Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice

Introduction

7 I. Compared with King Julio. 2. Contrasts. 3. Shakespeare and Antonio. 4. The Romantic Drama. 5. Combination of Stories. 6. Difficulties and Improbabilities of Pound of Flesh Story. 7. Of Casket Story. 8. Complication and Resolution. 9. The Jessica Story. 10. The Rings Story. 11. The Purpose of the Play. 12. The Arch. 13. A favourite Play with Amateurs. 14. Tbe Hero of the Play. 15. What Shakespeare has done for Venice. Date of the Play 13 Source of the Play 14 The Unities 15 The Masque 16 Folios and Quartos 16 SUMMARY— Scene by Scene 16 TEXT OF THE PLAY 23 NOTES, ETYMOLOGICAL and EXPLANATORY . . 93 PROSODY Ill Various Headings ......... 115 Puns 116 Anachronisms . . . . . . . . . .116 Proverbs 117 GRAMMATICAL PECULIARITIES 117 1. Adjectives. 2. Adverbs. 3. Conjunctions. 4. Prepositions. 5.

Pronouns. 6. Verbs. 7. Double Negatives. 8. Ellipses. 9. Interchange of Parts of Speech. 10. Compounds. 11. Datives. Alliteration 126 Allusions ....... ... 127 1. To Commerce. f2. To Law. 3. To Divinity. 4. To Music. 5. To the Classics. Quotations 132 Simile and Metaphor 133 Doublets 135 Proper Names .......... 135 Examination Questions 137 Index

Preface

. THE Notes to this edition will be found to contain all the outside information a student requires for the proper understanding of this perfectly constructed Play. I have tried to remember that the time and the powers of our pupils are limited ; that the first requisite is to know and thoroughly understand the text, studying the play as an illustrious extract from our great Library of English Literature ; that then come questions of grammar, derivation, and literary environment; and lastly I have not lost sight of how the whole subject is likely to be looked at from an Examiner's point of view. I would also call particular attention to the short summary of the play eiven scene by scene, and to the Scansion, Grammatical Notes, and other Appendices. Without Professor Skeat's Dictionary, Dr. Abbott's Shake spearian Grammar, and Dr. Morris's Outlines of English Acci dence, these Notes would have lost much of whatever value they may be found to possess ; and I must also confess my obligation to Mr. Moulton's Shakespeare as a Dramatic Artist, a book which ought to be iu the hands of every student of Shakespeare. Thos. Duff Barnett. Brighton.

INTRODUCTION.

. I. This play belongs to Shakespeare's Second Period, the period of Henry V., King John, As You Like It, and the Sonnets. It follows King John, with which it may be usefully contrasted. In King John we have a mother's grief for a son in the Merchant a father's for a daughter. In the former Arthur prays for mercy to himself, in the latter Portia pleads for mercy to the Merchant. In King John Arthur says — " I remember when I was in France Young gentlemen would be as sad as night Only for wantonness." Antonio the Merchant says — " I hold the world, but as the world, Gratiano, A stage where every man must play a part, And mine a sad one." And again — " In sooth I know not why I am so sad. Then, too, Falconbridge contrasts well with Gratiano, and John's loss of his baggage in the Wash, bears a slight proportion to Antonio's loss of his ships. 2.

In this play we have numerous Contrasts — the contrast of gravity and levity — of gentleness and ferocity — of mercy and vengeance — of friendship aud love — of love and hate — and lastly the passion and storm of the Fourth Act, with the quiet moonlight scone ofthe Fifth. 111. ', 'HI 1_ 11 L . > ' II _ .'1 LHV. J- 11. — . 3. Shakespeare has hardly anything of the personal in his plays ; but just as it is almost impossible to read The Tempest without identifying Shakespeare somewhat with Prospero, so we cannot help looking on Antonio as a pale reflex of the poet him self. At any rate there is an echo of Antonio's letter to Bas sanio and of his speech to Bassanio (Fourth Act,) in Shake speare's 71st Sonnet to his friend, written during the .ame period. " No longer mourn for me when I am dead, Than you shall hear the early sullen bell Give warning to the world that I am fled From this vile world, with vilest worms to dwell 5 Nay, if you read this line, remember not The hand that writ it ; for I love you so That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot If thinking on me then should make you woe.

O if, I say, you look upon this verse When I perhaps compounded am with clay, Do not so much as my poor name rehearse, But let your love even with my life decay." 4. Shakespeare is the founder of the Romantic Drama, the Drama founded on Romances or popular stories. Their chief characteristic as opposed to the Greek Drama is the introduction of the comic element as a contrast and relief to the tragic. The great advance made by the Shakespearian dramatists is due, no doubt, in some degree to the raw material in which they worked — a material which was itself in many respects already a finished work of art. Shakespeare's dramas stand to these early Romances in much the same relation that the artist's does to the potter's in the vase on which he exercises his skill. 5. Shakespeare in this play has combined two Romances; that of The Cruel Jew and his Pound of Flesh, and that of The Heiress and the Caskets.

To these he has added the Story of Jessica and Lorenzo, and the Incident of the Rings. He shows himself a master of the dramatic art, in the way he handles these two Romances, making the one add to the dramatic effect of the other, and on the whole simplifying the development of his plot by adding two other stories, just as a chemist gets a precipitate in a clear liquid by the addition of other compounds to a thick and muddy one. 6. The story of the Cruel Jew bristles with difficulties and abounds in improbabilities. The initial difficulty is to imagine a character bad enough to wish to cut a pound of flesh from a living man, Shakespeare paints the Jew black and repulsive enough, that perhaps was easy ; but he shows his genius by en listing our sympathy for him as the victim of injustice and per secution.

We see that he is savagely cruel to Antonio, but we remember Antonio's wanton insults against him. We see he is a bad father, but we feel sympathy for him when his daughter runs away, taking a large amount of his property with her. We are shocked at the spite and cruelty he shows in the Trial Scene, yet we cannot help feeling that his punishment is almost greater than he can bear. Then again, as that punishment partly leads to a restitution to his daughter of the just rights of which he would otherwise have defrauded her, we are led to agree in the justice of his punishment. This is what Mr. Moulton calls Dramatic Hedging. Again, it is difficult to imagine such a bond being proposed by one man to another. But notice how Shakespeare makes Shylock bring it in by a sort of side wind. Antonio never gives or receives interest, but for a friend he is willing " to break a custom."

Shylock quotes the example of Jacob's dealings with Laban's flock to sanction the taking of Interest. Antonio indignantly asks — " When did friendship take A breed for barren metal of his friend ? " Shylock seizes on the word breed of metal, and suggests flesh instead, " in a merry sport," and the merchant is entrapped. Then comes the improbability of getting such a bond enforced in a court of justice. Here Shakespeare hints, first, that the Duke looked on the whole thing as intended only to give Shylock a most public opportunity of insulting his enemy ; and second, he shows his unwillingness to entertain the cause by hinting at an adjournment, when Portia enters, and the Jew standing on his rights, contained in the written law, the court is as it were out of very shame bound to entertain the question.

Then the question being entertained, how is the law to be evaded, or judicial murder prevented? Portia first pleads with the Jew for mercy, and appeals powerfully to his greed ; both failing, she breaks through the law by a quibble, which strikes us as being rather clever, coming from one we know to be a woman. But before we have time to really think this out Portia brings forward the learned Bellario's solution, the Old Statute Law of Venice, which enacts death and confiscation of goods on that alien who should attempt anything, even indirectly, against the life of a citizen of Venice. This we feel to be in accordance with legal justice and dramatic fitness, and thus the hand of genius has loosed the Gordian knot. For the not shedding of hlood in the cutting of the pound of flesh is the traditional solution, the legal solution is Shakespeare's. 7.

The difficulties in the Casket Scenes next demand notice. It is difficult to imagine a father thus setting the happiness of his daughter's life upon a mere chance. Nerissa gets us over this improbability by hinting that " holy men at their deaths have good inspirations." Our hopes and wishes of course go with Bassanio. But there are two suitors before him, and yet we have no anxiety as to the issue, because we see that Bassanio is the only suitor who comes with love in his heart. The Prince of Morocco shrinks from lead as being too common for his noble origin. His modesty makes him doubt if his deserts are equal to deserving Portia, but he reveals his character when he reads the words what " many men desire." He must not be behind the rest of mankind. Pride of birth and pride founded on glory leave no room for love.

The Prince of Arragon is proud of his own deserts. He assumes desert, instead of looking for love. Bassanio is a lover and a brave gentleman. His love and bravery are both satisfied in giving and in hazard ing all. In the choice we see character tested, and tested in its most attractive dramatic form — great interests at stake, and no apparent means of forming a reasonable estimate as to the right grounds for a choice-- 8. Shakespeare has shown himself a Master of Dramatic Art also in the way in which he has interwoven the two stories. The difference between the events in a Drama and in real life is that in the Drama the action of events leads to Complication followed by Resolution. The Complication and Resolution of the one story bring about the Complication and Resolution of the other. Thus Bassanio's Complication causes the Complication of Antonio's fortunes by bringing about the signing of the bond : and the Resolution of the Casket Story, by bringing about Bassanio's marriage with Portia, leads to her interference in and Resolution of the Complication in Antonio's fortunes. 9.

The story of the Loves of Jessica and Lorenzo assists the main plot in several ways. It helps to bridge over the three months' interval between the signing of the bond and its becom ing due. Of the nine scenes of the Second Act which occupies this interval, six are devoted to Jessica and her elopement. This subsidiary story also helps to occupy some of tho superfluous characters of the Merchant's Story. And, thirdly, it helps to give both darkening and relieving touches to the character of Shylock, while Portia's reception and treatment of Jessica gives us a heightened idea of the nobility of her character. 10. The Story of the Rings assists the plot at a critical point. Its light fun is a welcome relief after the serious business of the Fourth Act, and, being in the secret, we watch its development with amused interest.

The part Portia has played as the lawyer requires explanation to Bassanio and Antonio, and the awkward ness of this is got over in a natural manner by the Episode of the Rings. It also tends to bring out still clearer the character of Portia, a character evenly-balanced, full of strength and tender ness, of grace and firmness. She is placed at the very boundarv between girlhood and womanhood ; with Nerissa she is the saucv girl ; in the Trial Scene the perfect woman. In the Casket Scene she is the ideal maiden ; when she sends Bassanio away to his friend, she is the ideal wife, jealous of her husband's honour. The Story of the Rings shows her in a madcap frolic, — her last outbreak of happy girlish fun — to be atoned for after wards by the quiet decorum of the gentle wife. II. The question is sometimes asked, What is the purpose of this play ?

By purpose ought to be meant not the inten tional purpose, not the conscious motives and design, but, what Theory will best reconcile all the discordant elements in this drama? Shakespeare as an Artist may have worked, and doubtless did work, unconscious of design ; but if his Art is genuine there will be meanings and lessons contained in his work. Dr. Ulrici says it is Summum jus, summa injuria, "the highest law, the highest injustice." It would be interesting, but it would be beyond the limits of " notes," to follow this idea out in detail. Another interpretation might be Measure for Mea sure, a third, The Folly of Judging by Appearances, whilst a fourth might be the Influence of Character. Shakespeare certainly had no Purpose of issuing An Appeal for the Jews. 12. The balance of characters and of construction in this play is very marked.

Nerissa and Gratiano, with Jessica and Lorenzo, are a sort of balance to Portia and Bassanio ; Shylock is balanced by Tubal, and Launcelot by Gobbo. Again, just as Jessica obtains freedom from her ignoble surroundings by seeking a Christian husband, so does her follower Launcelot by seeking a Christian master. Antonio is balauced by Bassanio, and by in troducing Bassanio's artistic and intellectual friend Lorenzo we get a still higher idea of the worth of Bassanio. The Plot of the Play is balanced by having a Dramatic Centre. This is the Casket-choosing Scene of Bassanio, the middle scene of the Play, and the real crisis of the Drama. For all the underplots centre here. In it we hear of Antonio's life being forfeited to the Jew, Jessica and her husband bringing the sad tidings. It is the Climax of the Casket Story, and in it the Ring Story has its foundation.

The play thus forms an arch, and com pares in the symmetry of its construction with the play of Mac beth, and shows that Shakespeare, like every really great Artist, is careful of even the smallest details. 13. This play has always been a favourite with amateur actors, because of the ease with which its beautifully dovetailed stories may be taken apart and acted separately. The scenes in which Shylock appears may indeed be said to form a play of themselves. After these scenes have been taken out, a highly poetical and interesting play still remains. In this respect, the play is perhaps unique in our own or in any literature. 14. Finally, we must not omit to call attention to the name of the play. It is called The Merchant of Venice, though a superficial examination would lead us to look on Shylock, not Antonio, as its real hero.

This feeling is the result of misconception as to the Central Idea ofthe play. The character of Antonio, the man of Ancient Roman Honour, and the Merchant Prince of Commercial Venice, is the pivot on which Venetian Society hinges, the centre round which it all turns. He it is who sup ports the extravagance ofthe noble Bassanio, and whose stability is the foundation of the city's charter, and the city's freedom. The part, in its quiet dignity and reserve, gives less scope than that of Shylock for the display of histrionic capabilities, and hence our great actors generally put themselves down for the part of the latter. But they altogether miss the spirit and meaning ofthe play who do not recognise that Antonio, the royal merchant, the true gentleman, the dear lover of Portia's lord, the best conditioned and unwearied spirit in doing courtesies, is the real hero of the play which is called by his name. 15.

The picture of Venice is so vivid, the poet brings before us with such reality its busy and varied life, its commerce, its art, its canals and port, its gondolas and shipping, its courts of justice and princes' palaces, that more than one critic has been impressed with the idea that Shakespeare had seen what he so causes us to realize. He has given us a picture of Venice which Turner's drawings and Ruskin's marvellous prose have heightened, but not thrown into the shade. We seem to hear the hum of its busy multitudes, to catch a glimpse of the beautiful kaleidoscopic effects of the admixture of national costumes, the continual influx and efflux of foreigners ; we are impressed with the dignity of a municipality, proud of its charters and its freedom ; we can almost realize the unrivalled blue of its skies, and hear the dip of the oars in its famous canals ; we feel that the poet has etherealized the whole, and has made Venice an eternal city, a city which will survive " The wreck of matter and the crash of worlds."

DATE OF THE PLAY. The evidence for the date of any of Shakespeare's plays may be thus classified: — I. Extrinsic. 1. Entry in the Registers ofthe Stationers' Company. 2. The publication in folios or quartos or both. 3. Allusions in contemporary literature. II. Intrinsic. 1. Allusions in the play to past or to contemporary events. 2. A critical examination ofthe Style and temper of the play under consideration. Our evidence for the date of the Merchant of Venice is as follows : — I.I. Entered in the Stationers' Register, 1598. I. 2. Printed in 1600 in small quarto (1) by Roberts and (2) by Hayes. The folio of 1623 seems to have been reprinted from the latter. I. 3. (a). Mentioned in the Palladis Tamia of Meres, 1598. (b). Supposed to be alluded to in Henslowe's diary, 1594, under the title of the Venesyon Comedy.

If this is a reference to Shakespeare's play, then we may safely conclude that this early version was very carefully revised. II. 2. The frequent rhymes, the numerous classical allusions, the resemblance between Launcelot and his prototype in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, would point to an early period for the date of the play. But the great freedom of the versification, and the loftiness of thought and diction, point to a later period ; and doubtless the explanation is that the play was thoroughly revised. SOURCE OF THE PLAY. Stephen Gosson, in The Schoole of Abuse, written in 1579, mentions as two "tollerable" (endurable) plays The Jew and Ptoleme, the first "representing the greedinesse of worldly chusers, and bloody mindes of Usurers." This plainly hints at the "caskets" and the "pound of flesh."

It is thought that Shakespeare founded his play on this, but no reliable evidence can be adduced. We will therefore trace the sources of the story, and show where Shakespeare might have got them. Ser Giovanni wrote a collection of stories called II Pecorone, in 1378. In the first novel of the fourth day we have the scene laid at Venice, the residence of the heroine being at Belmont. She invents the plan of escape for avoiding the penalty of forfeiting the bond ; and we also have in this novel the incident of the ring. The story of the pound of flesh is also found in the Gesta Romanornm, but there it is the judge and not the lady who cuts the Gordian knot. The story originally doubtless came from the East. We have one version in Malone's Translations of a Persian Manuscript, and another, an Egyptian version, in the Autobiography of Lutfullah.

The incident of the whetting of the knife is mentioned in a ballad of Gernutus, the Jew of Venice. Shylock's speech in Act IV. may have been suggested to Shakespeare by Anthony Munday's translation of The Orator of Alexander Silvayn. in 1596. The " Casket Episode " yet remains to be traced. It occurs, as far as is known, for the first time in Joannes Damaseenus' story of Barlaam and Josaphat, written in Greek in 800 a.d. In this story there are four chests made, two of gold, fastened by locks of gold, but filled with dead men's bones, and other two of common wood overlaid with pitch, and tied with rough cords, but filled with precious stones and jewels and richest ointments. These are used by a king to teach his courtiers the foolishness of choosing by mere appearances. The Casket Episode is next found in the Gesta Romanornm; where a Roman emperor has three " vesselles " made of gold, silver, and lead, and the daughter of the King of Naples has to choose one of these in order to show her fitness for an alliance with the emperor's son.

Summing up our evidence : — 1. The casket episode was most probably derived from the Gesta Romanornm ; though different versions of the episode are to be found, beginning with Joannes Damascenus' Greek story, in Gower and in Boccaccio. 2. The " pound of flesh incident" was most probably derived from the story as told in the II Pecorone of Ser Giovanni. 3. The plan for avoiding the forfeiture of the bond discovered by the lady is also from II Pecorone. 4. The incident of the ring is from II Pecorone. 5. The whetting ofthe knife might have been suggested by the ballad of Gernutus. 6. Shylock's speech in court may have been suggested by the 95th Declamation in the Orator of Alexander Silvayn. 7. The introduction ofthe Comic characters is Shakespeare's own. 8. We need not add here, that Shakespeare's genius has shown itself, not in the choice of materials, but in the way he has used them ; in the development and interdependence of the plot ; and chiefly in the development of character.

THE UNITIES. In Greek tragedies we find a very strict regard paid to the three unities of time, place, and action. The unity of time requires that the events represented sliall not require more time than is occupied by the representa tion of the piece. The unity of place requires that the scenes of the actions represented should not be at a greater distance than can be easily reached in the time of representation by the different dramntvs persona. The unity of action requires that all the characters should be employed in leading up to the denouement, and that each ot them and each scene should gradually lead up to it. The last of these is the only unity that Shakespeare, as a rule, is careful to observe, and is the only one observed in this play. All three are observed in the Tempest. THE MASQUE.

The Masque was a peculiar and exquisitely fanciful species of entertainment, of which Ben Jonson and Fletcher have left many examples, but none of them, perhaps, equal to Milton's Comus. Masques were chiefly used for the purpose of court representa tions, and were too often made the vehicle of fulsome compli ments to princesses. They were combined with dancing and singing and elaborate stage accessories. The Masque spoken of in this play is not one of this kind, but seems to be more of the character of a bal masque or else of a procession of masquers. FOLIOS AND QUARTOS. These are names given to editions of Shakespeare's plavs, folio and quarto both referring to the size. These quartos are generally single plays ; this play was printed in quarto in 1600. The first folio is a complete edition of Shakespeare's plavs, and was published after his death in 1623.

The second folio was published in 1633, the third in 1663, and the fourth in 1685. Other editions of Shakespeare are generally named after the editor, or in some cases after the person to whom they are dedi cated. Single copies of the plays, in sac simile of the folios, can be bought. SUMMARY OF THE PLAY, SCENE BY SCENE. Act I. Scene I. begins with a conversation between Antonio, Salarino, and Salanio. The key-note of the play is struck in the very first line — sad. Antonio's words attune our minds to the minor key of the first four acts. " Coming events cast their shadows before." Antonio has a presentiment ; he can give no reason for it. Salarino suggests that the risk to which his " argosies" are exposed may be causing him anxiety. Saianio is mre that if his hopes were abroad, so would his affections be.

He would be continually enquiring which way the wind was blow ing, and continually " peering in maps." But Antonio has no fears as to the safety of his merchandise, his " ventures are not in one bottom trusted." They then suggest that he is in love ; this too he denies. Here Bassanio, Lorenzo, and Gratiano enter, and after the famous let-me-play-the-fool-speech, Antonio and Bas sanio are left alone. We learn that Bassanio has " disabled his estate," and spent besides money borrowed of his friend. He is in love with Portia, a rich heiress of Belmont, and if Antonio can " shoot another arrow that self-way that he did shoot the first," Bassanio feels sure he will succeed in repaying all he owes. Antonio tells him that all his ready money is locked up in his venture at sea ; but that his credit is good in Venice, and he is to go and raise as much as he wants.

Scene II. takes us to Belmont, to Portia and her maid Nerissa. The note of sadness is deepened and strengthened — Portia's "little body is aweary of this great world." We learn that Portia's father when dying has left her chance of a husband depending on the choice of three caskets, of gold, silver, and lead. Nerissa names over Portia's different suitors to her, and we learn from the mention of Bassanio's name, and the mode of its reception, that Bassanio's venture is likely to be prosperous. 'The scene closes with the news of the arrival of the Prince of Morocco as a suitor for the hand of Portia. Scene III. opens between Bassanio and Shylock, a Venetian money-lender. Bassanio has asked him for three thousand ducats for three months on a bond of Antonio the merchant's. Shylock, although allowing that Antonio is a good man, still points out, as a money-lender, that his means are in supposition.

Antonio enters, and whilst Bassanio is acquainting him as to how the negotiation stands, we learn from Shylock's soliloquy that he has an "ancient grudge" against Antonio, (1) because he is a Christian, and (2) because he lends out money gratis. When Shylock says — " Cursed be my tribe If I forgive him !" we begin to think there is some meaning in Antonio's sadness So great is his hatred that it breaks out in words, words so bitter l: that they ought to have put Antonio on his guard ; but he is thinking of nothing but of helping his friend. Shylock says he has not enough money on hand, but he can borrow what he wants of Tubal, another wealthy Jew, and as Antonio has such con scientious scruples against interest, Shylock offers him " a merry bond," viz., that if he does not pay the money to the day, he shall forfeit a pound of his flesh, to be cut from any part of his body.

Bassanio entreats him not to sign to such a bond ; but Antonio overcomes his scruples, and the first act closes with an appointment at the notary's to sign and seal. Act II. Scene I. — Portia and Nerissa receive the Prince of Morocco, who hopes his complexion will not stand in his way (recall Portias words I. 2. 117). Portia reminds him that she has no choice in the matter, but must abide by her father's will. She also reminds him that before choosing he must swear that if he chooses wrongly he will live unmarried. The prince accepts the condition, and Portia puts off the choice till after dinner. Scene II. introduces us to Launcelot, listening to the arguments of his conscience and of the fiend. Having made up his mind to follow the more friendly counsel of the fiend, his father, Gobbo, enters with a basket containing a dish of doves as a present for Shylock, Launcelot's master.

Gobbo being more than sand-blind, in fact high-gravel-blind, Launcelot tries confusions with him. Having at last stopped his fooling, he informs Gobbo that he means to leave Shylock's service and try to enter Bassanio's. Bassanio and Leonardo entering, the old man, in his round-about garrulous way, begs him to take Launcelot as his servant, and offers him the dish of doves which was meant for the Jew. Bassanio takes Launce lot into his service, and Gobbo and he go away happy. Gra tiano then enters, and after some good advice given him by Bassanio, and taken in good part, the scene closes with an ap pointment for a farewell supper to Bassanio's friends Scene III. introduces Jessica, Shylock's daughter, and gives the parting between her and Launcelot. Scene IV. — Gratiano, Lorenzo, Salarino, and Salanio are talking of a masque to which they mean to slink away from Bassanio's supper.