Page 113 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

124 125
My finger, know that life does part my stead° / instead
126 127
O, then be bold° to say, ‘Bassanio’s dead.’ / Then be so bold

—Nerissa
My lord and lady, it is now our time;
We have stood by and seen our wishes prosper,
Now we cry, ‘Joy°, good joy, my lord and lady!’ {To cry ‘Good joy}

—Gratziano
My lord Bassanio and my gentle lady,
I wish you all the joy that one° can wish, {you}/ I
And° I am sure, whate’er you’d wish for me° 1 {For}
+Would fall quite short of what I now possess. , 2 / Is but a thing I already possess.
And when your honours mean to seal with vows° {solemnize} / celebrate
The pledging° of your faith, I do beseech you 3 {bargain}/ contract
4
5
Still° at that time, I may be wed as well. / E’en / That / Please
—Bassanio
With all my heart—if thou canst get a wife.

—Gratziano
I thank your lordship, you have got me one.

124. {But when this ring | Parts from this finger, then parts life from hence}
/ But when this ring | Parts from this finger, then parts life instead
/ When this ring parts | My finger, then I find an earthen bed
My finger, then . . . / be sure my life has fled / ever my life’s been shed / my life does part instead /
my life has surely fled
125. Previously, when Bassanio is unsure whether he has truly won Portia [141-45], he uses imagery of an crowd
cheering for its champion. Here, when it is confirmed that he has doubtless won his prize, he again invokes the
imagery of a cheering, buzzing crowd, where all the voices can be heard (rather the joy of the voices) rather than any
individual voice. These images are akin and both refer to the impersonal cheering of a crowd—for its champion or
its prince—but none evoke the personal images of love.
Why is it, however, that Bassanio cannot speak? Is he overwhelmed with joy? Why is there such
confusion in his powers, in his ability to articulate how he feels? All these impersonal images may come to sound
like a rouse, where Bassanio is insinuating that he loves Portia, that he is speechless with joy—but where he may be
speechless because he cannot truly tell Portia that he loves her. Never once in all these words does he confirm his
love for Portia (as he asks her to do); rather he only intimates and suggests his love by way of his dazed state. He
talks about the buzzing cheers of the multitudes (where no single voice can be heard) and never do we hear our hero
give words to any singular expression of love. (Again, it is cleverly suggested—and one might leave with the
impression that he loves Portia—but his words never blossom into a true and unmistakably expression of love. His
final words relate to the image of his own death—and something which may take place in the distant future—but
never to his living heart, now. Are these the words of someone in love?—or someone not in love and trying to give
the impression (without actually lying) that he is in love?
126. {O then be bold to say, ‘Bassanio’s dead.’}
127. [See Additional Notes, 3.2.185]
1. {I wish you all the joy that you can wish | For I am sure you can wish none from me.}
> I wish that you obtain all the joy that you wish for yourselves—and in your wishing, I am sure that you
need not include me (and wish something for me) since I have already obtained the fullness of what I (or anyone
else) might wish for me.
2. / Falls short of what I already possess / Is but a thing that I already have / I now possess in the fullest of measure. /
Is short of what I already possess
3. / When your honored selves are ready to take | The vows that seal your faith, I beseech you
4. {Even at that time} / That at such time / E’en at that time
5. {I may be married too}