Page 68 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

ACT TWO – Scene Six 2.6.0

Venice. Enter the maskers, Gratziano, Salarino, and Salanio. 1

—Gratziano
This is the window under° which Lorenzo {penthouse under} / balcony by
Desired us to wait.° {make stand}

—Salarino His hour is past.° {is almost past} 2

—Gratziano
It is° a marvel he out-dwells his hour,° / And ‘tis // that he comes so late
For lovers ever-run before the clock.

—Salarino
O, ten times faster fly the doves of Venus° 3 {Venus’ pigeons fly}
To seal love’s bond new made° than they are wont / To newly seal love’s bond
To keep their well-intentioned vows° intact.° 4 / meaningful promise // unbroken

1. The stage heading in Q1 reads: ‘Enter the maskers, Gratiano and Salerino.’ This stage heading is somewhat
confusing, both in its reference to Salerino (which seems to indicate Salarino and not Salerio) and to ‘the
maskers’—which appears before the character names. Such an anomaly suggests an ad hoc change in the original
text. We can assume that the original heading may have read ‘Enter maskers’ which indicated the entrance of
Gratziano, Salarino, and Salanio. Thus, it is likely that a diligent typesetter, wanting to ‘clarify’ the text, later added
the names of Gratiano and Salerino to the heading. The mistaken spelling of Salarino suggests that this name was
not part of the original heading (but added later). Thus, with this ‘partial’ typesetter addition—the addition of
Salarino and not Salarino and Salanio— most editors assume that Salanio (because he is not specifically listed) is
absent from the scene. This, however, is unlikely since Salarino and Salanio were both part of the original planning
and both, up til now, have always appeared together. The scene, however, remains unaffected by this minor point
and it can be staged with one or both Sals being present. In keeping with the prior action of the play, and the fact
that Salarino and Salanio always appear together, both Salarino and Salanio are included in the scene. [See
Additional Notes, 2.6.0]
2. The lines in Q1 appear as follows:
Gra: Desired us to make stand.
Sal: His hour is almost past.
Gra: And it is a marvel he outdwells his hour.
The first two lines are truncated; and if they are combined they would form a line too long for the standard meter. In
addition, Salarino states that Lorenzo’s hour is ‘almost past’ whereas Gratziano replies that he ‘outdwells his hour.’
The lines could remain as they stand, or they could be combined into one standard line.
Gra: Told us to wait.
Lor: His hour is almost past.° / all but past
Gra: It is a marvel he prolongs° his hour. / outdwells
3. Venus’ pigeons: May refer to the pigeons that draw Venus’s chariot (or carry Venus) though this image is ‘very
odd’ and not consistent with any known mythology. Warburton holds that the original may have read Venus’
widgeons (which refers to a kind of duck and suggests a wayward and silly bird) though such an emendation would
offer no improvement upon the original. Most agree that the subject (the one who seals love’s bond) refers to Venus
and not to the pigeons that draw her. All said, Venus’ pigeons probably refers neither to Venus nor her pigeons but
should be taken as a metaphor for a somewhat inconsistent lover (a pigeon) who is smitten by love (Venus) and who
runs fast to obtain the object of his desire.
/ O ten times faster fly love-stricken youths / Love-smitten younkers run ten times as fast / A wayward lover
runs tens times as fast
4. {To keep obligèd faith unforfeited.}
obligèd: pledged, obligated
Salarino is claiming that lovers are very quick to enter a new bond of love (and make all kinds of
pledges)—rushing in like the doves of Venus—yet are just as quick to break those same vows (when some other love
interest emerges).
/ To keep intact their new-made obligations / To keep intact the vows already made / To keep their faith