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ACT ONE - Scene Three 1.3

Venice. Enter Bassanio and Shylock.

—Shylock
1
Three thousand ducats —yes?° 2 {well} / good / alright

—Bassanio
Ay sir, for three months.

—Shylock
For three months—yes?° {well} / good / alright

—Bassanio
For which, as I told you, Antonio shall be bound. 3

—Shylock.
Antonio shall be° bound—yes?° {become} {well} / good / alright

—Bassanio
4
5
Can you help me? Will you do me this favor? Shall I know your answer? 6
—Shylock
Three thousand ducats, for three months, and Antonio bound.

—Bassanio
Your answer to that?

—Shylock
Antonio is a good man.

1. ducats: (lit., ‘of the duke’); gold coins. These were first struck in Venice in the thirteenth century and came to
signify a wealthy currency (such as the South African Kugerrand does today). Three thousand ducats, during that
time, was an extremely large sum of money. [See Additional Notes, 1.3.1]
2. {Three thousand ducats, well}
well: good / alright / OK // yes? / is that right?
The repeated use of the term, ‘yes?’ or ‘good’ after each condition would be like a person going over a checklist and
acknowledging that the stated condition is clear and understood—and agreed upon. A question is indicated by
Bassanio’s response in the next line, which is: ‘Ay sir, for three months.’ If the term good is used, it would be
spoken three times, in the same matter-of-fact style, as one going over a checklist. The term well, which is found in
the original, is an imprecise fit. Many productions, in trying to make the term well sound ‘natural,’ have added
different inflections and tonalities to it. Thus, instead of the term being repeated in the exact same way each time, the
word is intoned as a question, a note of surprise, a sense of disbelief, etc.
3. shall be bound: shall cover the loan, shall sign the bond
4. {May you stead me?} / Can you cover me? / Can you supply the money for me?
5. {Will you pleasure me?} / Will you meet my needs?/ Will you please me with your reply? / Will you fulfill my
request / Will you help me?
6. Shall you say, ‘yes’? / Shall your answer be ‘yes’? / What is your answer?