Merchant of Venice (Act IV Court Scene) - Julius Ceasar (Act III Scene 2) - Sonnet 116
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
-William Shakespeare
(The Plot)
Antonio, a merchant of Venice, and
Bassanio are very close friends. Bassanio needs money to marry a wealthy lady
in Belmont named Portia. He borrows money from a cunning, Jewish moneylender
called Shylock. Shylock lends him a heavy sum but makes Antonio sign a bond
that if the money is not repaid within three months, he would cut a pound of
flesh from Antonio’s body. Meanwhile, Portia, who has to face many suitors,
waits for the arrival of her beloved, Bassanio. Before he died, Portia’s
father, realising her difficulty in choosing the right man, had left a test for
her suitors. Each man was to be presented with three caskets, of gold, silver
and lead. Inside one of them was Portia’s picture, and whoever chose this
casket would become her husband. The Prince of Morocco chooses the gold casket
but finds inside it a skull and a warning. The Prince of Aragon chooses the
silver casket and finds the portrait of an idiot and another warning. Bassanio
chooses the lead casket, the one with Portia’s picture, and claims her as his
wife. And his friend Gratiano marries Nerissa, Portia’s maid. As the
merry-making commences, there comes a letter from Antonio. His ships are lost
at sea, and hence unable to pay his debt, he has to keep his word with Shylock,
and offer him a pound of his flesh. Portia offers money but Shylock insists on
a pound of Antonio’s flesh as mentioned in the bond. When their husbands leave
for Venice, Portia and Nerissa too follow them in disguise. Portia disguises
herself as a (male) lawyer with Nerrisa as her clerk. Portia leaves her house
in the care of Jessica, Shylock’s daughter who has left her father and married
Lorenzo. All the great men of Venice gather at the Duke’s court but Shylock is
unmoved by their arguments. He feels that the law is on his side and demands
justice according to the bond. Portia enters the court and changes the entire
nature of the argument. She speaks not of
justice but of mercy. Portia wins the battle of wits and Shylock is forced to
leave the courtroom in defeat. Thanks to the brilliance of Portia’s reasoning,
the misfortunes of Antonio, the merchant of Venice, are finally ended, and the
married couples are ready for a life of happiness.
Note: The following is an extract
from the court scene, Act IV.
Place: The court of justice in
Venice.
Enter Portia, dressed like a
doctor of laws.
DUKE
: You are welcome: take
your place.
Are you acquainted with
the difference
That holds this present
question in the court?
PORTIA
: I am informed thoroughly of the
cause.
Which is the merchant here, and which the Jew?
DUKE
: Antonio and old
Shylock, both stand forth.
PORTIA
: Is your name Shylock?
SHYLOCK
: Shylock is my name.
PORTIA
: Of a strange nature is the suit you follow;
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?
ANTONIO
: Ay, so he says.
PORTIA
: Do you confess the bond?
ANTONIO
: I do.
PORTIA
: Then must the Jew be merciful.
SHYLOCK
: On what compulsion must I? Tell me that.
PORTIA
: The quality of mercy is not strain’d
It droppeth as the gentle rain
from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is
twice blessed:
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
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,
Which
if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must
needs give sentence ’gainst the merchant there.
SHYLOCK
: My deeds upon my head! I crave the law,
The penalty and forfeit of my bond.
PORTIA
: Is he not able to discharge the money?
BASSANIO
: Yes, here I tender it for him in the court;
Yea, twice the sum, if that will not
suffice,
I will be bound to pay it ten times o’er,
…………………………………………………
PORTIA
: I pray you, let me look upon the bond.
SHYLOCK
: Here ’tis, most reverend Doctor, here it is.
PORTIA
: Shylock, there’s thrice thy money offer’d
thee.
……………………………………………………..
PORTIA
: Why, this bond is forfeit;
And
lawfully by this the Jew may claim
A
pound of flesh, to be by him cut off
Nearest
the merchant’s heart. Be merciful.
Take
thrice the money; bid me tear the bond.
SHYLOCK
: There is no power in the tongue of man
To
alter me. I stay here on my bond.
To
give the judgment.
You must prepare your bosom for his knife.
………………………………….
PORTIA
: Therefore, lay bare your bosom.
SHYLOCK
: Ay, his breast -
So says the bond: doth it not, noble judge?
So says the bond: doth it not, noble judge?
“Nearest his heart;” those are the very words.
SHYLOCK
: I have them ready.
PORTIA
: Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your
Charge,
To
stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death.
PORTIA
: It is not so express’d, but what of
that?
‘Twere good you do so much for charity.
‘Twere good you do so much for charity.
……………………………………..
PORTIA
: A pound of that same merchant’s flesh is thine.
The court awards it, and the law doth
give it.
SHYLOCK
: Most rightful judge!
PORTIA
: And you must cut this flesh from off his breast
The law allows it, and the court awards
it.
SHYLOCK
: Most learned judge! A sentence! Come, prepare.
PORTIA
: Tarry a little; there is something else.
This bond doth give thee here no jot of
blood;
The
words expressly are “a pound of flesh:”
Take
then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh;
But,
in the cutting it, if thou dost shed
One
drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods
Are,
by the laws of Venice, confiscate
Unto
the state of Venice.
……………………………………………..
SHYLOCK
: Is that the law?
PORTIA
: Thyself shalt see the act;
For,
as thou urgest justice, be assured
Thou
shalt have justice, more than thou desir’st.
……………………………………………….
SHYLOCK
: I take this offer then: pay the bond thrice,
And let the Christian go.
BASSANIO
: Here is the money
PORTIA
: Soft!
The
Jew shall have all justice. Soft! No haste:
He
shall have nothing but the penalty.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born
at Stratford-on-Avon and was educated at the free Stratford Grammar School.
There is no authentic documentation of his early life. He married Anne Hathaway
in 1582 and moved to London in 1586 to become an actor, poet, dramatist and
theatre manager. His well-known comedies are A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The
Merchant of Venice and Much Ado About Nothing, while his outstanding tragedies
are Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth, among many more
All the best..........
All the best..........
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