Narrator’s lines

Portia (171)
Which is the merchant here? And which the Jew?

Duke
Antonio and old Shylock, both stand forth.
Portia
Is your name Shylock?
Shylock
Shylock is my name.
Portia
Of a strange nature is the suit you follow,
Yet in such rule that the Venetian law
Cannot impugn you as you do proceed.
Portia
Antonio, do you confess the bond?
Antonio I do.
Portia: Then must the Jew be merciful.
Shylock: On what compulsion must I? Tell me that.
Portia
The quality of mercy is not strained,
It drops as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest,
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes.
It is an attribute to God himself.
Therefore Jew,
I have spoke thus much to mitigate the justice of thy plea,
Which if you follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence ’gainst the merchant there.
Shylock
My deeds upon my head, I crave the law, the penalty and forfeit of my bond.

Portia
Is he not able to discharge the money?
Bassanio
Yes, here I tender it for him in the court,
Yea, twice the sum. If that will not suffice,
I will be bound to pay it ten times o’er,
On forfeit of my hands, my head, my heart.
If this will not suffice, it must appear
That malice bears down truth. And I beseech you, O Duke,
Wrest once the law to your authority.
To do a great right, do a little wrong,
And curb this cruel divel of his will.
Portia
It must not be, there is no power in Venice
Can alter a decree establishèd.
’Twill be recorded for a precedent,
And many an error by the same example
Will rush into the state. It cannot be.
Shylock
A Daniel come to judgment, yea a Daniel.
O wise young judge, how I do honor thee.
Portia (to Shylock) I pray you, let me look upon the bond.
Shylock
Here ’tis, most reverend doctor, here it is.
Portia
Shylock, there’s thrice thy money offered thee.
Shylock An oath, an oath, I have an oath in heaven.
Shall I lay perjury upon my soul?
No, not for Venice.
Portia
Why, this bond is forfeit,
And lawfully by this the Jew may claim
A pound of flesh, to be by him cut off
Nearest the merchant’s heart. Be merciful,
Take thrice thy money, bid me tear the bond.
Shylock
When it is paid according to the tenure.. tear it
Antonio Most heartily I do beseech the court
To give the judgment.
Portia
Why, then thus it is
You must prepare your bosom for his knife.
Shylock
Aye, his breast,
So says the bond
Nearest his heart, those are the very words.
Portia
It is so. Are there balance here to weigh the flesh?
Shylock I have them ready.
Portia
Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your charge,
To stop his wounds, least he should bleed to death.
Shylock
Is it so nominated in the bond?
Portia
It is not so expressed, but what of that?
’Twere good you do so much for charity.

Shylock (examining document) I cannot find it, ’tis not in the bond.
Portia
Come merchant, have you anything to say?

Antonio
But little. I am armed and well prepared.
Give me your hand, Bassanio, fare you well.
Commend me to your honorable wife,
Tell her the process of Antonio’s end,
Say how I loved you, speak me fair in death.
And when the tale is told, bid her be judge
Whether Bassanio had not once a love.

Bassanio
Antonio, I am married to a wife
Which is as dear to me as life itself,
But life itself, my wife, and all the world
Are not with me esteemed above thy life.
I would lose all, I sacrifice them all
Here to this devil, to deliver you.

Gratiano I have a wife whom I protest I love,

I would she were in heaven, so she could
Entreat some power to change this currish Jew.
Shylock
Huh! (A sarcastic remark, just to show that Shylock didn’t like what these men said about their
wife)
We trifle time, I pray thee pursue sentence.
Portia
A pound of that same merchant’s flesh is thine, and you must cut this flesh from off his breast.
The court awards it, and the law doth give it.
Shylock Most rightful judge– a sentence – come, prepare.
Portia
Tarry a little, there is something else.
This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood,
The words expressly are a pound of flesh.
Then take thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh,
But in the cutting it, if thou dost shed
One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods
Are by the laws of Venice confiscate
Unto the state of Venice.
Gratiano
O upright judge!
Mark, Jew! O learnèd judge.

Shylock Is that the law?

Portia
Thyself shall see the act.
For as thou urgest justice, be assured
You shall have justice more than thou desirest.
Gratiano O learned judge! Mark, Jew! A learnèd judge.
Shylock
I take this offer then. Pay the bond thrice,
And let the Christian go.
Bassanio
Here is the money.
Portia
Soft!
The Jew shall have all justice.
He shall have nothing but the penalty.
Therefore prepare thee to cut off the flesh,
Shed thou no blood, nor cut thou less nor more
But just a pound of flesh. If thou take more
Or less than a just pound, be it so much
As makes it light or heavy in the substance,
Or if the scale do turn
But in the estimation of a hair,
Thou diest, and all thy goods are confiscate. (Just a brief pause here)
Why doth the Jew pause? Take thy forfeiture.
Shylock
Shall I not have barely my principal?
Portia
You shall have nothing but the forfeiture,
To be taken so at thy peril, Jew.
Shylock Why then the devil give him good of it.
I’ll stay no longer question.

Portia
Tarry, Jew,
The law hath yet another hold on you. It is enacted in the laws of Venice,
If it be proved against an alien
That by direct, or indirect, attempts
He seek the life of any citizen,
The party ’gainst the which he doth contrive
Shall seize one half his goods, the other half
Comes to the privy coffer of the state,
And the offender’s life lies in the mercy
Of the Duke only, ’gainst all other voice.
In which predicament I say thou stand.
For it appears by manifest proceeding,
That indirectly, and directly too,
Thou has contrived against the very life
Of the defendant.
Down therefore, and beg mercy of the Duke.
Gratiano
Beg that thou mayst have leave to hang thyself.
Duke
That you shall see the difference of our spirit,
I pardon thee thy life before you ask it.
For half thy wealth, it is Antonio’s.
The other half comes to the general state,
Which humbleness may drive unto a fine.
Portia
Ay, for the state, not for Antonio.

Shylock
Nay, take my life and all. Pardon not that!
You take my life
When you do take the means whereby I live.

Portia
What mercy can you render him, Antonio?
Gratiano
A halter – gratis. Nothing else, for God’s sake.
Antonio So please my lord the Duke, and all the court
To quit the fine for one half of his goods.
I am content, so he will let me have
The other half in use, to render it,
Upon his death, unto the gentleman
That lately stole his daughter.
Two things provided more, that for this favor
He presently become a Christian,
The other, that he do record a gift
Here in the Court of all he dies possessed
Unto his son Lorenzo and his daughter.
Portia
Are you content, Jew? What do you say?
Shylock I am content.
Portia
Clerk, draw a deed of gift.
Shylock
I pray you give me leave to go from hence.
I am not well, send the deed after me,
I will sign it.
Duke
Get thee gone, but do it.
Gratiano
In christening you shall have two godfathers.
Had I been judge, you should have had ten more,
To bring thee to the gallows, not to the font.

CUT