Quotations about love

Question 1

Antonio views Bassanio having doubts about their friendship as worse than if he bankrupted him

Answer 1

“And out of doubt you do me now more wrong / In making question of my uttermost / Than if you had made waste of all I have” (1.1.155)

Question 2

Nerissa seemingly views the idea of Portia’s father to have her marry someone who passes the casket test as a positive thing, seemingly suggesting his love for Portia

Answer 2

“Your father was ever virtuous, and holy men at their death / have good inspirations” (1.2.25)

Question 3

Bassanio doesn’t want Antonio to agree to Shylock’s bond offer as he risks losing a pound of flesh, suggesting Bassanio does truly care for Antonio

Answer 3

“You shall not seal to such a bond for me! / I’ll rather dwell in my necessity” (1.3.150)

Question 4

The Prince of Morocco seems to care for Portia and says he would be sad if he failed the casket test

Answer 4

“And so may I, blind fortune leading me, / Miss that which one unworthier may attain / And die with grieving” (2.1.36)

Question 5

Bassanio and their friends accepts Gratiano’s sometimes wild and rude self, suggesting they are true friends

Answer 5

“No, that were pity. / I would entreat you rather to put on / Your boldest suit of mirth, for we have friends / That purpose merriment” (2.2.182)

Question 6

Jessica seems to hate life in Shylock’s, her father’s, house. This suggests they don’t have a loving child-parent relationship

Answer 6

“Our house is hell” (2.3.2)

Question 7

Lorenzo seems to love Jessica’s appearance and handwriting, implying he loves her

Answer 7

“I know the hand. In faith, ‘tis a fair hand, / And whiter than the paper it writ on / Is the fair hand that writ” (2.4.12)

Question 8

Shylock tells Jessica to lock up their house, but this may be because he loves her and wants to keep her safe

Answer 8

“What, are there masques? Hear you me, Jessica. / Lock up my doors” (2.5.27)

Question 9

Lorenzo seems to truly love Jessica initially

Answer 9

“And therefore, like herself-wise, fair and true- / Shall she be placèd in my constant soul” (2.6.56)

Question 10

The Prince of Morocco truly seems sad when he fails the casket test, suggesting he did truly love Portia

Answer 10

“I have too grieved a heart / To take a tedious leave. Thus losers part” (2.7.78)

Question 11

Antonio very much cares for Bassanio and even tears up when he leaves, showing the strong love Antonio has for him

Answer 11

“And even there, his eye being big with tears, / Turning his face, he put his hand behind him” (2.8.46)

Question 12

Portia half mocks the Prince of Arragon for taking too long to choose the wrong casket, implying she did not love him

Answer 12

“Too long a pause for that which you find there” (2.9.52)

Question 13

Shylock states he wouldn’t have given away the ring Leah gave to him for a whole jungle of monkeys, suggesting he truly loved her

Answer 13

“I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor. I would / not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys” (3.1.102)

Question 14

Portia thinks she will make herself sick with how much she loves Bassanio, suggesting her love for him is genuine

Answer 14

“I feel too much thy blessing. Make it less / For fear I surfeit” (3.2.113)

Question 15

Gratiano gives a dramatic description of how he showed Nerissa his love, implying he may just want to have fun and not truly love Nerissa

Answer 15

“And swearing till my very roof was dry / With oaths of love” (3.2.204)

Question 16

Bassanio seems truly distraught at Antonio’s letter, suggesting he genuinely cares for him

Answer 16

“The paper as the body of my friend, / And every word in it a gaping wound” (3.2.263)

Question 17

Antonio just wants to see Bassanio before he dies, showing how much he loves him

Answer 17

“Pray God Bassanio come / To see me pay his debt, and then I care not” (3.3.35)

Question 18

Lorenzo praises Portia for her kindness towards Antonio, showing both Lorenzo’s respect for Portia and Antonio

Answer 18

“How true a gentleman you send relief / How dear a lover of my lord your husband, I know you would be prouder of the work” (3.4.6)

Question 19

Jessica tries to tell Lorenzo good things about him, even though he doesn’t seem to want to hear them

Answer 19

“Nay, let me praise you while I have a stomach” (3.5.78)

Question 20

Bassanio says he will give Shylock a lot of money and even his body so Antonio is saved

Answer 20

“I will be bound to pay it ten times o’er, / On forfeit of my hands, my head, my heart” (4.1.209)

Question 21

Antonio wants Bassanio to tell his wife of how Antonio loved him

Answer 21

“Say how I loved you. Speak me fair in death” (4.1.272)

Question 22

Antonio tells Bassanio to weigh their friendship against the order from his wife when asking him to give the ring to Portia in disguise as the lawyer, which Bassanio does, implying he likes Antonio more than Portia

Answer 22

“Let his deservings and my love withal / Be valued against your wife’s commandment” (4.1.447)

Question 23

Jessica says that none of Lorenzo’s vows of love for her were true, in a playful manner, but it brings their love into doubt

Answer 23

“Did young Lorenzo swear he loved her well, / Stealing her soul with many vows of faith, / And ne’er a true one” (5.1.18)