The Merchant of Venice: IV, Scene 1

Duke

1

What, is Antonio here?

Antonio

2

Ready, so please your Grace.

Duke

3 - 6

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

7 - 14

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 arm’d
To suffer, with a quietness of spirit,
The very tyranny and rage of his.

Duke

15

Go one, and call the Jew into the court.

Salerio

16

He is ready at the door; he comes, my lord.

Duke

17 - 35

Make room, and let him stand before our face.
Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so too,
That thou but leadest 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 loose the forfeiture,
But touch’d with humane gentleness and love,
Forgive a moi’ty 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 commiseration of his state
From brassy bosoms and rough hearts of flints,
From stubborn Turks, and Tartars never train’d
To offices of tender courtesy.
We all expect a gentle answer, Jew!

Shylock

36 - 63

I have possess’d 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 humor, is it answer’d?
What if my house be troubled with a rat,
And I be pleas’d to give ten thousand ducats
To have it ban’d? What, are you answer’d 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,
Mistress of passion, sways it to the mood
Of what it likes or loathes. Now for your answer:
As there is no firm reason to be rend’red
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 lodg’d hate and a certain loathing
I bear Antonio, that I follow thus
A losing suit against him. Are you answered?

Bassanio

64 - 65

This is no answer, thou unfeeling man,
To excuse the current of thy cruelty.

Shylock

66

I am not bound to please thee with my answers.

Bassanio

67

Do all men kill the things they do not love?

Shylock

68

Hates any man the thing he would not kill?

Bassanio

69

Every offense is not a hate at first.

Shylock

70

What, wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee twice?

Antonio

71 - 84

I pray you think you question with the Jew:
You may as well 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 bleak 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 any thing 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 farther means,
But with all brief and plain conveniency
Let me have judgment and the Jew his will.

Bassanio

85

For thy three thousand ducats here is six.

Shylock

86 - 88

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

89

How shalt thou hope for mercy, rend’ring none?

Shylock

90 - 104

What judgment shall I dread, doing no wrong?
You have among you many a purchas’d 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 season’d with such viands?” You will answer,
“The slaves are ours.” So do I answer you:
The pound of flesh which I demand of him
Is dearly bought as 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 judgment. Answer—shall I have it?

Duke

105 - 108

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

109 - 111

My lord, here stays without
A messenger with letters from the doctor,
New come from Padua.

Duke

112

Bring us the letters; call the messenger.

Bassanio

113 - 115

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

116 - 120

I am a tainted wether of the flock,
Meetest for death; the weakest kind of fruit
Drops earliest to the ground, and so let me.
You cannot better be employ’d, Bassanio,
Than to live still and write mine epitaph.

Duke

121

Came you from Padua, from Bellario?

Nerissa

122

From both, my lord. Bellario greets your Grace.

Bassanio

123

Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly?

Shylock

124 1 annotation

To cut the forfeiture from that bankrout there.
Mar 12, 2019 Miko
Someone who is bankrupt. The First Folio says “bankrout”, which is just an alternative for “bankrupt”. Many modern texts change it to “bankrupt”.

Gratiano

125 - 128

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

129

No, none that thou hast wit enough to make.

Gratiano

130 - 140

O, be thou damn’d, inexecrable dog!
And for thy life let justice be accus’d.
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
Govern’d a wolf, who hang’d for human slaughter,
Even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet,
And whilst thou layest in thy unhallowed dam,
Infus’d itself in thee; for thy desires
Are wolvish, bloody, starv’d, and ravenous.

Shylock

141 - 144

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

145 - 147

This letter from Bellario doth commend
A young and learned doctor to our court.
Where is he?

Nerissa

148 - 149

He attendeth here hard by
To know your answer, whether you’ll admit him.

Duke

150 - 174

With all my heart. Some three or four of you
Go give him courteous conduct to this place.
Mean time the court shall hear Bellario’s letter.
Reads.
“Your Grace shall understand that at the
receipt of your letter I am very sick, but in the
instant that your messenger came, in loving
visitation was with me a young doctor of
Rome. His name is Balthazar. I acquainted
him with the cause in controversy between
the Jew and Antonio the merchant. We turn’d
o’er many books together. He is furnish’d with
my opinion, which better’d 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 for Balthazar.
You hear the learn’d Bellario, what he writes,
And here I take it is the doctor come.
Give me your hand. Come you from old
Bellario?

Portia

175

I did, my lord.

Duke

176 - 178

You are welcome, take your place.
Are you acquainted with the difference
That holds this present question in the court?

Portia

179 - 180

I am informed throughly of the cause.
Which is the merchant here? And which the Jew?

Duke

181

Antonio and old Shylock, both stand forth.

Portia

182

Is your name Shylock?

Shylock

183

Shylock is my name.

Portia

184 - 187

Of a strange nature is the suit you follow,
Yet in such rule that the Venetian law
Cannot impugn you as you do proceed.—
You stand within his danger, do you not?

Antonio

188

Ay, so he says.

Portia

189

Do you confess the bond?

Antonio

190

I do.

Portia

191

Then must the Jew be merciful.

Shylock

192

On what compulsion must I? Tell me that.

Portia

193 - 214

The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
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 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

215 - 216

My deeds upon my head! I crave the law,
The penalty and forfeit of my bond.

Portia

217

Is he not able to discharge the money?

Bassanio

218 - 227

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,
On forfeit of my hands, my head, my heart.
If this will not suffice, it must appear
That malice bears down truth.
To the Duke.
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

228 - 232

It must not be, there is no power in Venice
Can alter a decree established.
’Twill be recorded for a precedent,
And many an error by the same example
Will rush into the state. It cannot be.

Shylock

233 - 234

A Daniel come to judgment! Yea, a Daniel!
O wise young judge, how I do honor thee!

Portia

235

I pray you let me look upon the bond.

Shylock

236

Here ’tis, most reverend doctor, here it is.

Portia

237

Shylock, there’s thrice thy money off’red thee.

Shylock

238 - 240

An oath, an oath, I have an oath in heaven!
Shall I lay perjury upon my soul?
No, not for Venice.

Portia

241 - 245

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

246 - 253

When it is paid according to the tenure.
It doth appear you are a worthy judge;
You know the law, your exposition
Hath been most sound. I charge you by the law,
Whereof you are a well-deserving pillar,
Proceed to judgment. By my soul I swear
There is no power in the tongue of man
To alter me: I stay here on my bond.

Antonio

254 - 255

Most heartily I do beseech the court
To give the judgment.

Portia

256 - 257

Why then thus it is:
You must prepare your bosom for his knife—

Shylock

258

O noble judge, O excellent young man!

Portia

259 - 261

For the intent and purpose of the law
Hath full relation to the penalty,
Which here appeareth due upon the bond.

Shylock

262 - 263

’Tis very true. O wise and upright judge!
How much more elder art thou than thy looks!

Portia

264

Therefore lay bare your bosom.

Shylock

265 - 267

Ay, his breast,
So says the bond, doth it not, noble judge?
“Nearest his heart,” those are the very words.

Portia

268 - 269

It is so. Are there balance here to weigh
The flesh?

Shylock

270

I have them ready.

Portia

271 - 272

Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your charge,
To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death.

Shylock

273

Is it so nominated in the bond?

Portia

274 - 275

It is not so express’d, but what of that?
’Twere good you do so much for charity.

Shylock

276

I cannot find it, ’tis not in the bond.

Portia

277

You, merchant, have you any thing to say?

Antonio

278 - 295

But little; I am arm’d and well prepar’d.
Give me your hand, Bassanio, fare you well.
Grieve not that I am fall’n 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 ling’ring penance
Of such misery doth she cut me off.
Commend me to your honorable wife,
Tell her the process of Antonio’s end,
Say how I lov’d 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

296 - 301

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 esteem’d above thy life.
I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all
Here to this devil, to deliver you.

Portia

302 - 303

Your wife would give you little thanks for that
If she were by to hear you make the offer.

Gratiano

304 - 306

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

307 - 308

’Tis well you offer it behind her back,
The wish would make else an unquiet house.

Shylock

309 - 312

Aside.
These be the Christian husbands. I have a daughter—
Would any of the stock of Barrabas
Had been her husband rather than a Christian!
—We trifle time. I pray thee pursue sentence.

Portia

313 - 314

A pound of that same merchant’s flesh is thine,
The court awards it, and the law doth give it.

Shylock

315

Most rightful judge!

Portia

316 - 317

And you must cut this flesh from off his breast,
The law allows it, and the court awards it.

Shylock

318

Most learned judge, a sentence! Come prepare!

Portia

319 - 326

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

327

O upright judge! Mark, Jew. O learned judge!

Shylock

328

Is that the law?

Portia

329 - 331

Thyself shalt see the act;
For as thou urgest justice, be assur’d
Thou shalt have justice more than thou desir’st.

Gratiano

332

O learned judge! Mark, Jew, a learned judge!

Shylock

333 - 334

I take this offer then; pay the bond thrice
And let the Christian go.

Bassanio

335

Here is the money.

Portia

336 - 338

Soft,
The Jew shall have all justice. Soft, no haste.
He shall have nothing but the penalty.

Gratiano

339

O Jew! An upright judge, a learned judge!

Portia

340 - 348

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 a just pound, be it but so much
As makes it light or heavy in the substance
Or the division of the twentith 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

349 - 350

A second Daniel! A Daniel, Jew!
Now, infidel, I have you on the hip.

Portia

351

Why doth the Jew pause? Take thy forfeiture.

Shylock

352

Give me my principal, and let me go.

Bassanio

353

I have it ready for thee, here it is.

Portia

354 - 355

He hath refus’d it in the open court;
He shall have merely justice and his bond.

Gratiano

356 - 357

A Daniel, still say I, a second Daniel!
I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word.

Shylock

358

Shall I not have barely my principal?

Portia

359 - 360

Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture,
To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.

Shylock

361 - 362

Why then the devil give him good of it!
I’ll stay no longer question.

Portia

363 - 380

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 incurr’d
The danger formerly by me rehears’d.
Down therefore, and beg mercy of the Duke.

Gratiano

381 - 384

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 hang’d at the state’s charge.

Duke

385 - 389

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

390

Ay, for the state, not for Antonio.

Shylock

391 - 394

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

395

What mercy can you render him, Antonio?

Gratiano

396

A halter gratis—nothing else, for God sake.

Antonio

397 - 407

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 favor
He presently become a Christian;
The other, that he do record a gift,
Here in the court, of all he dies possess’d
Unto his son Lorenzo and his daughter.

Duke

408 - 409

He shall do this, or else I do recant
The pardon that I late pronounced here.

Portia

410

Art thou contented, Jew? What dost thou say?

Shylock

411

I am content.

Portia

412

Clerk, draw a deed of gift.

Shylock

413 - 415

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

416

Get thee gone, but do it.

Gratiano

417 - 419

In christ’ning shalt thou have two god-fathers:
Had I been judge, thou shouldst have had ten more,
To bring thee to the gallows, not to the font.

Duke

420

Sir, I entreat you home with me to dinner.

Portia

421 - 423

I humbly do desire your Grace of pardon,
I must away this night toward Padua,
And it is meet I presently set forth.

Duke

424 - 426

I am sorry that your leisure serves you not.
Antonio, gratify this gentleman,
For in my mind you are much bound to him.

Bassanio

427 - 431

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

432 - 433

And stand indebted, over and above,
In love and service to you evermore.

Portia

434 - 439 1 annotation

He is well paid that is well satisfied,
And I, delivering you, am satisfied,
And therein do account myself well paid.
Mar 11, 2019 Miko
consider
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

440 - 443 1 annotation

Dear sir, of force I must attempt you further.
Mar 12, 2019 Miko
try to convince you
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

444 - 448

You press me far, and therefore I will yield.
To Antonio.
Give me your gloves, I’ll wear them for your sake,
To Bassanio.
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

449 - 450

This ring, good sir, alas, it is a trifle!
I will not shame myself to give you this.

Portia

451 - 452

I will have nothing else but only this,
And now methinks I have a mind to it.

Bassanio

453 - 456

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

457 - 459

I see, sir, you are liberal in offers.
You taught me first to beg, and now methinks
You teach me how a beggar should be answer’d.

Bassanio

460 - 462

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

463 - 467

That ’scuse serves many men to save their gifts,
And if your wife be not a mad woman,
And know how well I have deserv’d this ring,
She would not hold out enemy forever
For giving it to me. Well, peace be with you!

Antonio

468 - 470

My Lord Bassanio, let him have the ring.
Let his deservings and my love withal
Be valued ’gainst your wive’s commandment.

Bassanio

471 - 476

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.

The Merchant of VeniceAct IV, Scene 1

Venice. A court of justice.

Duke

Antonio

Duke

Antonio

Duke

Salerio

Duke

Shylock

Bassanio

Shylock

Bassanio

Shylock

Bassanio

Shylock

Antonio

Bassanio

Shylock

Duke

Shylock

Duke

Salerio

Duke

Bassanio

Antonio

Duke

Nerissa

Bassanio

Shylock

Gratiano

Shylock

Gratiano

Shylock

Duke

Nerissa

Duke

Portia

Duke

Portia

Duke

Portia

Shylock

Portia

Antonio

Portia

Antonio

Portia

Shylock

Portia

Shylock

Portia

Bassanio

Portia

Shylock

Portia

Shylock

Portia

Shylock

Portia

Shylock

Antonio

Portia

Shylock

Portia

Shylock

Portia

Shylock

Portia

Shylock

Portia

Shylock

Portia

Shylock

Portia

Antonio

Bassanio

Portia

Gratiano

Nerissa

The Merchant of Venice
Act IV, Scene 1