Page 4 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

— Salanio Those damnèd° Jews. / cursèd

—Antonio
No, ‘tis no Jewish thing this usury—° / ‘Tis not a Jewish thing, this usury, no—
13
‘Tis but a godless thing; a cursèd° thing, / godless / damnèd
An aberration felling Jew and gentile—° / A thing bereft of all humanity
A wretched thing. Enough of my complaints, ° 14 / But enough of my moaning,
You know them° well. / it

—Salarino And so we do, Antonio,
But here this face so grave, ‘tis not a sight° / thing / face
15
We know so well.° Why look ye so, my friend? ,, / That we know well / We often see
______________________________________________________

—Antonio 16
In sooth,° I know not why I am so somber.° 17 / truth // {sad} / grave
[It wearies me, I know° it wearies you;] 18 {you say} / I think / it must
Yet how I caught it, found it, or came by it, {But}
What stuff ‘tis made of, whereof it is born,

13. / ‘Tis more a foul disease
14. / But oft you’ve heard me moan,° /my grievance
15. / But here this face so sad, we know not well. | Why look ye so, my friend; what has got you?
/ But here this face so saddened, ‘tis a sight | We know not well. Why look ye so, my friend?
/ But here this face so sad,‘tis not a sight | We know. Why look ye so, my friend? Why so?
16. The original play begins here, with Antonio talking about his sad and worrisome state. The play opens in media
res, in the middle of an ongoing conversation between Antonio, Salarino, and Salanio, where Antonio is answering a
question that was asked before the action of the play begins.
17. The term sad generally means grave, serious, or concerned. The commiserating images supplied by Salarino and
Salanio (your mind is tossing on the ocean) suggest that Antonio’s state resembles some kind of uneasiness or worry
rather than sadness or depression. In all of this we never discover why Antonio is so grave or concerned—is it his
nature to be grave (as later suggested by himself) or has his concern been brought about by some recent event? In
either case, the issue of Antonio’s grave nature has no bearing on the play nor does it make any further appearance.
Antonio’s talk of ‘sadness’ (or concern) could simply be a tool which allows the Sals to describe the grandeur of
Antonio’s sea ventures. Some commentators hold that the early talk of ‘sadness’ is meant to present a sense of
foreboding but the jovial way that the subject is approached precludes this. [See Additional Note, 1.1.1] [For a
rectification of this scene, as it may have appeared in an earlier draft, see Appendix].
18. {It wearies me, you say it wearies you}
As it stands, this line is somewhat misplaced and may be an appendage from an earlier draft, where the
opening conversation was between Antonio, Gratziano, and Lorenzo, and where this line was originally voiced by
Gratziano. This lines suggest that Antonio has spoken about his serious nature on numerous occasions, so much so
that it wearies him (talking about it) and it wearies Salarino (and Salanio) upon hearing it. The line (as it stands in
the original) is also questionable, since Antonio’s sadness seems to be something newly experienced by the Sals, and
not something they could have grown weary of. In addition, the Sals, who are unmitigated supporters of Antonio,
would never have told Antonio that they were weary of hearing about his concerns.
I think: {you say} I hear, I know, I believe, I’m sure. This line (and especially the reference to you say) is
most likely a remnant from a prior draft of the play where it opened, in media res, with Antonio, Gratziano, and
Lorenzo (and not with Salarino and Salanio.) Hence, the familiar and history-based phrase, you say, was likely
directed to Gratziano (as a singular)—a person who was familiar with Antonio’s sad musings, and a person who
would have told Antonio that he (Gratziano) was weary of hearing about Antonio’s sadness. As neither Salarino nor
Salanio have heard much about Antonio’s sadness in the past—and as neither are so chummy and bold as to tell
Antonio they are weary of hearing about it—neither would have made such a comment. [See Additional Notes,
1.1.2]