Page 125 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

19
Therefore he hates me. / That’s why / ‘Tis why

—Salarino I am sure the Duke
Will never grant° this forfeiture to hold. / not allow

—Antonio
The Duke cannot deny° the course° of law. / refuse / force > forward movement
For the commercial rights° that traders° have {commodity} {strangers}
With us in Venice— if it be denied— / if ‘tis not upheld
Will much impeach° the justice of the state, 20 / impugn / impair
And such will harm the city, which is port
21
Of trade to every nation. Therefore, go.
These griefs and losses have so bated° me 22 / weakened
That when my bloody bondsman° calls tomorrow {creditor}
23
I’ll barely have° a pound of flesh to spare. / I will not have
Well Jailer, on. Pray God° Bassanio come / I pray / Pray good
24 25
To see me pay his debt,° and then I care not.° / I’m content
Exeunt

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[See Additional Notes, 3.3.23]
19. Antonio is telling of the many times that men would borrow money from Shylock, under a contract (which they
likely did not understand—and which served as a kind of entrapment) which contained the condition that if they
could not pay off the debt on such and such a day, then they were required to pay a stiff penalty or forfeiture—which
oft times was more costly than the loan itself, and a penalty which amounted to the loss of their goods and property.
Thus, when men were caught in this predicament they would come and bemoan their fate to Antonio—who, out of
Christian charity, would loan them money, gratis, so that they could pay off the loan and avoid the ruinous forfeiture.
Thus Antonio’s practice of loaning out money in this way ‘robbed’ Shylock of all the extra profit he was eager to
extract from his victims. [See Additional Note, 3.3.24]
20. / Will cast fair doubt on our good claim to justice / Will strip the state of all its claim to justice
21. A singularly weak argument in defense of Venetian law (which is also used by Portia). Venetian law was
unlikely to be so rigid and edicts could be bent (in specific instances) without endangering the fair trade of Venice
nor setting some kind of precedence which would cause irreparable harm—especially in regards to an ‘alien.’ As
stated in the court scene, the word of the Duke, in this instance, was sufficient to dismiss could this case and spare
Antonio’s life (and the Duke was under no edict to follow the letter of the law in such a bizarre case.) Such
adherence to the strict code of Venetian law, however, must be made in order to support the dramatic tension of the
play.
22. bated: abated, reduced, diminished, enfeebled; implying a lose of weight.
23. {These griefs and losses have so baited me | That I shall hardly spare a pound of flesh | Tomorrow to my bloody
creditor.}
24. / Yet one more time before I pay his debt.
25. These two lines found in the original—which contain a death-defying plea to see Bassanio one more time—seem
misplaced and over-the-top but consistent with Antonio’s obsession with Bassanio. Here, his desire to see Bassanio
surpasses even his concern for life. This sentiment, being overweening, tends to weaken Antonio’s character and
even suggests some kind of compulsive pathology.
This act of giving of one’s life for one’s friend—herein demonstrated by Antonio—reflects the greatest love
and highest Christian ideal, for as Jesus said: ‘No one has greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s
friends.’ (John 15:13)