Page 60 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

ACT TWO – Scene Four 2.4.0

Venice. Enter Gratziano, Lorenzo, Salarino, and Salanio 1

—Lorenzo
Nay, we will slip° away at supper-time,° {slink} / steal // during the feast
Go to my lodging, put on our disguise,
2 3
And all return within the hour.
—Gratziano
We have not made good preparation. 4

—Salarino
We have not spoke as yet° of torchbearers. {spoke us yet} / spoken yet

—Salanio
This plan will go afoul if not well-made; 5
6
And best, I think,° abandoned altogether. / methinks // And better yet

—Lorenzo
‘Tis now but four o’clock: we have two hours
To get things ready.° {To furnish us} / to run the plan / to finish up

Enter Launcelet with a letter

Launcelet, what’s the news? 7

1. Like many other scenes, this scene also opens in media res, in the middle of an ongoing conversation. Here
Lorenzo is discussing the preparation of a plan, which is surely the plan to steal away Jessica later that night.
2. / And return here within an hour’s time
3. This is a poorly conceived plan, as Gratziano notes in the following line. They do not yet know if Shylock is
going to be at the dinner (which they find out from Launcelet later in the scene [16]). The plan might be to slink
away during dinner and then return within an hour to the masque (which would follow dinner). Again, why they plan
to go the dinner in the first place, and why they should return in a disguise, is not known. Perhaps the plan is
tentative and changes with the arrival of Jessica’s letter, which notes that Shylock will be out for the evening.
4. preparation: preparation for stealing away Jessica. As part of this preparation, they must also prepare their
costumes.
5. {‘Tis vile, unless it may be quaintly ordered} / ‘Tis bound to fail unless it be well-planned
vile: foul, likely to go wrong
quaintly: noticeably; well-, carefully, with consideration
ordered: a) planned, b) carried out
/ ‘Tis bound to fail unless it is clearly planned
6. {And better in my mind not undertook} / And better yet, the plan should be abandoned.
This reference refers to the ill-conceived plan to steal away Jessica, which they are discussing. Salanio, it
seems, is more level-headed than both Lorenzo (who is foolishly acting out of love) and Gratziano, who is, well,
Gratziano.
7. {Friend Launcelet, what’s the news?} It is not clear how Lorenzo would know Launcelet, or come to call him
‘friend,’ but we can suspect that his interest in Jessica—and the common method of using servants to deliver
messages back and forth—would make Launcelet his ‘friend.’ Where Lorenzo and the others are meeting (which, we
suspect, is in a private place, since they are discussing secret plans to steal away Jessica) and how Launcelet comes
upon them is unclear. Jessica instructed Launcelet to deliver the message to Lorenzo at dinner: soon at supper shalt
thou see | Lorenzo, who is thy new master’s guest. | Give him this letter; do it secretly. [2.3.5-7]. Here it is four