Why look how you storm!

I would be friends with you, and have your love,

Forget the shames that you have stain’d me with,

Supply your present wants and take no doit

Of usance for my monies,

And you’ll not hear me: this is kind I offer.

 

-Shylock

The Merchant of Venice                Act I, scene iii, line 45

 

I’m going to maintain that skipping around like this, whether within one play or through all Will’s works, has the advantage of having any and every possible line highlighted, where it might otherwise be skipped over. And that’s a good thing. But to today’s line…

Shylock had been saying previously that Antonio has in the past been very mean to him, spit on him and treated him like a dog. And for these courtesies/I’ll lend you thus much monies’? he asks of Antonio. Antonio’s reply is an interesting one.

         I am as like to call thee so again,

        To spit on thee again, to spurn thee too.

        If thou wilt lend this money, lend it not

        As to thy friends— for when did friendship take

        A breed for barren metal of his friend?—

        But lend it rather to thine enemy;

        Who if he break, thou mayst with better face

        Exact the penalty.

 

For when did friendship… Antonio’s saying when did friendship ever increase based on the money of a friend?

Who if he break… who if he goes bankrupt.

This is the storming that Shylock is referring to, and responding to, with today’s Totally Random Lines.

Now, there’s a lot here, and I gave you quite a bit to read, but I think this is a really important piece of the play. Shylock has justly accused Antonio of being really rotten to him, of spitting on him and treating him like a dog. Even with all that he’s saying that he would be willing to be friends with Antonio. He’d be willing to take no doit of usance – take not a penny of interest for the loan. We can argue as to whether or not this is a sincere offer, but either way Antonio has already made it very clear that he wants absolutely nothing to do with Shylock on a personal basis; he only wants the money loaned on a purely business-based relationship. At this point Shylock offers, and Antonio accepts, the pound of flesh deal.

So, who’s the bad guy? You tell me.

No doit of usance..

 

Not one red cent.

 

Is it your dear friend that is thus in trouble?

 -Portia

The Merchant of Venice                Act III, scene ii, line 290

 

Day five of Merchant; And for the third day in a row, we’re on the same scene; in fact, the same part of the same scene (I didn't post to the blog yesterday, but the line I read was from this scene). Today we have Portia asking Bassanio if the person in trouble is his dear friend Antonio. Yes, it is; and he is perhaps dearer than you could imagine.

It's widely, albeit not universally, held that Antonio and Bassanio were gay, or at least bisexual, lovers. This is one reason posited for why Antonio is so sad at the beginning of the play. He’s sad because he knows that Bassanio will be leaving him to pursue Portia. So, when Portia refers to Bassanio’s dear friend, it begs the question of whether or not she knows just how dear a friend he is.

What do you think?

And just when I thought there was no way I had any pics relevant to two gay friends, I find this one. How about that!

 

 

I would you had won the fleece that he hath lost!

-Solanio

The Merchant of Venice                Act III, scene ii, line 241

 

Day three of Merchant.

We are in Belmont, and earlier in this scene Bassiano picked the correct casket and has won Portia’s hand. Now, Solanio has just arrived from Venice, and Gratiano is asking for news of Antoino.

                How doth that royal merchant, good Antonio?             

                I know he will be glad of our success;

                We are the Jasons, we have won the fleece.

To which Solanio replies with today’s semi-random line. Of course, the news he brings in a letter, which Bassanio and Gratiano have not yet read, is that Antonio has defaulted on the debt and is going to have to give a pound of flesh to Shylock. So it’s not particularly good news, is it.

Both Solanio and Gratiano are making reference to Jason and the Golden Fleece, a story from Greek mythology in case you’re not familiar with it. Jason and his crew go on a quest to bring back the Golden Fleece which was considered a great treasure. After many adventures, they succeed. Gratiano is comparing Bassanio and himself to Jason and his men. Solanio is talking about Antonio when he says the fleece that he hath lost, because Antonio has lost it all.

This poor guy really lost it all - fleece, flesh, you name it. 

 

 

You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog,

And spit upon my Jewish gabardine,

And all for use of that which is mine own.

-Shylock

The Merchant of Venice                Act I, scene iii, line 111

 

Day two of semi-random Merchant, and what do we have here. I’ll tell you what we have. We have cut right to the heart of the play. If not the heart as Will intended it, certainly the heart of the play as it is viewed today, and the reason that the play is considered a bit problematic in the twenty-first century.

Bassanio and Antonio have come to Shylock to borrow money, and Shylock is raising the issue of his own Jewishness and how he has been persecuted for it.

Now, do we discuss what’s going on in the play here and what we think Will meant, or do we discuss modern sensibilities and why this line is emblematic of why the play can be difficult to deal with in 2022? Related as they are, these two topics diverge significantly, but  both of them require careful consideration in any modern presentation, interpretation, or retelling of this play. Whilst I'm not going to delve further into it now, I lay this out there for your consideration with the promise that we will be considering this further as we continue our semi-random Merchant journey. 

 

Simon & Garfunkel - America (from The Concert in Central Park) - YouTube

 No pic today, just a song. I picked it because it has the word gaberdine in it and this is the only time I've ever run into that word other than here in Merchant. But it's also a great song.

 

 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.

 

Merely awry: when he did love his country,

It honour’d him.

-Junius Brutus

Coriolanus                      Act III, scene i, line 304

 

The crowd, led by the two tribunes Sicinius Veletus and Junius Brutus, is calling for the head of Caius Marcius Coriolanus. Menenius Agrippa, the voice of reason, is trying to calm the crowds by telling them that Coriolanus fought and bled to defend Rome and that if he were now to be killed by Romans it would be a mark of dishonour against Rome that would last to the end of the world. Sicinius says that’s absolutely wrong, and Junius follows him up with Today’s Totally Random Line.

I guess I now realize why this play is not taught in high schools: the representation of Sicinius and Junius is so like today’s politicians that it would not be allowed.

Quel dommage.

The summer growth, the patio furniture, and a migrating flamingo have taken over quite a bit of the view outside my cellar office window. Thinking about the state of our nation's politics and realizing that this sorry state hasn't changed in centuries (and probably never will- it's part of the human condition) is a bit depressing. So I'm posting a pic that's got nothing to do with that. Can you blame me?

 

 

It is not for prisoners to be too silent in their words; and therefore I will say nothing:

 

-Costard

Love’s Labour’s Lost            Act I, scene ii, line 155

 

Costard seems to be contradicting himself in this sentence, doesn’t he? He is told he’s going to prison, and he says Well, if ever I do see the merry days of desolation that I have seen, some shall see--. Moth interrupts with What shall some see?, and Costard replies with Today’s Totally Random Line(s).

 

Nay, nothing Master Moth, but what they look upon. It is not for prisoners to be too silent in their words; and therefore I will say nothing: I thank God I have as little patience as another man; and therefore I can be quiet.

 

So, what exactly is Costard saying? It seems to be a whole lot of contradiction, doesn’t it? Every piece of this seems to be a self-contained contradiction: They won’t see anything but what they see; It’s not for me to say nothing, so I’ll say nothing; I have little patience, so I can exercise patience and be quiet. What the heck?

This whole scene, most of it dominated by Armado and Moth, is a lot of wordplay. Will loves wordplay, especially in his comedies. And this is, of course, a comedy.

So Costard gets led away by Moth to confinement directly after speaking these lines, and Armado finishes the scene talking to himself about the country wench that he is in love with.

But, what’s it all mean Basil? I think that’s up to you.

This is Veronica Roodt. I was going to say that this picture is completely irrelevant, but now that I think about it:

Veronica's mere presence, at the time and place that we met her, seemed to be a contradiction in and of itself. And today's line is all about contradictions, isn't it?