Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 8/8/22

 

 

But little: I am arm’d and well prepared.

-Antonio

The Merchant of Venice                Act IV, scene i, line 264

 

You merchant, have you anyhing to say? This is what Portia asks Antonio as she is about to let Shylock loose to collect his pound of flesh. Today’s Totally Random Line is Antonio’s answer. I guess that by arm’d he means ready to accept his fate, not arm’d in that he has a weapon. He has no weapon. And his reply that he has but little to say seems appropriate. Antonio is the titular Merchant, and yet he really doesn't have all that much to say in this play. Bassanio, Portia, Shylock, heck even Launcelot Gobo seem to have a lot more to say than Antonio. I'm just saying. 

Now, something new: Our Totally Random Line(s) are going to be semi-random for a little while. Let me explain. Bill and I started our second book a while back and it’s a retelling of The Merchant of Venice. We’ve been a bit lax on sticking with it, so in an effort to change that and to get myself to write more, I’m going to restrict my random line picks to Merchant for the next little while. How long? Not sure. As long as it takes, I suppose. I had kicked around the idea of Bill and I taking a trip to Venice to get us going on the project, but I don’t see that happening any time in the near future. So perhaps this is the next best thing to get us going. But, who knows, Venice may still be in the cards. Someday.

Maybe someday, but not today.