Page 58 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

ACT TWO - Scene Three 1 2.3.0

Shylock’s house. Enter Jessica and Launcelet.

—Jessica
I‘m sorry thou wilt leave my father so.
Our house is hell;° and thou, a merry devil, > hellishly dull
2
Didst rob it of some taste of tediousness.
But fare thee well. There is a ducat for thee.
And Launcelet, soon at supper shalt thou see
Lorenzo, who is thy new master’s guest.
Give him this letter; do it secretly.
And so farewell. I would not have my father
See me in talk with thee.

—Launcelet
3
Adieu. Tears exhibit my tongue. Most beautiful pagan, most sweet Jew. If a Christian did not
4
fool ‘round with your mother and get thee I am much deceived. But adieu. These foolish
drops° do sometimes drown my manly spirit. Adieu. drops: / tears

Exit Launcelet
—Jessica
Farewell, good Launcelet.
Alack, what heinous sin is it in me,
To shun my father and bring him dishonor. 5
But though I am a daughter to his blood,
6
I am not to his manners.° O Lorenzo, / I am not kin to his ways
If thou keep promise I shall end this strife, / O my Lorenzo, soon I’ll end this strife
Become a Christian and thy loving wife. 7

1. Rowe, who was a foremost Shakespeare commentator, and ‘a practical man of the theatre,’ did not divide 2.2 - 2.6
into separate scenes but played them all as one continuous action.
2. / When things got hellishly drab around here, | You, like a merry devil, came to rob | The taste of tediuousness
with your laughter.
3. Slip for inhibit, but this term might also apply in the sense that he is talking with his tears and that his tears are
telling what his tongue is unable to tell.
4. {If a Christian do not play the knave and get thee} / If a Christian did not fool behind you your father’s back and
beget thee
5. {To be ashamed to be my father’s child}
It is not clear as to why being ‘ashamed to be her father’s child’ is a ‘heinous sin.’ The sin relates to
Jessica’s upcoming actions, whereby she betrays and dishonors her father. Thus, the line has been changed to reflect
this view.
6. {I am not to his manners}
Manners most likely refers to Shylock’s somber and thrifty (or hardened) ways; to his frugal manner. His
spirit is old and thrifty as opposed to Jessica’s which is carefree and youthful. (We see the stark difference in their
manners when Shylock carefully accounts fro every ducat and where Jessica, the moment she comes upon some
money, frivolously spends it.). Manner could also refers to Shylock’s loyalty to his Jewish tradition (and the inner
sacrifice that entails); Jessica is more inclined to pleasure and is quick to abandon her tradition for the hope of a
better, more comfortable, life.
[See Additional Notes, 2.3.19]
7./ If as you promise, if your word be true, | I’ll soon be Christian, and e’er with you.