Page 29 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

But more, for that in° low simplicity,° 23 / for in his / simple ignorance / simple-mindedness
He lends out money gratis and brings down
The rate of interest° here with us in Venice. 24 {usance}
25
If I can catch him once upon the hip° / at a disadvantage / at my advantage
I will feed fat° the ancient grudge I bear him. 26 / exploit / I’ll gratify
He hates our sacred nation; and even
Where merchants most do congregate°, he rails / meet to do business
On me, my contracts,° and my well-earned profit, 27 {bargains} / business {well-won thrift}
Which he calls, usury.° Cursèd be my tribe 28 {interest}

/ I hate his feigned Christian goodness, but more

This is a highly controversial line which, as it stands, seems to portray Shylock as a Christian-hater. What
Shylock hates, is not Christians, per se, but something about Antonio’s form of Christianity—perhaps what he sees as
Antonio’s Christian affect —which is here seen as one who is ever-ready to serve and accommodate others—and it is
this form of Christian charity, practiced by Antonio, which undermines Shylock’s business.
Some productions, in trying to put forth a pro-Shylock sentiment, delete this line (and the entire section), and
preserve only the first line, {How like a fawning publican he looks}. When this line about Shylock’s hatred is taken
at face value (and without the conditions offered by Shylock in the later lines of the section) it might suggest that
Shylock hates Antonio for no other reason than that he is a Christian—which is clearly not the case. (Shylock makes
no such negative comment about Bassanio nor any other Christian—nor has reason to.) Shylock hates something
about Antonio’s version and practice of Christianity (especially as it interferes with Shylock’s business), but also
personally, as Antonio rails at Shylock (where the merchants meet) and does whatever he can to undermine him.
Antonio, on the other hand, does not hate Shylock personally, but moreover the institution he represents. [See
Additional Notes, 1.3.39]
23. {But more, for in low simplicity} / But more his simple-minded view, wherein
low simplicity: naivety and ignorance
24. / I hate his Christian pretenses, but more | For that in low simplicity he lends
| Out money gratis and brings down the rate | Of interest for all us here in Venice.
| Out money gratis and thereby brings down | The rate of usance here with us in Venice.
The sense here is that Shylock hates something about Antonio’s version or breed of Christianity, but most
specifically his naive and simple-minded understanding of Christian values, whereby he is quick to loan out money,
without interest (to those in need)—which hurts Shylock’s business by bringing down the rate of interest for the
moneylenders in Venice. So, the primary hatred, it seems, is over money, not values or personality.
25. catch upon the hip: a wrestling term which means to grab hold of or gain advantage over one’s opponent; to be
in a superior position or have one’s opponent at a disadvantage. Having an opponent by the hip, in wrestling,
indicates that you are in a good position to score points by a ‘take down.’
/ If I can once, and gain an advantage / If I can catch him once when he’s off-guard
26. feed fat: indulge in, exploit, gratify, delight in; take full advantage of
Shylock is hoping to find a way to entrap Antonio, to gain an advantage on him, then to use that opportunity to
exploit his long-standing resentment. Feeding fat indicates that Shylock will take delight in, and indulge in, his
revenge against Antonio.
What exactly is Shylock’s plan to ‘catch Antonio upon the hip’ and gain an advantage over him?—so much
so that he (Shylock) may exploit (feed fat) his ancient grudge? Most likely (and not so obviously), Shylock’s
‘advantage’ over Antonio would be in having him sign a bond with humiliating terms. (The idea of Antonio
defaulting on the loan is too long of a shot; and this would not have been part of Shylock’s initial plan.) It seems that
Shylock’s initial intention was to humiliate Antonio, and to put him at a moral disadvantage, which later turned more
sinister when Antonio, unexpectedly, defaulted on his loan.
27. / He hates our sacred nation; and he rails
At me where merchants most do congregate,° / meet to do business
Cursing my contracts° and my well-won thrift, / business
28. {Cursèd be my tribe | If I forgive him}
Shylock—perhaps as a compensation for his own sense of lack—(and this is something we also see later in
the play) is invoking something larger than himself in his vows against Antonio. Here he lays the curse on his tribe
(not himself) should he forgive Antonio. Thus, by brining in his tribe (ND the nation of Jews) Shylock invokes the
position that Antonio’s harsh treatment of him represents the harsh treatment levied by Christians against all Jews.
Shylock links his oppression solely to his Judaism and fails to see (or conveniently refuses to see) that Antonio’s
harsh actions are based upon Shylock’s practice of usury, not his Judaism. Shylock is never able to personally ‘own’
the oppression, nor ever singularly link it to his practice of usury—as he always defends his usury (and Antonio’s
mistreatment of him) in the context of Judaism. One could say that he is playing the ‘religious’ or ‘Jew’ card and
trying to displace the conflict away from its true source, which is his ruinous practice of usury.