Page 70 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

Who are you? Tell me, for more certainty, / so I am assured /can be sure
Although° I’ll swear that I do know your voice.° {Albeit} > “all be it” / {tongue}

—Lorenzo
Lorenzo—and thy° love. / your

—Jessica
Lorenzo, surely, and my love indeed— 12 {certain}
The one I love so much!° And now who knows {For who love I so much}
But you, Lorenzo, whether I am yours?

—Lorenzo
Heaven and my thoughts are witness that thou art.

—Jessica
Here, catch this casket—it is worth the pains. 13
I’m glad ‘tis night, so you don’t look on me,
14
For I am much ashamed of my appearance.° {exchange} / new look
But love is blind and lovers cannot see
15
The pretty follies that themselves commit;° / petty // they’re wont to commit
16
For if they could, Cupid himself would blush
To see me thus transformèd to a boy. 17 / transformed into

—Lorenzo
Come down,° for you must be my torchbearer. 18 {Descend}

—Jessica
What, must I hold a candle° to my shames? / bright flame
19
They are, good sooth, already too° too light.° / far / much

12. / Lorenzo certainly, my love indeed
13. Stage direction: a) she throws down the chest filled with gold—which is painfully caught or b) she is about to
throw down the chest but is urged by a group of ‘No’s to carry it down instead.
14. exchange: change of appearance (into a boy), transfiguration
15. {pretty} / artful / petty > comedic, ridiculous
16. Cupid, god of love, is often depicted as blind (and unable to see) thus conveying the sense that love is blind, that
it obeys the heart and not outer conditions. Such a Cupid (unable to see Jessica dressed as a boy) would not blush.
17. / To see the way I’ve changed into a boy.
18. Lorenzo is using this image figuratively, as per the imagery enlisted in 2.4.22;39. He is saying, ‘you must be
the one who brings light and radiance into my life; your light must lead my way in the world.’ This is in
contradiction to Jessica’s wish to remain hidden under the cover of night.
19. {They in themselves, good sooth, are too too light} / They are, good heavens, already too light.
(my shames are) . . . too too light: a) much too apparent, evident, in full view; b) immodest, unethical.
Here Jessica is saying that she does not want her shames (her dressing as a boy or more likely her
dishonorable actions with respect to her father) to be further exposed.
The reference to light can also carry the meaning of being unfaithful (such as someone who is light in
keeping her vows) though this is not Jessica’s intended meaning. Later in the play (5.1.129) we hear Portia using the
term light (meaning “unfaithful”) in this sense: Let me give light, but let me know be light: | For a light wife doth
make a heavy husband.
good sooth: good truth. In sooth means, ‘in truth,’ ‘to tell you honestly,’ whereas good sooth is more akin to a
light swearing, such as ‘good heavens,’ ‘good God,’ or ‘by God.’