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Why doth the Jew pause? Take thy forfeiture.

—Shylock
Give me my principle,° and let me go. / the sum I’m owed

—Bassanio
I have it ready for thee—here it is. 163

—Portia [to Bassanio]
He hath refused it in the open court.° > publicly
He shall have only° justice and his bond. 164 {merely}

—Gratziano
A Daniel! Still say I, a second Daniel! 165
I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word.

—Shylock
Shall I not have even° my principle? 166 {have barely}

—Portia
Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture,
To be so taken at thy peril, Jew. 167

—Shylock 168
Well then, the devil has made good of it!° 169 / has found his defender / cohort

163. {I have it ready for thee. Here it is}. Bassanio offers Shylock the money—and again Portia denies this offer.
For Bassanio the matter is over, the fate of the 3000 ducats is unimportant (in light of Antonio being saved).
Bassanio is not at all focused on Shylock nor interested in his fate, nor in Venetian justice, nor is he concerned with
some legal maneuver to get out of paying Shylock—his only interest is Antonio [See Additional Notes, 4.1.333]
164. Portia is addressing Bassanio’s offer, not Shylock. And, despite her husband’s wishes, she is over-riding his
generous and merciful offer. She, on the other hand is now protracting the case; it seems she has a new agenda—to
destroy Shylock as opposed to simply saving Antonio (who is already saved). [See Additional Notes, 4.1.335]
165. Shylock likened Portia’s judgement (when it sided with him) to that of Daniel. Here, when the tables have
turned against him, Gratziano uses that same praise, calling Portia a Daniel. Daniel, like Portia, was a youth with
the wisdom of an elder. He was so renowned for wisdom and knowledge that his name became a proverb among the
Babylonians, ‘As wise as Daniel’ [Ezek. 28.3]. In the Book of Daniel [2.26], Daniel is named Baltassar (Hebrew:
Belshazzar). Portia enters the court under the name Balthasar (or Balthazar).
166. When Shylock is thwarted from getting the penalty of the bond (which is a pound of flesh), he accepts the prior
offer of thrice the principal. When this seems unlikely, he accepts defeat, and is ready to be done with the matter:
thus, asking for the minimum amount he can expect, which is the return of his principle, the money he loaned out.
Yet Portia refuses even this, and Shylock replies in disbelief.
167. / Which thou must take at thine own peril, Jew.
168. After Portia provides her superior position, Shylock markedly retreats. Rather than being defiant he gives no
defense at all (and later we seem he as being even more sheepish when he, without protest or an appeal, meekly
voices the words, I am content, after being stripped of his faith and his wealth. To appease the abrupt reversal of his
demeanor, the following lines could be added:
+And who works now to do the devil’s bidding?—
‘Tis not a thief who comes by cover of night
But one who walks in the full light of day,
And hides beneath the ripe pretense of justice., / Beneath the cozen pretenses of justice.
169. {Why then, the devil give him good of it!}
> Why then, the devil has made good of it—has done some good work here.