Page 104 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

With no less grandeur°—but with much more love— 46 {presence} / dignity
Than youthful Hercules when he did rescue° 47 / who goes to rescue
48
The virgin princess, paid in sacrifice° / given as a tribute
49
By suff’ring° Troy to placate Poseidon’s {howling}
50
Sea monster. I am now the sacrifice. {I stand for sacrifice} 51
52 53
The rest around me are the Trojan wives,° / wives of Troy
Who now° approach° with blearèd visages 54 / here // have come
55
To view the outcome° of this grand exploit.° {issue} / heroic / awesome venture
56
Go Hercules! If thou live, I will live: 57
But here I view with much, much more dismay° / this fight with more dismay
58
Then thou, the hero,° who doth mak’st the fray. / greater

Nerissa instructs the musicians to play a song.
A song is played while Bassanio mulls over the caskets 59 60

46. / With no less dignity, but much more love
47. {Than young Alcides when he did redeem}
48. Refers to Hercules’s rescue of the virgin princess Hesione.
[For the complete story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, see Additional Notes, 3.2.56]
with much more love: Hercules did not rescue Hesione out of love but for payment. Portia is bringing up this
story, but then saying that Bassanio (coming with the same grandeur and dignity as Hercules) is coming with much
more love, and trying to win her not as a mercenary, for some material gain, but out of love (something which
Hercules did not have for the virgin princess he set forth to rescue). Hercules’s agreed-upon reward for saving
Hesione was not her hand in marriage but her father’s magical horses.
49. {The virgin tribute paid by howling Troy}
howling: crying out, lamenting, suffering. Only after the virgin princess was offered as a sacrifice to the sea-
monster would the ravages and floods afflicting Troy be appeased.
I stand for: I am, I represent
50. [See Additional Notes, 3.2.58]
51. stand for: represent
52. {The rest aloof are the Dardanian wives} / The rest aback are the women of Troy
53. / To the sea-monster by the lamenting
People of Troy. And now, ‘tis I who stand
As sacrifice. And all those around me,
Aghast in wonder,° are the Trojan° wives / horror / marvel
54. with blearèd visages: / with teary visages / with teary faces all / tears upon their cheeks
55. / Who come with blearèd eyes and stainèd cheeks / Who now come forth with tears upon their cheeks
56. {With blearèd visages come forth to view | The issue of th’exploit. Go Hercules.}
57. {Live thou, I live}
The sense is that if Hercules lives—and does not die in his attempt to rescue Hesione—then she will live 9be
rescued). Thus, if Bassanio wins (lives), then Portia will be rescued (and live the life she wants.)
58. / Yet I do view this battle more with fright, | Than you who be in it—he who doth fight.
/ Yet now I look with greater fear in me, | Then you who fight the monster o’the sea.
59. The original stage direction, reads: {A song whilst Bassanio comments on the caskets to himself.}
60. In this stage direction Nerissa bids the musicians to play. This action is in support of the theory that Nerissa has
come to ‘assist’ Bassanio with the lottery (because Portia fall in love with him). Many commentators hold that
Bassanio receives help (on which casket to choose) from the rhyme scheme of the song (where the first three lines of
the song rhyme with lead) and also by the lyrics of the song (which suggest the lead casket—if one is listening
intently for such a clue). However, without Bassanio being ‘tipped off’ to listen carefully to the song, such a hint
would be lost on him.
It is likely that Bassanio was instructed beforehand to listen carefully to the words of the song. To make it
clear that Nerissa is giving Bassanio some kind of ‘hint’—and not actually telling him which casket to choose—she
could be made to whisper a clue to Bassanio, such as: ‘With care, my lord, do listen to the song’ or ‘Pay special heed
to the words of the song.’ Some productions, supporting the view that Bassanio was ‘tipped off’ by the words of the
song, put special emphasis on all the words in the song that rhyme with lead. xxx See Note 60.