Page 174 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191
P. 174
32
With° sweetest touches reach° your mistress’ ear, 33 {pierce}
And draw° her home with music. / guide
Music plays
—Jessica
35 36
34
I’m° never merry when I hear sweet music. {I am}
—Lorenzo
37
The reason is your mind is too engrossed° / distracted
+With all your° thoughts and it cannot enjoy / every
38
The peace and beauty that° embraces you. , 39 / The wonderment that now
+All you need do is listen with your heart. ,
________________________________________________ [Lines Deleted] 40
Enter Portia and Nerissa, approaching
32. touches: / strains / chords > notes played by the fingers touching, or plucking, a string
33. mistress ear: Q1 does not use an apostrophe to imply the possessive form (i.e., mistress’s) since it is understood
to be possessive, and since the extra syllable would corrupt the meter.
34. sweet: soft, gentle, pleasing, soothing, melodious, etc.
35. [See Additional Notes, 5.1.69]
36. Jessica says that she is never merry when hearing sweet music, which suggests that even the most sublime and
beautiful exterior circumstances cannot bring joy to Jessica (whose mind is occupied and besieged with turmoil).
We might interpret her use of the term never however, to mean ‘lately,’ thus indicating that something is now
disturbing her, so much so, that even sweet music cannot allay it. Similar to the mix-matched response that Antonio
receives in regard to his inner sadness (Your mind is tossing on the ocean) Jessica receives the same kind of reply
from Lorenzo: (For do but note a wild and wanton herd | Or race of youthful and unhandled colts | Fetching mad
bounds). Lorenzo’s winded exposition (that follows this line) is lost on Jessica—neither music nor Lorenzo’s reply
about the calming effect of music, has any calming or joyful effect on her.
37. {The reason is, your spirits are attentive}
38. / cannot delight | In all the beauty that embraces you.
39. {The reason is your spirits are attentive}
/ The reason is you’re too concerned with° every / involved with / engrossed in
Thought and emotion. Sweet, just let them be;
spirits: mindstuff, awareness, consciousness; the senses, faculties of perception, the mind and its
thoughts/emotions. Hence, Lorenzo is saying that Jessica’s spirits (thoughts) are attentive to her inner state (i.e.,
distress) and therefore cannot hear the outer music. In other words, she is too pre-occupied with her own thoughts
and state of mind to enjoy and appreciate the beauty around her. Her spirit (awareness, attention) too focused upon,
occupied by (attentive to) her thoughts, concerns, troubles, etc.
40. The whole of Lorenzo’s discourse is filled with discordant and accusative images—ironic when speaking about
the beauty of music and far less harmonious than his prior words. After Jessica’s statement that she is never merry
when she hears sweet music, Lorenzo does not inquire as to the reason why she feels this way, nor tries to comfort
her, but continues with his philosophical waxing. In response to Lorenzo, we hear no reply from Jessica, nor do we
ever hear her speak again (except as part of a group command given by Portia [119-121]). Thus, the last entry
regarding Lorenzo and Jessica remains one of stark division, with Jessica’s last words being: I am never merry when
I hear sweat music. We see that Shylock’s last line in the original is equally as feeble [I pray you, give me leave to
go from hence; | I am not well. send the deed after me, |And I will sign it.].
In deference to brevity and aesthetics, the whole of Lorenzo’s passage (or major portions thereof) could be
deleted. The close of the scene between the two lovers might have an ominous sense if it simply ended with Jessica’s
last line, I am never merry when I hear sweet music [69]. In this rectification, the dialogue is made to end on a softer
tone with four, somewhat appeasing, lines offered by Lorenzo. The original text (of 18 lines) most of which are
harsh, accusatory, and ill-rubbing have been deleted from this version. [See Additional Notes, 5.1.71, for Lorenzo’s
full discourse].