Page 159 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

176 177
For it appears, by all that has transpired,° / occurred / that’s taken place
That indirectly, and directly, too,° / That both directly, and indirectly
Thou hast contrived against the very life
Of the defendant,° and thou hast incurred / this same merchant
178
The penalty, by me, formerly stated.° / erstwhile described
Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the Duke. 179

—Gratziano 180
Beg that thou mayst have leave to hang thyself!
And yet, thy wealth being forfeit to the state,
Thou hast not sums enough to buy the rope.° {not left the value of the cord}
Therefore, thou must be hanged at the state’s charge. 181

—Duke
That thou shalt see the difference of our spirit,
I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it.
For half thy wealth—it is Antonio’s; / As for thy wealth, one half goes to Antonio.
The other half comes° to the general state, / goes
Which humbleness may drive unto° a fine. 182 / lesson to

—Portia
183 184
Ay, for the state, and for what it is owed, {Ay, for the state, not for Antonio}
+Still half the Jew’s wealth goes unto Antonio.°, / the merchant

—Shylock 185

176. / For it appears, as all those here have witnessed
177. {In which predicament I say thou stand’st; | For it appears by manifest proceeding}
/ And this predicament is one in which
Thou stand. For it appears, by these proceedings° / by your own actions / all we’ve witnessed
/ And this predicament, I say, is one | In which thou stand. As everyone has witnessed
/ And this, I say, is the predicament | In which thou stand. For it has so appeared, | By the proceedings,
witnessed here by all
178. {The danger formerly by me rehearsed}
/ The penalty that I have erstwhile stated / The punishment of which I have just stated
179. Again, we see that Portia’s actions—aiming to harm Shylock—go beyond the call of what was needed to free
Antonio. We can only surmise that her intention changed midstream after she encountered Shylock, a person whose
demeanor, vengefulness, and complete lack of mercy was alien and offensive to Portia’s human sentiments. As
such, she found herself newly motivated—after she had delivered Antonio—to now try and destroy or diminish this
abhorrent person.
180. As part of the staging, Gratziano could run over to ‘help’ Shylock get down on his knees.
181. For some dialogue which could be included here, see Additional Notes: 4.1.363
182. / Lest humbleness reduce it to a fine.
183. / Ay, only the portion° the state is owed / that for which
184. Here Portia is revealing her position. Why is Portia making sure that Antonio be given half of Shylock’s
money? What is her agenda in assuring this outcome? Why not have the Duke forgive the whole amount—both the
state’s and Antonio’s—or simply drive both “unto a fine”? Why is Portia laboring to get Antonio half of Shylock’s
money? [See Additional Notes, 4.1.335] 4.1.369 ???
185. Original passage—which is replaced herein—reads:
Nay, take my life and all! Pardon not that!
You take my house when you do take the prop
That doth sustain my house; you take my life