Page 12 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

—Bassanio 69
Our Gratziano speaks an infinite
Amount of nothing,° more than any man / nonsense
In all of Venice. His main point is like° / And, his final point is
70 71
Two grains of wheat, hid in two bushels° of chaff: / heaps / mounds / piles / pails
There you must seek all day ere you find them,
And when you have them, they’re not worth the search. 72

—Antonio
Well, tell me now about this same lady
73
To whom you swore a secret pilgrimage,
That you, today, promised to tell me of.

69. Bassanio’s opening talk can be seen as a chummy elaboration upon Antonio’s previous remark about Gratziano’s
empty talk. In Q1, these lines do not appear in meter, which is odd since all the verse preceding it and following it,
are in meter. Moreover, these are the first lines uttered by our romantic hero, which, though light-hearted and
playful, should, at least, be delivered in the standard meter. It could be, however, for no clear reason, that this non-
metered opening by Bassanio was a deliberate attempt to first present Bassanio as somewhat awkward with his
words. Most likely, however, (and consistent with Antonio’s previous line, which is corrupt) this non-metered
opening by Bassanio resulted from some problem with the reading of the text and not by original design. Q1
(uncorrected) reads: {Gratiano speaks and infinite deale of nothing more then any man in all Venice, his reasons are
as two graines of wheate hid in two bushels of chaffe: you shall seeke all day ere you finde them, and when you have
them, they are not worth the search.}. [See Additional Notes, 1.1.118]
70. {His reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff:}
his reasons: his point, his conclusions; the value of what he says
/ All of his wit are as two grains of wheat | Hid in two bushels full of worthless chaff—
71. / In all of Venice. And, his final point
Is like a grain of wheat in’a heap of chaff:
72. / He speaks an infinite deal of nothing, | More so than any man in all of Venice. | His point resembles but two
grains of wheat | Hid in two bushels of chaff. You must seek | All day before you find them; and when you | Finally
have them, they’re not worth the search.
73. {Well, tell me now what lady is the same | To whom you swore a secret pilgrimage}
Some commentators surmise that Antonio’s sadness has come about due to Bassanio’s secret rendezvous
with a woman. However, this conclusion is forced and unlikely. Antonio’s sadness is a result of his disposition,
which is confirmed by Antonio when he states that the part he has been selected to play, on the world stage, is a sad
one [78-79]. Bassanio’s potential love interest may have exacerbated Antonio’s worrisome condition but this, too, is
unlikely, since Bassanio did not even know the identity of the woman with whom Bassanio was meeting. All
Antonio knew was that Bassanio was meeting with some woman, whose identity he swore to keep secret—and whom
he promised to tell Antonio about (after the meeting was over). Bassanio was well aware of the nature of the
meeting, and that the subject discussed involved Antonio in some way, and that is why Bassanio told Antonio about
the ‘secret’ meeting and told him that he (Bassanio) was going to tell him about what he learned from the meeting
today. (We can assume that the meeing took palce yesterday, as Bassanio would not delay in telling Antonio about
it—especially if Antonio’s help, with respect to actuating the plan formulated during the meeting, was needed.)
Who was this lady to whom Bassanio swore to meet with in secret (and to keep the whole meeting a secret,
and to keep secret the identity of the woman with whom he was meeting)? Certainly it was not Portia, as Portia
would not have arranged such a meeting nor would she have any reason to meet with Bassanio. Neither was this a
meeting with an irrelevant love interest—or it would not have been so secretive and Bassanio would have no reason
to have discussed it with Antonio.
In the meeting we know that Bassanio learned about Portia and the lottery—yet this was not something that
needed to be sealed by a vow of secrecy, as this was public knowledge. The meeting had an undisclosed purpose
such that Bassanio could not even reveal the identity of the lady with whom he was meeting (for he did not know it)
to his dearest friend—nor was he at liberty to tell his dearest friend anything about the meeting, nor what was
discussed, nor the identity of the woman with whom he met (after he discovered her identity). All we know is that
Bassanio does not talk about whom he met with—the one he promised to tell Antonio about—but only about what he
learned from the meeting (which concerns Portia’s situation and no other).
So, whom did he meet with and for what purpose? All indications suggest that he met with Nerissa, Portia’s
trusting handmaid, to discuss Portia and the lottery. He told Antonio about the meeting because as he correctly
anticipated, he needed a large sum of money (from Antonio) in order to carry out the plan hatched out in the meeting.
[See, Additional Notes, 1.1.120]