Simple Summary of The Merchant of Venice Act III, Scene III, IV, V

Act III Scene III

Salient points

Antonio begs Shylock to consider his plea. Shylock conveys that he is steadfast and that come what may he will extract the penalty.

The position of law and its influence on Venetian citizens becomes

Clear. Antonio wishes for Bassanio’s return.

Shylock asks the jailer not to let Antonio importune him.

 He expresses his hatred for Antonio’s charitable attitude and

blames his interest-free loans for his losses. Antonio asks Shylock not to pursue his bond.

 Shylock dashes Antonio’s hopes of finding him merciful. He says

that he has sworn to his God that he will pursue the bond.

 Antonio had called him a dog. Now Antonio should brace for

Shylock’s fangs.

 The Duke will have to do justice to Shylock’s request

 Shylock criticizes the jailer for taking Antonio to plead with him

and others. He asks the jailer to treat him more strictly.

 Shylock, Antonio, Salarino and a Gaoler enter

 Shylock calls Antonio a fool that lent out money gratis

 He does not want Antonio to talk to him of mercy

 Antonio pleads with Shylock to hear him out

SHYLOCK:

I’ll have (pursue) my bond; speak not (argue not) against my bond: (these two lines indicate that Shylock is desperate to pursue his line of

revenge) I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond. (Shylock conveys his religious intensity; for him the bond is larger than life

now. He will pursue it.) Thou call’dst me dog before thou hadst a cause; But, since I am a dog, beware my fangs: (Shylock’s argument

is deductive. Since Antonio called him a dog, he (Antonio) must not expect anything but a dog-like behaviour from Shylock. Shylock roots and grounds his hatred for Antonio in this speech)

The duke shall grant me (deliver) justice. I do wonder, Thou naughty (indisciplined; partial, as he has favoured Antonio) gaoler, that thou art so fond to come abroad with him at his request (since the jailor has

favored Antonio and helped him speak to Shylock)

 Antonio again begs Shylock to hear him out

 Shylock very clearly conveys that the time to talk is long gone

and that the bond will be pursued

 He declares he will be cruel and not be foolishly merciful to

Christians who have harbored the traditional hatred against him

and his race.

 Salarino calls Shylock ‘an impenetrable cur’ (a hard-hearted

dog) who lived with men

 Antonio defeatedly confesses that he will not follow Shylock

with useless requests

 He knows why Shylock is after him and wants his life

 He thinks that Shylock’s determination to kill him has to do with

Shylock’s business interests. If Shylock manages to remove

Antonio from the Venetian market, he will be able to charge

interest at will.

 Salarino expresses the hope that the Duke will not grant Shylock

his suit

ANTONIO:

The duke cannot deny the course of law: (Antonio says that it

is beyond the Duke to refuse commoners justice or alter the

very course of law for him)

For the commodity (rights/agreement) that strangers

(foreigners) have with us in Venice, if it be denied (refused),

Will much impeach the justice of his state (raise doubts on the

rule of law in the state of Venice);

Note: Antonio is aware of the Venetian legal system and, on

that basis, states that the Duke had no power to alter the course of Justice. Venice was a bustling city and a major centre for trade in Europe and people from all nationalities and religions were entitled to equal legal rights. Shylock will be treated fairly by the Duke.)

Since that the trade and profit of the city consisteth of all nations (Venetian economy was very inclusive and the city’s prosperity was due to its lack of bias against foreigners.)

Therefore, go:

These griefs and losses (troubles; he has lost his ships and

now has to face the penalty) have so bated me (weakened

him), That I shall hardly spare a pound of flesh

To-morrow to my bloody creditor (That by the time Shylock

looks to take a pound of flesh from Antonio, he will have no

flesh on him).

Well, gaoler, on. Pray God, Bassanio come

To see me pay his debt, and then I care not!

(All that Antonio wants is that Bassanio should be present

at the time his debt is paid in the form of a pound of Antonio’s

flesh.)

Act III Scene IV

A major scene that prepares the audience for the strategies that

Portia and Nerissa are planning to adopt to save Antonio and

help Bassanio in his efforts to do the same. Lorenzo and Portia talk and Portia hands over the manage and the charge of her Belmont house to him and Jessica and tells them that Nerissa and she intend to spend their time as nuns in a monastery till their husbands return.

Portia that she has a ‘noble’ and true judgment of divine friendship (he refers to the friendship between Antonio and Bassanio)

 He also claims not to be making these comments only because

he intends to impress Portia

 He praises Antonio and tells Portia about Antonio’s great character; the knowledge of Antonio’s character would have helped Portia in strengthening her resolve to help him out

 He calls Antonio a true gentleman and a great friend of Bassanio’s

 He also conveys that Portia’s knowledge of Antonio’ s nature would have given her greater satisfaction than her usual acts of charity.

Portia responds telling Lorenzo that

 She never regretted being charitable and she asserts that she

will not regret being charitable in helping Antonio. The reasons

she offers are:

1. There is reason for her to believe that Antonio is very like

Bassanio

2. She bases her reasoning on the analogy of the two bulls: much

as two bulls are yoked together in a cart, friends and companions

who spend their time together have their ‘souls’ (their natures)

yoked to pull the cart of friendship

3. In such friends there is a remarkable similarity of facial

expressions, of attitudes. Antonio and Bassanio are two such

friends

 She reasons that Antonio is ‘a semblance’ (a reflection) of her

own soul as he occupies a position equal to hers in Bassanio’s

heart and in that case she has spent little effort in purchasing

(securing) him.

 She refers to Antonio’s state as that of ‘hellish cruelty’ (Shylock’s

cruelty here that has captures Antonio) Portia considers talking of her efforts as self praise and does

not want any talk over it.

 She conveys the following plan to Lorenzo:

1. She entrusts Lorenzo with the manage and the command of her

Belmont house

2. She has taken a sacred vow that she will spend her time in

prayer and meditation with Nerissa in a monastery two miles

away

3. Nerissa and Portia will live there till their husbands return and

Portia requests Lorenzo not to refuse this offer that she has

made him affectionately

 Lorenzo agrees to accept Portia’s offer readily

 Portia tells him that her servants will recognize Lorenzo and

Jessica in her place and Bassanio’s

 Lorenzo and Jessica take their leave of Portia

Balthasar: Now Balthasar……………………………. Before thee

 Portia hopes to find Balthasar as helpful and honest as she has

ever found him

 She asks him to carry a letter to Padua to her cousin Dr. Bellario

as speedily as he can

 She asks Balthasar to bring notes and garments that Dr Bellario

has to give to her

 She is to be met at the Tranect (the place where the ferries start

and load for Venice)

 There she asks Balthasar to meet her at the common ferry (the

public boat) for Venice

 Balthasar should waste no time in words and return as soon as

possible

 Balthasar exits and Portia tells Nerissa that they have work to

do and they will meet their husbands soon

 On Nerissa’s asking her if their husband’s will see them Portia

replies in the following words: They shall (their husbands will see them), Nerissa; but in such

a habit (in such an attire),

That they shall think we are accomplished

With that we lack. (Imp: There is a reference to illusions here.

Portia tells Nerissa that their husbands will not be able to

make out their identities. They will be under the impression

that Portia and Nerissa are what they are not: men)

I’ll hold thee any wager, (She is prepared to bet on the matter)

When we are both accoutered (dressed) like young men,

I’ll prove the prettier fellow of the two, (This is a funny way of

saying that Portia will be playing the dominant role between

the two of them)

And wear my dagger with the braver grace (She intends to

carry the dagger much more bravely),

And speak between the change of man and boy

With a reed voice, (A reference to the feminine voice: Portia

will speak between the tone of a boy and that of a man) and

turn two mincing steps (ladylike steps)

Into a manly stride, (into masculine steps and body

language)and speak of frays (of quarrels)

Like a fine bragging youth (a simile: like an irresponsible

young man), and tell quaint lies (strange lies),

How honourable ladies sought my love, (Portia will talk the

favorite masculine jargon: about women seeking her/his love

and she denying them in such a way that they all committed

suicide)

Which I denying, they fell sick and died;

I could not do withal(she could not manage them all together);

then I’ll repent (she will regret and wish) ,

And wish for all that, that I had not killed them (she will regret

killing them); And twenty of these puny lies (harmless but masculine lies)

I’ll tell,

That men shall swear I have discontinued school

Above a twelvemonth. (Portia will tell these lies in such a

way that people around her will think that she has been out

of school only a year back)

I have within my mind (she has planned)

A thousand raw tricks (rude jokes and words) of these bragging

Jacks (eager and excited boys),

Which I will practice (which she will try and practice on others

while she is in disguise).

 Nerissa asks her why they are to disguise as men.

 Portia tells Nerissa that she will inform her of the particulars

once they are in the coach. She also asks her to hurry up as they

had to cover twenty miles that day.

Act III Scene V

 The scene opens with Launcelot and Jessica conversing with

each other in Portia’s garden

 It is a comic scene and serves the purpose of giving the actors

enough time to go back and forth before the greater and the

more important trial scene that follows

 Launcelot taunts Jessica that that the sins of the fathers (the

ancestors) are to be laid against the children and she will suffer

from the impact of Shylock’s sins

 In a rather mocking tone Launcelot tells Jessica that he is

concerned about her and fears for her

 He asks her to be happy and cheer up as she is damned

 Jessica retorts that her husband will save her as she is a Christian

now and she cannot be suffering from the Jew’s natural sin

 On this Launcelot blames the Christians who have been converting other people to the faith and says that such conversions

will be against the interest of the Christians overall as they will

raise the price of pork, the staple food that Christians eat, and

once that happens the Christians will not have enough money to

put ‘rasher’ on the coals (rasher: pork strips)

 Lorenzo enters and hears Jessica’s plaint and warns Launcelot

of serious consequences if he does not desist from taking Jessica

into tight corners

 Jessica tells Lorenzo that Launcelot and she have fallen out as

Launcelot has pronounced her damned and sinful and has also

accused Lorenzo of being a mean Christian as he has been raising

the price of hogs by converting her to Christianity

 Lorenzo tells Launcelot to ‘prepare’ for dinner

 Launcelot puns on the word ‘prepare’ and associates it with

hunger. He says that everybody at home is ‘prepared’ hungry

enough for dinner

 Lorenzo calls Launcelot a wit-snapper – a person whose vocation

it is to play with words and tells him to prepare, ‘cook and serve’,

dinner

 Launcelot tells him that ‘cover’ is the word needed for the

servants to serve dinner. (The word ‘cover’ indicated ‘cover’

the table.)

 On Lorenzo’s asking him to ‘cover’, Launcelot flatly denies and

says that he can’t cover (his head with a hat as it was considered

a social affront – Launcelot puns again: ‘cover’ the table and

‘cover’ the head)

 Lorenzo uses an apostrophe: a direct address to something

abstract to comment on Launcelot

 He remarks that Launcelot has planted in his memory an army

of good words and that he knows of many fools who do very

well in life on the basis of their verbosity. (Here Lorenzo makes

a reference to all the courtly jesters that held a royal rank and

profile and had the same ability as Launcelot to charm peoplewith words)

 Lorenzo asks Jessica what she thinks of Portia

 Jessica remarks:

1. Portia is past all expressions and no words are enough to convey

her essence

2. Bassanio should live an upright life as he has the joys of heaven

on earth (in Portia’s form) and should he not have an upright life

on earth he will never go to heaven

3. She reasons it further saying that the Gods playing a match in

sport would need a lot more to equal the scales if they placed

Portia on one as a wager, since no one mortal woman would be

able to equal Portia’s qualities

4. She opines that the poor, uncilivilised world does not have a

match for her

 Lorenzo is quick to quip that he is Jessica’s husband exactly as

Portia is Bassanio’s wife (a remark made in mock humour as he

wishes Jessica to have the same opinion of him)

 Jessica wants him to know her opinion of him and they finally

settle that Jessica will give him a fair assessment at the dinner

table as he will be able to digest her criticism among all the

other things