Page 32 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

And all the offspring rightly went to Jacob. 38
This was the way he thrived, and he was blessed;
And thrift is blessing if men steal it not. 39

—Antonio 40
This was a venture, sir, that Jacob served for, 41
A thing not in his power to bring to pass
But swayed and fashioned by the hand of heaven 42
+Which naturally allows all creatures° to breed— / Which allows all creatures to reproduce
The same of which does not apply to money.°, 43 / gold
Was this inserted° to justify usury? 44 / Was this a story / Did you tell this
Or is your gold and wealth° like Jacob’s sheep? 45 / Or are your golden coin

—Shylock
I cannot tell; I make it breed as fast.

38. Shylock cites this story in support of Jacob’s wise actions which allowed him to prosper. Antonio says that the
spots were brought about by ‘the hand of heaven’—in accordance with divine dispensation (impelled by Jacob’s
purity and faith). This was done so that Jacob could prosper after having been deceived by Laban.
39. {And thrift is blessing, if men steal it not.}
/ Such thrift is seen as a blessing, if men | Gain it through cleverness and not through theft.
40. A line could be added here: +Your story tells of human trickery:, This line would show that Shylock’s version
of the story is based upon that which pertains to human deception, not the hand of God.
41. {Such was a venture, sir, that Jacob served for}
Here Antonio is pointing out that Jacob worked for the sheep, that he earned them from the sweat of his brow
(both in tending the sheep and serving his uncle). The part of the story that Shylock and Antonio shy away
from—including the prelude story where Jacob deceives Isaac and gains his land—is that Jacob used deception to
gain Laban’s sheep.
42. {A thing not in his power to bring to pass | But swayed and fashioned by the hand of heaven.}
a thing: a) his venture, which was based upon the natural reproduction of his sheep.
swayed: determined, directed, shaped
fashioned: brought about, created, produced
the hand of heaven: God’s Will
Such ‘a thing’—i.e., the creation and reproduction of life— is only in the power of God to bring to pass.
As such, the reproduction of money is unnatural and contrary to the natural laws of God, and what God brings to
pass. Thus, Antonio is refuting Shylock’s story (and its justification of his business) on two accounts: a) that Jacob
earned the money by working for it, and b) that the hand of heaven—not Jacob’s own power and skill—allowed
Jacob to prosper through its power by which animals naturally reproduce. Antonio is saying that the reproduction of
money—where money reproduces on its own, through the charging of interest on a loan—is unnatural, Godless, and
cannot be compared to Jacob’s venture. (Some scholars argue that this also goes against Jewish law in that the
money earns interest, or “creates,” on the Sabbath).
43. +For living creatures are sanctioned by God | To breed—and such does not apply to gold.,
+Which allows creatures to naturally breed— | Such laws as these do not apply to money.,
[See Additional Notes, 1.3.90]
44. {Was this inserted to make interest good?}
/ Was this a story to make usury right? / Was this a story in defense (/support) of usury?
was this inserted: was this story told; was this biblical reference inserted into our conversation
interest: Antonio uses the term interest (which means the practice of loaning out money which carries interest)
but he is using it to implicate the practice of usury—a practice which involves loaning out money with interest but,
more villainous, usury often involves a stiff penalty or forfeiture (if the loan is not repaid in time) and also involves
some measure of deception, exploitation, and entrapment. Usury is something far more nefarious than the simple
loaning out money with interest.
45. {Or is your gold and silver ewes and rams?} / Or does your gold and silver breed like sheep?
This relates to the Augustinian argument (previously invoked by Antonio) that the loaning of money which
bears interest is an unnatural act and goes against God’ law since only living things have God’s sanction to
reproduce. Loaning money which bears interest causes barren metal (gold and silver) to breed like living things.