Page 148 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

—Shylock
106
My deeds upon my head! I crave° the law,° / seek // demand justice
107 108
The penalty and forfeit of my bond.
_______________________________ (optional dialogue) 109

—Portia
Is he not able to discharge the money?

—Bassanio
Yes, here I tender° it for him in the court; / have / offer
Yea, thrice° the sum. If that will not suffice, {twice} 110
I will be bound to pay it ten times over,° / more
And put as bond° my hands, my head, my heart. {On forfeit of}
If this will not suffice, it must appear ° / be such
111
That malice outweighs° truth. And I beseech you, 112 {bears down} / conquers,
Bend° once the law to your authority. {Wrest} / Sway
To do a great right, do a little wrong,

106. My deeds upon my head!: Let my own deeds be upon my head; let me bear the consequence (or divine
retribution) of my own deeds (which are blameless). Shylock is saying: I will take responsibility for my own actions
(since my actions are blameless and will not bring about retribution). He mistakenly believes himself and his actions
to be sinless; thus he need not fear retribution nor seek mercy (which pertains to someone who has sinned). Portia
says that mercy falls like gentle rain from heaven: here Shylock is dismissing her plea and says, ‘I don’t care about
heaven’s mercy falling upon me like rain (since I don’t need it)—let my own deeds fall upon my head.’ Shylock,
blinded by hatred, and strictly devoted to the letter of the written law, is unable to see the divine discord of his own
actions. Rather than craving that which God desires, Shylock craves the law which will grant him the unjust penalty
and forfeit of his bond.
107. the penalty and forfeit of my bond > that part of the bond (above and beyond the principal and interest) which
is due if the full sums borrowed are not paid back in time. In this case, the penalty Shylock is demanding—which is
owed according to the terms of the bond— is a pound of Antonio’s flesh.
108. / Let my own deeds now fall upon my head! | I crave the law, the forfeit of my bond.
109. Additional lines (A):
Shy: Here, now, we see the face of good Antonio,
Showing his virtue like a stained-glass window;
But I have only felt the broken glass
Of his abuse, whose shards did rip upon
My humanness and rend my Jewish honor.
Additional lines (B):
Shy: How is a man to feel when he is treated
With cruelty and contempt? With years of insult?
With spitting, cursing, torment, and abuse—
¢As this man, lacking goodness, treated me?,
Is there no law in your book against that?
Por: [looking in book] Not in this book.
Shy: Then where is it written?—
In the same place where one can find your mercy.
110. Later in the scene [224, 231] Portia states that an offer of thrice the sum has been made, whereas here, in Q1
[207] Bassanio only offers twice the sum. Either Portia is mistaken in her recall, she intentionally ups the offer, or
Bassanio offered thrice the sum (and twice is a typo). The discrepancy is rectified by having Bassanio offer thrice
the sum and Portia referring to this same amount.
111. {malice bears down truth} ‘Malice oppresses honesty’ (Johnson)
bears down: overwhelms, overthrows, oppresses, defeats; weighs more than, is more important than
truth: ‘reason,’ ‘honesty,’ ‘righteousness,’ ‘rule of equity,’ etc.
112. / That malice overthrows° truth. I beseech you / vanquishes / overwhelms / overturns