Page 65 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

4 5
I am not bid for love. They flatter me.
But yet I’ll go in spite,° to feed upon {hate}
The wasteful° Christian. Jessica, my girl, {prodigal}
Care for° my house. I am right loathe to go; {Look to} / Attend / Maintain
There is some ill a-brewing towards my rest° 6 / in my mind
7
For I did dream of money-bags last night°— {tonight}
8
+A sign which tells of an upcoming loss.°, / augurs some loss in the future
—Launcelet
I beseech you, sir, go. My young master doth expect your reproach. 9

—Shylock
As I expect his.° {So do I his}

—Launcelet
10
11
And they are planning something. I will not say you shall see a masquerade party but if you
do, then it was not for nothing that° my nose fell a-bleeding on Black° Monday last, at six
o’clock i’th’morning, falling out that year on Ash Wednesday, the fourth year in the afternoon. 12
/ then it must have been because // Easter
—Shylock

4. {I am not bid for love. They flatter me}.
/ I am not bid for friendship nor for love: | They seek to flatter me—and nothing more.
/ I am not bid for love. They +only seek | To, flatter me, +to soften up the Jew.,

5. It is odd that, having previously said to Bassanio, ‘I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with
you’[1.3.34], Shylock is now going to eat with him. His motivations, therefore, to eat with Bassanio—and go against
his word—must be quite strong. Later he states that he is going ‘in hate’ to try and eat a lot (and therefore bankrupt
the Christian) which is a comical excuse. (And this may be the same reasoning by which he gave his gormandizing
servant to Bassanio). By all indications, however, Shylock is going because Antonio’s closest friend, Bassanio, has
offered him something by way of friendship (whereas, in the past, all he received from Antonio was scorn); Shylock
also wants to be placed on an equal status with the Christians and wants Antonio to see him (Shylock) being
commended by Bassanio.
In terms of anti-Semitism, Bassanio is clearly aloof to it. Bassanio, it seems, is somewhat friendly toward
Shylock (and may even feel a debt of gratitude towards him) enough so to invite him over to his house for dinner that
night. And the uncertain meaning of line 2.2.165 [‘for I do feast tonight | My best-esteemed acquaintance’] could
mean that Bassanio is throwing the feast for Shylock or that Shylock is the guest of honor.
6. / There is something about which is disturbing / There is something amiss, which ruins my peace
7. {For I did dream of money bags tonight}
tonight: last night.
During Elizabethan times, a person’s dreams were thought to portend an opposite occurrence in real life.
Hence, Shylock’s dream of money-bags (bags filled with money) portends its opposite—a loss of money. The
contemporary understanding of dreams holds that the content of person’s dream corresponds to some waking state
occurrence rather than the opposite.
8. To realize the original meaning, an additional line was added.
/ A sign which tells me of some loss to come. / An omen telling me of some great loss
/ And all the bags were empty of their gold.
9. reproach (scolding, blame): error for approach. Shylock understands the term intended (approach) yet responds
in kind to the word reproach.
10. {And they have conspired together}
11. {a masque}
12. Lancelot makes a confused and nonsensical prediction (using various signs and omens) as a way to mock—and
also dismiss the validity of—Shylock’s ill-boding dream. We have the impression that Launcelet is aware of the
upcoming plan, which is contingent upon Shylock attending the feast, and therefore he does his best to get Shylock
to accept the invitation.