Page 37 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

—Antonio
I have no doubts;° I’ll seal° to such a bond, {Content in faith} // sign
And say there is much kindness in the Jew.

—Bassanio
You shall° not seal to such a bond for me; / must
I’d rather dwell within° my present needs.° 76 / suffer in // in mine own neediness

—Antonio
Why, fear not, man, I will not forfeit it.
Within these two months—that’s a month before
This bond expires—I do expect return° / a profit
Of thrice three times the value of this bond.

—Shylock
O father Abram, how these Christians are:
Their own hard dealings teach them to suspect° / mistrust > be suspicious of
The thoughts of others! [to Bassanio] Pray you, tell me this:
77
If he should break his day° what should I gain / If he can’t pay on time
By the exaction of° the forfeiture? / By my demanding of
A pound of man’s flesh, taken from a man,
78
Has neither worth nor can afford° a profit / command
79
As° flesh of mutton, cow, or goat. I say, / Like
To buy his favour, I extend this friendship: 80
If he will take it, so; if not, adieu.
And for this gesture, for this act of kindness,
81 82
I pray you, wrong me not with evil motives.

76. {I’ll rather dwell in my necessity} / I’d rather suffer in my present needs
77. {break his day}: miss his payment when it is due (on such and such a day)
78. {Is not so estimable, profitable neither}
/ Has neither worth nor can it bring a profit / Brings neither value nor the same profit / Has but no worth;
one cannot even sell it
79. This argument is, of course, specious. Shylock argues that the pound of flesh has no value—so why would he
take it? Yet, the value gained by taking of a pound of Antonio’s flesh, is in killing Antonio. So, Shylock should
rightfully say, ‘What would I gain from taking the forfeiture, and thereby killing Antonio?’
80. Shylock may be somewhat sincere in what he says here—but the notion of buying Antonio’s friendship, rather
than gaining in through natural means, is misplaced. Below all this talk, however, we sense Shylock’s deceitfulness
and we see him using the ploy of a usurer to somehow entrap Antonio; Shylock himself revealed his intentions when
he expressed a deep desire to ‘catch Antonio upon the hip,’ i.e., gain an advantage over him. Hence, we know that
Shylock has a hidden agenda—to put Antonio at a disadvantage. So, what is Shylock trying to accomplish by having
Antonio sign this bond? The possibility that Antonio would default on the bond is too remote to be part of a viable
plan (and, besides, Shylock is not a gambling man). Why would Shylock hold up 3000 ducats (which could
command a good profit otherwise invested) on something so remote. It is more likely that having Antonio sign such
a bond—with such grotesque and unflattering terms—is Shylock’s agenda, for such a bond debases Antonio and
brings Shylock to an equal or superior status with Antonio (in Shylock’s mind). [See footnote for 1.3.148]
81. {And, for my love, I pray you wrong me not}
/ I pray, don’t wrong me with an evil motive / Please don’t assign to me an evil motive
for my love: for this act of kindness
wrong me not: / blame me not / don’t blame me / > don’t attribute or assign to me some wrong
This last part of Shylock’s speech (or argument) is a clear example of the ‘deceptive art’ employed by usurers:
first he says that a pound of human flesh is worthless, and so he would have no reason to take it; then he contends