 
 
 Bass. Yes, here I tender't for him in the court ; 
 Yea, thrice 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 
 210 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. 
 
 Por. It must not be ; there is no power in Venice 
 Can alter a decree established : 
 'Twill be recorded for a precedent ; 
 And many an error by the same example 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 145 
 
 Will rush into the state : it cannot be. 
 
 Shy. A Daniel come to judgment ! yea, a Daniel ! 
 O wise young judge, how do I honor thee ! 
 
 Por. I pray you, let me look upon the bond. 
 
 Shy. Here 'tis, most reverend doctor, here it is. 
 
 Por. Shylock, there's thrice thy money offer'd thee. 
 
 Shy. An oath, an oath, I have an oath in heaven : 
 Shall I lay perjury upon my soul? 
 No, not for Venice. 
 
 Por. 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. 
 
 Shy. When it is paid according to the tenor. 
 It doth appear you are a worthy judge ; 
 You know the law, your exposition 
 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 
 To alter me : I stay here on my bond. 
 
 A nt. Most heartily I do beseech the court 
 To give the judgment. 
 
 Por. Why, then, thus it is : : 
 
146 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act IV 
 
 You must prepare your bosom for his knife. 
 
 Shy. O noble judge ! O excellent young man ! 
 
 Por. For the intent and purpose of the law 
 Hath full relation to the penalty 
 Which here appeareth due upon the bond. 
 
 Shy. 'Tis very true : O wise and upright judge ! 
 How much more elder art thou than thy looks ! 
 
 Por. Therefore, lay bare your bosom. 
 
 Shy. Ay, his breast : 
 
 So says the bond; — doth it not, noble judge? — 
 250 Nearest his heart, those are the very words. 
 
 Por. It is so. Are there balance here to weigh the 
 flesh? 
 
 Shy. I have them ready. 
 
 Por. Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your 
 charge, 
 To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death. 
 
 Shy. Is it so nominated in the bond ? 
 
 Por. It is not so expressed; but what of that? 
 'Twere good you do so much for charity. 
 
 Shy. I cannot find it ; 'tis not in the bond. 
 
 Por. Come, merchant, have you anything to say? 
 260 Ant. But little; I'm arm'd and well prepared. — 
 Give me your hand, Bassanio : fare you well ! 
 Grieve not that I am fallen to this for you ; 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 147 
 
 For herein fortune shows herself more kind 
 
 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 to me your honorable wife : 
 
 Tell her the process of Antonio's end, 270 
 
 Say how I loved you, speak me fair in death ; 
 
 And, when the tale is told, bid her be judge 
 
 Whether Bassanio had not once a love. 
 
 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'll pay it instantly with all my heart. 
 
 Bass. 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 280 
 
 Are not with me esteem'd above thy life ; 
 I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all 
 Here to this devil to deliver you. 
 
 Par. Your wife would give you little thanks for 
 that, 
 If she were by, to hear you make the offer. 
 
 Gra. I have a wife, whom I protest I love ; 
 
148 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act IV 
 
 I would she were in heaven, so she could 
 Entreat some power to change this currish Jew. 
 
 Ner. 'Tis well you offer it behind her back ; 
 290 The wish would make else an unquiet house. 
 
 Shy. [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 ! — 
 We trifle time ; I pray thee pursue sentence. 
 
 Por. A pound of that same merchant's flesh is thine ; 
 The court awards it, and the law doth give it. 
 
 Shy. Most rightful judge ! 
 
 Por. And you must cut this flesh from off his 
 breast ; 
 The law allows it, and the court awards it. 
 
 Shy. Most learned judge ! — A sentence ; come, pre- 
 300 pare. 
 
 Por. 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 : 
 Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh ; 
 But, in the cutting of 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. 
 
Por. — "Tarry a little; there is something else. 
 This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood." 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 149 
 
 Gra. O upright judge ! — Mark, Jew ! — O learned 
 judge ! 
 
 Shy. Is that the law ? 
 
 Por. Thyself shall see the act : 310 
 
 For, as thou urgest justice, be assured 
 Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desirest. 
 
 Gra. O learned judge ! — Mark, Jew ; — a learned 
 judge ! 
 
 Shy. I take this offer, then, — pay the bond thrice, 
 And let the Christian go. 
 
 Bass. Here is the money. 
 
 Por. Soft! 
 The Jew shall have all justice ; — soft ; — no haste ; — 
 He shall have nothing but the penalty. 
 
 Gra. O Jew ! an upright judge, a learned judge ! 
 
 Por. Therefore prepare thee to cut off the 
 flesh. 320 
 
 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 
 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. 
 
150 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act IV 
 
 Gra. A second Daniel, a Daniel, Jew ! 
 330 Now, infidel, I have thee on the hip. 
 
 Por. Why doth the Jew pause ? take thy forfeiture. 
 
 Shy. Give me my principal, and let me go. 
 
 Bass. I have it ready for thee ; here it is. 
 
 Por. He hath refused it in the open court ; 
 He shall have merely justice and his bond. 
 
 Gra. A Daniel, still say I ; a second Daniel ! — 
 I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word. • 
 
 Shy. Shall I not have barely my principal ? 
 
 Por. Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, 
 340 To be so taken at thy peril, Jew. 
 
 Shy. Why, then the devil give him good of it ! 
 I'll stay no longer question. 
 
 Por. Tarry, Jew ; * 
 
 The law hath yet another hold on 3^011. 
 It is enacted in the laws of Venice, — 
 If it be proved 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 
 350 Comes to the privy coffer of the state ; 
 And the offender's life lies in the mercy 
 Of the duke only, 'gainst all other voice, 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 151 
 
 In which predicament, I say thou stand'st ; 
 For it appears by manifest proceeding, 
 That indirectly and directly too 
 Thou hast contrived against the very life 
 Of the defendant ; and thou hast incurr'd 
 The danger formerly by me rehearsed. 
 Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the duke. 
 
 Gra. Beg that thou mayst have leave to hang thyself : 360 
 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. 
 
 Duke. That thou shalt see the difference of our 
 spirit, 
 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. 
 
 Por. Ay, for the state ; not for Antonio. 
 
 Shy. Nay, take my life and all, pardon not that : 370 
 You take ray 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. 
 
 Por. What mercy can you render him, Antonio? 
 
 Gra. A halter gratis ; nothing else, for God's sake. 
 
 Ant- So please my lord the duke and all the court 
 
152 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act IV 
 
 To quit the fine for one half of his goods 
 I am content, so he will let me have 
 The other half in use, to render it, 
 380 Upon his death, unto the gentleman 
 That lately stole his daughter ; 
 Two things provided more, — that, for this favor, 
 He presently become a Christian ; 
 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 T do recant 
 The pardon that I late pronounced here. 
 
 Por. Art thou contented, Jew ; what dost thou say? 
 
 Shy. I am content. 
 390 Por. Clerk, draw a deed of gift. 
 
 Shy. 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. 
 
 Gra. 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 with me home to dinner. 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 153 
 
 Por. I humbly do desire your grace of pardon. 
 I must away this night toward Padua ; 
 And it is meet I presently set forth. 400 
 
 Duke. I am sorry that your leisure serves you not. 
 Antonio, gratify this gentleman ; 
 For, in my mind, you are much bound to him. 
 
 [Exeunt Duke, Magnificoes, and Train. 
 
 Bass. 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. 
 
 Ant. And stand indebted, over and above, 
 In love and service to you evermore. 410 
 
 Por. He is well paid that is well satisfied : 
 And I, delivering you, am satisfied 
 And therein do account myself well paid ; 
 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. 
 
 Bass. 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. 42Q 
 
 Por. You press me far, and therefore. I will yield. 
 
154 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act IV 
 
 [To Ant.] Give me your gloves, I'll wear them for 
 
 your sake ; 
 [To Bass.] And, for your love, I'll take this ring 
 
 from you : — 
 Do not draw back your hand ; I'll take no more ; 
 And you in love shall not deny me this. 
 
 Bass. This ring, good sir, — alas, it is a trifle ; 
 I will not shame myself to give you this. 
 
 Por. I will have nothing else but only this ; 
 And now, methinks, I have a mind to it. 
 
 Bass. There's more depends on this than on the 
 430 value. 
 
 The dearest ring in Venice will I give you, 
 And find it out by proclamation ; 
 Only for this, I pray you, pardon me. 
 
 Por. 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 answer'd. 
 
 Bass. 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. 
 
 Por. That 'scuse serves many men to save their 
 440 gifts. 
 
 An if your wife be not a mad-woman 
 
 And know how well I have deserved this ring, 
 
Scene 2] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 155 
 
 She would not hold out enemy forever 
 
 For giving it to me. Well, peace be with you ! 
 
 [Exeunt Portia and Nerissa. 
 
 A nt. My lord Bassanio, let him have the ring ; 
 Let his deservings and my love withal 
 Be valued 'gainst your wife's command (e)ment. 
 
 Bass. Go, Gratiano, run and overtake him ; 
 Give him the ring, and bring him, if thou canst, 
 Unto Antonio's house : — away, make haste. 450 
 
 [Exit Gratiano. 
 Come, you and I will hither presently ; 
 And in the morning early will we both 
 Fly toward Belmont : come, Antonio. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene II 
 
 Venice. A Street 
 
 Enter Portia and Nerissa 
 
 Por. Inquire the Jew's house out, give him this 
 deed 
 And let him sign it ; we'll away to-night 
 And be a day before our husbands home : 
 This deed will be well welcome to Lorenzo. 
 
156 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act IV 
 
 Enter Gratiano 
 
 Gra. Fair sir, you are well o'erta'en : 
 My Lord Bassairio upon more advice 
 Hath sent you here this ring ; and doth entreat 
 Your company at dinner. 
 
 Por. That cannot be : 
 
 His ring I do accept most thankfully, 
 10 And so, I pray you, tell him : furthermore, 
 I pray you, show my youth old Shylock's house. 
 
 Gra. That will I do. 
 
 Ner. [To Portia.] Sir, I would speak with you : — 
 [Aside.] I'll see if I can get my husband's ring, 
 Which I did make him swear to keep forever. 
 
 Por. [Aside to Nerissa.] Thou mayst, I warrant. 
 We shall have old swearing 
 That they did give the rings away to men; 
 But we'll outface them, and outswear them too.^- 
 Away, make haste ; thou know'st where I will tarry. 
 
 Ner. Come, good sir, will you show me to this 
 house? [Exeunt. 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 157 
 
 ACT V 
 
 Scene I 
 
 Belmont. Pleasure-grounds of Portia's House 
 
 Enter Lorenzo and Jessica 
 
 Lor. 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. 
 
 Jes. In such a night 
 
 Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew, 
 And saw the lion's shadow ere himself, 
 And ran dismay'd away. 
 
 Lor. In such a night 
 
 Stood Dido with a willow in her hand 10 
 
 Upon the wild sea-banks, and waft her love 
 To come again to Carthage. 
 
 Jes. In such a night 
 
158 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act V 
 
 Medea gather'd the enchanted herbs 
 That did renew old iEson. 
 
 Lor. In such a night 
 
 Did Jessica steal from the wealthy Jew ; 
 And with an unthrift love did run from Venice 
 As far as Belmont. 
 
 Jes. In such a night 
 
 Did young Lorenzo swear he loved her well, 
 Stealing her soul with many vows of faith 
 And ne'er a true one. 
 20 Lor. In such a night 
 
 Did pretty Jessica, like a little shrew, 
 Slander her love, and he forgave it her. 
 
 Jes. I would out-night you, did no body come : 
 But, hark, I hear the footing of a man. 
 
 Enter Stephano 
 
 Lor. Who comes so fast in silence of the night? 
 
 Steph. A friend. 
 
 Lor. A friend? what friend? your name, I pray 
 
 you, friend? 
 Steph. Stephano is my name ; and I bring word 
 My mistress will before the break of day 
 30 Be here at Belmont ; she doth stray about 
 By holy crosses, where she kneels and prays 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 159 
 
 For happy wedlock hours. 
 
 Lor. Who comes with her ? 
 
 Steph. None but a holy hermit and her maid. 
 T pray you, is my master yet return 'd ? 
 
 Lor. 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 
 
 Laun. Sola, sola, wo ha, ho, sola, sola ! 
 
 Lor. Who calls ? 40 
 
 Laun. Sola ! Did you see master Lorenzo and mis- 
 tress Lorenzo? sola, sola! 
 
 Lor. Leave hollaing, man ; here. 
 
 Laun. Sola ! Where ? where ? 
 
 Lor. Here. 
 
 Laun. Tell him there's a post come from my mas- 
 ter, with his horn full of good news ; my master will 
 be here ere morning. [Exit. 
 
 Lor. Sweet soul, let's in, and there expect their 
 coming. 
 And yet no matter : — why should we go in ? 50 
 
 My friend Stephano, signify, T pray you, 
 Within the house, your mistress is at hand : 
 
160 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act V 
 
 And bring your music forth into the air. 
 
 [Exit Stephano. 
 How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank ! 
 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. 
 60 There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st 
 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. 
 
 Jes. I am never merry when I hear sweet music. 
 70 Lor. The reason is, your spirits are attentive : 
 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 ; 
 
Sce*e 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 161 
 
 If they but hear perchance a trumpet sound, 
 
 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 moved 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 at a distance 
 
 Par. That light we see is burning in my hall. 
 How far that little candle throws his beams ! 90 
 
 So shines a good deed in a naughty world. 
 
 Ner. "When the moon shone, we did not see the 
 candle. 
 
 Por. So doth the greater glory dim the less ; 
 A substitute shines brightly as a king 
 Until a king be by ; and then his state 
 
162 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act V 
 
 Empties itself, as doth an inland brook 
 Into the main of waters. Music ! hark ! 
 
 Ner. It is your music, madam, of the house. 
 
 Por. Nothing is good, I see, without respect ; 
 100 Methinks it sounds much sweeter than by day. 
 
 Ner. Silence bestows that virtue on it, madam. 
 
 Por. 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 awaked ! [Music ceases. 
 
 110 Lor. That is the voice, 
 
 Or am I much deceived, of Portia. 
 
 Por. He knows me, as the blind man knows the 
 cuckoo, 
 By the bad voice. 
 
 Lor. Dear lady, welcome home. 
 
 Por. We have been praying for our husbands' 
 welfare, 
 Which speed, we hope, the better for our words. 
 Are they return'd ? 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 163 
 
 Lor. Madam, they are not yet ; 
 
 But there is come a messenger before, 
 To signify their coming. 
 
 Por. Go in, Nerissa ; 
 
 Give order to my servants, that they take 
 No note at all of our being absent hence ; 120 
 
 Nor you, Lorenzo : — ■ Jessica, nor you. 
 
 \_A tucket sounds. 
 
 Lor. Your husband is at hand ; I hear his trumpet : 
 We are no tell-tales, madam ; fear you not. 
 
 Por. This night, me thinks, is but the daylight 
 sick. 
 It looks a little paler ; 'tis a day 
 Such as the day is when the sun is hid. 
 
 Enter Bassanio, Antonio, Gratiano, and their 
 Followers 
 
 Bass. We should hold day with the antipodes, 
 If you would walk in absence of the sun. 
 
 Por. 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. 
 
 Bass. I thank you, madam : give welcome to my 
 friend. — 
 
164 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act V 
 
 This is the man, this is Antonio, 
 To whom I am so infinitely bound. 
 
 Por. You should in all sense be much bound to 
 him, 
 For, as I hear, he was much bound for you. 
 
 Ant. No more than I am well acquitted of. 
 
 Por. Sir, you are very welcome to our house : 
 140 It must appear in other ways than words, 
 Therefore I scant this breathing courtesy. 
 
 [Gratiano and Nerissa seem to talk apart. 
 
 Gra. By yonder moon I swear you do me wrong ; 
 In faith, I gave it to the judge's clerk. 
 
 Por. A quarrel, ho, already ? what's the matter ? 
 
 Gra. About a hoop of gold, a paltry ring 
 That she did give me ; whose posy was, 
 For all the world like cutler's poetry 
 Upon a knife, Love me, and leave me not. 
 
 Ner. What talk you of the posy, or the value? 
 150 You swore to me, when I did give it you, 
 
 That you would wear it till your 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. 
 
w 
 
166 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act V 
 
 Gra. He will, an if he live to be a man. 
 
 Ner. Ay, if a woman live to be a man. 
 
 Gra. Now, by this hand, T gave it to a youth, — 
 160 A kind of boy ; a little scrubbed boy, 
 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. 
 
 Por. 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 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, — 
 170 1 dare be sworn for him he would not leave it 
 Nor pluck it from his finger, for the wealth 
 That the world masters. Now, in faith, Gratiano, 
 You give your wife too unkind cause of grief ; 
 An't were to me, I should be mad at it. 
 
 Bass. \_Aside.~] Why, I were best to cut my left hand 
 off 
 And swear I lost the ring defending it. 
 
 Gra. My lord Bassanio gave his ring away 
 Unto the judge that begg'd it and, indeed, 
 Deserved it too ; and then the boy, his clerk 
 180 That took some pains in writing, he begg'd mine : 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 16' 
 
 And neither man nor master would take aught 
 But the two rings. 
 
 Por. What ring gave you, my lord ? 
 
 Not that, I hope, which you received of me. 
 
 Bass. If I could add a lie unto a fault, 
 I would deny it ; but you see my finger 
 Hath not the ring upon it, it is gone. 
 
 Por. Even so void is your false heart of truth. 
 By heaven, I will never be your wife 
 Until I see the ring. 
 
 Ner. No, nor I yours, 
 
 Till I again see mine. 
 
 Bass. Sweet Portia, 
 
 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 naught 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 honor 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 
 
168 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act V 
 
 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 mine honor, madam, by my soul, 
 No woman had it, but a civil doctor, 
 Which did refuse three thousand ducats of me, 
 210 And begg'd the ring ; the which I did deny him, 
 And suffer'd him to go displeased away ; 
 Even he that did uphold the very life 
 Of my dear friend. What should I say, sweet lady? 
 I was enforced to send it after him ; 
 I was beset with shame and courtesy ; 
 My honor 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 
 220 The ring of me to give the worthy doctor. 
 
 Por. Let not that doctor e'er come near my house : 
 Since he hath got the jewel that I loved, 
 And that which you did swear to keep for me, 
 I will become as liberal as you : 
 I'll not deny him anything I have. 
 
 Ner. And I his clerk ; therefore be well advised, 
 How you do leave me to mine own protection. 
 
Scene lj THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 169 
 
 Gra. Well, do you so : let not me take him then ; 
 For, if I do, I'll mar the young clerk's pen. 
 
 Ant. I am the unhappy subject of these quarrels. 230 
 
 Por. Sir, grieve not you ; you are welcome notwith- 
 standing. 
 
 Bass. Portia, forgive me this enforced wrong ; 
 And, in the hearing of these many friends, 
 I swear to thee, even by thy own fair eyes, 
 Wherein I see myself, — 
 
 Por. 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. 
 
 Bass. Nay, but hear me : 
 
 Pardon this fault, and by my soul I swear 
 I never more will break an oath with thee. 240 
 
 Ant. 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 
 Will never more break faith advisedly. 
 
 Por. Then you shall be his surety. Give him this ; 
 And bid him keep it better than the other. 
 
 Ant. Here, lord Bassanio ; swear to keep this ring. 
 
 Bass. By heaven, it is the same I gave the doctor ! 
 
170 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Act V 
 
 250 Por. I had it of him : pardon me, Bassanio. 
 
 Ner. And pardon me, my gentle Gratiano. 
 
 Gra. Why, this is like the mending of highways 
 In summer, where the ways are fair enough. 
 
 Por. You are all amazed : 
 Here is a letter, read it at your leisure ; 
 It comes from Padua, from Bellario : 
 There you shall find that Portia was the doctor ; 
 Nerissa there her clerk : Lorenzo here 
 Shall witness I set forth as soon as you 
 260 And but e'en now return'd ; I have not yet 
 
 Enter'd my house. — Antonio, you are welcome ; 
 And I have better news in store for you 
 Than you expect : unseal this letter soon ; 
 There you shall find three of your argosies 
 Are richly come to harbor suddenly : 
 You shall not know by what strange accident 
 I chanced on this letter. 
 
 Ant. I am dumb. 
 
 Bass. Were you the doctor and I knew you not ? 
 
 Ant. Sweet lady, you have given me life and living ; 
 270 For here I read for certain that my ships 
 Are safely come to road. 
 
 Por. How now, Lorenzo ? 
 
 My clerk hath some good comforts too for you. 
 
Scene 1] THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 171 
 
 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 possessed of. 
 
 Lor. Fair ladies, you drop manna in the way 
 Of starved people. 
 
 Por. It is almost morning, 
 
 And yet, I am sure, yon are not satisfied 
 Of these events at full. Let us go in ; 280 
 
 And charge us there upon inter 'gatories, 
 And we will answer all things faithfully. 
 
 Gra. Well, while I live, I'll fear no other thing 
 So sore as keeping safe Nerissa's ring. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
NOTES 
 
 The following 1 contractions are used in the notes: Cf. = confer (com- 
 pare) ; Cogs. = cognates ; Gr. = Greek ; Lat. = Latin ; N. E. = Northern 
 English; N. Fr. = Norman French; O. E. =01d English (or Anglo- 
 Saxon); CI. P. S. = Clarendon Press Series; and Co. S. = Collins' s 
 Series. Notes without quotation marks or without name appended 
 are Professor Meiklejohn's. 
 
 ACT FIRST 
 
 Scene 1 
 
 " In this first scene, we view Antonio ' rich, liberal, sur- 
 rounded with friends ; yet he is unhappy. . . . He will not 
 acknowledge the foreboding of evil which comes across 
 his mind.' — Knight. We are shown the causes of the 
 drama's action ; Bassanio's courtship of Portia, and Anto- 
 nio's generous love for his friend." 
 
 1. Sooth, truth. We have the compounds forsooth (used 
 both seriously and ironically), soothfast, and soothsayer 
 (prophet) ; and Shakespeare has the phrases, in good sooth 
 and in very sooth. In Richard II. (III. iii.), we find 
 words of sooth for kindly words of assent. Sad. Cole- 
 ridge points out that this speech of Antonio's gives the 
 key-note of the play ; the coming disaster casts a shadow 
 over the prosperous merchant. 
 
 2. Wearies, from O. E. werig. 4. Stuff, in the old 
 
 173 
 
174 NOTES [Act I 
 
 sense of material. So Julius Csesar (III. ii. 97) : ' Ambi- 
 tion should be made of sterner stuff;' and Tempest (IV. 
 i. 156) : ' We are such stuff as dreams are made on.' 
 
 6. Want-wit, idiot, wit being used in the older meaniDg 
 of ability or sense. Wan (which is a cognate of want and 
 wane) was in 0. E. a common prefix ; thus we had wan- 
 hope for despair ; wantrust (mistrust), etc. 
 
 9. Argosies. Argo was the name of the ship which 
 carried Jason to Colchis, and hence became a favorite 
 name for vessels. Argis was the Low Latin for a large 
 
 merchant vessel. 10. Signiors. The Italian way of 
 
 spelling the Latin senior, an elder. The g comes in through 
 the combination of n and i, as in stranger, from extraneus. 
 
 Burghers, townsmen ('freemen of a burgh'), of less 
 
 high rank than the signiors. 
 
 11. Pageants. This word originally meant the movable 
 platform on which mystery plays were performed. It comes 
 from Low Lat. compaginata (jointed together). 'In calling 
 argosies pageants, Shakespeare alludes to the enormous 
 machines in the shapes of castles, dragons, giants, etc., that 
 were drawn about the streets in the ancient shows or pag- 
 eants.' 12. Overpeer. Pore is a cognate of peer. 
 
 13. Them, the dative. 
 
 15. Venture, risk, or what is risked. Venture was, in 
 Shakespeare's time, the technical term for a cargo ; so the 
 merchants of Bristol called themselves ' Merchant Adven- 
 turers.' Forth, out. See also line 143 of this scene; 
 
 and Shylock's (II. v. 11) : 'I am bid forth to supper.' So 
 Othello (V. i.): 'Forth! my sword.' 17. Still, con- 
 stantly. So Othello (I. iii.) : 
 
 ' And still the house affairs would draw her hence.' 
 
 Shakespeare also uses it as an adjective : Titus Andronicus 
 (III. ii.) ; ' And by still practice learn to know the mean- 
 
Scene 1] NOTES 175 
 
 ing.' 19. Peering in. We should now say poring over. 
 
 Roads, where ships ride. — -21. Out of doubt modifies 
 make. 
 
 23. Ague, perhaps from Fr. aigu, Lat. ac-utus, sharp. 
 25. Sandy. Cf. Henry VI., Part I. (IV. ii.) : 
 
 ' Ere the glass 
 Finish the process (the going out) of his sandy hour.' 
 
 Hour-glass. In Shakespeare's time an hour-glass was com- 
 monly found in churches, fixed near the pulpit. CI. P. S. 
 
 27. Andrew, a favorite name for large merchant ships, 
 probably from the great Genoese admiral, Andrea Doria, 
 
 who died in 1560. 28. Vailing, lowering. Spenser has 
 
 avale, which is said to come from Lat. ad vallem (to the 
 
 valley), as amount is from ad montem (to the height). 
 
 31. Straight, at once. This is the most usual meaning of 
 
 the word in Shakespeare. 33. Stream, current. Cf. 
 
 Gulf Stream. 35. Worth this. Some expressive ges- 
 ture must be supposed. 42. Bottom, vessel. 
 
 50. Janus and Jana are old forms of Dianus and Di- 
 ana, the sun and moon. Janus opened the year ; and 
 hence the first month was called after him. He was the 
 porter of heaven, and hence was called Patulous (from 
 pateo, I open) and Clusius (from clan do, I shut). He was 
 the guardian deity of gates, and, as a gate looks two ways, 
 he is represented with two heads. 
 
 54. Vinegar, from Fr. vin aigre (from Lat. vinum acre) . 
 55. In way. Cf. Julius Csesar (III. i. 216) : 'In num- 
 ber of our friends,' and Three Gentlemen of Verona (I. i.) : 
 f In absence of thy friend.' Other omissions of the are 
 found in the phrases at door, at palace, at height, in pail, 
 
 etc. 56. Nestor, king of Pylos, and the adviser of the 
 
 Greeks in the Trojan war. Nestor attained a great age and 
 was famous for his wisdom. Co. S. 
 
 58. Fare, from O. E. faran, to go. Cogs. : Far^ fare 
 
176 NOTES [Act I 
 
 (payment), thoroughfare, fieldfare, ferry, ford, welfare, 
 
 farewell. 61. Prevented, anticipated. So, in the 
 
 Prayer-book: 'Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings.' 
 
 67. Strange. So Twelfth Night (V.): 'You throw 
 
 a strange regard upon me ; ' and Comedy of Errors (II. ii.) : 
 'As strange unto your town as to your talk.' It is the 
 
 opposite of familiar. 74. Respect upon, carefulness 
 
 about. Shakespeare generally uses of after respect. Cf. 
 Macbeth (III. i. 17): 'Let your highness command upon 
 
 me.' 79. Fool. The Fool was a stock character in all 
 
 the old comedies, and his function was to show the comic 
 side of all that was going on upon the stage. 
 
 84. Grandsire. Sire and sir are contracted forms of 
 senior. 
 
 85. Jaundice (from Fr. Jaime) was formerly called the 
 yellowes. 89. Mantle, used by Shakespeare both transi- 
 tively and intransitively. Cf. Tempest (V. 67) : ' The ig- 
 norant fumes that mantle their clearer reason.' In the 
 
 present passage the verb is intransitive. 90. Do. The 
 
 nominative who must be supplied out of whose. Still- 
 ness, silence. So in this play (V. 56). Entertain = 
 
 maintain. CI. P. S. 
 
 91. Opinion, reputation. Cf. Henry IV., Part I. (III. 
 iii.) : ' Opinion, that did help me to the crown ; ' and 
 Othello (I. iii.): 'Opinion, a sovereign mistress of suc- 
 cess.' 92. Conceit. The most usual meaning of this 
 
 word in Shakespeare is (a) conception or idea ; the next is 
 (b) mental power; and (c) the least usual is fanciful 
 thought — a meaning which comes nearest to onr modern 
 one, which, however, is never employed by Shakespeare. 
 
 93. As who should say = Fr. comme qui dirait. 
 
 94. Ope, short form for open. Its cognates are dup (—do 
 up, Hamlet, IV. v. 53), up, oft, offing. 
 
 97-99. This is a difficult passage. It is said to be an 
 allusion to Matt. v. 22; and that the meaning is that 
 
Scene 1] NOTES 177 
 
 these silent conceited persons would, if they spoke, pro- 
 voke their hearers to call them fools, and that these hear- 
 ers would thus incur the condemnation mentioned in the 
 text. A silly speech brings the hearer, in Gratiano's view, 
 into danger of perdition, by tempting him to say to his 
 brother, ' Thou fool ! ' In Shakespeare a number of thoughts 
 jostle each other, become mixed, and lose their identity, 
 so that even Shakespeare himself could not have unravelled 
 and individualized them. 
 
 101. Bait. Cogs.: Bit, bite. Cf. Lat. mordeo, I bite, 
 
 and Fr. morceau, morsel. 102. Gudgeon, a fish easily 
 
 caught. Co. S. 108. More. Shakespeare has the three 
 
 forms, mo, moe, and more. 110. Gear, stuff; also used 
 
 by Shakespeare in the sense of business. 
 
 123. Disabled, impaired. Used by Shakespeare also in 
 the sense of undervalue, in this play, and in As You Like It, 
 (IV. i.) : ' Disabling all the benefits of your own country/ 
 
 124. Something-, somewhat. Swelling 4 port. So, 
 
 in this play (III. ii. 275) : ' The magnificoes of greatest port.* 
 
 125. Continuance, of is required. So, in this play 
 
 (IV. i. 385) : ' All he dies possessed.' 126. Make moan 
 
 to = complain about. The O. E. infinitive ended in an ; 
 and to was only used with the gerund to lovene = ad aman- 
 dum, and to express purpose, as ' He went to find it ' (also 
 in some Eng. 'for to find it'). But the Danish usage of at 
 influenced and encouraged our employment of to with the 
 infinitive ; and in Shakespeare we find it employed with 
 many senses. Thus, in this play (IV. i. 431): 'I will not 
 shame myself to give you (= by giving you) this ; ' and Rich- 
 ard III. (II. ii.) : ' O, who shall hinder me to wail (= from 
 wailing) and weep? ' and Romeo and Juliet (V. iii.) : 
 ' What mean these masterless and gory swords 
 To lie (=by lying) discolored by this place of peace ? ' 
 
 127. Rate, from Lat. reor, ratus, reri, to think. Cogs.: 
 Ratio, ration; Fr. raison; Eng. reason. 130. Gaged 
 
178 NOTES [Act I 
 
 (for engaged), pledged. 132. Warranty, Eng. form of 
 
 guarantee. The Norman French, unable to pronounce the 
 w, employed a gu ; and the English sometimes substituted 
 a w for a g or gu. Cf . war, guerre ; wile, guile ; wise, guise ; 
 toarden, guardian ; wardrobe, garderobe ; William, Guil- 
 
 laume ; and others. 136. Still, constantly. It would 
 
 be a very doubtful compliment if Antonio meant up to this 
 time. Cf. note on I. i. 17. 
 
 141. His, for its. The word its did not come into general 
 use till the end of the seventeenth century. Shakespeare 
 died in 1616. Milton, who hardly ever uses it, died in 1674. 
 Its, as has been frequently shown, is an improperly formed 
 genitive, just as illudius would be. The old third personal 
 pronoun was he, heo, hit, where the t is the sign of the 
 neuter; and the genitive was his, hire, his. 
 
 142. Advised, careful, considerate. Cf . Henry V. (I. ii.) : 
 
 ' While that the armed hand doth fight abroad, 
 The advised head defends itself at home.' 
 
 144. Childhood proof, childish test. 146. Wilful, 
 
 reckless. The whole sentence is illogical ; but it is in the 
 usual compressed and conversational manner of Shake- 
 speare. 148. Self, same. Shakespeare frequently uses 
 
 the word in this sense. Cf. King Lear (I. i. 71) : ' I am 
 made of that self metal that my sister is.' 154. .Cir- 
 cumstance, beating round about the bush. 
 
 155. Wrong", an old past participle from wring. Cf. 
 
 string , strong . 156. Uttermost, means. An adjective 
 
 is very frequently used for a noun by Shakespeare, and in 
 peculiar ways. Thus he uses an adjective to designate a 
 single person. In Winter's Tale (I. ii.) : ' He that did be- 
 tray the Best' (= Christ) ; Timon (I. i.) : ' 'Tis not enough 
 to help the feeble up, but to support him after ; ' and in 
 Sonnet lxxviii. 7 : ■ And added feathers to the learned's 
 wing.' Again, Shakespeare has an adjective for an abstract 
 
Scene 2] NOTES 179 
 
 noun. In Venus and Adonis : t A sudden pale usurps her 
 
 cheek.' 160. Prest, ready. Old form of French pret, 
 
 from Low Lat. prasestus, from Lat. prsesto, at once. 
 
 161. Richly left, with a large inheritance. 163. Some- 
 times, probably for sometime = at one time, Lat. olim. 
 
 164. Speechless. In his eighth Sonnet, Shakespeare 
 
 calls a song without words 'a speechless song.' 169. 
 
 Suitors, from Fr. suivre, from Lat. sequi, to follow. Cogs. : 
 Suit, suite ; sequel, second. 
 
 171. Colchos, more correctly Colchis, a country at the 
 east end of the Black Sea, ruled over by King iEetes, who 
 possessed the Golden Fleece, guarded by a watchful dragon. 
 Jason was sent by his uncle Pelias to fetch the Fleece ; and 
 he succeeded by the help of Medea, the daughter of the king. 
 
 172. Quest, from Lat. qusero, qusesitum, quserere, to 
 
 seek. Cogs. : Inquire, require, inquest, request. 174. 
 
 Rival, from Lat. rivus, a stream, persons living on the banks 
 of a brook having been believed to have a standing difference 
 
 with each other about water-rights. 175. Presages, 
 
 supply which. The omission of the relative is another mark 
 of Shakespeare's conversational style. Cf. Measure for 
 Measure (II. ii.) : ' I have a brother is condemned to die ; ' and 
 Richard II (II. ii.) : ' The hate of those (who) love not the 
 
 king.' See Abbott, sect. 244. Thrift, success. From 
 
 thrive. Cf. Drive, drift ; draw, draft; shove, shift. 
 
 178. Commodity, property on which I can raise a loan. 
 
 181. Rack'd, stretched. 183. Presently, instantly. 
 
 CI. P. S. 
 
 185. Of my trust. On my credit as a merchant, or on 
 personal grounds as a friend. So Shakespeare has of force, 
 of no right (we now say of ?*ight) ; and see Hamlet (II. i. 64). 
 
 Scene 2 
 
 " This scene brings before us the plot of the three caskets. 
 We learn that, by her father's will, the beautiful Portia is 
 
180 NOTES [Act I 
 
 bound to accept that man as husband who shall choose the 
 right casket. At the end of the scene it is apparent that 
 Bassanio's chances of winning the lady were excellent, if his 
 fortune depended only on the wishes of the mistress and her 
 maid. The lighter side of Portia's character is charmingly 
 depicted in this scene." 
 
 1. Troth, an asseveration. The word is a form of truth. 
 Troth seems to be truth of character, faithfulness; truth, 
 truth of statement. To betroth, is to pledge one's troth. 
 
 3. Sweet, gentle. 6. Surfeit. From Fr. surf aire, 
 
 to overdo. 6. Starve, in O. E. meant to die. Down to 
 
 Chaucer's time (14th century) it retains that meaning. The 
 noun starvation is a hybrid, first uttered by a Mr. Dundas, 
 a Scotchman and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the middle 
 
 of the last century. 8. Mean, from Lat. medium, through 
 
 Low Lat. medianum, which gave the Fr. moyen. 
 
 15. Easier. Shakespeare frequently uses adjectives as 
 adverbs. Thus Macbeth (II. iii. 143) : ' Which the false man 
 does easy;' Antony and Cleopatra (II. ii.) : ' 'Tis noble 
 
 spoken.' 16. Twenty = tw a in-tig. Tig is the Danish 
 
 for ten. 21. Reasoning 1 , talk. Cf. Henry V. (III. vii.) : 
 
 ' 'Tis a subject for a sovereign to reason on ; ' Cymbeline 
 (IV. ii.) : ' I am not very sick, since I can reason of it ; ' and 
 II. vii. 27 of this play : ' I reasoned with a Frenchman yester- 
 day.' 24. Will. Shakespeare liked a bad pun. So in 
 
 Julius Csesar we have a pun on Rome (pronounced Room) : 
 
 ' Now is it Eome indeed, and room enough, 
 When her wide walls encircle but one man.' 
 
 26. Nor . . . none. The O. E. custom was to double or 
 even quadruple the negative, for the sake of intensity or 
 emphasis. Thus Chaucer : — 
 
 ' He never yit no vilanye ne saide 
 In al his lyf unto no maner wight.' 
 
Scene 2] NOTES 181 
 
 The Latin use of making the one negative destroy the other 
 appears in the 17th century. 
 
 27. Holy, from heal. Cogs. : Health ; (w)hole, (w)hole- 
 some ; hail. The w in whole is an error ; as it is in the 
 sound of one, and in the provincial ivhoam (home), woak 
 (oak), etc. 
 
 29. Devised, appointed by will. From Fr. diviser ; and it 
 
 therefore meant originally to divide. 32. One. A modern 
 
 writer would say by one. 35. Over-name them, in 
 
 modern English, name them over. 37. Level, aim. So 
 
 Richard III. (IV. iv.) : 'Level not to hit their lives.' 
 
 40. Appropriation, acquired excellence. 
 
 43. County, count. A Palatinate was a piece of land 
 belonging to the palace (Lat. palatium) , as a personal ap- 
 pendage of the king or prince ; and the count of it was the 
 
 County Palatine. 46. The weeping 1 philosopher, 
 
 Heraclitus, in opposition to the laughing philosopher, Democ- 
 
 ritus. 48. Had rather. Had is the O. E. subjunctive, 
 
 and corresponds to the German h'dtte. Rather is compara- 
 tive of rathe, early. Cf . Milton's Lycidas : ' And the rathe 
 
 primrose that neglected dies.' 57. Throstle, a form of 
 
 the word thrush. 58. Capering", from Lat. caper, a goat. 
 
 65. Say to. Portia intentionally misunderstands Ner- 
 
 issa. 68. Come into the court, bear me witness. 
 
 69. The English. This is the old usage, still preserved 
 
 in Scotland. So Frenchmen say Le latin ; le grec, etc. 
 
 71. Suited, dressed. A suit of clothes was so called because 
 
 each thing agreed with or ' followed ' another. Doublet, 
 
 coat or jacket. 72. Round hose were those puffed out 
 
 at the top. Bonnet was in Shakespeare's time, as it 
 
 still is in France and Scotland, the name for a man's head- 
 dress. Cf. Rich. II. (I. iv.): 'Off goes his bonnet to an 
 
 oyster-wench.' 79. The Frenchman became his 
 
 surety. This is a sly hit at the long-standing alliance 
 between the French and the Scotch. Sealed under, 
 
182 NOTES [Act I 
 
 signed (with his name and seal) the supposed bond signed 
 
 by the Scotchman, but under tbe Scotchman's name. 
 
 84. Drunk. Drunkenness was the usual charge against the 
 Germans, or, as they were called in Shakespeare's time, 
 Dutchmen. 93. Rhenish, now called hock. Con- 
 trary, wrong. 
 
 102. Imposition, conditions imposed. The same idea is 
 contained in tax (= taks) and task, which are the same word 
 
 with the & transposed. 103. Sibylla was not a proper 
 
 name. There were several Sibyllae or prophetesses — ten, 
 say some — from the Babylonians down to the Tiburtine. 
 
 125. Condition, disposition. 127. Shrive, hear the 
 
 confession of, and absolve. 
 
 Scene 3 
 
 " This scene is very important. By the insight we get into 
 the character of Shylock, and by the intimations of the treat- 
 ment which he has received at Antonio's hands, we are pre- 
 pared to understand the Jew's frightful revenge. Shylock 
 hates Antonio as a man, as a merchant who lends money 
 without interest, and as a Christian, but he conceals this 
 hatred under a friendly mask. When he has the power, he 
 will repay his enemy tenfold for his intolerance, the sole 
 blot on the merchant's character." 
 
 1. Ducats, from Fr. ducat, a coin issued by a sovereign 
 
 duke. 7. Stead, help. Cf. Two Gentlemen of Verona 
 
 (II. i.) : ' So it steads you, I will write.' Pleasure, fre- 
 quently used by Shakespeare as a verb. 12. Good, sound, 
 
 solvent, in much the same sense as the modern phrase, ' as 
 good as my word.' In Cymbeline (V. iv.) Shakespeare has 
 ' as good as promise.' 17. In supposition, in an unreal- 
 ized and therefore doubtful form, as they may never come 
 
 to port. 19. Rialto, the Exchange of Venice. 21. 
 
 Squandered, scattered. Cf. As You Like It (II. vii.): 
 
Scene 3] NOTES 183 
 
 'The squandering glances of the fool.' 27. Bond, from 
 
 bind. Cogs. : Band, bund (Ger.), bundle, bindweed, wood- 
 bine (where the d has dropped away), bin, pin, pen, pound 
 (an enclosure). 
 
 37. See Matt. viii. 32. 40. Fawning- publican. The 
 
 publicani were the men who bought the right of fanning the 
 taxes and tributes due to the Roman government in Syria 
 and other Roman provinces, and, like their modern anti- 
 types, the Fermiers-generaux of France before the Revolu- 
 tion, became very rich, and certainly did not need to fawn. 
 But the feeling in Shakespeare's mind probably was that 
 the publicans were the persons most hated by the Jews ; and 
 thus the term would naturally occur to a Jew in a passion. 
 
 44. Usance, interest, payment for the use of money. 
 
 The word occurs also in line 100. 
 
 45. To catch upon the hip and throw him — a phrase 
 
 taken from the practice of wrestling. 46. Ancient, of 
 
 long standing. This is the most frequent meaning in Shake- 
 speare. Grudge. In O. E. grucch — evidently onomato- 
 
 poetic. 47. Rails. Cog.: Bally. 
 
 50. Interest. Everything relating to money-lending was. 
 looked upon in the Middle Ages as disgraceful ; and words 
 like usury and interest carried with them a sense of repro- 
 bation. Usury still has that sense, but interest has lost it. 
 
 53. Near, coming as close as mere memory can bring 
 
 me, without consulting my books. 54. Gross, connected 
 
 with Low Latin grossus, but probably from German gross — 
 the High German form of the Low German (or English) 
 great, another form of which is groat. A groat is a great 
 penny, like Ger. grosschen. 
 
 56. Tubal. Money-lenders, since the earliest ages, have 
 always hunted in couples. Dickens, in his David Copper- 
 field, typifies the class in Messrs. Spenlow & Jorkins. 
 
 62. Ripe wants, wants come to maturity, and requiring 
 immediate satisfaction. Cf . ' My thoughts are ripe in mis- 
 
184 NOTES [Act L, Scene 3 
 
 chief {Twelfth Night, V.) ; 'Ripe revenue,' etc. 63. 
 
 Possess'd, fully informed. 
 
 68. Methought = it thought me, it seemed to me. There 
 were two verbs, the intransitive thincan, to seem, and the 
 
 transitive thencan, to think. Were compromised, 
 
 had made an agreement. Co. S. Eanlings, lambs just 
 
 dropped. Co. S. 96. Beholding-, beholden. Beholding 
 
 occurs nineteen times in Shakespeare; beholden never once. 
 Dr. Abbott thinks ' Shakespeare fancied that ing was equiva- 
 lent to en, the old affix of the past participle.' 
 
 101. Badge, said to be a dialectic form of patch. 103. 
 
 Gaberdine, Ital. gavardina, a long coarse smock-frock. 
 The word occurs again in the Tempest (II. ii. 40). 
 
 108. Void, adjective used as a verb. See Dr. Abbott, sect. 
 
 290. 109. Foot, a noun used as a verb. The same set 
 
 of causes produced this grammatical usage. Shakespeare 
 has ' barns a harvest ; ' ' Such stuff as madmen tongue and 
 brain not' (chatter about but cannot think) (Cymbeline, V. 
 iv.) ; 'to disaster,' 'to knee,' 'to lesson,' 'to malice,' 'to 
 
 wage,' etc. Spurn, to strike with the spur or heel. It 
 
 seems to come from O. E. speornan, to kick against, Lat. 
 spernere ; and spur is to incite to pursuit. Spoor in Cape 
 of Good Hope is Dutch for heel-mark or trace. The idea of 
 contempt in spurn is therefore secondary. 
 
 125. A breed of = interest for. 127. Who, if he 
 
 break. The rvho is a nominative without a verb. This is 
 
 called by grammarians the nominativus pendens. 131. 
 
 Doit is the English way of writing the German Deut (pro- 
 nounced doit), a small coin. 135. Notary, a law-officer 
 
 who notes, or marks, or certifies deeds and other law writ- 
 ings. 136. Single, with your own name only, without 
 
 any other names as additional sureties. 
 
 139. Condition, agreement. Forfeit, from Low Latin 
 
 forisfacere, to put out of doors, or outlaw ; and hence, ap- 
 plied to property, to lose. 140. Equal, exact. Cf. Meas- 
 
'Act II., Scene 1] NOTES 185 
 
 urefor Measure (II. iv.) : ' The equal poise of sin and charity.' 
 
 Nominated for, specified as. CI. P. S. 146. Dwell, 
 
 continue. Cf . Henry VIII. (III. ii.) : ' He should still dwell 
 
 in his musings.' 158. Muttons, beefs. Here Shylock 
 
 uses the N. Fr. words instead of the English sheep and oxen. 
 Perhaps Shakespeare employed these words to give a quaint 
 and foreign flavor to Shylock's talk. 
 
 159. Extend, offer. 161. For my love, for my love's 
 
 sake. 166. Fearful, in the sense of to be feared for. See 
 
 Dr. Abbott, sect. 3, who gives dreadful = awe-struck ; ter- 
 rible = frightened ; 'a careless trifle' (= not worth caring 
 for), and others. 
 
 170. Villain's mind, the meaning (meaning is a cognate 
 of mind) which a villain puts into the seemingly very fair 
 terms. 
 
 ACT SECOND 
 
 Scene 1 
 
 "This scene explains the story of the caskets more fully. 
 We are told that he who chooses wrongly is ' never to speak 
 to lady afterward in way of marriage,' a provision well 
 calculated to keep down the number of suitors." 
 
 1. Mislike, found three times in Shakespeare. 2. 
 
 Livery, from Fr. livrer, to give or deliver. Der. livery- 
 man ; livery stable, a stable where horses are kept at livery , 
 i.e., at a certain rate or on a certain allowance. In Milton's 
 time (1608-1674) the word livery had not its present degraded 
 
 meaning. 5. Icicle, O. E. isesgicel, a cone of ice. The 
 
 ending icle has, therefore, nothing to do with the Latin end- 
 ing icle in particle, etc., which is from Lat. icula. 
 
 9. Fear'd, terrified. Shakespeare frequently uses an in- 
 transitive verb as a transitive. Cf. Henry VI., Part II. 
 
 (III. ii.) : 'Thy flinty heart might perish Margaret.' 12. 
 
 Thoughts, affection. 14. Nice, fastidious. 
 
186 NOTES [Act II 
 
 16. Bars, excludes, debars. 17. Scanted, straitened 
 
 or limited. Cf . Henry V. (II. iv.) : ' Spoil his coat with 
 scanting a little cloth.' And Shakespeare has such phrases 
 as ' to scant excess,' ' to scant our former leaving,' ' to scant 
 obedience ' {King Lear, I. i. 281) , and ' to scant her duty.' 
 
 19. His . . . who. The antecedent to who must be found 
 
 in his. This is very common in Shakespeare. 20. Stood 
 
 = would have stood. 25. Sophy, the ' common name for 
 
 the emperor of Persia.' 26. Fields of, battles from. 
 
 Solyman, the Eastern form of Solomon. Modern Ger. and 
 Eng. forms are Seligman and Silliman. Solyman the Mag- 
 nificent fought against the Persians in 1535. 31. "While, 
 
 the O. E. hwile meant a space of time. It is used as a noun, 
 a conjunctive adverb, and as a verb. 
 
 32. Lichas was the page who brought to Hercules the 
 
 poisoned shirt from Dejanira. 35. Alcides, the son of 
 
 Alceus = Hercules. Ides was the Greek patronymic — like 
 son, Mac (Gaelic), vitch (in Russian), and ski (in Polish). 
 42. Advised, careful and not attempt. 
 
 Scene 2 
 
 " This amusing scene shows us another view of Shylock's 
 character. Launcelot's conscience cannot persuade him to 
 remain longer with such a master. Later in the scene we 
 are prepared for Gratiano's courtship of Nerissa, and get 
 otir first knowledge of the masque which serves in a future 
 scene for the escape of Jessica." 
 
 9. Heels, the part for the whole. Cf. .4.9 You Like It 
 
 (III. ii.) : ' Your wit was made of Atalanta's heels.' 10. 
 
 Via ! Italian (from Lat. via, a way) for Be off 21. The 
 
 mark. Perhaps the mark of the cross. 33. Sand-blind 
 
 = purblind. Perhaps, says Mr. Wright, a corruption of 
 O. E. sam (=Lat. semi), half. 
 
 31. Launcelot all through uses learned and Latinized terms, 
 
Scene 2] NOTES 187 
 
 and constantly makes mistakes in them ; thus confusions 
 is for conclusions. 40. Marry, an ordinary pronuncia- 
 tion of Mary = by our lady. 41. Indirectly. He means 
 
 directly or straight. 42. Sonties, corrupted from saints 
 
 or sanctities. CI. P. S. 46. Raise the waters, raise a 
 
 storm or commotion. 51. 'A, for he. (See Abbott, sect. 
 
 402.) 54. Ergo, Lat. therefore. Launcelot has picked 
 
 up a few Latin words, probably from attending his master 
 
 at the court during lawsuits. 56. An't = an it, that is, 
 
 if it. 58. Father, the ordinary mode of address from a 
 
 young man to an elder, and not intended by Launcelot to 
 
 enable his father to recognize him. 66. Hovel-post, a 
 
 post to support a hovel or shed. Co. S. 
 
 80. Stand up. Launcelot had been kneeling ; and, ac- 
 cording to the tradition of the stage from Shakespeare's 
 own time, had presented the back of his head with its long 
 hair to his father, who mistook it for a beard, while Launce- 
 lot has none. 94. Fill-horse, for thill-horse = shaft- 
 horse. F and th are frequently interchanged both by 
 individuals and by nations. Thus the Russians write Feo- 
 
 dore for Theodore, etc. 103. Set up my rest, a technical 
 
 expression taken from an old game at cards = I am satis- 
 fied with my hand, I have made up my mind. See Romeo 
 
 and Juliet (IV. v.), and^'s Well (II. i.). 106. Finger 
 
 ■with my ribs = use my ribs for counting my fingers. 
 
 116. Anon = an one = at once. An is an old form of on. 
 
 120. Gramercy, corrupted from Fr. grand merci, much 
 
 thanks. 124. Infection for affection or desire. 130. 
 
 Cater-cousins. This word occurs only here in Shakespeare, 
 and there is nothing but conjecture as to the derivation. 
 It may mean ' allied not only by blood, but by accidentally 
 meeting at the same table, when they are "catered for" 
 together.' 133. Frutify, for certify. 136. Imperti- 
 nent, for pertinent = relating to. 142. Defect, for effect. 
 
 143. Preferr'd, recommended for preferment. 
 
188 NOTES [Act II 
 
 154. Guarded, braided or trimmed. 157. Table, the palm 
 
 •of the hand. The science of chiromancy (divining by the 
 hand) was practised in Shakespeare's time, and is now by 
 gypsies. 
 
 168. Bestow'd, arranged ; also used by Shakespeare in 
 
 its oldest sense of stow away. 175. Suit, a request to 
 
 make. 182. Liberal, free, even to taking 'liberties.' 
 
 Shakespeare has also such phrases as a 'liberal villain.' 
 
 Pain. Shakespeare has both pain and pains. 184. Skip- 
 ping", thoughtless. Cf. Macbeth, I. ii. 30: ' Compelled these 
 skipping kerns to trust their heels.' Shakespeare uses skip- 
 per for a flighty person {Taming of the Shrew, II.). 187. 
 
 Habit, demeanor. 188. With respect, thoughtfully, 
 
 and to the pdint. 189. Demurely, from O. Fr. de 
 
 (bonnes) murs (moeurs). 
 
 192. Civility, used in the objective sense for refinement. 
 193. Sad ostent, grave demeanor. 
 
 Scene 3 
 
 "As Homer makes us understand the greatness of Helen's 
 "beauty by showing its effect on the elders of Troy, so Shake- 
 speare exhibits the charm of Jessica in the words and tears 
 of the clown." 
 
 10. Exhibit. Launcelot meant inhibit (stop). 14. Hei- 
 nous, from Fr. haine {hatred). Shakespeare even uses it of 
 animals — ' that heinous tiger ' {Titus Adronicus, V. iii.). 
 
 Scene 4 
 
 " The plan of the masque, including Jessica's elopement, 
 3s herein further discussed." 
 
 2. Disguise us. Such reflexive verbs are not unusual in 
 Shakespeare. He has ' repent me,' ' repose you,' ' retire 
 himself,' ' fear me,' and even ' appear itself,' where appear 
 is transitive. 5. Spoke us of = bespoke. 
 
Scene 5] NOTES 189 
 
 6. Quaintly, fully, thoroughly well, and elegantly, from 
 Lat. comptus. 10. Break up = op = open. 11. Sig- 
 nify, tell you. 23. Provided of. Shakespeare has also 
 
 ' supplied of,' 'satisfied of,' 'mixed of,' and 'puffed of,' etc. 
 
 37. Faithless, who does not hold the (Christian) faith. 
 
 39. Shall be = is to be. 
 
 Scene 5 
 
 " This scene is taken up with the escape of Jessica. Shy- 
 lock goes to feast with Bassanio, and tells Jessica to keep 
 the house fast shut. Launcelot delivers a message of con- 
 trary effect from Lorenzo, and as elsewhere, Jessica obeys 
 her love at her father's expense." 
 
 3. What! An interjection used in calling a person. 
 
 11. Bid forth, asked out. — -17. A-brewing, a is the 
 broken-down form of the preposition an, now on. Brewing 
 is the verbal noun, which formerly ended in wig. 20. Re- 
 proach, for approach. 25. Black Monday was Easter 
 
 Monday, April 14, 1360, when Edward III. was lying with his 
 army before Paris, and when ' a storm so bitter cold ' broke 
 on them that many men died on horseback. The tradition 
 remained ; as the tradition of Black Friday in 1866, when 
 Gurneys' Bank broke, and there was a money panic in the 
 city of London, still remains. 
 
 30. Wry-neck'd, wry, from O.E. writhan, to twist. Cogs. : 
 Writhe, toreathe, wriggle ; awry. It was the player who was 
 
 wry-necked, because he has to turn his neck round. 33. 
 
 Varnish'd faces. The maskers painted their faces by way 
 
 of disguise. CI. P. S. 42. "Worth a Jewess' eye, or a 
 
 Jew's eye, was proverbial, and dates from the times when 
 teeth or eyes were extracted, ears sliced, and other tortures 
 
 practised on Jews to make them pay large ransoms. 43. 
 
 Hagar's offspring, the Gentiles. 45. Patch. The pro- 
 fessional jester wore a patched or motley coat, as the harle- 
 quin still does. Patch was a common nickname for a fool. 
 
190 NOTES [Act II 
 
 — — 54. Stale (from stall) , what has long been exposed on a 
 stall. The French seem to have borrowed the word, and they 
 said estaler, now e'taler, to display. 
 
 57. Pent-house, from the Fr. appentls (a lean-to), from 
 Lat. ad, to, and pendere, to hang. Appendix is the same 
 word in another form. "When a word is transferred bodily 
 to another language, the tendency is for it to take the form 
 of some other word in the language. Thus buffetier becomes 
 beefeater ; Bocage-ivalk, Bird-cage-walk ; Chateau vert, Shot- 
 over ; Whittling ton and his acate (purchasing), Whittington 
 and his cat ; quelque choses, kickshaws ; etiquette, the ticket ; 
 
 and others. 61. Venus' pigeons. Venus was said to be 
 
 drawn in a chariot by doves. 63. Obliged, bound by con- 
 tract, under obligation. 65. Sits down, supply with. 
 
 See IV. i. 385 of this play. 
 
 66. Untread, tread in the opposite direction, retrace. 
 
 70. Younker. Shakespeare only once employs the word 
 
 youngster. 71. Scarfed, decked with streamers, long 
 
 pennants, and flags. 74. Over-weather'd, weather- 
 beaten to excess. 
 
 77. Abode, delay, tarrying. 86. "Who, for whom. 
 
 Dr. Abbott (sect. 274) gives several similar instances. 
 
 91. Exchange, of my ordinary dress for that of a page. 
 
 98. Of this repetition of the too there are six examples 
 
 in Shakespeare. The best known one is in Hamlet (I. ii. 
 
 129): 'O that this too too solid flesh would melt!' 
 
 Light is here used in a double sense. 101. Garnish, 
 
 dress. From Fr. garner (to furnish), which is really the 
 French form of the English (Teutonic) warn. 103. Close, 
 
 secret. 107. By my hood. Dr. Schmidt, the author of 
 
 the Shakespeare Lexicon, thinks it means by my mask. 
 
 108. Beshrew me = indeed. Shrew is connected with 
 shreiod. ' Beshrew me ' (a mild form of asseveration) is fre- 
 quently in Shakespeare followed by but. 123. On't = of 
 
 it, a phrase still used in the north of England. 
 
Scene 6] NOTES 191 
 
 Scene 6 
 
 " In this scene the Prince of Morocco makes his choice 
 among the caskets. We learn the mottoes on the caskets, 
 and see the Prince led away hy pride to choose the golden 
 exterior and 'what many men desire.' These preliminary 
 scenes serve chiefly to work up our interest for the final test 
 of Bassanio." 
 
 1. Discover = uncover or disclose. 4. "Who, for 
 
 ivhich. 8. As blunt, and plain as the metal itself. 
 
 12. Withal = together with it. 20. Shows, appear- 
 ances. 26. Rated by thy estimation, valued according 
 
 to thy reputation. 30. Disabling 1 . See note on I. i. 119. 
 
 40. This saint, who is still alive; who, though canon- 
 ized, still breathes. 41. Hyrcanian. Hyrcania was the 
 
 ancient name of the region south of the Caspian. Vasty, 
 
 a favorite epithet of Shakespeare's. Cf. Henry IV., Part 
 III. (III. i.) : 'I can call spirits from the vasty deep.' He 
 also uses the odd noun vastidity ( = immensity) in Measure 
 for Measure (III. i.) ; ' Though all this world's vastidity you 
 had.' 
 
 42. Throughfares. The root of though and thorough 
 (they are the same word) is thor (the same word as our door 
 and the German Thor). Cogs.: Trite; thrill, drill, trill; 
 
 and thurrock (the hold of a ship). 43. Come view. 
 
 Cf. the American (which is an old English) idiom, ' help him 
 build a house.' This usage is found with many Eng. verbs, 
 
 as bid*, dare, need, make, see, etc. 50. Rib, enclose. 
 
 51. Cerecloth. From Lat. cera, wax. It was a kind of cloth 
 dipped in wax, and used to wrap the bodies of the dead in. 
 
 53. Ten times. This was the relative value of gold 
 
 and silver in Shakespeare's time. 
 
 51. Insculped upon. The figure of the angel was in 
 relief. The angel was St. Michael piercing the dragon ; and 
 the value of the coin was ten shillings. 59. Key, pro- 
 
192 . NOTES [Act II 
 
 nounced in Shakespeare's time, as now in Ireland, kay. 
 
 63. Carrion death, a skull from which the flesh had rotted 
 
 off. CI. P. S. 78. Part, for depart. So Shakespeare 
 
 has (IV. i. 180 of this play) strained for restrained; cause 
 for because ; longing for belonging ; and stroyed for de- 
 stroyed.- 80. Complexion, probably here character, as 
 
 in III. i. 26 of this play. 
 
 Scene 7 
 
 " This scene shows us the various characters in side lights. 
 Shylock is spoken of with the greatest contempt, and de- 
 scribed wavering between his daughter and his ducats. 
 Antonio, on the other hand, is most highly praised. We re- 
 ceive a first intimation of the coming ruin of the merchant." 
 
 4. Villain, not in the modern sense, but simply as a 
 vague expression of contempt = ' low fellow.' — Raised, 
 
 roused. 10. Certified, informed. From Lat. certiorem 
 
 facere, to inform. 25. Keep his day, for payment. 
 
 27. Reason'd, conversed. See note on I. ii. 21, and Luke 
 v. 18 : ' Why reason ye thus with yourselves ? ' 
 
 30. Fraught, freighted. 33. You were best = it 
 
 were best for you. The inflection for the dative was the 
 same in our pronouns as that for the accusative. But the 
 accusative (objective) of an active verb can be changed into 
 the nominative of a passive verb ; and the same thing was 
 done with the dative. Thus in • He bought me a house,' me 
 is a dative ; but, in turning it, people will say either : ' A 
 house was bought me,' or — most illogically — ' I was bought 
 a house ; ' ' I was given a place ; ' ' I was offered a chair.' 
 Hence such absurdities as ' I was shewn over the house.' 
 
 39. Slubber = slur. Cogs.: Slip; slop; sloppy. 
 
 42. Mind of love = loving mind. A common idiom in 
 Shakespeare. Thus we have ' a waste of shame ; ' ' a god of 
 
Scene 8] NOTES 193 
 
 power ; ' ' men of sin ; ' ' a gentleman of blood ; ' ' pageants 
 of delight ; ' ' a dance of custom ; ' ' apes of idleness ; ' ' a tale 
 of length ; ' ' a boy of tears ; ' and many others. Cf . Keats's 
 phrase, 'a thing of beauty.' 43. Employ to, Shake- 
 speare in other passages always uses in. 48. Affection, 
 
 emotion. Sensible, full of feeling. 52. Quicken, en- 
 liven. Embraced, which he clings to, or embraces. 
 
 Scene 8 
 
 " In this scene the Prince of Arragon tries his fortune with 
 the caskets, but meets with no better success than his 
 predecessor. At the end we are prepared for the entrance 
 of Bassanio." 
 
 1. Straight, straightway, at once. 3. Election, 
 
 choice. From Lat. eligo, I choose. 13. Marriage, three 
 
 syllables, with the accent on age and the French pronuncia- 
 tion. 18. So have I address'd me == for this I have 
 
 prepared myself . 24. That ' many ' . . . This sentence 
 
 would in modern English stand the other way : ' The fool 
 multitude may,' etc. 26. Fond, foolish. 
 
 27. The martlet, a kind of swallow. In Macbeth (I. vi. 
 
 4) it is called 'The temple-haunting martlet.' 28. In 
 
 the weather, among storm and rain. Cf. the modern 
 phrase, ' to weather the storm ; ' and a modern American 
 author says of England : ' This country has no climate, but 
 
 plenty of weather.' 29. In the force, exposed to the 
 
 attack. 31. Jump with, agree with. 37. Cozen, 
 
 cheat. A verb evolved out of cousin. — Skeat. 
 
 41. Derived, from rivus, a stream. Cog. : Derivation. 
 
 Clear. Shakespeare has ' a clear life ; ' ' clear in his 
 
 great office' {Macbeth, I. vii. 18); 'a clear countenance,' 
 
 etc. 42. Purchased, acquired. In Chaucer, purchase. 
 
 means to prosecute, from Fr. ponrchasser, to hunt. 
 
 47. Ruin, refuse. 50. Assume desert = that I am a 
 
194 NOTES [Act IU 
 
 deserving person. 54. Schedule, a little scroll. Lat. 
 
 schedula, from Gr. schede. 60. Distinct, accented on 
 
 dis. 62. Fire, a dissyllable, as Matthew Arnold and 
 
 other modern poets still make it. 
 
 67. I wis, a blunder for yiois, an O. E. word for indeed 
 or certainly (cf. German gewiss). Coleridge and Macaulay 
 make the same blunder, in the Ancient Mariner ('a speck, a 
 mist, a shape, I wis ') ; and in the ballad of Horatius. There 
 
 never was a verb v)is. 70. Sped, done for, or undone. 
 
 Cf. Romeo and Juliet (III. i.). 
 
 72. By the time, in proportion to the time. Linger, 
 
 from long. Cf. late, loiter. 76. Wroth, misery. 
 
 81. Goes. This looks like the singular ; but it is really the 
 northern plural. Of the three chief dialects which were 
 dominant in England in the 13th and 14th centuries, the 
 North made its plural in es, as ice hopes; the Midland in 
 en, wehopen; and the Southern in eth,we hopeth. There 
 are in Shakespeare many survivals of the northern plural 
 
 (see Dr. Abbott, sect. 333). 87. Sensible, evident to the 
 
 senses, or substantial. Cf . Macbeth (II. i. 36) : ' Art thou 
 
 not, fatal vision, as sensible to feeling as to sight ? ' 
 
 Regreets, greetings. Cf. King John (III. i.). 
 
 88. Commends, compliments. 89. Yet I have not 
 
 = I have never yet. CI. P. S. 96. High-day. Cf. the 
 
 phrase ' high-days and holidays.' 98. Post, postman. 
 
 ACT THIRD 
 
 Scene 1 
 
 " In the third act the various scattered threads of the drama 
 are gathered up and brought together in preparation for the 
 crisis of the following act. The first scene confirms the tid- 
 ings of Antonio's losses. The conversations between Shy- 
 
Scene 1] NOTES 195 
 
 lock and the two friends, and between Shylock and Tubal, 
 are masterpieces of character drawing, both of the Jew and 
 of his somewhat flighty daughter." 
 
 2. It lives there, the rumor is current there. 3. The 
 
 narrow seas, the English Channel. - — 4. The Goodwins, 
 the Goodwin Sands, off the Isle of Thanet, in Kent. The 
 tradition is that these sands formed part of the estate of the 
 great Earl Godwin, father of Harold, and that they were 
 
 swallowed up by the sea in the year 1100. 6. Tall, strong, 
 
 Co. S. Gossip, talker, but originally sib in Gocl = re- 
 lated to God. Godfathers and godmothers were the true 
 
 godsibs or gossips. 9. Knapped, snapped. 27. The 
 
 wings she flew withal, the disguise she stole away in. 
 
 42. Match, bargain. 44. Smug, neat, well-dressed, 
 
 and self-contented. Cf . Ger. schmuck. Probable cog. : 
 Smock. Shakespeare has the phrase, ' a smug bridegroom.' 
 
 45. Mart, an abridged form of market. Hindered 
 
 me, kept me from gaining half a million ducats. CI. P. S. 
 
 58. Fed, supply is he not? 70. Better, very fre- 
 quently used by Shakespeare as a verb. 
 
 76. Matched, found to match them. 82. Frankfort- 
 
 on-the-Main has always been famous for its fairs. 84. 
 
 In that one diamond. 115. One of them. Tubal skil- 
 fully intermingles ' good news' with 'bad news,' and thus 
 works Shylock's passion of anger and avarice up to its 
 
 highest height. 118. Turquoise, spelt also Turkis and 
 
 Turkois, from the word Turkey. It is a pale blue stone, 
 generally set in the ring presented by an accepted lover. 
 The permanence of its color was believed to depend on the 
 constancy of his affection. 
 
 Scene 2 
 
 . " This scene forms the climax of the great love plot of the 
 diama. Bassanio wins and marries Portia, thereby giving 
 
196 NOTES [Act III 
 
 her a ground for the part she plays in the following act. 
 Even before Bassanio makes his choice of the leaden casket, 
 Portia admits her desire for his success. After his triumph 
 she gives herself and all she has with the sweetest grace and 
 dignity imaginable. There is no forcing of inclinations in 
 this chance choice, either between Portia and Bassanio, or 
 Nerissa and Gratiano. Before the lovers have been together 
 long, however, a messenger enters, bringing word from An- 
 tonio of the forfeiture of the bond, and of the merchant's 
 desire to see Bassanio before his death. Portia despatches 
 her lover immediately to bring all possible help to his un- 
 fortunate benefactor." 
 
 6. In such a quality, in the way I am doing. 8. Hath 
 
 no tongue, can think, but must not speak. 11. I am 
 
 forsworn = I should then be. Forsworn = perjured. 
 
 The for here has the negative force, not the iutensive force 
 
 it has in fordone and forlorn. 12. So = forsworn. 
 
 So = under these circumstances. 15. O'erlooked. An 
 
 allusion to the evil eye. It here means fascinated. 18. 
 
 Naughty = good for naught, or wicked. 
 
 20. So (the last so) = not yours. 21. Peize. Some 
 
 commentators read piece = piece out. In Richard III. (V. 
 iii.) we have: 'Lest leaden slumber peize me down.' But 
 peize is from Fr. peser, to weigh down or weight. Portia 
 wants to stay the flight of Time, and to hang leaden 
 
 weights upon his wings. 28. Fear the enjoying = 
 
 doubt whether I shall ever enjoy. 34. Love, had you 
 
 said love instead of live, you would have expressed all that 
 
 I have to confess. CI. P. S. 35. Had been the very 
 
 sum, would have been the utmost I had to confess. 
 
 43. A swan-like end. It was a common belief that swans 
 uttered beautiful music just before they died ; and Tenny- 
 son has based a poem on this tradition. Cf . Othello (V. ii.) : 
 * I will play the swan, and die in music' 
 
Scene 2] NOTES 197 
 
 44. Fading, dying away. 48. Flourish of trumpets 
 
 in the ceremony of a coronation at the moment of placing 
 
 the crown on the head of the king. 53. Presence, noble 
 
 demeanor. "With much more love. Alcides (Hercu- 
 les) rescued Hesione, the daughter of Laomedon, king of 
 Troy, who had been fastened to a rock on the sea-shore, as 
 a sacrifice to the offended Poseidon (Neptune) , not because 
 he loved her, but because her father had promised to give 
 him the horses which Tros had received from Zeus (Jupiter). 
 
 56. I stand for sacrifice, like Hesione. 57. Darda- 
 
 nian, Trojan. Wives, women. Such was the O. E. 
 
 sense, which gradually turned into = married women, just 
 
 as man meant (and still means in Germany) husband. 
 
 62. Fancy, love. It is used by Shakespeare in this sense 
 in twenty passages. The word fancy is a compressed form 
 
 of phantasy. 72. Be least themselves = be least like 
 
 the things themselves. 73. Still, constantly. 75. 
 
 Season' d opposed to tainted. 
 
 78. Approve = prove or support it. From Lat. probus, 
 good ; Fr. prouver ; hence approve = to make good. 
 
 80. Simple, unmixed. (From Lat. simplex = semel plica, 
 single fold.) 85. Livers white as milk. Cf . Hamlet : — 
 
 ' That I am lily-livered, and lack gall 
 To make oppression bitter.' 
 
 86. Excrement, from Lat. excrescere, to grow out. The 
 term is applied to the beard, which has generally been as- 
 sumed to be a sign of physical courage. 
 
 87. Redoubted, feared or formidable. Frequently used 
 by Shakespeare before names, as in ' my most redoubted 
 lord.' Richard II. (III. iii. 198): 'My most redoubted 
 
 father,' etc. 90. Shakespeare uses light here in two 
 
 senses = not heavy u,nd frivolous. 93. Upon sup- 
 posed fairness, placed upon fictitious beauty. Cf. Merry 
 Wives of Windsor (IV. iv.) : ' Let the supposed fairies pinch 
 
198 NOTES [Act III 
 
 him.' 94. The dowry of a second head. Cf. Sonnet 
 
 lxviii. : — 
 
 ' Before the golden tresses of the dead, 
 
 The right of sepulchres, were shorn away, 
 To live a second life on second head ; 
 Ere beauty's dead fleece made another gay.' 
 
 ' Golden ' locks were fashionable in Queen Elizabeth's time ; 
 and she herself, when between sixty and seventy, wore a 
 large mass of false hair of this color. 
 
 98. An Indian beauty. The emphatic and contrasting 
 word is Indian, a beauty that is dark and dusky, and 
 merely Indian. 
 
 101. Midas was a king of Phrygia, who, in return for a 
 kindness to one of the attendants of Dionysos (Bacchus), 
 obtained from him the favor that everything he touched 
 
 might turn into gold. 113. Surfeit, from Fr. surf aire, 
 
 to overdo. 114. Counterfeit, portrait. So in Timon of 
 
 Athens (V. i.) : ' Thou drawest a counterfeit best in all 
 
 Athens.' 119. Sunder gives sundry; as sever, several. 
 
 125. Unfurnish'd, not having its other eye, because 
 
 the painter had lost both his own, and could not finish his 
 
 work, after he had painted one. 129. Continent = Lat. 
 
 continens, containing. In Midsummer Night's Dream (II. 
 i.) we have: 'They (the rivers) have overborne their con- 
 tinents ' (= containing banks) . 
 
 135. Fortune for your bliss, look upon your fortune as 
 your greatest happiness. 139. I come by note, in ac- 
 cordance with the order written (or noted) in the scroll. 
 
 — — 140. In a prize = in a competition for a prize. 155. 
 
 In your account, estimation. This account is used in the 
 subjective sense ; the account in line 156 in the objective 
 
 sense. 156. Living's, estates. Cf. Winter's Tale (IV. 
 
 iii.) : 'Where my land and living lies.' The word is now 
 confined to estates which belong to the Church. 
 
 158. To term in gross, to speak generally of. 
 
Scene 2] NOTES 199 
 
 171. I give them with this ring. So Shylock says 
 
 (III. i. 118) : ' I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor.' 
 
 174. Vantage, vantage-ground. Exclaim on, exclaim 
 
 against. Shakespeare uses on with this verb in seven pas- 
 sages, in such phrases as ' exclaims on Death ; ' 'on the 
 direful night ; ' etc. 
 
 175. Bereft, past participle of bereave, compound of reave, 
 a form of rob. The ordinary function of be is to change an 
 intransitive into a transitive verb (as in moan, bemoan) ; 
 but it is frequently added to verbs already transitive ; as, 
 
 befit ; bemock ; bestir ; bepraise ; bestain ; etc. 178. Fairly 
 
 spoke, well and clearly spoken. So Shakespeare talks of 
 books ' very fairly bound,' meaning elegantly. 
 
 181. Blent, blended. 186. Our time that. The ante- 
 cedent is to be taken out of our. Cf. V. i. 198 of this play: 
 ' If you had known her worthiness that gave the ring ; ' and 
 Julius Caesar (I. i. 52) : — 
 
 ' And do you now strew flowers in his way 
 That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood ? ' 
 
 191. None from me, a double use of the word from. 
 
 199. Intermission (five syllables), pause, delay, or 
 
 hesitation. 204. Roof, of my mouth. 
 
 205. Last, hold or continue — another of the weak plays 
 upon words which the euphuistic tendency of the Eliza- 
 bethan age made common in Shakespeare's time. 208. 
 
 Achieved, gained. 218. Very, true. Cf. Tempest (II. 
 
 ii. 109) : - Thou art very Trinculo indeed.' And Hamlet (II. 
 ii. 49) : f I have found the very cause of Hamlet's lunacy.' 
 227. Commends him, himself. This is a very com- 
 mon usage in Elizabethan, and still more common in Early 
 English. Cf . King John (V. vii.) : — 
 
 ' My heart hath one poor string to stay it by.' 
 
 Ope = open. 
 
 231. Estate, the unabridged form of the word state. Cf. 
 
200 NOTES [Act III 
 
 Coriolanus (II. i.) : ' It gives me an estate of seven years' 
 
 health.' 238. Shrewd contents, evil news. Cf. As 
 
 You Like It (V. iv.) : • He endured shrewd days and nights.' 
 And we find in Shakespeare such phrases as ' a shrewd 
 turn,' ' foul shrewd news,' and 'to lift shrewd steel against 
 our golden crown.' 
 
 241. The constitution, temper, and habit of mind. 
 
 242. Constant, steady, firm-minded. 
 
 253. Braggart. Ard, hard is a suffix which seems to 
 indicate habit of mind. Thus a braggart is one who habitu- 
 ally brags. Cf. coward, laggard, sluggard (connected with 
 
 slug, slow, sloth, and slack), etc. 257. Mere, thorough, 
 
 unqualified, absolute. 259. The paper as = the paper 
 
 being as. 261. Issuing-, pouring out. This word in or- 
 dinary English is transitive only in one phrase, 'issue a 
 paper or proclamation.' 
 
 267. It should appear. We should have expected would. 
 
 271. Confound, ruin. 273. This line means, 'He 
 
 accuses the state of not giving equal rights and equal free- 
 dom to all.' 275. Magniflco was a title given to the 
 
 nobility of Venice. See also Othello (I. ii). 
 
 276. Greatest port, highest rank. The meaning here 
 
 may be contrasted with that in I. i. 124 of this play. 
 
 Persuaded with, advised and pleaded with. 277. En- 
 vious, malicious. 
 
 284. Deny, forbid. 288. The best condition'd and 
 
 unwearied, that is, most unwearied, the superlative being 
 
 supplied out of best. 294. Deface, cancel. 297. 
 
 Through ought to be thorough, to make the line. 303. 
 
 Along = with you. A usage of the word still existing in 
 America. 
 
 307. Cheer, countenance. So we have in the New Testa- 
 ment : ' Be of good cheer ! ' And in Shakespeare : — 
 
 ' Whereat she smiled with so sweet a cheer.' 
 
Scene 3] NOTES 201 
 
 314. You and I. Shakespeare seems to consider the 
 phrase You-and-I as incapable of inflection. 
 
 Scene 3 
 "The ruin of Antonio is accomplished, and he is in the 
 hands of the gaoler. Shylock is impenetrable to all entreat- 
 ies of Salarino or Antonio, answering : — 
 
 "Thou cali'dst me dog before thou hadst a cause : 
 But, since I am a dog, beware my fangs." 
 
 His speeches ring with long-pent hatred." 
 
 1. Debtors in prison seem to have been allowed to go 
 out, accompanied by an officer, for the purpose of making 
 arrangements with their creditors. This was also the case 
 
 in London down to 1800. 7. Fangs, from O. E.fangan, 
 
 to seize. Hence also, finger, new-fangled. 9. Naughty, 
 
 unjust and wicked. 19. Kept, dwelt. Keep is fre- 
 quently used in its intransitive sense by Shakespeare. 
 Thus we find : ' Where earth-delving conies keep ; ' 'A 
 Spaniard that keeps here in court ; ' ' Knock at his study, 
 
 where, they say, he keeps.' 20. Bootless, useless. 
 
 Boot, from the O. E. betan, to make bet or good. Cogs.: 
 Booty ; to boot (= ' to the good '). 
 
 23. Made moan, complained. 
 
 25. Grant, allow. Cf . Cymbeline (II. i.) : 'A fool 
 
 granted' (= allowed or licensed). 27. Commodity, 
 
 facilities of trading. 31. Consisteth, for consist; but 
 
 trpde-and-profit may be looked upon as a compound noun, 
 equivalent to commerce. 32. 'Bated, reduced, weakened. 
 
 Scene 4 
 " In this scene we see Portia preparing to follow her hus- 
 band to Venice, accompanied by her maid, Nerissa. The 
 scene shows us the intellectual firmness of Portia. At a time 
 when few persons would be calm, she directs her household 
 perfectly, clearly, and without a moment's hesitation." 
 
202 NOTES [Act III 
 
 2. Conceit, idea. 
 
 7. Lover, friend. This meaning is common in Shake- 
 speare. Cf. Julius Csesar (III. ii. 13), where Brutus he- 
 gins his speech : ' Romans, countrymen, and lovers ! ' 
 
 9. Enforce you, can make you feel. 10. Repent for. 
 
 Shakespeare has repent of, for, and over, and also without a 
 
 preposition. 12. Waste, spend. Cf . Midsummer Night's 
 
 Dream (II. i.) : — 
 
 ' A merrier hour was never wasted there,' 
 
 And Julius Csesar (II. i. 59) : — 
 
 'March is wasted fourteen days.' 
 
 14. Needs, an old genitive = of necessity. Similar geni- 
 tives, now used as adverbs, exist in else (= elles), length- 
 ways, Mondays (= of a Monday); and hence (hennes), whence 
 (whennes) . 15. Lineaments, features. 25. Hus- 
 bandry, care. Manage, management. The word man- 
 agement does not occur in Shakespeare at all. 33. 
 
 Imposition, the task I impose on you. 35. Lays, for 
 
 lay. This is very common with Shakespeare. 
 
 49. Padua, a university famous in the Middle Ages as a 
 
 great law school. 52. Imagined speed, with the speed 
 
 of thought. 58. Tranect. The word is probably traject, 
 
 from Italian traghetto, a ferry. Ferry = ferry-boat. 
 
 56. Convenient, suitable. 59. Think of us, think of 
 
 seeing us. Co. S. 
 
 67. Reed voice, the shrill voice that comes between 
 boyhood and manhood. 68. Frays, battles. 
 
 69. Quaint, finely turned, elaborate. 72. I could not 
 
 do withal = I did not care for them ; I could not do with 
 them ; they were not the sort I liked. I could not help it. 
 CI. P. S. 77. Jacks, a term of contempt. Cf. Cheap- 
 Jack for hawker. Raw = unripe, youthful. Co. S. 
 
 79. All my whole. A phrase found eight times in Shake- 
 
Scene 5] NOTES 203 
 
 speare. See Henry VI. , Part I. (I. i.) : ' All the whole 
 army stood agazed on him.' 
 
 Scene 5 
 
 " In this scene we have more playfulness between Jessica, 
 Launcelot, and Lorenzo, and get a little further insight into 
 the characters of the actors in this secondary love plot. The 
 scene ends with Jessica's famous eulogy on Portia/' 
 
 3. I fear you = fear for you. Shakespeare makes fear, 
 in the sense of to be anxious about, take a direct object. 
 See III. ii. 28 of this play. 4. Agitation, another blun- 
 der of Launcelot's for cogitation, idea of. 14. Scylla. 
 
 In the Straits of Messina there was, according to the old 
 Greek tradition, a dangerous rock called Scylla on the 
 Italian coast ; and on the opposite coast of Sicily there was 
 a whirlpool called Charybdis. In certain states of the wind, 
 the sailor who kept away from the one fell into the other ; 
 and hence the Latin line : ' Incidit in Scyllam qui vult vitare 
 Charybdim.' (He falls into Scylla who desires to avoid 
 Charybdis.) 
 
 30. Are out, have fallen out, or quarrelled. Cf . Julius 
 
 Csesar (I. i. 17) : ' Be not out with me.' 46. Quarrelling 
 
 with occasion, quibbling on every opportunity. 55. 
 
 Discretion, the power of separating this from that. From 
 
 Lat. discerno, I divide (mental things). 58. A many. 
 
 Shakespeare uses both the and a with many. Cf. Corio- 
 lanus (III. i.) : — 
 
 ' The mutable, rank-scented many, 
 Let them regard me as I do not flatter.' 
 
 And King John (IV. ii.) : ' Told of a many thousand war- 
 like French.' And we also find a many followed by of, as 
 l A many of your horsemen' {Henry V., IV. vii.). Dr. Ab- 
 bott, sect. 87, says: 'A was frequently inserted before a 
 numeral adjective, for the purpose of indicating that the 
 
204 NOTES [Act IV 
 
 objects enumerated are regarded collectively as one.' And 
 lie quotes, ' this three mile ; ' 'an eight days after these 
 sayings' (Luke ix. 28). 59. Garnish'd like him, fur- 
 nished with words and ideas like his. 60. Defy the 
 
 matter, set the meaning at defiance. Co. S. 67. Mean 
 
 it, be thoroughly in earnest about living an upright life. 
 
 72. Pawn'd, staked, to make up the difference. 
 
 74. Of me, in me. 77. Stomach, inclination. 
 
 80. I'll set you forth, describe or praise you fully. 
 
 ACT FOURTH 
 
 Scene 1 
 
 " This is the famous trial scene. It is laid in the court- 
 room before the Duke and Magnificoes of Venice. At first 
 we have appeals to Shylock's mercy from the Duke, from 
 Bassanio, and from Antonio's other friends, but all in vain. 
 Shylock is without softness. Portia now enters, dressed as 
 a doctor of laws sent by the learned Bellario. She hears the 
 case reviewed, and says : ' Then must the Jew be merciful.' 
 'On what compulsion must I?' answers Shylock. Now 
 follows Portia's famous speech on mercy. Shylock not only 
 will listen to no exhortations, but will not accept ten times 
 the amount of his bond in payment. Portia says that the 
 court awards Shylock his pound of flesh, and he prepares to 
 cut it. Before he has touched Antonio, she tells him that 
 the bond gives him 'no jot of blood,' and if Antonio lose 
 any, all the Jew's goods are confiscated. Shylock offers to 
 take thrice the money, and then the principal only. But 
 Portia says ' No ' ; he shall have only his bond. Shylock 
 will 'stay »o longer question.' But the righteous judge 
 will not let him escape until he promises to hold half his 
 goods for Lorenzo and Jessica, and to become a Christian. 
 The Jew consents and goes staggering from the room. Both 
 the Duke and Bassanio now wish to entertain Portia, and 
 
Scene 1] NOTES 205 
 
 the latter begs her to accept the three thousand ducats, but 
 she will bave naught but the gloves of Antonio and the ring 
 of Bassanio. This Bassanio feels that he cannot grant, for 
 the ring is his wife's present, but finally, at Antonio's solici- 
 tation, sends Gratiano with the ring after Portia." 
 
 Hazlitt speaks of this scene as follows : 
 
 " The whole of the trial scene, both before and after the 
 entrance of Portia, is a masterpiece of dramatic skill. The 
 legal acuteness, the passionate declamations, the sound 
 maxims of jurisprudence, the wit and irony interspersed in 
 it, the fluctuations of hope and fear in the different persons, 
 and the completeness and suddenness of the catastrophe, 
 cannot be surpassed." 
 
 5. Uncapable. Un is the English, in the Latin, negative 
 prefix. But Shakespeare has unfirm ; impossible ; uncu- 
 rable ; unvincible, etc. ; and, on the other hand, he writes 
 incharitable ; infortunate ; incivil; and ingrateful (all of 
 which, by the way, are right). The modern use is itself 
 variable, for we say ungrateful and ingratitude ; unequal 
 and inequality. b\ Empty from. This is the only in- 
 stance in Shakespeare where empty is followed by from. 
 
 7. Qualify, modify, moderate. 
 
 8. Obdurate, with the accent on dur. 9. That, a rep- 
 resentative particle for since. The French use que in the 
 same way; instead of repeating si, quand, or some such 
 conjunction, they insert que. 
 
 13. Very would seem here to carry the meaning of ut- 
 most. Dr. Schmidt says that very is ' generally placed before 
 substantives to indicate that they must be understood in 
 their full and unrestricted sense.' 
 
 20. Remorse, pity or relenting. This is much the more 
 usual meaning in Shakespeare. Cf. King John (IV. iii.) : 
 ' The tears of soft remorse.' 22. Where, whereas. Co. S. 
 
 24. Loose, give up or release (which is a cognate of loose, 
 
206 NOTES [Act IV 
 
 though it is not derived from it, but from Lat. relaxare, 
 
 through the Fr. relaisser) . 26. Moiety, a portion. Low 
 
 Lat. medietas, Fr. moitie. In nine passages Shakespeare 
 uses it in the strict sense of one-half ; and in seven passages 
 he employs it in the sense of a portion. 
 
 39. Charter. Venice was an independent republic, with 
 a Duke (Doge) at its head ; but perhaps Shakespeare 
 thought that it, like some of the minor Italian and German 
 states, held a charter from the Emperor of Germany. 
 43. Say = let us say or suppose. 
 
 46. Baned, poisoned. O. E. bana, destruction. We have 
 
 the words henbane and rat's-bane. 47. A gaping- pig 1 , 
 
 a pig's head on the table, with a lemon in its mouth. 
 
 52. Firm, sound, well-founded. 59. Lodged, settled. 
 
 Of. Borneo and Juliet (II. iii.) : ' Where cares lodge, sleep 
 
 will never lie.' 61. A losing 1 suit, a suit in which I can 
 
 gain nothing. 
 
 63. Current, course. 66. Hates ... kill. Aristotle's 
 
 definition of hatred is ' a desire for the non-existence of 
 
 something which exists.' 67. Offence = offence taken. 
 
 69. Question, discuss. 
 
 71. Main flood, the flowing (= flood) of the main sea. 
 
 72. Question. Here the word is used as a noun. See 
 
 below, line 168. 76. Fretten. The original meaning of 
 
 fret in O. E. is to eat (German fressen). So Shakespeare 
 has: 'Rust the hidden treasure frets.' And we have in 
 Scripture the phrase, ' a moth fretting a garment.' 
 
 82. Judgment, sentence passed. 91. Parts, offices, 
 
 functions. Shakespeare, as an actor himself, very fre- 
 quently uses parts in this sense. 103. Upon my power = 
 
 upon my own authority. 105. Determine, decide upon. 
 
 113. Tainted, diseased. 
 
 120. Whet, O. E. hwettan, to sharpen. 126. Wit, 
 
 sense. 130. Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher who is 
 
 said to have first promulgated the doctrine of the transmi- 
 
Scene 1] NOTES 207 
 
 gration of souls. 133. Who, hanged. Another instance 
 
 of the nominativus pendens. 
 
 133. Govern'd, inhabited. Co. S. 
 
 134. Fleet = flit. 
 
 136. Infused in. But in line 132, Shakespeare uses into. 
 The fact is that the O. E. in, like the Latin, meant both in 
 and into ; and in Lancashire it is still employed with the 
 
 latter sense. 139. Offend'st, givest annoyance to, or 
 
 hurtest. 
 
 141. Cureless, a hybrid — as cure is Latin (cura, care) and 
 less is an English suffix. Cureless = past cure. 147. Con- 
 duct, escort or guidance. Cf. Henry V. (I. ii.) : ' Convey 
 
 him with safe conduct.' 150. Sick, ill. The word sick 
 
 is still used in America in this older and quite general 
 sense. 158. Fill up, fulfil. 
 
 160. Reverend estimation = reverence and esteem. No 
 impediment to let him lack, no hindrance to his receiv- 
 ing. CI. P. S. 168. Holds this question = keeps this 
 
 discussion before. 169. Throughly = thoroughly. Both 
 
 forms were used indifferently in Shakespeare's time. We 
 still have the adjective thorough and the word thoroughfare ; 
 
 but Shakespeare has through-fare. 176. Danger comes 
 
 from a Low Latin word domigerium or dangerium, the power 
 
 of inflicting damnum (loss or fine). 179. Must. Portia 
 
 had used the word in its ordinary loose meaning, as equal 
 to ' the only thing that will meet the case is for him to be 
 merciful ; ' but Shylock takes it up in its most literal, 
 hardest, and most absolute sense; and out of this twist 
 in interpretation naturally rises the beautiful speech of 
 Portia — one of the finest specimens of sweet, flowing, and 
 
 rhythmic eloquence in all literature. 180. Strain'd, 
 
 constrained or restrained. 
 
 182. Twice bless'd, pouring forth a double blessing. 
 
 188. Fear of, with an objective meaning. 
 
 210. Truth, honesty. The word truth is not confined by 
 
208 NOTES [Act IV 
 
 Shakespeare to an attribute of a statement; he applies it 
 largely to persons. Cf . Henry VI., Part II. (III. i.) : — 
 
 ' In thy face I see 
 The map of honor, truth, and loyalty.' 
 
 213. Curb ... of . Shakespeare has only twice used this 
 idiom. The other passage is in Henry IV., Part I. (III. i.) : 
 
 'He curbs himself even of his natural scope 
 When you come cross his humor.' 
 
 244. Hath full relation, is in every respect applicable. 
 247. More elder. Shakespeare has both double com- 
 paratives and double superlatives. He has more better, 
 more braver ; most worst, most unkindest, etc. 
 
 253. On your charge, at your own expense. 
 
 264. Use, custom. Cf . Hamlet (III. iv. 168) : — 
 
 ' Use almost can change the stamp of nature.' 
 
 271. Speak me fair = speak well of me. Cf . Twelfth 
 Night (V.) : ' I bespake you fair.' And Shakespeare also 
 turns fair into a verb, in Sonnet cxxvii. 6: — 
 
 ''Fairing the foul with art's false borrowed face.* 
 
 273. A love = lover = dear friend. See note on III. 
 
 iv. 7. 274. Repent, regret. CI. P. S. 277. With all 
 
 my heart. It lies in the English character to make these 
 humorous remarks in the presence of death. Cf. the say- 
 ings of Sir T. More at his execution. So, when Thomas 
 Hood was dying of consumption and reduced almost to 
 skin and bone, a mustard poultice was put upon his feet, 
 and he was heard to whisper : ' There's very little meat for 
 
 the mustard.' 323. Just = exact. 
 
 324. In the substance = in the gross weight. 327. Es- 
 timation = estimated weight. 345. Alien, a foreigner. 
 
 From Lat. alienus, foreign ; from alias, another. 
 
Scene 1] NOTES 209 
 
 348. Contrive, plot. 350. Coffer, from the Greek 
 
 kophinos, a basket, which gives two forms of the word, 
 
 coffin and coffer. 358. Formerly, a word used in legal 
 
 documents for as aforesaid. 370. That = my life. 
 
 374. Render, give, as in line 197. 377. The fine for 
 
 one half = the fine which is to be placed upon the half of 
 
 his property. 379. In use, to employ it in my business, 
 
 but as trust money. 387. Recant, revoke. Used also by 
 
 Shakespeare in the sense of recall. 
 
 395. Ten more, to make up twelve jurymen, who, as Ben 
 Jonson informs us, were, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, 
 
 jestingly called ' godfathers-in-law.' 401. Serves you 
 
 not = is not at your own disposal. 402. Gratify, reward 
 
 or recompense. 
 
 408. Cope, requite or pay for. From O. E. ceapian, to 
 buy. Cogs.: Cheap, a market; as in London, Cheapside 
 (into which run Milk Street, and opposite, Bread Street, 
 where John Milton was born) ; chop (to exchange) ; chaffer 
 (to bargain for) ; chapman (a merchant) ; horse-coper (a 
 horse-dealer) ; Chipping, (having a market, as in Chipping 
 Ongar and Chipping Norton) ; Kippen (the northern or 
 Scotch form of chipping) ; hoping (the Danish form used 
 as a suffix to numerous towns); Kiob'nhav'n (= Copen- 
 hagen, the Merchants' Haven). The word is more generally 
 used by Shakespeare in the sense of encounter (either in 
 
 a friendly or in a hostile way) . "Withal = w r ith. But 
 
 withal is always placed at the end of the sentence. 417. Of 
 
 force = inevitably. Attempt = press upon. Cf. Win- 
 ter's Tale (IV. ii.) : ' He will never attempt us again.' 
 
 441. An. An if is a pleonasm, like or ere (or and ere be- 
 ing two forms of the same word) . The meaning and force 
 of an were probably weakened and partially forgotten, andi 
 so if was added. 
 
210 NOTES [Act V 
 
 Scene 2 
 
 " This scene forms a connecting link between the storm of 
 the fourth and the calm of the fifth acts. Gratiano delivers 
 the ring to Portia, and while Nerissa is showing him the way 
 to Shy lock's dwelling he loses his own ring as well." 
 
 6. Advice, thought or deliberation. See I. i. 138. 
 
 15. Old swearing 1 , plentiful or hard. Cf. Merry Wives of 
 Windsor (I. iv.) : ' Here will be an old abusing of God's pa- 
 tience and the king's English.' 'Old,' from meaning what 
 one has known of old, has come to mean that which is most 
 remarkable or extreme in one's experience ; as an old-fash- 
 ioned winter is one that comes up to one's strongest idea 
 of a severe winter. 
 
 ACT FIFTH 
 
 " This act adds a beautiful finishing touch to the drama. 
 IVe have first an exquisite moonlight scene between Lorenzo 
 and Jessica. Portia and Nerissa enter rapidly, and are 
 quickly followed by Antonio, Bassanio, and Gratiano. After 
 the first greetings are over, a playful quarrel breaks out 
 between the lovers about the rings, which continues until 
 Portia, seeing the pain she and Nerissa are causing their 
 husbands, tells Bassanio the truth. She also has good news 
 for Antonio and for Lorenzo, so the whole play ends in hap- 
 piness. The last act is filled with most exquisite poetry, 
 hardly to be surpassed." 
 
 Notice the intense quietness and social calm of this last 
 act and scene — which Shakespeare introduces as a contrast 
 
 to the terrible anxiety and tragedy of the trial. 
 
 4. Troilus, the son of Priam and Hecuba, fell in love with 
 Cressid (or Cressida), a Greek. The story was a well- 
 known one in Shakespeare's time. A stock-play, called 
 Troilus and Cressid, which Shakespeare took as the basis 
 of his own, was well known upon the English stage; and 
 
Act Y] NOTES 211 
 
 Chaucer Had, in the 14th century, written a long poem on 
 the same subject. 
 
 7. Thisbe, a beautiful Babylonian lady, with whom Pyra- 
 mus was in love. They agreed to meet at the tomb of 
 Ninus ; but, on arriving there, Thisbe was terrified by the 
 sight of a lioness that had just killed an ox. She fled and 
 left her cloak, which was stained with blood. When Pyra- 
 mus reached the place and found the cloak, he thought a 
 wild beast had killed her ; and he made away with himself 
 — an example which was followed by Thisbe. 
 
 10. Dido. An allusion to the desertion of the Queen of 
 
 Carthage by .Eneas. Willow, the symbol of unhappy 
 
 love. Cf. Henry VI., Part III. (III. iii.) : — 
 
 ' I'll wear the willow garland for his sake ; ' 
 
 and the beautiful song of Desdemoua in the third scene of 
 
 the fourth act of Othello. 13. Medea, the daughter of 
 
 iEetes, king of Colchis, and afterward the wife of Jason, 
 whom she helped to seize the Golden Fleece, was a great 
 enchantress. To renew the youth of iEson, the father of 
 Jason, she boiled him in a caldron into which she had 
 
 thrown magic herbs, and thus made him young again. 
 
 23. Out-night you = beat you at this game of ' In such a 
 night.' 33. Hermit, always spelt by Spenser and pre- 
 vious writers eremite, from Gr. eremos, a desert. 49. Ex- 
 pect = await. 59. Patines (from Lat. patina, a plate), 
 
 the name of the small gold or silver plate used for the 
 bread in the Eucharist. 
 61. 4- n g" el sings. This is an allusion to the Platonic 
 
 doctrine of 'the music of the spheres.' 64. Vesture of 
 
 decay = this body in which the soul is clothed here. 
 
 66. Diana, as the goddess of the moon. 70. Attentive 
 
 = on the stretch. From Lat. tendo, I stretch. Cogs.: 
 
 Tense, tension; intend; contend, etc. 72. Unhandled 
 
 = not as yet under the hand of the trainer. 77. Mutual. 
 
F 
 
 212 NOTES [Act V 
 
 This word, which ought to mean reciprocal, has always heen • 
 loosely employed in English. A very usual meaning -in v 
 Shakespeare is common. And Mr. Dickens uses it in the 
 same erroneous, hut very popular, sense in the title of one 
 of his novels, Our Mutual Friend. 
 
 80. Orpheus was the son of GEagrus and Calliope. He 
 lived in Thrace at the period of the Argonauts, and was the 
 musician in the Argo. 
 
 81. Stockish = insensible. Cf . the phrase ' stocks and 
 
 stones.' 83. The man. Cf. Julius Csesar (I. ii. 204), 
 
 where Csesar talks of ' that spare Cassius : ' — 
 
 ' He loves no plays, 
 As thou dost, Antony ; he hears no music.' 
 
 85. Spoils = acts of spoliation. 87. Erebus. From 
 
 Gr. Erebos, darkness — the brother of Night, and name for <£. 
 the gloomy space under the earth, through which the spirits 
 pass into Hades. 
 
 99. Without respect = except relatively. 103. At- 
 tended = attended to. 109. Endymion. The love of 
 
 Selene (the moon) for the beautiful youth Endymion has 
 been the subject of many a poem — among others, one by 
 
 John Keats. 121. Tucket, a set of notes on a trumpet 
 
 to announce an arrival. 132. God sort = dispose or 
 
 arrange. Still used in this sense in Scotland. 
 
 136. In all sense = in all reason. So also in no sense. 
 See Taming of the Shrew (V. ii.) : ' And in no sense is meet 
 
 or amiable.' 141. Breathing" courtesy = courtesy of 
 
 mere breath or words. • 
 
 146. Posy, motto. Contracted from poesy ; but, according 
 to some, corrupted from Fr. pensee, a thought. 154. Re- 
 spective, had respect for your oath. 160. Scrubbed, f \ 
 
 paltry, or, it may be stunted, like scrub or underwood. C-" 
 
 172. Masters = is master of. 
 
 174. Mad = very angry. Still used in this the O. E. [ 
 
Act V] NOTES 213 
 
 sense in the United States. 175. I were best. See note 
 
 on II. vii. 33. 199. Contain = retain. Cf . Sonnet lxxvii. 
 
 9 : ' What thy memory cannot contain.' 201. Much un- 
 reasonable. So Shakespeare has much forgetful, much 
 guilty, much sea-sick, much sorry, etc. We still say not 
 much unlike ; hut we cannot say much unlike, as Shake- 
 speare does. 203. "Wanted = as to have wanted, and 
 
 dependent on much unreasonable. 204. Held as a 
 
 ceremony = as a sacred thing. Only here used by Shake- 
 speare in this sense. 212. Did uphold = saved. 215. 
 
 Shame in the subjective, and courtesy ( = the demands of 
 courtesy) in the objective sense. 
 
 232. Enforced = forced upon me. 211. "Wealth = 
 
 well-being, and probably pronounced weelth; but the asso- 
 ciation with health has altered the pronunciation along 
 with the meaning. Cf . the Prayer-book : ' In all time of 
 our wealth ; ' and in the prayer for the Queen : ' Grant her 
 in health and wealth ( = in all internal and external cir- 
 cumstances of good) long to live.' 245. Advisedly = 
 
 with knowledge or deliberately. 
 
 258. Set forth = set out. 264. Suddenly = unex- 
 pectedly. 268. Living" = the means of living. 278. Sat- 
 isfied ... at full = fully informed of the course of these 
 events. 
 
 280-81. Charge us . . . upon inter'gatories and an- 
 swer all things faithfully, are legal phrases taken from 
 
 the practice of the Court of Queen's Bench. 282. Fear = 
 
 be anxious about. 
 
EXAMINATION PAPERS 
 
 (See Plan for Perfect Possession, p. 12) 
 A 
 
 1. Write a short view of the character of Shylock, 
 and give passages to illustrate (a) his hatred, (6) his ava- 
 rice, and (c) the mixed motives which impel him to bring 
 about the ruin of Antonio. 
 
 2. What is the function of Gratiano in the play ? 
 
 3. State by whom, of whom, and on what occasions, 
 the following lines were uttered : — 
 
 (a) They lose it that do buy it with much care. 
 (&) And many Jasons come in quest of her. 
 
 (c) For sufferance is the badge of all our tribe. 
 
 (d) And I will go and purse the ducats straight. 
 
 (e) So is Alcides beaten by his page. 
 (/) Go to, here's a simple line of life. 
 
 (g) I think he only loves the world for him. 
 
 4. Explain and annotate the following words and 
 phrases: Pageants; prevented; play the fool ; wilful 
 stillness ; profound conceit ; for this gear ; a more swell- 
 ing port ; find the other forth ; commodity ; good sen- 
 tences ; a proper man ; sealed under ; stead me. 
 
 214 
 
EXAMINATION PAPERS 215 
 
 5. Give some examples of compound adjectives in 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 6. What promise does Gratiano make to Bassanio 
 before going down to Belmont ? 
 
 B 
 
 1. Write a short account of the character of Portia. 
 
 2. Quote and explain as many legal phrases in this 
 play as you remember. 
 
 3. Annotate the following lines, , and state by whom 
 and when they were uttered : — 
 
 (a) I have no mind of feasting forth to-night. 
 
 (b) A golden mind stoops not to shows of dross. 
 
 (c) I thought upon Antonio when he told me. 
 
 (d) Builds in the weather on the outward wall. 
 
 (e) From whom he bringeth sensible regreets. 
 (/) Hate counsels not in such a quality. 
 
 4. Explain and annotate the following words and 
 phrases: A fawning publican ; ripe wants; possessed of; 
 beholding ; your single bond; the fearful guard; wit; 
 sand-blind ; frutify ; preferred ; guarded; civility; spoke 
 us of; obliged faith. 
 
 5. Give some examples of (a) verbs and (5) adjectives 
 employed by Shakespeare with unusual meanings. 
 
 6. Give some instances of the antecedent to who exist- 
 ing in a possessive pronoun. 
 
216 EXAMINATION PAPERS 
 
 1. Write a short account of the scene of Bassanio 
 with the caskets. 
 
 2. Who are Leonardo, Nerissa, Lorenzo, Launcelot, 
 and Jessica ; and what part does each play ? 
 
 3. Explain any peculiarities in the following lines, 
 and state by whom and when they were spoken : — 
 
 (#) I speak too long ; but 'tis to peize the time. 
 (5) The rest aloof are the Dardanian wives. 
 
 (c) Like one of two contending in a prize. 
 
 (d) Engaged my friend to his mere enemy. 
 
 (e) I'll follow him no more with bootless prayers. 
 (/) You have a noble and a true conceit 
 
 Of god-like amity. . . . 
 
 4. Continue each of the above quotations. 
 
 5. Explain and annotate the following words and 
 phrases : Untread again ; a weak disabling ; suit ; certi- 
 fied; you tvere best; affection; derived; it lives un- 
 checked; fancy; the gutted shore; continent; shreiod 
 contents ; enforce. 
 
 6. Give some instances of Shakespeare's use of the 
 dative. 
 
 7. Quote some examples of double comparatives, double 
 superlatives, and of double negatives in Shakespeare. 
 
 8. Tell the story of Lorenzo and Jessica. 
 
EXAMINATION PAPERS 217 
 
 D 
 
 1. "Write a short account of the Trial Scene ; and 
 indicate briefly — with quotations where you can — the 
 behavior of (a) Antonio, (b) Bassanio, (c) Gratiano, and 
 (d) Shylock. 
 
 2. What glimpses of Venice do we receive in the play? 
 
 3. Annotate the following lines, and state by whom 
 and on what occasions they were uttered : — 
 
 (a) This comes too near the praising of myself. 
 (6) O dear discretion, how his words are suited 1 
 
 (c) Forgive a moiety of the principal. 
 
 (d) When they are f retten with the gusts of heaven. 
 
 (e) Eepair thy wit, good youth, or it will fall 
 To cureless ruin. 
 
 (/) There is no power in the tongue of man 
 To alter me. 
 
 4. Write down the lines (a) which precede and (6) 
 those which follow the above. 
 
 5. Annotate and explain the following words and 
 phrases : Imposition ; vrithal ; defy the matter ; set you 
 forth; remorse; baned; within his danger; lover; a 
 just pound ; cope. 
 
 6. Give some instances of the use of an adjective as 
 an adverb. 
 
 7. How does Shakespeare use un and in? 
 
218 EXAMINATION PAPERS 
 
 E 
 
 1. Write a short account of the Garden Scene and 
 the Home-coming of Portia. 
 
 2. Explain the classical allusions in the following 
 lines : — 
 
 (a) Troilus, methinks, mounted the Trojan walls. 
 
 (6) Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew. 
 
 (c) Stood Dido with a willow in her hand. 
 
 (d) Medea gathered the enchanted herbs. 
 
 3. Quote the passage beginning : — 
 
 "How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank." 
 
 4. What does Shakespeare say about the power of 
 music ? 
 
 5. Explain the following words and phrases : Stockish ; 
 nothing is good without respect ;, hold day with the An- 
 tipodes ; been respective ; break faith advisedly ; fear no 
 other thing so sore as keeping safe Nerissa^s ring. 
 
 6. Give some examples of Shakespeare's use of nouns 
 as verbs. 
 
 7. Quote some passages in which an if is used. 
 
 8. In what ways does Shakespeare use the preposition 
 in? 
 
 9. Give some instances, from this or from other plays, 
 of Shakespeare's use of a double negative. 
 
English Classics, Etc., 
 
 FOB 
 
 Classes in English Literature, Reading, Grammar, etCi 
 
 ffOZTSD BT EMINENT ENGLISH AND AMERICAN SCHOLARS 
 
 Each Volume coTdaias a Sketch of the Authors Life, Prefatory and 
 Explanatory ¥oies } e'c, etc. 
 
 These Volumes are thoroughly adapted iui Schools in whfcbErg islj 
 literature forms a branch of study, or where a caref ally-3elecced por. 
 tion of some English Classic is selected for minute examination, or 
 for supplementary reading matter. The notes are unusually full and 
 exhaustive, occupying in many volumes nearly half the book. Ety- 
 mology is attended to throughout, the derivations of all the more 
 difficult words being given. In short, they supply the student with al) 
 the information necessary to a perfect understanding and just appre- 
 ciation of the text, and incidentally communicate much useful philo- 
 logical and general knowledge. 
 
 Byron's Prophecy of Dante. (Cantos I. aad II.) 
 
 Milton's L' Allegro and II Penseroso. 
 
 Lord Bacon's Essays, Civil and Moral. (Selected.) 
 
 Byron's Prisoner of Chillon. 
 
 Moore's Fire- Worshippers. (Lalla Rookh. Selected from Parts L 
 
 and II.) 
 Goldsmith's Deserted Tillage. 
 Scott's Marmion. (Selections from Canto VI.) 
 Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel. (Introduction and Canto I.) 
 Burns' Cotter's Saturday Night, and Other Poems. 
 Crabbe's The Village. 
 
 Campbell's 1" leasures of Hope. (Abridgment of Part I.) 
 Macaulay's Essay on Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. 
 Macaulay's Armada and other Poems. 
 Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. (Selections from Acts I. VO 
 
 and IV.) 
 Goldsmith's Traveller. 
 Mogg's Queen's Wake. 
 Coleridge's \ocient Mariner. 
 Addison's Sir Boger de Coverley. 
 Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard. 
 Scott's Lady of the Lake. (Canto 1.) 
 Shakespeare's As Tou Like It, etc. (Selections.) 
 Shakespeare's King John and King Blchard II. (Selections.) 
 Shakespeare's King Henry IV., King Henry V., King Hen*? 
 
 VI. (Selections.) 
 * 24 Shakespeare's Henry VIII., and Julius Caesar. (Selections., 
 ( CONTINUED.) 
 
 fo 
 
 . 1 
 
 M 
 
 2 
 
 it 
 
 8 
 
 M 
 
 4 
 
 << 
 
 6 
 
 M 
 
 6 
 
 «< 
 
 7 
 
 fl 
 
 8 
 
 fl 
 
 9 
 
 f< 
 
 10 
 
 M 
 
 11 
 
 « 
 
 19 
 
 « 
 
 18 
 
 (f 
 
 A 
 
 ti 
 
 15 
 
 « 
 
 16 
 
 << 
 
 IT 
 
 «< 
 
 18 
 
 M 
 
 19 
 
 « 
 
 SO 
 
 << 
 
 21 
 
 « 
 
 22 
 
 (• 
 
 28 
 
ENGLISH CLASSICS— Contihued. 
 
 *o. 35 Wordsworth's Excursion. (Book I.) 
 
 " 86 Pope's Essay oo Criticism. 
 
 " 37 Spenser's Faerie Queene. (Cantos 1. and II.) 
 
 ** 88 Cowper's Task. (Book 1.) 
 
 M 89 Milton's Comus. 
 
 " 80 Tennyson's Enoch Arden, The Lotus Eaters, Ulysses, anC 
 
 Tithonus. 
 
 *• 81 Irvlng's Sketch Book. (Selections ) 
 
 *• 88 Dickens' Christmas Carol. (Condensed.) 
 
 «• 88 Carlyle's Hero as a Prophet. 
 
 ** 84 Macaulay's Warren Hastings. (Condensed.) 
 
 ** 85 Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield. (Condensed.) 
 
 «* 86 Tennyson's The Two Voices, and A Dream of Fair Wornei 
 
 14 8? Memory Quotations. 
 
 «* 88 Cavalier Poets. 
 
 «* 89 Dryden's Alexander's Feast, and MaeFlecknoe. 
 
 «• 40 Keats' The Eve of St. Agnes. 
 
 •* 41 Irvlng's Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 
 
 •' 43 Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare. 
 
 *• 48 Le Row's How to Teach Reading. 
 
 •« 44 Webster's Bunker Hill Orations. 
 
 *' 45 The Academy Orthoepist. A Manual of Pronunciation. 
 
 ** 46 Milton's Lycidas, and Hymn on the Nativity. 
 
 " 4? Bryant's Thanatopsis, and Other Poems. 
 
 ** 48 Ruskin's Modern Painters. (Selections.) 
 
 •« 49 The Shakespeare Speaker. 
 
 ** 50 Thackeray's Roundabout Papers. 
 
 ** 51 Webster's Oration on Adams and Jefferson. 
 
 «■ 58 Brown's Rab and His Friends. 
 
 '* 58 Morris's Life and Death of Jason. 
 
 " 54 Burke's Speeeh on American Taxation. 
 
 " 55 Pope's Rape of the Lock. 
 
 " 56 Tennyson's Elaine. 
 
 ** 5? Tennyson's In Memoriam. 
 
 "■* 68 Church's Story of the JEneid. 
 
 ** 59 Church's Story of the Iliad. 
 
 80 Swift's Gulliver's Voyage to Lllllput. 
 
 61 Macaulay's Essay on Lord Bacon. (Condensed.) 
 
 68 The Alcestis of Euripides. English Version by Rev. R. Potter, M.A. 
 
 68 The Antigone of Sophocles. English Version by Thomas Franc* 
 lin, D.D. 
 
 64 Elizabeth Barrett Browning. (Selected Poema.) 
 
 65 Robert Browning. (Selected Poems.) 
 
 66 Addison's The Spectator. (Selections.) 
 «? Scenes from George Eliot's Adam Bede. 
 68 Matthew Arnold's Culture and Anarchy., 
 
 Continued on last page. 
 
 *« 
 
ENGLISH CLASSICS— Continued 
 
 No. 69 DeQulncey's Joan of Arc 
 
 " ?0 Carlyle's Essay on Burns. 
 
 ** 71 Byron's Chllde Harold's Pilgrimage. Cantos I. and II.) 
 
 ** t'i Poe's Raven, and other Poems. 
 
 '* ?8-?4 Macaulay's Lord CLive. (Double Number.) 
 
 *• ?& Webster's Reply to Hayne. 
 
 " 76-?? Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome. (Double Number.) 
 
 " ?8 American Patriotic Selections: Declaration of Independence 
 Washington's Farewell Address, Lincoln's Gettysbur 
 Speech, etc. " 
 
 " ?9-80 8cott's Lady of the Lake. (Double Number.) 
 
 " 81-82. 8cott's Marmlon. (Double Number.) 
 
 ** 88-84 Pope's Essay on Man. (Double Number.) 
 
 *' 85 Shelley's Skylark, Adonais, and other Poems. 
 
 ** 86 Dickens' Cricket on the Hearth. (In preparation.) 
 
 " 8? Spencer's Philosophy of Style. 
 
 ** 88 Lamb's Essays of Ella. (In preparation.) 
 
 ** 89 Cowper's Task. (Book 11.) See No. $&. 
 •* 90 Wordsworth's Selected Poems. 
 " 91 Tennyson's The Holy Grail, and Sir Galahad. 
 " 92 Addison's Cato. 
 
 *' 98 Irving's Westminster Abbey, and Christmas Sketches. 
 " 94-95 Macaulay's Earl of Chatham. Second Essay. 
 " 96 Early English Ballads. 
 
 «« 97 Skelton, Wyatt, and Surrey. (Selected Poems.) 
 " 98 Edwin Arnold. (Selected Poems). 
 " 99 Caxton and Daniel. (Selections.) 
 •• 100 Fuller and Hooker. (Selections.) 
 " 101 Marlowe's The Jew of Malta. 
 " 102-108 Macaulay's Essay on Milton. 
 ** 104-105 Macaulay's Essay on Addison. (In preparation.) 
 •* 106 Macaulay's Essay on Boswell's Johnson. 
 « 10? Mandeville's Travels and Wycliffe's RtV* flections.? 
 ** 108-109 Macaulay's Essay on Frederick the Great. (In prep.- 
 ** 110-111 Milton's Samson Agonistes. 
 
 •* 112-113 114 Franklin's Autobiography. i>„k«,i„„ 
 
 " 115 116 Heredotus' Stories o. Crtesus, Cyrus, and Babylon 
 '• 11? Irving'* Alliauibra. 
 ** IIS Burke's Present Discontents. 
 »* ll9 Burke's Conciliation. 
 ** 180 Macaulay's Byron. 
 
 Other A'umbers in Preparation. 
 
 Mailing price, single numbers, 12 cents eacb 
 double numbers. 24. cents. 
 
ENGLISH CLASSIC SERIES— Special Numbers. 
 
 Attractively Sound in Hoards. 
 
 Milton's Paradise Lost. (Book I.) Full Explanatory Notes. 94 pp. Ma*ling 
 
 price, 30 cents. 
 Hilton's Paradise Lost. (Books I. and II.) Full Explanatory Notes. 158 pp. 
 
 Mailing price, 40 cents. 
 Somer'g Iliad. (Books I. and VI.) Metrical Translation by George How 
 
 land, Superintendent of Schools, Chicago. With introduction and Notes. 
 
 96 pp. Mailing price, 30 cents. 
 Chaucer's The Squieres Tale. Full Explanatory Notes. 80 pp- Mailing 
 
 price, 35 cents. 
 Chaucer's The Knlghtes Tale. Full Explanatory Notes. 144 pp. Mailing 
 
 price, 40 cents. 
 Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The Prologue. Critical and Explanatory 
 
 Notes, and Index to Obsolete and Difficult Words. By E. F. Willoughby, 
 
 M.D. 112 pp., 16mo. Mailing price, 35 cents. 
 Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer. With Biographical Sketch. Copiously 
 
 annotated. 96 pp. Mailing price, 30 cents. 
 Homer's Odyssey. (Books I.. V., IX., and X.) Metrical translation by George 
 
 Howland. With Introduction and Notes. Mailing price, 25 cents. 
 Horace's The Art of Poetry. Translated in verse by George Howland 
 
 Mailing price, 25 cents. 
 Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Edited by Peter Parley. With Introduction 
 
 and Notes. 169 pp., 16mo. Linen. Mailing price, 30 cents. 
 
 HISTORICAL CLASSIC READINGS. 
 
 With introductions and Explanatory Notes. 
 
 for Classes in History, Reading, and Literature. 
 
 From 50 to 64 pages each. Price 12 cents per copy ; 
 $1.20 per dozen; $9.00 per hundred ; $80.00 per thousand 
 
 The following numbers, uniform in style and size, are now ready: 
 
 1 Discovery of America. Washington Irving. 
 
 2 Settlement of Virginia. Capt. John Smith. 
 
 $ History of Plymouth Plantation. Gov. William BRADFORD. 
 
 4 King Philip'* War, and Witchcraft In New England. Gov. Thomas 
 
 Hutchinson. 
 
 5 Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi Tnlley. John Gn-toA«y 
 
 Shea. 
 % Champlaln and his Associates. Francis Parkman. 
 
 7 Braddock's Defeat. Francis Parkman. 
 
 8 First Battles of the Revolution. Edward Everett. 
 
 9 Colonial Pioneers. James Parton. 
 
 10 Heroes of the Revolution. James Parton. 
 
 Other Numbers in Preparation. 
 
 MAYNARD, MERRILL. & CO.. New York, 
 
g& 
 
NOV 20 1899 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 014 105 144 1