The Merchant of Venice (30 page)

2.
 Directed by Denis Carey (1953). Angus McBean © Royal Shakespeare Company

3.
 Directed by John Barton (1978). Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

4.
 Directed by Gregory Doran (1997). Malcolm Davies © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

5.
 Directed by David Thacker (1993). Malcolm Davies © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

6.
 Directed by Darko Tresnjak (2007). © Donald Cooper/photostage.co.uk

7.
 Directed by Trevor Nunn (1999). © Donald Cooper/photostage.co.uk

8.
 Directed by Bill Alexander (1988). Reg Wilson © Royal Shakespeare Company

9.
 Reconstructed Elizabethan Playhouse © Charcoalblue

¹
sooth
truth

⁴
stuff
substance
whereof … born
i.e. what is its cause

⁵
to learn
yet to discover

⁶
want-wit
senseless idiot

⁷
ado
trouble

⁸
tossing on
troubled/preoccupied with

⁹
argosies
large merchant ships
portly
stately, majestic
sail
sails/(act of) sailing

¹⁰
signiors
sirs/gentlemen
burghers
citizens
flood
sea

¹¹
pageants
spectacles, shows

¹²
overpeer
look down upon
petty traffickers
inferior merchant ships

¹³
curtsy
bow or curtsy, perhaps suggested by the bobbing of the smaller ships in the argosies’ wake
do them reverence
pay them respect

¹⁴
fly
speed
woven wings
material sails (also suggestive of the wings of a
fly
)

¹⁵
venture
risky business enterprise
forth
away from home, i.e. on the seas

¹⁶
better part
greater half
affections
emotions/thoughts

¹⁷
hopes
expectations, prospects
still
constantly

¹⁸
where sits
i.e. which way blows

¹⁹
roads
harbors

²⁴
ague
fever, shaking

²⁶
should
i.e. could

²⁷
flats
sandbanks

²⁸
Andrew
name of a ship

²⁹
Vailing
lowering (in submission)
high top
top section of the mast
ribs
i.e. body of the ship

³⁰
burial
burial place
should I
was I able to

³²
bethink me straight
think immediately

³³
but
merely
gentle
noble/harmless

³⁴
stream
current

³⁵
waters … silks
may play on idea of “watered silk,” a relatively new fabric

³⁶
even
just
this
this much (i.e. the value of the cargo)

³⁹
bechanced
having happened

⁴³
bottom
ship’s bottom, hold

⁴⁴
estate
fortunes/circumstances

⁴⁵
Upon
dependent on/risked upon
fortune
chance, fate

⁴⁸
Fie
expression of impatience or disgust

⁵²
Janus
Roman god with two faces

⁵³
framed
formed

⁵⁴
peep
peer through eyes half-closed in laughter

⁵⁵
bagpiper
bagpipes were thought to sound melancholic

⁵⁶
other
others
vinegar aspect
sour expression

⁵⁸
Though
even if
Nestor
Trojan leader, noted for his wisdom and gravity
Gratiano
according to a contemporary Italian dictionary, a name given to a foolish or clownish character in a play

⁶³
prevented
forestalled

⁶⁴
dear
valuable
regard
consideration

⁶⁶
embrace
welcome
th’occasion
the opportunity

⁶⁸
laugh
i.e. meet for some fun

⁶⁹
strange
distant/unfamiliar

⁷⁰
leisures … yours
spare time accommodate yours, i.e. ensure we are available when you are

⁷³
have in mind
i.e. think about

⁷⁶
respect … world
concern for worldly affairs/business

⁷⁷
it
enjoyment (especially of material wealth)
buy … care
i.e. worry so much about it

⁷⁸
marvellously
extremely

⁷⁹
hold
consider, view

⁸³
old
your former/plentiful/familiar, “good old” (puns on the sense of “elderly”)

⁸⁴
liver
thought to be the seat of the passions

⁸⁵
heart … groans
groans were believed to drain blood from the heart
mortifying
penitential/deadly

⁸⁷
grandsire
grandfather
cut in alabaster
i.e. a statue on a tomb

⁸⁸
creep … jaundices
become yellow from an excess of yellow bile or choler

⁸⁹
peevish
irritable, morose

⁹¹
visages
faces

⁹²
cream and mantle
become covered in a layer of scum (i.e. are calm/expressionless)
standing
still/stagnant

⁹³
wilful
deliberate
stillness
restraint/quietness
entertain
maintain

⁹⁴
dressed … opinion
invested with a reputation

⁹⁵
conceit
understanding

⁹⁶
As … say
as if to say

⁹⁷
ope
open

¹⁰¹
damn … fools
condemn the hearers for obliging them to call the speakers fools (according to the Bible a damnable offense)

¹⁰⁴
melancholy bait
i.e. silence used to fool people into assuming you are wise

¹⁰⁵
fool
foolish
gudgeon
proverbially gullible fish

¹⁰⁷
exhortation
earnest speech/entreaty

¹⁰⁹
dumb
silent

¹¹³
grow
become
for this gear
as a result of this talk/on account of this matter

¹¹⁵
neat’s tongue dried
cured ox tongue
vendible
saleable/sought-after (for marriage)

¹¹⁶
Is … now?
Did that (talk) mean anything?

¹¹⁸
reasons
reasonings, opinions

¹¹⁹
ere
before

¹²²
same
i.e. one

¹²⁶
disabled
devalued

¹²⁷
something
somewhat
swelling port
extravagant lifestyle

¹²⁸
faint
inadequate
grant continuance
allow maintenance (of)

¹²⁹
make moan
complain
abridged
deprived

¹³⁰
noble rate
high style of living
care
concern

¹³¹
come … from
i.e. repay

¹³²
time
(young) age/time spent
prodigal
excessive, lavish

¹³³
gaged
pledged/entangled

¹³⁵
warranty
authorization

¹³⁶
unburden
reveal

¹⁴⁰
Within … honour
i.e. honorable

¹⁴²
occasions
needs

¹⁴³
shaft
arrow

¹⁴⁴
his … flight
the same type of arrow

¹⁴⁵
advisèd
careful

¹⁴⁶
forth
out
adventuring
risking

¹⁴⁷
urge
bring forward
proof
test/example

¹⁴⁸
innocence
sincerity

¹⁵¹
self
same

¹⁵³
or
either

¹⁵⁴
hazard
i.e. that which was risked subsequently

¹⁵⁵
rest
remain

¹⁵⁶
spend but
only waste

¹⁵⁷
wind … circumstance
ingratiate yourself by speaking in an elaborate, roundabout way

¹⁵⁸
out of
without

¹⁵⁹
making … uttermost
questioning my offer of all the help I can give

¹⁶⁰
made waste
spent/wasted

¹⁶¹
but
only

¹⁶³
pressed
enlisted

¹⁶⁴
richly left
with a large inheritance (left by her father)

¹⁶⁶
Sometimes
formerly, at one time