Summary of The Merchant of Venice, Act V

ACT V

 Brings back the elements of comedy to the play. Significantly different from the previous act as it lends the drama a happy ending

 Brings together all the major characters

Restores Antonio his fortune

Presents mock conflict (the ring episode) and its resolution in the play

Lorenzo and Jessica compare their night with the classical nights:

LORENZO

The moon shines bright: in such a night as this (on one such night of full moon),

When the sweet (fragrant) wind did gently kiss the trees (Wind personified: wind ‘kisses’ the trees: slowly and gradually moves the trees)

And they did make no noise (and the kissing, the movement produced no noise) ,

Reference I

Reference 1: Troilus and Cressida

In such a night (Lorenzo repeats the phrase ‘in such a night)

Troilus methinks mounted (climbed) the Trojan walls (the walls of Troy)

And sigh’d his soul (cried in pain) toward the Grecian tents (Grecian camp),

Where Cressid (Cressida) lay that night (where Cressida was that night)

There is a series of references drawn on here. The references are as follows:

• The full moon light is being compared with the night on which Troilus went over to the Grecian camps after the war of Troy had been concluded.

• Troilus was Priam’s son, in love with Cressida, to whom he swore eternal fidelity. After Cressida was taken into the enemy camp, Troilus would stand on the walls of Troy looking at the Greek camp.

Reference II

Reference 2: Thisbe and Pyramus

JESSICA

In such a night

Did Thisbe fearfully (anxiously) o’ertrip (walk lightly over)the dew (the wet grass)

And saw the lion’s shadow ere himself (and saw the shadow of the lion before the lion)

And ran dismay’d away (ran away surprised)

The reference has three points:

• Pyramus and Thisbe were lovers in Babylonia and their story is retold by Ovid in Metamorphoses

• They had decided to meet under a tree, where Thisbe arrived, saw the shadow of a lion and ran away, dropping her scarf

• Pyramus, who arrived later saw the blood smeared scarf (that had the blood of an ox), thought that Thisbe had been killed and stabbed himself. Thisbe, who returned to the spot later stabbedherself too, seeing dead Pyramus.

Reference III

 Dido and Aeneas

LORENZO

In such a night (on a night such as this one)

Stood Dido with a willow (a tree; symbolises Loss) in her hand (holding a willow)

Upon the wild sea banks (on the banks of the stormy sea) and waft her love (waved to her love, Aeneas)

To come again to Carthage (to return to Carthage)

Note:

• The Queen of Carthage, Dido, fell in love with Aenas, the Trojan Hero. She would wait on the banks of the stormy sea after Aenas had gone to found the city of Rome, anticipating his return.

• The story is told by many poets in literature

Reference IV

Media and Aeson

JESSICA

In such a night

Medea (an enchantress) gather’d the enchanted herbs (magical herbs)

That did renew old Aeson (Jason’s father Aeson; see note).

The reference has the following points:

 Aeson was the father of the Greek hero Jason, mentioned also

in the context of the Golden fleece in Act I

 Medea was an enchantress who loved Jason and helped him get the Golden Fleece

 Medea was said to have restored Jason’s father Aeson to life. Ovid wrote about it in Metamorphoses

 The Elizabethans believed that herbs, esp. certain herbs, gained special qualities when gathered on a moonlit night

LORENZO

In such a night (on a night such as this one; Lorenzo means to be jovial in comparing their situation with that of the great historical figures they have mentioned before)

Did Jessica steal (pun: rob her father and run away herself) from the wealthy Jew (Shylock)

And with an unthrift love (pun again; the expression implies ‘careless devotion’ and ‘penniless lover’) did run from Venice (escape from Venice)

As far as Belmont (for Belmont).

JESSICA

In such a night

Did young Lorenzo swear he loved her well (Jessica outwits Lorenzo; another example of women characters in Shakespeare’s comedies being smarter than the male

characters. She tells Lorenzo that he made her promises in love that he never kept),

Stealing her soul with many vows of faith (He captured her heart with declarations of love)

And ne’er a true one (and did not keep his promises).

LORENZO

In such a nightDid pretty Jessica, like a little shrew (complaining woman),

Slander her love (insult her ‘love’ here her love for Lorenzo),

and he forgave it her (he forgave her for it).

JESSICA

I would out-night you (Jessica is confident she would outwit Lorenzo further if they were undisturbed), did no body come (if no one would disturb them);

But, hark, I hear the footing of a man (But they hear the steps of a man).

Notes on the above interaction:

The above interaction shows us the romantic relationship between Jessica and Lorenzo

 It re-establishes the elements of Love and Romance in the play

 The allusions point to the one common feature in the relationships of all the archetypical lovers: the difficulties they faced in their union

4. Jessica and Lorenzo’s case is no different from that of the historical lovers

Stephano enters the scene and announces:

Portia will be back before dawn

Nerissa and she wander about the ‘holy crosses’ small roadside shrines

 Portia and Nerissa have been in prayer for happy wedlock hours (a happy married life)Lorenzo asks who is with Portia and Stephano mentions Nerissaas ‘a holy hermit and her maid’

Stephano asks Lorenzo if he has had any news from Bassanio.Lorenzo tells him that they have had none.

Lorenzo asks Jessica to move in the Belmont house and take personal charge of the preparations to welcome Portia

Launcelot enters and announces the arrival of a post (a messenger) with his horn (post-horn: it was a custom for themessengers to blow horns before they announced the news) full of good news. They have finally heard from Bassanio. Hewill be in Belmont before the morning.

Lorenzo calls Jessica his ‘sweet soul’ and tells her to move in the house and await the arrival of the master and the mistress of the house

He doubts his own decision: there is no need for them to move in at all as they are almost into the early morning.

He asks Stephano to go into the house and tell the servants and the attendants of the arrival of the owners of the house

He tells Stephano to play music in open air to mark the happy reunion about to take place in the morning hours

Lorenzo makes the following observations about the night and

music:

 The moonlight sleepssweetly upon the bank (personifies the moonlight)

They will sit out in the open and music will gradually ‘creep’ in their ears (a weak personification and a metaphor; music is said to creep and thereby is compared with an creeping insect. It can also be implied that it is the creeping saint trying to spread good feeling and harmony)

The soothing calm and peace of the night suit the notes of melodious ‘harmony’(music)

 He asks Jessica to gaze at the sky and the floor of heaven (a strong metaphor continues in the next lines; heaven (the visible sky) is compared with the floor)

 The floor of heaven (surface of heaven) is richly decorated with ‘patines of bright gold’ (pieces of shiney metal; the stars).

Explanation: as the surface of a room would have the beautiful pattern of metal and stone on it, so has the sky got the stars decorating it.

 Even the smallest orb (planet) that the human eye can see sings like an angel in its path and motion (simile andpersonification here; the planets sing ‘like’ angels and they‘sing’, which is a human character)

 They sing together as if in a quire/concert with the ‘young eyed cherubins’ (A cherubin was the second in the order of angels, portrayed as a winged child)

Explanation: Lorenzo gets highly philosophical in his observations. He refers to the ideas of Pythagoras in observing that the planets and the stars have an inherent music. The Elizabethans too believed that the motion of the stars and the planets produced sounds and the combination of these sounds created harmony.

 The harmony of the planets and the stars is also present in the immortal human soul

It cannot, however, be heard as long as the ‘muddy vesture of decay’ (the perishable human body) ‘grossly’ (rudely/ roughly) ‘close it in’ (holds the ‘immortal soul’ captive)

Note: What Lorenzo is saying is as follows: the music and harmony of the stars and the planets is found also in the immortal soul. Yet, man is unable to hear it as the soul is the prisoner of the perishable body.

The musicians enter and Lorenzo asks them to arouse Diana (the moon Goddess) from her slumber by their music

He asks them to play welcoming notes for Portia

Jessica observes that she is never ‘merry’ (in the jovial mood) when she hears serious music

LORENZO

The reason is (Lorenzo tries to explain Jessica’s behaviour), your spirits are attentive (Jessica is never jovial when shehears sweet music as she is a receptive/sensitive listener):

For do but note a wild and wanton herd (He asks her to observe the behaviour of an indisciplined, uncontrollable herd of cattle),

Or race of youthful and unhandled colts (or the breed of immature and untrained young male horses),Fetching mad bounds (jumping around madly), bellowing

(producing loud sounds) and neighing loud (high sounds), Which is the hot condition of their blood (which is the true nature of their wild blood);

If they but hear perchance a trumpet sound (if they hear perhaps the sound of a trumpet),

Or any air of music (song) touch their ears (if the animal mentioned, the youthful and unhandled colts, hears the melodies and the sound of music),

You shall perceive them make a mutual stand (it is seen that they all stand together still),

Their savage eyes (wild eyes) turn’d(are transformed) to a modest gaze

By the sweet power of music (harmonious influence of music): therefore the poet (here, Ovid, the great Roman poet) Did feign (depicted) that Orpheus (the famous musician in

Greek myth, son of Caliope, was presented with the lyre of Apollo and sang and played so beautifully that animals, plants and even the lifeless objects moved from their places)

drew trees, stones and floods (moved trees, stones and influenced natural phenomenon);

Since nought so stockish, hard and full of rage (as there is nothing so stubborn, insensitive and aggressive), But music for the time doth change his nature (that it cannot be

influenced by the sweet melodies of music). The man that hath no music in himself (a man with no music in him), Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds (and someone

who is not moved by the harmony of sweet sounds),Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils (is suited only for crime, trickery and robbery);

The motions of his spirit are dull as night (such a man has nospiritual life and is mentally dull)

And his affections dark as Erebus (and his feelings are as evilas the home of the dead. Erebus in Greek myth is the homeof the dead):

Let no such man be trusted (such a man is not worthy of anyone’s trust). Mark the music (he asks Jessica to listen to the music).

Note: Lorenzo’s argument is that music has great humanizing qualities and the sensitive react very gravely and somberly to it. Music has the potential to discipline and order even those forms of life that are naturally wild and insensitive.

Enter PORTIA and NERISSA

 Portia observes the light burning in her hall

 She remarks on the light of the candle. The little candle, she says, throws out its beams of light

 She compares the beams of candle light with charitable, good deeds in a corrupt world

 Nerissa responds that the moon light had quite eclipsed the candle’s beams

 Portia compares the moon light with the greater glory. She adds that a King’s substitute can never be the King. That a king’s substitute impresses us as long as the King is not around.

 The presence of the king dims and lessons the radiance of the substitute.

 She uses a simile to tell Nerissa that the substitute disappears before the king as ‘the inland brook’ (the river) vanishes into ‘the main of waters’ (the sea).

 They suddenly hear the music in the air.

 Nerissa points out that the music is of Portia’s band of musicians (it used to be a custom for the rich to employ their ownmusicians)

 Portia opines that things are lent a charm and novelty by theircontexts. That nothing is perfect without favorable surroundings.

 The music, Portia says, sounds more melodious at night than it does by day

 Nerissa says that it is the silence of the night that lends music its greater melody.

PORTIA

The crow doth sing as sweetly (the crow sings as sweetly) as the lark (the lark is a bird of Alaudidae family, foundworldwide and universally acknowledged for its melodious

song),

When neither is attended (when they are not heard; Portia hints at the silence of the night that makes the song of the lark as melodious as that of the crow), and I think

The nightingale, if she should sing by day (if the nightingale were to sing during the day),

When every goose is cackling (when geese made loud and unpleasant sounds) would be thought

No better a musician than the wren (the nightingale would not be any more melodious than the wren).

How many things by season (here, environment/surroundings/ right time) season’d (textured/defined/given a shape) are

(By the above example Portia hints at the contextual propriety of all that is pleasing to human nature. Melody lost in chaos is noise. And silence makes the unpleasant

sounds tolerable.)

To their right praise and true perfection! (things earn their right praise and true perfection by the time and place in which they are born and prosper)

Peace, ho! the moon sleeps with Endymion (Classical allusion: in Greek myth: a beautiful youth, loved by the moon, who visited him every night to bathe him in her silver light)

And would not be awaked (and should not be aroused).

 Lorenzo recognizes Portia’s voice and announces her arrivalfor the audience

 Portia remarks that Lorenzo recognizes her much in the manner of a blind man knowing the cuckoo (by its bad voice). Thefigure of speech is a simile: ‘as the blind man knows the

cuckoo’.

 Lorenzo welcomes Portia home

 Portia tells them that Nerissa and she have been in communion with God for better healths of their husbands and asks whether Bassanio and Gratiano have returned.

 Lorenzo tells them that they have not yet returned. He informs them of the messenger whom they sent to announce their arrival in advance

 Portia tells Nerissa to instruct the servants at home not to let out the fact of their absence from Belmont to her husband. She requests Lorenzo and Jessica for the same and they readily oblige.

 Lorenzo can hear the trumpet of Bassanio’s followers. He promises Portia that they are no ‘tale tellers’

 Portia replies that:

1. The night is not true to its character as it is the time of happy family reunion.

2. It is more like the ‘daylight sick’ (a day without much light), it looks a little dimmer

3. The night is very like the day that is when the sun is concealed in the clouds

 Bassanio enters with Antonio, Gratiano and his followers

 Bassanio remarks that Venitians will share their day time with ‘the Antipodes’ (Australians) if Portia (who is as great a sourceof light as the sun) walks at night

 Portia puns on the word ‘light’, saying that she would love to give light (be a source of light) but not be light (light and shallow of character)

 She remarks that a ‘light’ wife (a woman of shallow character)makes a heavy (sad) husband

 Bassanio should never have a reason in Portia to be heavy

 She thanks God for their safe and sound return

 Bassanio introduces her to Antonio and asks her to welcome him. He describes Antonio as someone to whom he was very indebted

 Portia puns on the word bound. She says that Antonio was ‘bound’ (in chains) for his friend, and, therefore, Bassanio should be much ‘bound’ (grateful) to Antonio.

 Antonio expresses his satisfaction over having got acquitted and does not want the past to be talked about. There is optimism in his heart.

 Portia welcomes Antonio home. She says she is eager to host him not merely in words but in deed. She will ‘scant’ (cut short)‘this breathing courtesy’ (this verbal welcome)

 By this time Nerissa has already cornered Gratiano and he defends himself loudly:

 Gratiano is prepared to swear that he has done no wrong and that Nerissa’s accusations are unjustly made

 Gratiano declares that the ring was indeed given to the clerk ofthe lawyer who represented Antonio

 He also declares that he has no interest in the matter and that the clerk’s welfare is of no concern to him

 Had he known that Nerissa would take the matter so offensively he would not given the ring away to the clerk

 Portia interjects and asks what the quarrel is about

 Gratiano informs them of Nerissa’s grievance. He dismisses her plaints as useless and being about ‘a hoop’ (a ring) of gold

 He calls it a ‘paltry’ (useless) ring, one that had ‘cutler’s poetry’(the common inscriptions that the knife-makers decorated their knives with) on it

 He even quotes the inscription on the ring (comparing it withthose on the knives) as ‘Love me and leave me not’

 Nerissa answers him thus:

NERISSA

What talk you of the posy or the value (Gratiano should not be the one talking of the poetry and its value)?

You swore to me (Gratiano gave Nerissa his word that he will keep the ring with him and defend it), when I did give ityou (at the time the ring was given him),

That you would wear it till your hour of death (he promised her that he will wear the ring till his death)

And that it should lie with you in your grave (and that even his death will not separate him and the ring):

Though not for me, yet for your vehement oaths (Nerissa shows her displeasure by according greater importance to Gratiano’s oaths. He should have kept the ring with him to keep his word, if nothing more),

You should have been respective and have kept it (Gratiano should have kept his oath).

Gave it a judge’s clerk! no, God’s my judge (Just to take the quarrel forward, she doubts Gratiano’s explanation that he gave the ring away to the judge’s clerk),

The clerk will ne’er wear hair on’s face that had it (the clerk who got Gratiano’s ring will never have facial hair on him).

NOTE: Nerissa’s grouse and Portia’s arraignment of Bassaniois the mock revenge the two extract from their husbands. The two women have clearly outwitted their husbands in every

department. The ring episode is their masterstroke.

 GRATIANO protests that the judge’s clerk will grow beard on his face if he grows to be a man. Nerissa however is far from convinced. She mocks him wondering how a woman will grow to be a man.

Gratiano swears again affirming that he gave the ring to a young manGratiano swears again affirming that he gave the ring to a young man

Gratiano describes the man he gave the ring to. The man, he says, was only a boy, short in stature, talkative, and he begged the ring of him. Gratiano could not say not to him.

 Portia finally gives her opinion and criticizes Gratiano. In her opinion Gratiano is guilty. He should not have given away thefirst gift of his wife so carefreely:

1. The ring was held on with promises and pledges of love

2. It was also fastened with faith to Gratiano’s very flesh

3. She points out Bassanio’s ring that she had committed to him at the time of their marriage.

4. Bassanio swore that he would never part with it and Portia is confident that he will neither leave the ring nor remove it off his fingers for all the wealth the world has to offer

5. She snubs Gratiano, alleging that he has given Nerissa a very unreasonable cause of grief.

6. To take the point further, she places herself in Nerissa’s shoes and declares that she would have been equally furious had she been in her place

 Bassanio in an aside wishes that he had never given the ring away. If only he could cut off his finger and say that he lost it in defending the ring

 Gratiano tells them that Bassanio gave his ring away too. That the Judge who asked for it deserved it:

1. That it was only after Bassanio’s act that he gave his ring to the clerk

2. That the boy, his clerk, who made the effort to prepare the deed of gift (for Lorenzo), asked Gratiano his ring

3. That neither the judge (the lawyer) nor his assistant would accept anything but the rings

 Portia asks Bassanio what ring Gratiano has alluded to: is it the ring she gave Bassanio and the one he swore to keep for life

 Bassanio confesses that he cannot add a lie to an error he has already committed. He points to his finger that does not havethe ring upon it

 Portia accuses Bassanio of having a false and empty heart

 She declares that she will not be Bassano’s wife till she sees the ring

 Nerissa also vows not to consider Gratiano her husband till she sees the ring she gifted him

 In his defence Bassanio says that Portia would not have objected to the rings being given to the Judge and his clerk if:

1. She knew the person who was given the ring (implying Balthasar, the lawyer)

2. She knew the person for whom the ring was given (implying Antonio, his dearest friend)

3. She knew why the ring was given (implying the impossibility of saving Antonio and the ease with which Portia brought it about)

4. She knew how all his offers fell on deaf ears and nothing but the ring would be accepted

 If she knew all of the points, she ‘would abate the strength ofher displeasure’ (decrease her anger and plaints against Bassanio)

 Portia, in mock humor between Nerissa and herself, further expresses her deep displeasure with her husband on the following grounds:

1. That Bassanio did not know the ‘virtue’ (true value) of the ring

2. That he did not know half the value and the worth of Portia who had given him the ring

3. That he forgot his own honour with which he had sworn to keep the ring with him

 She questions Bassanio’sversion and wonders why any man would be so stubborn as to insist on the ring if Bassanio defended it with any ‘terms of zeal’ (determination)

 The ring, she tells us, was held by Bassanio as ‘a ceremony’(sacred symbol of marriage)

She is bound to agree with Nerissa that Bassanio gave the ring away not to man but a common woman and she bets her life on it

NOTE: Portia’s speech is a further reflection on the Merchant of Venice being an Elizabethan comedy. The woman holds theman defensive. Portia is calling the shots here, and Bassanio

must defend himself.

BASSANIO

No, by my honour, madam, by my soul (Bassanio swears by his honor as a gentleman and his soul),

No woman had it, but a civil doctor (that he did not give it any woman but a doctor of laws),

Which did refuse three thousand ducats of me (the same doctor who refused three thousand ducats that Bassanio offered him)

And begg’d the ring (and asked Bassanio for the ring); the which I did deny him (and Bassanio refused the ring to himinitially)

And suffer’d him to go displeased away (and the lawyer, being offended by Bassanio’s refusal, walked away initially);

Even he that did uphold the very life (and Bassanio did suffer the displeasure of the very person who saved the very life)

Of my dear friend (of his closest, dearest, friend). What should I say, sweet lady (he tells Portia with regret)?

I was enforced to send it after him (that he was compelled to send the ring to him);

I was beset with shame and courtesy (his refusal to the lawyer had shamed him as a gentleman);

My honour would not let ingratitude (he could not let his honorbe tainted by his own inability to bestow a small reward)

So much besmear it (taint/stain his honour). Pardon me, good lady;

For, by these blessed candles of the night (a metaphor: heswears on the stars, comparing them with the candles),

Had you been there, I think you would have begg’dThe ring of me to give the worthy doctor. (Had Portia beenthere she would ask Bassanio to give the precious ring away

to the deserving doctor who saved the life of his dear friend.)

 Portia angrily tells him not to let the deserving doctor ever visit her.

 The doctor, she says, has got the one thing she so dearly loved. And the one thing Bassanio swore to keep for her and failed to keep his word in.

 Taking her cue from her husband, she will more than generously bestow all that she has upon the learned and talented doctor

 She will not deny the doctor any favours

 Nerissa tells Gratiano that she will be uninhibitedly generous with the lawyer’s clerk and that she should be left to her own protection.

NOTE: Portia and Nerissa tellBassanio and Gratiano in their mock humour that the men have lost their absolute claim over their women now. Since they could not suffer the shame of denying the doctor and his clerk the one precious thing their wives had given them, the wives will not be ashamed to deny the doctor and his clerk the most precious thing the husbands gave them. The husbands’ absolute claim over their wives is their most precious achievement. Portia and Nerissa threaten Bassanio and Gratiano that they will treat the doctor and his clerk as liberally and attentively as they do them.

 Antonio finally interjects and says that he has been the cause of the unhappy quarrels between husbands and wives

 Portia finally realises that she is taking the joke too far and assures Antonio that he is welcome

 Bassanio apologizes to Portia and asks her to forgive him

 Before his dear friends and keeping them as witness he swears to her on her beautiful eyes, in which he sees his reflection

Portia holds the argument there and asks the assembled party to notice that Bassanio’s oath is flawed

 In her two eyes Bassanio‘doubly’ sees himself (his two images). He, therefore, swears by ‘his double self’ {Pun on ‘doubly’. Bassanio sees two images ‘doubly’ and behaves

like a ‘double’ self (false person)}.

 Such an oath cannot be trustworthy

 Bassanio asks for her forgiveness again and swears her that he will never break any of his promises

 Antonio now breaks in with his own assurance and tells Portia that he once lent his body for her Bassanio’s wealth

 He tells Portia that he almost lost his life for Bassanio and that he was saved by the young judge who took the ring

 Antonio pledges his soul for Bassanio’s sake again. Once he put his physical safety at stake for his friend; now he is willing to put his spiritual safety at stake for him (note the use of theword ‘soul’). The phrase ‘soul upon the forfeit’ means thatAntonio commits his soul to Portia as the penalty if Bassaniofails her in his promises.

 Antonio tells Portia that Bassanio will never break his oaths in future

 Portia requests Antonio to be his friend’s guarantor and hands him the ring

 She asks Antonio to tell his friend never to lose the ring again. Antonio hands the ring to Bassanio and tells him to swear never to lose it

 Bassanio looks at the ring with a sense of shock. The ring is the same that he gave the young doctor

 Portia tells Bassanio that she took the ring from the doctor

 At this Nerissa offers Gratiano a ring too, saying that she obtained it of the ‘scrubbed boy’, the doctor’s assistance

 Portia finally addresses all her guests:

PORTIA:

You are all amazed (she refers to their surprise and consternation):

Here is a letter; read it at your leisure (she shows them a letter, asking them to read it);

It comes from Padua, from Bellario(the letter was written by Bellario, her cousin, and came from Padua):

There you shall find that Portia was the doctor (that letter proves beyond doubt that Portia was the doctor of laws and Nerissa, the clerk),

Nerissa there her clerk: Lorenzo here Shall witness I set forth as soon as you (Lorenzo’s testimony is now called upon. He beong a friend of Antonio, Bassanioand Gratiano shall prove that Portia and Nerissa left thehouse as soon as their husbands)

And even but now return’d(and have returned only a little before the men); I have not yet

Enter’d my house (she has just entered the house). Antonio, you are welcome;

And I have better news in store for you (there is somethingbetter Portia has to share with Antonio)

Than you expect: unseal this letter soon (she presents Antonio a seperate letter that she asks him to open);

There you shall find three of your argosies (three of his ships) Are richly come to harbour suddenly (have returned to the harbour safely and unexpectedly):

You shall not know by what strange accident I chanced on this letter (she does not intend to get in the detailof how she got the letter and from where).

NOTE: The above speech is the speech of resolution. Shakespeare must conclude the comedy on the positive note much as he began it on a sombre note of Antonio’s grief. TheMerchant of Venice is rich again and his fortune is restored to him. For reasons of Dramatic Convenience the speech does not detail how and where Portia came across Antonio’s letters)

 Antonio expresses that he is dumb

 Bassanio and Gratiano wonder if Portia was the doctor and Nerissa his attendant

 Antonio reads the letter and conveys that his ships are back indeed. He calls Portia ‘sweet lady’ who has given him ‘lifeand living’

 His ships, he tells us, have safely come to road (back to theharbor)

 Portia tells Lorenzo that she has some good news for him and Jessica too

 Nerissa addresses Lorenzo and Jessica and says that she will give them the bounty without charging them a fee.

 Nerissa hands them the deed of gift that Shylock signed and that entitles them to all his property and money on his death

 Lorenzo thanks them and refers to ‘manna’. Portia and Nerissa drop ‘manna’ (the bread from heaven in the Bible) on starvedpeople. (Note: Lorenzo compares Portia and Nerissa withthe angels from heaven and the others with the starvingHebrews, who nourished by ‘manna’ survived for forty yearsbefore they got to the promised land)

 The morning has approached and Portia knows that the men are still amazed by the sudden discoveries they have made.

 She asks them all to go in and question the ladies there on oath so that their answers dim curiosities. She promises them that Nerissa and she will answer all questions faithfully.

 Gratiano gets to make the concluding remarks. He tells the audience that the only thing he will be wary of ever is losing his wife’s ring.