Page 79 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

ACT TWO - Scene Eight 2.8.0

Venice. Enter Salarino and Salanio. 1

—Salarino
Why, man, I saw Bassanio under sail,
And Gratziano’s gone along with him. {With him is Gratziano gone along}
I’m sure Lorenzo is not on their ship.° / has not gone with them

—Salanio
The villain Jew with outcries roused° the Duke, {raised} / woke
Who went with him to search Bassanio’s ship. 2

—Salarino
He came too late; the ship was under sail.° / had just left port
But there the Duke was giv’n ° to understand / made
That seen together, in a gondola,
Were young Lorenzo and his amorous love.° 3 / his Jessica
Besides, Antonio assured° the Duke {certified} / well-assured
They were not with Bassanio in his ship. 4

—Salanio
I never heard an outburst° so confused, {a passion}
So strange, outlandish,° and so oddly spoke° 5 {outrageous} / excessive // dissident
As the dog Jew did utter in the streets:
[mimicing] ‘My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter!
6
Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats!
Justice! The law! My ducats and my daughter!
A sealèd bag, two sealèd bags of ducats,
Of double ducats, stol’n from me by my daughter!
And jewels, two stones, two rich and precious stones, 7
Stol’n by my daughter! Justice! Find the girl!

1. This portion of the text, where the two Sals are talking to each other (and filling in crucial details about the main
characters) shows why two similar characters were added to the text (as part of a later draft). The function of these
two characters has no bearing on the action of the play; their function is to inform the audience with respect to
unseen action involving the main characters. [For an further discussion of the names, See Additional Notes, 2.8.0]
2. Only someone of considerable influence (and in utter desperation) could wake the Duke and summon him from
his house to investigate a minor incident.
3. / That someone saw Lorenzo, and his love | Jessica, fleeing in a gondola.
4. / That they were not aboard Bassanio’s ship
5. so oddly spoke: {so variable} / conflicted / out of whack / disparate / discordant
6. my Christian ducats: this line indicates the confusion between Shylock’s sense of loss in regards to his ducats
and his daughter—both of which are seen as property. This line echoes a line found in Marlow’s play, The Jew of
Malta. [See Additional Note, 2.8.15].
7. two rich and precious stones: Later there is a reference to a diamond purchased in Frankfort for 2000 ducats
[3.1.80] but we do not know what the second stone might be; it could be the turquoise ring, which Shylock
references later, but it is unlikely that he would refer to the ring as a precious stone.