The Merchant of Venice (34 page)

⁶⁰To … natures
i.e. Aragon must not assess his own case now that it has been judged; or, Portia says that she cannot comment, because she is the indirect cause of the offense

⁶³this
i.e. the silver casket

⁶⁴judgement
i.e. God’s judgment

⁶⁵amiss
incorrectly

⁶⁶shadows
images/illusions/ reflections

⁶⁸iwis
indeed

⁶⁹Silvered o’er
white-haired/decorated with ornamentation indicating military or court status

⁷¹I
i.e. the fool’s head

⁷²sped
(have) achieved your purpose/sent away with speed

⁷⁴By the time
i.e. the longer

⁷⁸wroth
grief/anger

⁸⁰deliberate
calculating

⁸³wiving
marrying
goes
is determined

⁸⁶my lord
playful response to
my lady

⁹⁰sensible regreets
tangible greetings (i.e.
gifts
)

⁹¹To wit
that is to say
commends
commendations
breath
speech

⁹²yet
until now

⁹⁵costly
bountiful

⁹⁶fore-spurrer
one who has ridden ahead (i.e. messenger)

⁹⁹high-day
holiday (i.e. elaborate)

¹⁰¹post
messenger

²it … unchecked
an undisputed rumor is circulating

³lading
cargo
narrow seas
presumably the English Channel

⁴Goodwins
Goodwin Sands, off the Kent coast
flat
sandbank

⁵tall
lofty/gallant

⁶gossip
old friend/chatty woman

⁹knapped
nibbled at
ginger
old women were proverbially fond of ginger

¹⁰slips of prolixity
evasions into tedious explanation

¹¹crossing
forestalling
plain … talk
i.e. good, honest communication

¹⁴Come … stop
i.e. get to the point and finish what you’re saying

¹⁷prove
prove to be

¹⁸betimes
at once
cross
thwart

²⁴wings
(page’s) costume/flying apparatus

²⁶fledged
ready to fly/sexually ripe
complexion
temperament

²⁷dam
mother

²⁹devil
probably alludes to Shylock

³⁰flesh and blood
i.e. daughter (Solanio plays on the sense of “sexual desires”)

³¹Out upon it
expression of irritation
carrion
putrefying flesh
these years
i.e. your advanced age

³⁴jet and ivory
i.e. black and white

³⁷match
contract

³⁹mart
market, i.e. the
Rialto

⁴⁰look to
heed, remember

⁴¹for … courtesy
out of Christian charity/for a good deed in return

⁴⁶hindered me
prevented me from earning

⁴⁸cooled
alienated

⁴⁹heated
angered

⁵¹dimensions
parts of the body
affections
inclinations/emotions/love
passions
powerful emotions

⁵⁸what … humility
i.e. in what benevolent manner does he respond

⁵⁹his sufferance
the Jew’s endurance

⁶¹go hard but
be highly unfortunate if I do not

⁶²better the instruction
improve on the (Christian) example

⁶⁵up and down
everywhere

⁶⁶of the tribe
i.e. Jew

⁶⁷matched
i.e. found to match them

⁶⁸Genoa
northwestern coastal Italian city

⁷³Frankfurt
site of a famous jewelry fair
curse
God’s curse on the Jews

⁷⁷hearsed
in a coffin

⁸¹satisfaction
compensation

⁸²lights
settles

⁸⁷cast away
lost, shipwrecked

⁹⁴fourscore
eighty

⁹⁶at a sitting
in one go

⁹⁷divers
several

⁹⁸break
fail to keep the bond/go bankrupt

¹⁰¹of
from

¹⁰³Out upon her!
expression of frustration and condemnation

¹⁰⁴Leah
Shylock’s wife

¹⁰⁵wilderness
i.e. large number

¹⁰⁶undone
ruined

¹⁰⁷fee
purchase, hire, secure

¹⁰⁸officer
constable/ bailiff
bespeak
engage
before
i.e. before the date of Antonio’s bond

¹¹⁰what
whatever
merchandise
business dealings
will
want

¹tarry
wait, delay

²in choosing
if you choose

³forbear
desist, have patience

⁶quality
way

⁸And … thought
i.e. a modest young woman can think but not speak what she feels

¹⁰venture
take a chance (i.e. with the caskets)

¹¹forsworn
will have broken my promise

¹²So
that (i.e. forsworn)
So
as a result
miss me
i.e. choose incorrectly

¹⁵o’erlooked
bewitched

¹⁷would
i.e. should

¹⁸naughty
wicked

¹⁹bars
obstacles

²⁰though … yours
i.e. although I am truly yours (by desire), I am not so legitimately
Prove it
if it turn out to be

²²peise
delay (literally by weighing down)

²³eke
eke out, extend

²⁴stay
prevent/dissuade
election
choice

²⁶rack
torture instrument that stretched the limbs, used to elicit confessions from those suspected of
treason

²⁹mistrust
worry, doubt

³⁰fear
fearful, doubtful about
enjoying
with sexual connotations

³²as
as between

³⁴enforcèd
compelled

³⁶confess and live
plays on “confess and be hanged” (proverbial)

⁴⁰deliverance
i.e. from death

⁴¹let me to
allow me (to deal with)

⁴⁴aloof
to one side

⁴⁶swan-like end
swans were thought to sing as they died

⁵¹flourish
trumpet fanfare

⁵³dulcet
sweet

⁵⁶presence
dignity/noble demeanor

⁵⁷Alcides
i.e. Hercules, who rescued Hesione from a
sea-monster
and was rewarded by her father, the king of Troy, with a pair of magnificent horses, rather than the maiden’s love

⁵⁸howling
grieving

⁵⁹stand for
represent

⁶⁰Dardanian
Trojan

⁶¹blearèd visages
tear-stained faces

⁶²issue
outcome

⁶³Live thou
if you live

⁶⁴fray
assault/din

⁶⁵fancy
love

⁶⁶Or
either

⁶⁷begot
conceived

⁷¹the cradle
its infancy/the
eyes

⁷²knell
funeral bell