Page 111 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

103
I would be tripled° twenty times myself;° {trebled} / better
A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times
More rich, that I, in beauty, dignity,
104 105 106
Comfort,° and virtue might exceed account. {livings} / friendship
But the full sum of me is some° of something / part
107 108 109
+That’s yet to be complete., To term more fully:° / Advised more fully
110
I’m° an unlessoned girl,° unschooled, unpracticed°; {Is} / unfinished
Happy in this, she is not yet so old
But she may learn; and happier than this,
She is not bred so dull that she can learn;° / and may learn quickly;
Happiest of all is that her gentle spirit
Commits itself to yours, to be directed
As from her lord, her governor, her king.° / master, and her king
Myself and what is mine, to you and yours,° / I give to you,
I now impart.° But now I was the lord {Is now converted} / I hereby transfer
Of this fair mansion,° master of my servants, / of this estate
Queen o’er myself; and even now, yet now,
This house, these servants, and my very self,° {and this same myself}
Are yours, my lord.° I give them with this ring {my lord’s}

She holds up ring

103. {I would be trebled twenty times myself} / I would have myself tripled twenty times
104. / And friendship might stand high in your account.
105. {A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times}
{More rich, that only to stand high in your account}
The latter line contains two extra syllables (six iambs instead of five). Some editors ‘correct’ the verse by
shifting the extra iamb from the beginning of the second line to the end of the first line. Thus: ‘A thousand times
more fair, ten thousand times more rich | That only to stand high in your account.’ (Such an emendation is made in
the editions by Oxford, Arden, Norton, Longman, Kittredge, etc. but not in Cambridge, Folger, Bevington, etc.)
The transfer of this extra iamb improves the the meter of the second line at the expense of the first line (which now
contains an extra iamb). Moreover, the meter of the second line is not fully restored as this transfer provides the line
with a weak fourth syllable. I suspect the error lies around the term ‘that only to,’ which is awkward and which does
not meaningfully place the line within the context of the sentence. The word ‘account’ is also suspect as this same
word, and its same meaning, appears twice—both here and at the end of the sentence (which ends on line 155).
[See Additional Notes, 3.2.155]
106. An alternative punctuation would yield this rendering:
/ More rich—to stand but high in your account
I might in virtues, beauties, livings, friends / I hope that I, in virtue, beauty, friends
Exceed account.
107. { . . . But the full summe of me | Is sume of something: which, to term in gross}
some (or sum): Q1 has sume which can be read as sum or some. Both reading, though differing in nuance, are
essentially the same, both diminutive and somewhat self-deprecating:
Sum of something: implies that the full sum of Portia is only the sum (totality) of something (and not everything);
that her full self is incomplete (i.e., that of an unlessoned girl who still has much to learn)
Some of something: refers to a “portion of a portion”—again something which suggests a lack that Bassanio, as
her new lord, could fill and make whole. [See Additional Notes, 3.2.158]
108. / +That’s yet to reach its fullness., Thus, in sum, / +Has not yet ripened., Thus, to state it fully / Hence, to put it
bluntly / +That’s yet to be completed., Termed more fully
109. {to term in gross} : in sum, to say in full, to tell you the whole story, to tell you (the whole) truth. Gross might
also refer to blunt honesty, and frankness, and could be akin to such an expression as ‘to say in all honesty.’
/ But the full sum of me is but a part | Of something, which, to tell you the whole truth
110. / I’m as a school-girl—untrained, unpracticed