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73 74
Very well: I must go with you to Belmont.

—Bassanio
Why then you must, but hear thee Gratziano:
Thou art too wild, too rude and bold of voice—
Parts that become° thee happily° enough, 75 / Aspects that suit / fittingly
And, to our eyes, do not appear as faults; 76
77
But where thou art not known, why there they look° / these may appear
Somewhat° too overbearing. Thus, take pains 78 {Something} / A tad / A bit
To allay, with some drops of self-control,° 79 {modesty}
Thy bounding° spirit, lest through thy wild behavior 80 {skipping} / leaping
81
I be disfavored° in the place I go° {I be misconstered} // in the eyes of others
And lose° my hopes +of success,. 82 / ruin / dash

—Gratziano Now° hear me: {Signor Bassanio}

73. {You must not deny me. I must go with you to Belmont.}
This line is likely corrupt for the following reasons: a) the iambs are misplaced (with no emphasis on the
fourth syllable) and b) the line contains seven iambs (instead of five). In addition, Gratziano is amiss in making a
demand [you must not deny me] after his request has already been granted. More likely, Gratziano would be
confirming what Bassanio had just granted, with a line such as: ‘Very well then—I’ll go with you to Belmont.’ To
bring this line into the regular iambic verse, some editions add ‘Nay,’ to the beginning: ‘Nay, you must not deny me.
I must go | With you to Belmont.’
Another way to rectify the line (in terms of meter and content) would be to have Bassanio grant Gratziano’s
request once, not twice:
Grat: I have a suit—and you must not say ‘no’°— / deny me
Signior, I must go with you to Belmont.
Bass: Why then you must. But hear thee Gratziano,
74. It is likely that Bassanio knew of Gratziano’s request before he even asked it—and that is why he granted
Gratziano’s suit without even hearing it. This is in accord with the following theory (as previously stated) which
goes as follows: a) Nerissa may have had a chance meeting with Gratziano (where they took a liking to each other
and where Nerissa learned about Bassanio—and where she recalled that Bassanio had already been to Belmont and
caught Portia’s eye); b) Nerissa (in service to Portia) arranged to have a secret meeting with Bassanio, where Nerissa
proposed to him a plan: she told him that if he could win Portia’s love (where Portia falls in love with him, and
would chose him to be her husband) then she (Nerissa) would help him to choose the right casket; c) as part of this
plan—and for her own romantic interests—she told Bassanio to bring Gratziano with him to Belmont. [See
Additional Note, 2.2.171]
75. / Aspects that fit thy manner well enough / Traits that are fitting to thee well enough / Qualities that become you
well enough
76. {And in such eyes as ours appear not faults} / And traits that we do not decry as faults
77. {But where thou art not known} / But where they know you not
78. {Something too liberal. Pray thee, take pain}
Something too liberal: / somewhat too ‘in-your-face’
79. {To allay with some cold drops of modesty}
80. One could expand the previous two line into three:
/ To allay thy exuberant spirit
With a few drops of cooling modesty,
Lest through your wild and raucous° behavior / unruly / froward
81. {I be misconstered}: / I be misconstrued / I find disfavor
82. And lose my hopes: More likely Bassanio should say, ‘and blow my cover’—the cover of pretending to be a
rich and cultured suitor (which Gratziano’s unruly conduct would undermine). According to a fair drawing of the
lottery, if Bassanio was going to chose a casket based solely on his own wit, then none of Gratziano’s actions would
have any effect on the outcome of the lottery nor cause Bassanio to ‘lose his hopes.’ Thus it appears that Bassanio is
pinning his hopes of success on something other than a simple drawing of the lottery. According to our theory
(which states that Bassanio will get help with the lottery, from Nerissa, if he is able to win Portia’s heart), if
Gratziano is too rude, then this might put off Portia—and not reflect the noble character Bassanio is trying to put
forth—and, thus, Bassanio would lose his hopes of Portia falling in love with him. [See Additional Notes, 2.2.181]