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Character Sketch of Portia in Merchant of Venice

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Character Sketch of  Portia in Merchant of Venice – ICSE Class 10, 9 English

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PORTIA

Her High Position in the Gallery of Shakespeare’s Heroines

Among the heroines created by Shakespeare, Portia occupies a high position. She produces a powerful impression on our minds; and her role in the play is most conspicuous and memorable. When the play the Merchant of Venice is mentioned anywhere, people think of two persons, namely Shylock and Portia; and these two persons are inseparable from each other in our minds because we remember Shylock chiefly as a villain wanting to take the life of his enemy Antonio, and we think of Portia as the person who defeats Shylock’s evil design. And, of course, Portia has other qualities also to impart a measure of greatness to her.

Her Sense of Humour and Her Sparkling Wit   

Portia is a lady with a cheerful and optimistic disposition. She has a strong sense of humour and a sparkling, scintillating wit which she shows in the very beginning and then continues to show till the very end. It is only on one occasion in the whole play that she feels melancholy, and even sick of the world. When she is first introduced to us, she tells Nerissa that she is feeling weary of the world. But this melancholy mood lasts only for a few minutes, and is dispelled as soon as Nerissa begins to talk to her about the various suitors who have arrived at Belmont to try their luck at the caskets. Portia has something very amusing to say about each of these four suitors. Her comment on her English suitor is perhaps the most amusing. This comment ends with her saying that the Englishman perhaps bought his doublet in Italy, his round hose in France, his bonnet in Germany, and his behaviour everywhere. Subsequently she shows her sense of humour in setting the Rings story afoot and bringing it to an end which gives rise to plenty of mirth and laughter. Portia’s comments on her various suitors show also her powers of minute observation and her penetrating judgment of human character.

Her Devotion to the Memory of Her Father

Portia is genuinely devoted to the memory of her father who, while dying, had devised a kind of lottery for the purpose of her choice of a husband. She is determined to carry out the terms of her late father’s will. Of course, it is possible for her to disregard her father’s will and to marry a man on the basis of her own judgment. But she has implicit faith in her father’s wisdom, and she is convinced that her father’s will would prove to be the means of her getting the right man as her husband. In this belief she is greatly encouraged by Nerissa who tells her that good men are sometimes divinely inspired when they are dying and that they then take sound decisions. Having fallen in love with Bassanio, Portia could easily have married him without subjecting him to the test laid down by her father in his will, but she does not follow such a course. Even the man, with whom she has fallen in love, must prove his worth by passing the test before she would marry him; nor does she give him any hint as to the casket which he should choose.

Her essential Wisdom

Portia shows her wisdom in other ways as well. Her conversation with Nerissa at the very outset of the play contains some valuable remarks which are well-worded maxims. For instance, she says that it is a good divine who follows his own instructions. She also says that she can easier teach twenty what were good to be done than be one of the twenty to follow her own teaching. In fact, her speech to Nerissa on this occasion is a series of aphoristic statements containing gems of wisdom. Later in the play, she again makes similar remarks which show her wisdom and her vast knowledge of the world and of human nature. For instance, she says that a good deed shines in a naughty world just as a candle shines in the darkness of the night. She also says that nothing is good if it is not seen in its proper context. She makes a similar remark when she says that many things appear to be praiseworthy and perfect when they are looked at in the right perspective. But her wisdom appears in a most striking manner in the Trial Scene in the course of which she is able to turn the tables upon Shylock and defeat him with the same weapon with which he wanted to take Antonio’s life.

Her Compassionate Nature

Portia has essentially a compassionate nature. Her famous “Quality of Mercy” speech is a proof of that. This speech depicts mercy as a sublime quality which is twice blest: it blesseth him that gives, and him that takes. Mercy, she says, is an attribute to God Himself. It is unfortunate that the Jew pays no heed to Portia’s plea. At the same time, we must acknowledge the fact that, in pronouncing the punishment to which Shylock has rendered himself liable, she tends to forget her own ardent plea for mercy. She allows the Christians to have their own way with him. She allows them to force him not only to part with all his wealth but also to be converted to Christianity. However, in this connection we should not forget that in the Elizabethan times such punishment to a Jew was not thought to be inhuman or brutal.

Her Modesty, Humility, and Femininity

Although Portia is a woman with a powerful intellect and extraordinary powers of reasoning, she yet remains a woman at heart with a lot of modesty, humility, and compassion. When she disguises herself as a man, she succeeds eminently in playing a masculine role. But on all other occasions she shows that modesty lends to a woman the grace and the chain which make her a lovable person. When Bassanio puts his hand on the lead casket, she feels overwhelmed by a feeling of ecstasy, and is hardly able to restrain her feelings on this occasion. When he actually opens the lead casket and, finding her picture in it, claims her with a kiss, she makes a speech which embodies the very spirit of humility. She describes herself as an unschooled, unlessoned, and unpractised woman, and then goes on to make a complete surrender of herself to the man who has won her as his wife.

Her Generous Disposition

Portia is a very large-hearted and generous woman. Every wealthy person is not generous. Some wealthy persons are also the greatest misers. Shylock is, of course, the most striking example of this sort of thing. But Portia combines her vast material wealth with an inner treasure of generosity. On learning the plight of Bassanio’s dearest friend, she offers to Bassanio any amount of money that he may need for the resuce of Antonio from the clutches of the Jew. And then she herself dons a lawyer’s clothes to function as a judge in the case because she has hit upon a plan to save Antonio’s life.

The Muse of Wisdom and Love

For all these reasons, one of the critics describes Portia as the Queen of this play, and as the Muse of wisdom and love. This critic also says that Portia is as natural as Eve in Paradise.

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Character Sketch of Shylock in Merchant of Venice

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Character Sketch of  Shylock in Merchant of Venice – ICSE Class 10, 9 English

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Shylock

A Famous Shakespearean Character: A Villain Deserving Some Sympathy

Shylock is one of the best-known characters in the entire range of Shakespearean drama. He is also a controversial character. Some critics and readers regard him as a through villain while others believe that, in spite of his villainy, he deserves some sympathy also. It is necessary for us therefore to assess this man’s character impartially. He certainly has his hateful traits of character; and he certainly deserves to be called a villain. But we still feel some sympathy for him because, in our opinion, he is not only a wrtfng-doer but also a victim of wrong-doing by others.

A Usurer

By profession, Shylock is a money-lender. Money-lending by itself is not something shameful or          discreditable, or degrading, or even objectionable. However, money-lending becomes something odious and abhorrent if a money-lender becomes an exploiter by charging excessive rates of interest. Shylock is a money-lender who tries to enrich himself and to accumulate wealth by exploiting the financial needs of others. One reason why he hates Antonio is that Antonio lends money to needy persons without charging any interest at all, and Antonio thus brings down the rate of interest in Venice. Shylock has already hoarded a lot of wealth by his usury, but his craving for more money is not satisfied. This makes him a contemptible person in the play. In this respect he is a typical Jew because the Jews have traditionally been regarded as usurers. It is only in our own times that the Jews have been able to shed that image. Today the Jews are regarded as a versatile race of people, possessing many gifts and talents.

His Intolerance of Christians; and His Extreme Miserliness

Shylock repels us not only by his usury but also by his religious intolerance. He hates Christians and he hates them fiercely. At one point in the play, he says in an aside that he hates Antonio firstly because Antonio is a Christian and secondly because Antonio brings down the rate of interest in Venice by lending money gratis. As a Jew, Shylock does not eat pork and he would not therefore like to join the Christians at a dinner where pork is to be served as one of the dishes. This much we can understand and accept. Everybody has a right not to eat a certain kind of meat, and also a right not to eat meat altogether. Everybody has even the right not to attend a dinner where meat is to be served. But nobody should hate others because they eat meat or a particular kind of meat. In this respect, as in all other respects, tolerance is the right attitude to adopt. But Shylock makes pork-eating one of the grounds for his hatred of Christians who are pork-eaters. In one of his speeches he refers to the Biblical story of the manner in which Christ had lured the devil to enter into the body of a pig. However, this is a very minor issue in the play. Eventually Shylock does agree to attend a Christian dinner; and his reason for attending it further lowers him in our estimation. He would like to eat at the expense of the Christians who are extravagant and who spend money needlessly. By eating a meal at the expense of the Christians, he can save a little money at home; and this is the height of miserliness and meanness. The Jews are-traditionally regarded as misers, though such is no longer the case in our own times. Launcelot Gobbo refers to Shylock’s miserliness when he says that in the Jew’s service he is “famished” (that is, starving). And yet Shylock says to Launcelot that the latter would not enjoy those facilities in Bassanio’s service which he is enjoying here, in the Jew’s house. We feel really amused to find that, although Shylock is a big miser, he thinks himself to be very generous.

His Deceitful and Crafty Dealings

Shylock is a deceitful and crafty man. At first he expresses his unwillingness to give a loan to Antonio on the ground that Antonio had been ill-treating him. However, an altogether different idea takes shape in his mind. He then agrees to give the loan but he lays down the condition that the bond to be signed should contain a clause according to which he would become entitled to cut off a pound of Antonio’s flesh from nearest his heart if Antonio fails to repay the loan within a period of three months. If is thus that he lures Antonio into signing the bond, saying at the same time that this clause is intended only as a joke because a pound of human flesh can serve no purpose at all and because even the flesh of animals like goats and sheep has greater value than human flesh. In other words, Shylock employs cunning to have to bond signed. He treats the bond as a weapon which he might be able to use in case Antonio, by some mischance, is rendered penniless and finds it impossible to repay the loan. In this respect, then, Shylock shows considerable shrewdness and even a capacity to foresee the future. In this matter of the bond, and the discussion which takes place between him and the Christians (Bassanio and Antonio), several facets of Shylock’s personality become evident to us. He here shows himself as a cunning, hypocritical, humble as well as arrogant man. He even cites a Biblical incident to justify the charging of interest, though he admits that this incident is not exactly a precedent but only a parallel to prove the validity of charging some kind of fee for the services which one renders to others. In any case, the whole scene in which the transaction takes place reveals Shylock’s character in an unfavourable light. He here appears as a detestable person deserving our dislike and hatred.

His Revengeful and Blood thirst Nature

Shylock is a revengeful and bloodthirsty man. From the very start, he is shown as planning to take his revenge upon Antonio for the latter’s ill-treatment of him. Antonio’s need for a loan serves him as a great opportunity to wreak his vengeance upon him. Subsequently no appeals from the Duke and the magnificence move him to pity. Even Portia’s eloquent plea for mercy tails to have any effect upon him. He feels jubilant when it seems that the verdict of the court would go in his favour; and he begins to exult over Portia’s pronouncement in the beginning that he has a very strong case. He bluntly tells the judge that there is no power in the tongue of man to alter his resolve to take a pound of flesh, “My deeds upon my head”, he says. He simply invokes the law which entitles him to the penalty and the forfeit of his bond, and he clings to the position he has taken up.

His Suspicious Nature

Shylock has a suspicious nature and does not trust anyone. He cannot trust either his servant or his daughter. Although his suspicious nature is no merit in him, yet we must admit that he is fully justified in his suspicions. His servant detests him, and so does his daughter. While the servant merely leaves his service, his daughter goes to the extent of running away from home with a Christian and stealing a considerable amount of his money and his jewels.

His Redeeming Qualities

Even though Shylock is a villain, he does have a couple of redeeming qualities. He is a champion of his race. He speaks eloquently and convincingly about the injustice which the Jews have always suffered at the hands of the Christians. He offers a forceful plea on behalf of the Jews in his speech beginning: “Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?” Then there is his sentiment for his dead wife, Leah. On learning that his daughter had given away a particular jewel in exchange for a monkey, he says that this jewel had been given to him by Leah when he was still a bachelor; and he goes on to say: “1 would not have given it (the jewel) for a wilderness of moneys.” Besides, his character is distinguished by an intellectual force and vigour which are praiseworthy. It is in view of these good qualities in him that he wins our sympathy when he is cruelly treated at the end. At the same time we must not forget that he is essentially an evil man full of spite and malice against the Christians and, more particularly, against his enemy Antonio. And, of course, there is a comic side to him also. He appears as a monster when he begins to sharpen his knife in order to cut off a pound of flesh from Antonio’s body. He would use this flesh as bait to catch fish if he cannot make any other use of it. And he appears as a comic character when he cries simultaneously: “0 my ducats! O my daughter! O my Christian ducats”! And he becomes a pathetic figure at the end when he staggers out of the court, a ruined man and a fanatical Jew who must now turn a Christian.

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Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 1 Translation Meaning Annotations

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Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 1 Modern English Translation Meaning Annotations – ICSE Class 10 & 9 English

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Original Text
Act III Scene I

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 1 Translation Meaning Annotations 1

Modern English Reading
Act III Scene I

SALANIO : Now, what’s the news in the Market place?

SALARINO : Why, the rumors are all saying that Antonio has a ship of rich cargo wrecked on the narrow seas; I think they call the place the Good wins, a very dangerous, flat, and fatal place, where the dead bodies of many tall ships are buried, as they say, if my gossip reporter is an honest woman of her word.

Word Meaning With Annotation

It lives there unchecked : the rumour there is not contradicted, of rich lading : loaded with a rich cargo. Good wins : this is a shallow part of the North Sea off the east coast of England, known as the Goodwin Sands, and noted as an excellent fishing ground, if my gossip report, be an honest woman of her word : “my gossip Report’’ may be read here as “Dame rumour,” rumour personified as a woman.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 1 Translation Meaning Annotations 2

Modern English Reading

SALANIO : I wish she were as lying a gossip in that as ever knapped ginger or made her neighbors believe she wept for the death of at hird husband. But it is true,—without any slips of prolixity or crossing the plain highway of talk,—that the good Antonio, the honest Antonio,—Oh, that I had a title good enough to keep his name company!

SALARINO : Come, the whole story.

SALANIO : Huh? What do you say? Why, the end is, he has lost a ship.

SALARINO : I wish it might prove the end of his losses.

Word Meaning With Annotation

Knapped ginger : “chewed ginger.” This was in use as a sweetmeat in Shakespeare’s time, slips of prolixity : lapses into tedious speeches, the full stop : finish your sentence.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 1 Translation Meaning Annotations 3

Modern English Reading

SALANIO : Let me say ‘amen’ before it’s too late, in case the devil crosses my prayer, because here he comes, in the likeness of a Jew.
How now, Shylock! What’s the news among the merchants ?
[Enter Shylock]

SHYLOCK : You knew, none so well, none so well as you, of my daughter’s flight.

SALARINO : That’s true; I, for my part, knew the tailor who made the wings she flew with.

SALANIO : And Shylock, for his own part, knew the bird was ready to fly; and then it is the nature of them all to leave the nest.

Word Meaning With Annotation

You knew, none so well, none so well as you, of my daughter’s flight : by his words, Shylock infers that they were partly responsible for helping Jessica in her flight, wings : Jessica’s disguise, her boy’s dress, and Shylock, for his own part, knew the bird was fledged; and then it is the complexion of them all to leave the dam : Salarino tells Shylock that Jessica was like a young bird, fully feathered and hence due to leave the nest where it had been hatched. The word “dam” is used here for the mother- bird; this is not its proper meaning, since it always applies to a mother animal. But Shakespeare probably uses the word in this sense in order to allow Shylock to make his play on the other meaning of “dam” in the next line, that Jessica has incurred damnation in the next life by her action, complexion : natural tendency; disposition.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 1 Translation Meaning Annotations 4

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 1 Translation Meaning Annotations 5

Modern English Reading

SHYLOCK : She is damned for it.

SALARINO : That’s true, if the devil may be her judge.

SHYLOCK : My own flesh and blood to rebel!

SALANIO : Damn it, old dead man! It rebels at this age?

SHYLOCK : I say my daughter is my flesh and my blood.

SALARINO : There is more difference between your flesh and hers than between coal and ivory; more between your bloods than there is between between red wine and Rhenish wine but tell us, do you hear whether Antonio have had any loss at sea or no?

SHYLOCK : There I have another bad match: a bankrupt, a prodigal,who scarcely dares to show his’face in the Market place; a beggar, that used to come on the market so smugly; let him look to his promise to pay: hewas in the habit of calling me a usurer; let him look to his promise to pay: he was in the habit of lending money for Christian courtesy; let him look to his promise to pay.

Word Meaning With Annotation

That’s certain, if the devil may be her judge : Salarino thinks differently, and says that on the devil himself would condemn Jessica for what she had done. Jet and ivory : jet is deep black, while ivory is extremely white, red wine and Rhenish : there would be great difference in appearance between the two blends of wine; for Rhenish, or wine from the Rhine valley, is white, bad match : a bad stroke of business, prodigal : a wasteful person, a beggar, that was used to come so smug upon the mart : he is now reduced to beggary, who used to come into the market place with such a smiling and self- satisfied expression, for a Christian courtesy : Shylock speaks the words in bitter scorn. He cannot conceive of a man lending money from any other motive than to extort as much interest as possible. Antonio’s generous spirit moves the Jew to fury.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 1 Translation Meaning Annotations 6

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 1 Translation Meaning Annotations 7

Modern English Reading

SALARINO : Why, I am sure, if he defaults, you won’t take his flesh; what’s that good for?

SHYLOCK : To bait fish with: if it feeds nothing else, it will feed my revenge. He has disgraced me and insulted me half a million times; laughed at my losses, joked about my gains, insulted my religion, crossed my deals, cooled my friends, heated my enemies. And what’s his reason? I am a Jew. Doesn’t a Jew have eyes? Doesn’t a Jew have hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions, fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you stick us, don’t we bleed? If you tickle us, don’t we laugh? If you poison us, don’t we die? And if you wrong us, shouldn’t we seek revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we’ll resemble you in that. If a Jew wrongs a Christian, what is his option? Revenge. If a Christian wrongs a Jew, what should his choice be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy’you teach me I’ll use; and it shall be hard but I’ll make the lesson better.
Enter a man from Antonio

Word Meaning With Annotation

To bait fish : means “to feed fish.” hindered me half a million : “caused me to lose half a million ducats”, by lending money to people who might otherwise have borrowed from Shylock. hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is : Shylock is comparing the physical bodies and powers of the Jew and the Christian, and proving that they are exactly similar. Then he passes to “senses, affections,” and finds that here also there is no difference. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility : Shylock sneers at the Christian religion. The teaching of Christ is that a Christian must never take revenge, but must forgive his enemy in a spirit of proper humility. But Shylock says that this is not observed. He asks “If a Jew wrongs a Christian, does the latter show humility? No! He takes revenge.” The sense of “humility” here is “patience” or “humanity.” what should his sufferance be by Christian example : what should his attitude be if he is guided by the example which Christians set him ?

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 1 Translation Meaning Annotations 8

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 1 Translation Meaning Annotations 9

Modern English Reading

SERVANT : Gentlemen, my master Antonio is at his house, and wants to speak with both of you.

SALARINO : We have been up and down looking for him.
Enter Tubal

SALARINO : Here comes another Jew: we cannot Match them, unless the devil himself turn Jew.
Exeunt Salanio, Salarino and Servant.
Enter Tubal.

SHYLOCK : How now, Tubal! What’s the news from Genoa? Have you found my daughter?

TUBAL : I often came to places where I heard of her, but I cannot find her.

Word Meaning With Annotation

A third cannot be matched, unless the devil himself turn Jew : Shylock and Tubal are such a pair of villains that one could not find a third like them, unless it were the devil himself, what news from Genoa : Tubal has been to Genoa to search for Jessica. According to his replies to Shylock, we must assume that Lorenzo and Jessica have been there. As Genoa is at the other side of Italy, some distance from Venice, this conversation shows us that an interval of time has now elapsed since the elopement.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 1 Translation Meaning Annotations 10

Modern English Reading

SHYLOCK : Why there, there, there, there! A diamond gone, cost me two thousand dollars in Frankfort ! The curse never fell on our nation until now; I never felt it until now. Two thousand dollars in that, and other precious, precious jewels. I wish my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear; I wish she were trained at my feet, and the ducats in her coffin! No news of them? Why, okay: and I don’t know what’s been spent in the search. Why, you— loss on loss! The thief gone with so much, aid so much to find the thief; and no satisfaction, no revenge; or only bad luck stirring and sits on my shoulders; no sighs except the ones I’m breathing; no tears except the ones I’m shedding.

Word Meaning With Annotation

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 : Shylock shows how very self – centred he is. He looks upon his misfortunes as a blow to the whole Jewish nation, though, if we are more charitable, it is possible to assume that he is thinking rather of her daughter Jessica’s falling away from the Jewish faith, and that this is the curse he means. I would my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her oar: would she were hears’d at my foot and the ducats in her coffin : it would be possible to feel sympathy for Shylock if he declared that he wished his daughter dead, rather than married to a Christian. But he seemingly wished her dead if it would only help him to recover his money and jewels, a particularly despicable wish, hearsed : the hearse is the black funeral carriage which carries the coffin to the grave, loss upon loss : Shylock has lost further sums of money in the search for the runaway lovers.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 1 Translation Meaning Annotations 11

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 1 Translation Meaning Annotations 12

Modern English Reading

TUBAL : Yes, other men have bad luck too. Antonio, as I heard in Genoa,—

SHYLOCK : what, what, what? Bad luck, bad luck?

TUBAL : has his largest ship lost, coming from Tripolis.

SHYLOCK : I thank God! I thank God! Is it true, is it true?

TUBAL : I spoke with some of the sailors that escaped the wreck.

SHYLOCK : I thank you, good Tubal. Good news, good news! ha, ha! Where? in Genoa?

TUBAL : Your daughter spent, as I heard, one night, in Genoa eighty ducats!

SHYLOCK : You stick a dagger in me: I shall never see my gold again: eighty ducats all at once! Eighty ducats!

TUBAL : Many of Antonio’s creditors came with me to Venice, swearing he can only go broke.

SHYLOCK : I am very glad of it; I’ll plague him, I’ll torture him; I am glad of it.

TUBAL : One of them showed me a ring that he accepted from your daughter as payment for a monkey.

SHYLOCK : Damn her! You torture me, Tubal: It was my turquoise ring; I got from Leah, my wife, when I was still single; I wouldn’thave traded it for a wilderness of monkeys.

Word Meaning With Annotation

Fourscore ducats at a sitting : she had spent eighty ducats in a single place of entertainment, divers of Antonio’s creditors : this is an old expression, frequently found in the Bible. Simply “a certain number of’ or “serveral of.” cannot choose but break : “has no choice but to go bankrupt.” In this sense, a bankrupt is often referred to as “a broken man.” it was my turquoise: I had it of Leah : Shylock refers to the ring containing a turquoise, a pale bluestone, which he had received from Leah, his dead wife. This is a bitter thought to him, and intensifies his feelings of hatred. Every circumstance in the play now is directed towards irritating and infuriating the Jew. In this manner, his action against Antonio is not unnatural or improbable.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 1 Translation Meaning Annotations 13

Modern English Reading

TUBAL : But Antonio is certainly bankrupt.

SHYLOCK : No, that’s true; that’s very true. Go, Tubal, hire me an officer; accuse Antonio ‘ as of two weeks ago. I’ll have his heart, if he defaults; because, if he were out of business in Venice, I can make whatever deals I want to. Go, Tubal, and meet meat our synagogue; go, good Tubal; at our synagogue, Tubal.
Exeunt

Word Meaning With Annotation

Undone : rained; bankrupt, fee me an officer : engaged a law officer by paying him an advance fee. if he forfeit : if he becomes liable for the penalty of the pound of flesh, to, Tubal, and meet me atour synagogue; go, good Tubal; at our synagogue : Shylock arranges to meet Tubal at the Jewish church, his motive being, as we afterwards see, to swear an oath not to give up his scheme of revenge.

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Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 9 Translation Meaning Annotations

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Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 9 Modern English Translation Meaning Annotations – ICSE Class 10 & 9 English

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Original Text
Act II Scene IX

Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 9 Translation Meaning Annotations 1

Modern English Reading
Act II Scene IX

NERISSA : Quickly, quickly, please, draw the curtain right away; the Prince of Aragon has taken his oath, and comes to make his choice now.
Enter [the Prince of] Arragon, his train, and Portia. Flourish of cornets.

PORTIA : Behold, the chests stand there, noble Prince: If you choose the one that I am contained in, Our marriage vows will be solemnized right away; But if you fail, my lord, you must be gone from here immediately without any more talking.

ARRAGON : I am required by oath to observe three things: First, never to tell anyone which chest I chose; next, if I fail to choose the right chest, I will never Court a maid to marry for my whole life; Lastly, if I do fail in choosing the right chest, I will leave you immediately and be gone.

Word Meaning With Annotation

Straight : at once, election : “selection”, i.e. his choice between the three caskets. If you choose that wherein I am contain’d : the one which contains my portrait, nuptial rites : marriage ceremonies, which casket ’twas I chose : which casket it was that I did’ choose.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 9 Translation Meaning Annotations 2

Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 9 Translation Meaning Annotations 3

Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 9 Translation Meaning Annotations 4

Modern English Reading

PORTIA : Everyone swears to these conditions who come to take a chance for my worthless self.

ARRAGON : And I have prepared myself like that. Fortune now Lead me to my heart’s hope! Gold, silver, and base lead.” Who chooses me must give and gamble all he has.” You shall look more beautiful before I give or gamble. What says the golden chest? Ha! Let me see:” Who chooses me shall gain what many men desire.” What many men desire! that “many” may mean the foolish multitudes, that choose by outward appearance, not learning any more than their loving eyes teach, which doesn’t go to the inside but, like the marten, builds on the outside wall in any weather, even in the force of wind and on the road to ruin. I will not choose what many men desire, because I will not jump with common spirits and rank myself with the barbarous multitudes. Why, then to you, you silver treasure-house; tell me once more what title you bear:” Who chooses me shall get as much as he deserves.” And it is said well too, because who shall go about to steal a fortune, and still be honorable without the stamp of deserving it? Let no one pretend to wear an undeserved dignity. Oh! that fortunes, degrees, and offices were not earned by corruption, and that clear honors were purchased by the merit of the wearer! How many then would be covered that stand naked; how many would be commanded that command; how much low peasantry would then be taken from from the true seed of honor; and how much honor picked from the garbage and ruin of the times to be newly painted! Well, to my choice:” Who chooses me shall get as much as he deserves.” I will assume I am deserving. Give me a key for this, and instantly unlock my fortunes here.

Word Meaning With Annotation

And so have I address’d me : and I have prepared myself accordingly. Fortune now to my heart’s hope : he addresses the Goddess of fortune. Gold; silver; and base lead : the use of the word “base” reveals that Arragon starts in the same mistaken attitude that Morocco showed. Arragon is immediately prejudiced against the leaden casket, because the metal of which it is made is not so showy and attractive as silver or gold. Evidently the intention of Portia’s father, when he arranged the trial of the caskets, was that the inscriptions alone should be the proper test. The different metals would only serve to mislead men who paid too much attention to outward show and appearance. You shall look fairer, ere I give, or hazard : he falls into the same error as Morocco, and does not realise that the hazard is to be made for Portia, not as he says for lead, fond : foolish, which pries not to th’ interior : which does not search for the inner meaning of anything, martlet: let martin, a species of swallow, which builds a nest of mud against the outer walls of houses, even in the force and road of casualty : “open to disaster, and in the very path of danger.” for who shall go about : who shall attempt, cozen : “to cheat”, be honourable : “attain to honours.” estates : “positions of dignity”, degree : “high mark”, derived corruptly : granted from unworthy motives; sold, clear honour : unstained or innocent honour.purchased : obtained. There is no reference to buying in the usual sense, cover : keep their hats on. low peasantry : “base fellows”. This shows the habit which had crept in, during the middle ages, of thinking of two great classes, the upper classes or nobility who were men of honour, and the lower classes who were base cultivators of the soil. I will assume desert : I shall be content with what I deserve.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 9 Translation Meaning Annotations 5

Modern English Reading

PORTIA : That’s too long a pause over what you find there.

ARRAGON : What’s here? The portrait of a blinking idiot, Presenting me a piece of paper! I will read it. This doesn’t look very much like Portia! This doesn’t look very much like what I deserve!” Who chooses me shall get as much as he deserves.” Did I deserve no more than a fool’s head? Is that my prize? Is my deserving no better than that?

PORTIA : To insult and judge are different things, And of opposite natures.

Word Meaning With Annotation

Blinking idiot : stupid-eyed fool, schedule : the same as “scroll”, deservings : merits: deserves: to offend, and judge, are distinct offices, and of opposed natures : “Arragon may be regarded as having been on his trial, and a prisoner is not supposed to criticise the verdict”. Still it may be better to explain “You have been sentenced but not insulted; there is nothing personal in the decision!” distinct offices : separate things

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 9 Translation Meaning Annotations 6

Modern English Reading

ARRAGON : What is this here?” The fire tried this seven times. The judgment that never chose wrong is tried seven times. There are some men that shadows kiss; Men like this have only a shadow’s bliss; there are fools alive, I know, that are silvered over, and so was this chest. Take whatever wife you want to bed, I will be your head forever: So be gone; you are finished.” I shall appear to be more foolish by the time I stay here; I came to court with one fool’s head, But I go away with two. Sweetheart, goodbye! I’ll keep my oath, Patiently to deal with my anger.
[Exit with his train]

PORTIA : In this way, the candle has burned the moth. Oh, these deliberate fools! When they choose, they have the wisdom to lose by their senses.

NERISSA : The ancient saying is no lie:” Hanging and getting a wife are up to Fate.”

Word Meaning With Annotation

The fire seven times tried this : “this” refers to the silver. The line refers to the words from the Bible, some there be that shadows kiss : “shadow” is here used generally as being the reverse of “substance” i.e., some people neglect the sound and substantial things of life to pursue empty shows, shadow’s bliss : “unreal happiness.” I wis : Certainly, silvered o’er : “whose folly is concealed by their silvery hairs.” you are sped : your business is completed, by the time I linger here : the longer I remain here, with one fool’s head I came to woo, But I go away with two : I came here a fool, and I depart a double fool, wroth : misfortune. Not the usual sense of “anger”, thus hath the candle sing’d the moth : Arragon is here compared to a foolish insect that has fluttered around a bright light, and has been burnt, deliberate fools : deliberating fools, in the sense that they calculated too much. The right choice depended not on skilful reasoning, but on love, which should have been prepared to “hazard all he hath”, they have the wisdom by their wit to lose : “They have enough sense, at any rate, to allow their small minds to lead than astray”, heresy : falsehood, hanging and wiving goes by destiny : “Wedding is destiny, and hanging like wise”

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 9 Translation Meaning Annotations 7

Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 9 Translation Meaning Annotations 8

Modern English Reading

PORTIA : Come, close the curtain, Nerissa.
Enter Messenger.

MESSENGER : Where is my lady?

PORTIA : I’m here; what do you want?

MESSENGER : Madam, at your gate, a young Venetian has just arrived, one that comes ahead of his lord to tell us he is coming; He brings sensible apologies from him; As noted,—besides greetings and courteous sayings,— Gifts of rich value. Yet I haven’t seen such an ambassador of love. A day in April never came so sweetly to show how expensive summer was coming,, as this forerunner comes so urgently before his lord.

PORTIA : No more, please; I am half afraid you will now say he is related to you, You spend such so many words in praising him.Come, come, Nerissa, because I long to see quick Cupid’s messenger that comes so politely.

NERISSA : Bassanio, lord Love, if it is your will!
Exeunts.

Word Meaning With Annotation

Sensible regrets : salutations which are not merely words, but are sincerely felt, to wit, (besides commends and courteous breath) : namely in addition to compliments and courteous words, etc. likely : prepossessing; of good promise, ambassador of love : the messenger who now comes as the representative of Bassanio, to announce that his lord is coming on an errand of love, and to prepare his reception. He is compared to an agent who represents his country, costly summer : summer which is the rich and goregeous season of the year, fore – spurrer : the one who comes squrring (riding) on before, to prepare for the coming of his master, high-day wit : “high-day” is the same as “holiday”, so we might translate this by “holiday humour,” the fine speeches and prepared words that one might use only on a holiday or special occasion. Quick Cupid’s post that comes so mannerly : the swift messenger of Love, who comes in such a courteous manner. Bassanio, lord Love, if thy will it be : “lord Love” still refers to Cupid as the presiding deity, and Portia means, “I hope it is thy will that this is Bassanio, O God of Love.”

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Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 8 Translation Meaning Annotations

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Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 8 Modern English Translation Meaning Annotations – ICSE Class 10 & 9 English

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Original Text
Act II Scene VIII

Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 8 Translation Meaning Annotations 1

Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 8 Translation Meaning Annotations 2

Modern English Reading
Act II Scene VIII

SALARINO : Why, man, I saw Bassanio sailing away; Gratiano has gone along with him; And I am sure Lorenzo is not on their ship.

SALANIO : The villain Jew woke up the Duke with outcries.The Duke went with him to search Bassanio’s ship.

SALARINO : He came too late, the ship was sailing away; but there, the Duke was given to understand that Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica were seen together in a gondola. Besides, Antonio assured the Duke that they were not with Bassanio in his ship.

SALANIO : I never heard such confused anger, So strange, outrageous, and so changeable, the Jew barked like the dog in the streets.” My daughter! Oh, my dollars! Oh, my daughter ! Fled with a Christian! Oh, my Christian dollars! Justice! The law! My dollars and my daughter! A sealed bag, two sealed bags of dollars, of double ducats, stolen from me by my daughter! And jewels! Two stones, two rich and precious stones, Stolen by my daughter! Justice! Find the girl! She has the stones on her and the ducats.”

Word Meaning With Annotation

Raised the duke : stirred him up to action. The Duke : the old city of Venice was an independent republic, and the chief ruler was the Duke, gondola : the city of Venice is built upon a number of islands and channels of water take the place of streets, instead of carriages, long narrow boats called gondolas ply back and forth, double ducats : it seems that there were two kinds of ducats in circulation, one being double the value of the other.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 8 Translation Meaning Annotations 3

Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 8 Translation Meaning Annotations 4

Modern English Reading

SALARINO : Why, all the boys in Venice followed him, crying, his stones, his daughter, and his dollars.

SALANIO : Let good Antonio be careful about making his payment on time, or he shall pay for this.

SALARINO : Damn it, thanks for reminding me. I was talking yesterday with a Frenchman, who told me that, in the narrow seas that part the French and English, a vessel of our country, sank, loaded full with rich cargo. I thought about Antonio when he told me, and wished in silence that the ship wasn’t his.

SALANIO : You’d better tell Antonio what you heard; still, don’t tell him without warning because it may be too painful.

SALARINO : A kinder gentleman does not walk on the earth. I saw Bassanio and Antonio say goodbye: Bassanio told him he would hurry back. He answered ‘Don’t hurry back; don’t be careless with business for my sake, Bassanio, but wait until your plans are realized; and for the Jew’s promise to pay which he has from me, don’t let it enter your mind, thinking about love: Be happy, and use your main thoughts for courtship, and such beautiful shows of love that may agree with you there.” And even there, his eyes being big with tears, turning his face away, he put his hands behind him, and with affection that was amazingly easy to feel, He shook and shook Bassanio’s hand, and they parted like that.

Word Meaning With Annotation

Keep his day : discharge his debt punctually on the agreed day. Marry, well remembered : this is a contraction for “By St. Mary, it is as well that you have reminded me, etc.” miscarried : wrecked; met with disaster, fraught : laden; stored with cargo, slubber : to perform any business in a hasty and slovenly manner, but stay the very riping of the time : as the farmer does not gather his crops too soon, but waits until they are quite ripe. let it not enter in your mind of love : Let it not enter into your mind, which should be full of thoughts of love-making, ostents : evidence or displays of affection, big with tears : full of big tears.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 8 Translation Meaning Annotations 5

Modern English Reading

SALANIO : I think Antonio only loves the world for him. Please, let’s go and find out where he is, and help bum up his tangled depression with some delight or other.
Exeunt.

SALARINO : Let’s do it.
Exeunt.

Word Meaning With Annotation

Embraced heaviness : the heaviness or melancholy which Antonio has voluntarily embraced, or taken to himself. They think that he is rather making too much of his assumed sadness.

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