Merchant Of Venice Flashcards
3000 ducats in return …
‘a pound of flesh’
Should antonio default on the the loan.
Shlyock states the flesh will…
“Feed his revenge”
If Bassanio loses the ring… (ruin)
It will “ruin” their love.
Shylock is adamant that Antonia had abused him in the past and should now beware his…
“Fangs”
Portia enters disguised as…
“Balthasar”
Who came to try their luck with the caskets and what did Portia call one of them?
-The Moorish Prince (Prince of Morocco) Gold casket.
-The Prince of Arragon (Picks the silver casket containing a message calling him a “blinking idiot”).
Antonio Quote Sadness
“In sooth, I know not why I am so sad.”
In sooth” is an old way of saying “honestly”. “I know not” is an inverted way of writing “I do not know”. So, this sentence becomes: “Honestly, I do not know why I am so sad”.
Salarino suggest ships at sea however we know why he is actually sad
Shylock grudge quote
“I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him”
The alliteration of “feed fat” draws attention to Shylock’s intense desire for revenge and he will later feed his desire for blood and flesh.
Antonio’s acts against Shylock
“You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog and spit upon my Jewish gaberdine.”
Shakespeare’s characterisation conveys anti-Semitism, whilst his word choice also demonstrates how Antonio treated Shylock, which is effective because it enlightens the audience to the plight of Jewish people
Bassanio about Antonia
“The dearest friend to me, the kindest man”
Bassanio owes…
“To you Antonio, I owe the most, in money and in love.”
He uses this moment to recognize his friendship with Antonio, declaring that he not only owes him money, but also love.
About Portia
“In Belmont is a lady richly left”
Mentions her wealth before her name.
Bassanio talking about the bond [Antonio]
“You [Antonio] shall not seal to such a bond for me, I’ll rather dwell in my necessity.”
Portia to Bassanio about belongings
“This house, these servants, and this same myself, are yours my Lord.
Bassanio about his dearest friend…
“The dearest friend to me, the kindest man”
Juxtaposing triplet Shylock to Antonio
“I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you… but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you.”
Shylock hate for ✝️
“I hate him for he is a Christian”
The declarative statement leaves the audience in no doubt about the depth of Shylock’s hatred.
The reason for this hatred is evident in the sentence construction; the conjunction ‘for’ links the two clauses together and shows how the hatred is inextricably linked to religion.
Understandable hate by Shylock for Antonio
“You spit upon my Jewish gaberdine”
If I am a dog (Shylock)
“Is it possible a cur can lend three thousand ducats”
Biblical mockery by Shylock
“I’ll go in hate, to feed upon the prodigal Christian”
Shylock telling Jessica to not look at Christian behaviour
“nor thrust your head into the public street.”
About Jessica running away [Shylock]
“She is damned for it.” “My own flesh and blood to rebel!”
Shylock talking about revenge
“If it [flesh] will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge.”
Shylock about him acting the same as Christians (teached by them)
“The villainy you [Christians] teach me, I will execute”
Shylock going crazy losing his mind.
“I am very glad of it: I’ll plague him; I’ll torture him: I am glad of it.”
Shylock wanting his bond real bad.
“I’ll have my bond; I will not hear thee speak: I’ll have my bond.”
Jessica about her house
“Our house is hell”
Jessica ashamed
“Alack, what heinous sin is it in me to be ashamed to be my father’s child!”
Shakespeare conveys the themes of shame and religious intolerance effectively through his use of these words
Jessica saved by …
“I shall be saved by my husband; he hath made me a Christian”
she claims that she follows a new father and cannot be held accountable for the sins of her former patriarch.
Portia about Bassanio
”I remember him well, and I remember him worthy of thy praise.”
Portia about the bond (pay)
”Pay him six thousand and deface the bond, Double six thousand and then treble that.”
Her sentence structure beginning with verbs demonstrates her possession of power, because orders typically follow the structure of verbs followed by the action.
Portia smart thinking [bond]
”Tarry a little; there is something else, this bond doth give thee here no jot of blood.”
She warns Shylock if he lets fall ‘‘one drop of Christian blood’’, the state would confiscate his property.
Gratiano about Shylock
”O, be thou [Shylock] damn’d, inexecrable dog!”
Inexecrable - impossible to stop or prevent.
Gratiano about Shylock [death]
“A halter gratis; nothing else, for God’s sake.”
Halter - a rope (implying to hang him)
Nerissa about Portia’s father
”Your father was ever virtuous; and holy men at their death have good inspiration”
Virtuous - high moral standards
Nerissa about Bassanio
”He, of all men that ever my foolish eyes looked upon, was the best deserving a fair lady.”
Money and Wealth Quote (ocean)
”Your mind is tossing on the ocean”
Salarino uses the metaphor of a ship being tossed about on stormy seas to describe his friend’s troubled mental state.
Money and Wealth Bassanio owes Antonio…
”To you Antonio, I owe the most, in money and in love”
Money and Wealth Bassanio about Portia…
”In Belmont is a lady richly left”
Talks about her wealth before her name.
Money and Wealth about the bond
”Three thousand ducats for three months and Antonio bound.”
Physical binding to the bond
Money and Wealth Shylock proposes bond as
”Merry Sport”
Money and wealth letter in gold casket
“All that glitters is not gold”
an aphorism stating that not everything that looks precious or true turns out to be so
Money and Wealth Bassanio about 💸
“For thy three thousand ducats here is six.”
Antonio is saved by…
The absence of “blood” in the wording [bond]?
Flesh and blood quote, Jessica about being the daughter.
“But though I am a daughter to his blood, I am not his manners.”
Even Shylock’s own daughter doesn’t accept his behaviours and doesn’t like them
Flesh and blood about the bond in court. [shall have]
“The Jew shall have my flesh, blood, bones and all, ere thou shalt lose for me one drop of blood.”
Loyalty to ones parent Portia
“I may neither choose whom I would, nor refuse whom I dislike, so is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father.”
Portia is complaining about how she has no agency to choose her husband.
Quote about love Jessica
“Love is blind”
Quote about love, Bassanio talks about the ring.
“When the ring, parts from this finger, then parts life from hence.
In this example, the ring is a symbol of Portia’s love and commitment, and if Bassanio doesn’t keep it on his finger, he’s in big trouble.
Antonio Mercy Quote
“I pray thee, hear me speak”
Duke about Shylock, Mercy quote. [uncapable]
“An inhuman wretch, uncapable of pity / void and empty from any dram of mercy.”
Duke expecting Mercy quote
“We all expect a gentle answer, Jew.”
The pun on the word “gentile” indicates that they are expecting him to show the more “Gentile” quality of mercy, and abandon his cruel project of revenge to exact his pound of flesh.
Shylock quote hatred & prejudice [borne]
“Still have I borne it with patient shrug, for sufferance is the badge of all our tribe.”
Hatred and prejudice, a bit of both (turn)
“The Hebrew will turn Christian: he grows kind.”
The jew hatred and prejudice (devil)
“Certainly the jew is the very devil incarnation.”
Solanio hatred and prejudice (Jew)
“The villain Jew”
“The dog Jew”
Gratiano hate and prejudice [jew]
“This currish jew.”
currish - bad tempered.
Gratiano hate and prejudice (dog)
“O, be thou damn’d, inexecrable dog!”
Inexecrable - deserving of death (adjective)
Prejudice quote shylock goods (seize)
“Shall seize one half of his goods”
Shylock justice and law quote bond [fool]
“I’ll not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool.”
Antonio about the law… [deny]
“The Duke cannot deny the course of law.”
Antonio’s statement emphasises the importance of upholding the law, suggesting his readiness to face the consequences.
Shylock about law (stand)
“I stand here for law.”
Justice and law bond quote [claim]
“And lawfully by this the Jew may claim a pound of flesh.”
Shylock craving justice and law quote
“I crave the law, the penalty and forfeit of my bond”
he tries to make everyone believe that as a follower of the law he would ‘ve allow Antonio to cut a pound of flesh from his very own body if it was the other way around
Justice and law court quote [both]
“The court awards it, and the law doth give it”
Problem with bond justice and law quote (jot)
“This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood.”
if Shylock cuts the flesh, he’d be guilty of murder and receive the penalty under the law.
Women quote Portia (will)
“So is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father”
Portia’s father constructed his will to protect her from fortune hunters and to ensure that she married a man who would value everything Portia is and not merely her money and beauty; however, it is also possible to see in his actions a lack of faith in Portia’s good sense - he doesn’t trust her to make a wise choice on her own.
Jessica transforms to boy
“Cupid himself would blush, to see me thus transformed to a boy.”
Jessica is self-conscious about her love for Lorenzo while cross dressing, as they would appear to be a gay male couple to any unknowing observer.
Cupid - Ancient Roman God of love.
Jessica shame (candle)
“What must I hold a candle to my shames”
Portia to prince of Morocco
“If my form lie there, then I am yours.”
Shylock what he would do to his daughter.
“she were hearsed at my foot.”
This shows how selfish Shylock is, and how he wants to kill his daughter because she left for love, and he cares more about getting his money back that she stole.
Hearsed - placed body in the earth.
Moral values Gratiano Quote (respect)
“You have too much respect upon the world”
-This quote means that Antonio’s taking things too seriously and people with too much invested in the world always get hurt.
Shylock moral values
“If you prick us, do we not bleed.”
The quote proudly asserts the equality between Christians and Jews and all other races of human beings on earth. Shylock declares that, just like a Christian, he bleeds when he is pricked and laughs when he is tickled.
Antonio letter to Bassanio
“All debts are cleared between you and I”
The play can be seen to symbolise (books)
Old and new testament, Old testament law of retaliation principle of ‘an eye for an eye’ and is seen in Shylocks determination to ‘feed’ his revenge.
