Excerpt from The Merchant of Venice - anthology.

Excerpt from The Merchant of Venice - anthology. The courtroom scene in The Merchant of Venice crystallizes the play's concerns with value, judgment, justice, and mercy. In its presentation of the unthinking prejudice of the Venetians on one side, and the unforgiving resentment of Shylock on the other, it also raises disturbing side issues that have made the play an uncomfortable one for some audiences. Antonio, the merchant of Venice, has provided the funds for his friend Bassanio's successful courtship of Portia of Belmont. His own capital tied up in trading ventures, Antonio has had to turn to the Jewish money-lender, Shylock, in order to borrow the money. (While Jews were permitted to loan money for interest to Gentiles, Christians were entirely forbidden from practicing usury, and--with the exception of Antonio--unwilling to give loans interest-free.) When Antonio's ships are lost at sea, he becomes unable to repay the debt and Shylock summons him to court to force him to pay the forfeit on the bond--a pound of his own flesh. Despite the court's prejudice, the legality of Shylock's claim makes the outcome appear certain, until Portia's intervention turns the courtroom action upside down. Disguised as a lawyer, she employs powerful rhetoric and wit in an attempt to persuade Shylock to show mercy. Following his refusal, she uses his own insistence on the letter of the law to bring about his downfall, transforming the accuser into the accused. A comic sub-plot, which surfaces briefly at the end of the scene, concerns a vow that Bassanio has made to his new wife Portia--whom he fails to recognize--never to remove the ring she has given him. The Merchant of Venice Act 4, Scene i Enter the Duke, the magificoes, Antonio, Bassanio, Salerio, and Gratiano with others DUKE. What, is Antonio here? ANTONIO. 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. ANTONIO. 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 Out of his envy's reach, I do oppose My patience to his fury, and am armed To suffer with a quietness of spirit The very tyranny and rage of his. DUKE. Go one, and call the Jew into the court. SALERIO. He is 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 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 Than is thy strange apparent cruelty; And where thou now exacts the penalty, Which is a pound of this poor merchant's flesh, Thou wilt not only lose thy forfeiture, But touched 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, Enow to press a royal merchant down And pluck commisertion of his state From brassy bosoms and rough hearts of flint, From stubborn Turks and Tartans never trained To offices of tender courtesy. We all expect a gentle answer, Jew. SHYLOCK. I have possessed your grace of what I purpose, 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! 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 humour. Is it answered? 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 answered yet? Some men there are love not a gaping pig, Some that are mad if they behold a cat, And others, when the bagpipe sings i'th'nose, Cannot contain their urine; for affection, Master 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 rendered Why he cannot abide a gaping pig, Why he a harmless necessary cat, Why he a woollen 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 I bear Antonio, that I follow thus A losing suit against him. Are you answered? BASSANIO. This is no answer, thou unfeeling man, To excuse the current of thy cruelty. SHYLOCK. I am not bound to please thee with my answers. BASSANIO. Do all men kill the things they do not love? SHYLOCK. Hates any man the thing he would not kill? BASSANIO. Every offence is not a hate at first. SHYLOCK. What, wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee twice? ANTONIO. I pray you think you question with the Jew. You may aswell go stand upon the beach 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 When 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 I do beseech you Make no more offers, use no further means, But with all brief and plain conveniency Let me have judgement, and the Jew his will. BASSANIO. For thy three thousand ducats here is six. SHYLOCK. 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? SHYLOCK. What judgement shall I dread, doing no wrong? You have among you many a purchased slave, 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 seasoned 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. If you deny me, fie upon your law! There is no force in the decrees of Venice. I stand for judgement. 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 today. SALERIO. My lord, here stays without A messenger with letters from the doctor, New come from Padua. DUKE. Bring us the letters. Call the messenger. BASSANIO. Good cheer, Antonio! What, man, courage yet! The Jew shall have my flesh, blood, bones, and all, Ere thou shalt lose for me one drop of blood. ANTONIO. 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 employed, Bassanio, Than to live still, and write mine epitaph. Enter Nerissa dressed like a lawyer's clerk DUKE. Came you from Padua, from Bellario? NERISSA. From both, my lord. Bellario greets your grace. She presents a letter BASSANIO. Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly? SHYLOCK. To cut the forfeiture from that bankrupt there. GRATIANO. 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? SHYLOCK. No, none that thou hast wit enough to make. GRATIANO. O be thou damned, inexecrable dog, And for thy life let justice be accused! Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith, To hold opinion with Pythagoras That souls of animals infuse themselves Into the trunks of men. Thy currish spirit Governed a wolf who, hanged for human slaughter, Even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet, And whilst thou layest in thy unhallowed dam, Infused itself in thee; for thy desires Are wolvish, bloody, starved, and ravenous. SHYLOCK. Till thou canst rail the seal from off my bond, Thou but offend'st thy lungs to speak so loud. 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? NERISSA. 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. "Your grace shall understand that at the receipt of your letter I am very sick; but in the instant that your messenger came, in leving visitation was with me a young doctor of Rome. His name is Balthasar. I acquainted him with the cause in controversy between the Jew and Antonio the merchant. We turned 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 importunity to fill up your grace's request in my stead. I beseech you let his lack of years be no impediment to let him lack a reverend estimation, for I never knew so young a body with so old a head. I leave him to your gracious acceptance, whose trial shall better publish his commendation." Enter Portia as Balthasar, dressed like a Doctor of Laws DUKE. You hear the learn'd Bellario, what he writes, And here, I take it, is the doctor come. Give me your hand. Came you from old Bellario? PORTIA. I did, my lord. DUKE. You are welcome; take your place. Are you acquainted with the difference That holds this presnt question in the court? PORTIA. I am informèd 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 strained, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest, It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest, it becomes The thronèd 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 enthronèd 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 'ganst 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 he 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 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. PORTIA. It must not be. There is no power in Venice Can alter a decree establishèd. 'Twill be recorded for a precedent, And many an error by the same example Will rush into the state. It cannot be. SHYLOCK. A Daniel come to judgement! Yea, a Daniel! O wise young judge, how I do honour thee! 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 offered thee. SHYLOCK. An oath, an oath! I have an oath in heaven; Shall I lay perjury upon my soul? No, not for Venice! 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 thy money, bid me tear the bond. SHYLOCK. When it is paid, according to the tenour. 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 judgement. By my soul I swear There is no power in the tongue of man To alter me. I stay here on my bond. ANTONIO. Most heartily I do beseech the court To give the judgement. PORTIA. Why then, thus it is: You must prepare your bosom for his knife. SHYLOCK. O noble judge! O excellent young man! PORTIA. For the intent and purpose of the law Hath full relation to the penalty, Which here appeareth due upon the bond. SHYLOCK. 'Tis very true. O wise and upright judge! How much more elder art thou than thy looks! PORTIA. Therefore lay bare your bosom. SHYLOCK. Ay, his breast, So says the bond, doth it not, noble judge? 'Nearest his heart', those are the very words. PORTIA. It is so. Are there balance here to weigh The flesh? SHYLOCK. I have them ready. PORTIA. Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your charge, To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death. SHYLOCK. Is it so nominated in the bond? PORTIA. It is not so expresed, but what of that? 'Twere good you do so much for charity. SHYLOCK. I cannot find it; 'tis not in the bond. PORTIA. You, merchant, have you anything to say? ANTONIO. But little. I am armed and well prepared. Give me your hand, Bassanio, fare you well. Grieve not that I am fallen to this for you, 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 me to your honourable wife, Tell her the prosess of Antonio's end, 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 but 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. BASSANIO. 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 Are not with me esteemed above thy life. I would lose all, ay sacrifice them all Here to this devil, to deliver you. PORTIA. Your wife would give you little thanks for that If she were by to hear you make the offer. GRATIANO. I have a wife who I protest I love; I would she were in heaven, so she could Entreat some power to change this currish Jew. NERISSA. 'Tis well you offer it behind her back, The wish would make else an unquiet house. SHYLOCK. These be the Christian husbands! I have a daughter; Would any of the stock of Barabbas Had been her husband, rather than a Christian. We trifle time. I pray thee pursue sentence. 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. GRATIANO. O upright judge! Mark, Jew. O learned judge! 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. GRATIANO. O learned judge! Mark, Jew. A learned judge! 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. GRATIANO. O Jew! An upright judge, a learned judge! PORTIA. Therefore prepare thee to cut off the flesh. Shed thou no blood, nor cut thou less nor more But just a pound of flesh. If thou tak'st more Or less than just a 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. GRATIANO. A second Daniel! A Daniel, Jew! Now, infidel, I have you on the hip! PORTIA. Why doth the Jew pause? Take thy forfeiture. SHYLOCK. Give me my principal, and let me go. BASSANIO. I have it ready for thee; here it is. PORTIA. He hath refused it in the open court. He shall have merely justice and his bond. GRATIANO. A Daniel still say I, a second Daniel! I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word. SHYLOCK. Shall I not have barely my principal? PORTIA. Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew. SHYLOCK. Why, then the devil give him good of it! I'll stay no longer question. PORTIA. Tarry, Jew! The law hath yet another hold on you. 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 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, 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 incurred The danger formerly by me rehearsed. Down therefore, and beg mercy of the Duke. GRATIANO. Beg that thou mayst have leave to hang thyself, And yet, thy wealth being forfeit to the state, Thou hast not left the value of a cord, Therefore thou must be hanged 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. PORTIA. Ay, for the state, not for Antonio. SKYLOCK. Nay, take my life and all! Pardon not that! You take my 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. PORTIA. What mercy can you render him, Antonio? GRATIANO. A halter gratis! Nothing else, for God's sake! ANTONIO. So please my lord the Duke and all the court 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 Upon his death unto the gentleman That lately stole his daughter. Two things provided more: that for this favour He presently become a Christian; The other, that he do record a gift Here in the court of all he dies possesed Unto his son Lorenzo and his daughter. DUKE. He shall do this, or else I do recant The pardon that I late pronouncèd here. PORTIA. Art thou contented, Jew? What dost thou say? SHYLOCK. I am content PORTIA. Clerk, draw a deed of gift. SHYLOCK. 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. GRATIANO. In christ'ning shalt thou have two godfathers. Had I been judge, thou shouldst have had ten more, To bring thee to the gallows, not to the font. Exit Shylock DUKE. Sir, I entreat you home with me to dinner. PORTIA. I humbly do desire your grace of pardon. I must away this night toward Padua, And it is meet I presently set forth. DUKE. I am sorry that your leisure serves you not. Antonio, gratify this gentleman, For in my mind you are much bound to him. Exit Duke and his train BASSANIO. 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. ANTONIO. And stand indebted, over and above, In love and service to you evermore. PORTIA. 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. BASSANIO. Dear sir, of force I must attempt you further. Take some remembrance of us as a tribute, Not as fee. Grant me two things, I pray you: Not to deny me, and to pardon me. PORTIA. You press me and therefore I will yield. Give me your gloves, I'll wear them for your sake. Bassanio takes off his gloves 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. BASSANIO. This ring, good sir, alas, it is a trifle! I will not shame myself to give you this. PORTIA. I will have nothing else but only this, And now methinks I have a mind to it. BASSANIO. There's more depends on this than on the value. The dearest ring in Venice will I give you, And find it out by proclamation. Only for this, I pray you pardon me. PORTIA. 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 answered. BASSANIO. 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. PORTIA. That 'scuse serves many men to save their gifts, And if your wife be not a madwoman, And know how well I have deserved this ring, She would not hold out enemy for ever For giving it to me. Well, peace be with you! Exuent Portia and Nerissa ANTONIO. My Lord Bassanio, let him have the ring. Let his deservings, and my love withal, Be valued 'gainst your wife's commandèment BASSANIO. Go, Gratiano, run and overtake him, Give him the ring and bring him if thou canst Unto Antonio's house. Away, make haste! Exit Gratiano Come, you and I will thither presently, And in the morning early will we both Fly toward Belmont. Come, Antonio. Exeunt