Page 13 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

—Bassanio 74
‘Tis not unknown to you, Antonio,
How much I have depleted my savings° {disabled mine estate} 75
By sometimes° showing a more swelling port° 76 {something} / lavish style
Than my faint means could rightfully support;° {would grant continuance}
Nor do I moan about being deprived° {abridged}/ reduced
Of° such a noble style.° Now my chief care 77 / From {noble rate} / grand life-style
Is to come fully clear° of all my debts° {fairly off} {the great debts}
78
Wherein° my years of prodigal° spending / In which // of wastefulness and
79
Hath left me gagged. To you, Antonio 80
I owe the most in money, and in love,
And by your love, I am granted permission° 81 {I have a warranty}
To unburden all° my plans° and purposes / To tell you all {plots}
On how to clear myself of every debt.° 82 / On geting clear of all the debts I owe.

—Antonio
I pray you, good Bassanio, let me know it,° / tell me your plan
And if it stand, as you yourself still do,

74. Bassanio tells nothing of the woman he met with, only about his plan and his need of Antonio’s help
75. Bassanio seems to be part of an aristocratic class called ‘gentlemen’—a class of young, single men living off
their parentage inheritance (or estate). As they do not need to work, their days are concerned with entertainment,
parties, feasting, womanizing, etc.
76. {By something showing a more swelling port} / By showing off a more lavish life-style
77. / Nor do I make moan that such noble° spending / lordly
/ Has been abridged.° But now my chief concern / cut short
78. {Wherein my time something too prodigal}
too prodigal: too extravagant and wasteful
79. {Hath left me gaged}
gaged: a) engaged (with creditors), indebted, owing, entangled, pledged, bound
b) gaged, bound by a gag, muzzled. The implication here is that Bassanio wasted all his money on high
living and feasting (something too prodigal) and is now gaging (choking) on this pile debt in the same way as one
might gag on biting off more food than he can chew.
80. a) Is to come clear° of all the debts amassed° / pay off // accrued
During my time of prodigal spending,° / improvident waste
Which now I gag upon. To you, my friend
b) Is to come fully clear from all my debts
Which I’ve amassed from years° of wasteful spending
Which now I gag upon. To you, my friend
c) Is to come fully clear of the great debts
/ Wherein my time of wonton wastefulness | Hath left me now to gag upon. To you
/ Which all my time of prodigal expense | Hath left me bound and indebted. To you
81. {And from your love I have a warranty}
/ And by your love, I have a guarantee / And now your love does grant me permission
82. Here Bassanio claims: I will unburden all my plots and purposes yet he never discloses anything to Antonio
about the woman with whom he met nor his true plot—a plot which involves winning Portia by way of a lottery not
by customary courtship (as Antonio may be led to believe). Bassanio tells Antonio about Portia, and his sureness of
winning her, but does not disclose the means (i.e. the lottery), nor the identity of the woman with whom he met, nor
the true reason as to why he is so certain (and ‘questionless’) of victory. Bassanio (leading Antonio to believe his
venture involves a typical courtship scenario) tells Antonio he is sure to win her because she once looked upon him
favorably—but such a favorable glance has no bearing on his odds of winning her. It is irrelevant. He can only win
her by choosing the right chest, through his own wit and wisdom—or through some other kind of help—and not
through anything Portia’s favorable glances could bestow.