Act 1, Scene 3

Venice. A public place

[Enter BASSANIO and SHYLOCK.]
Shylock
297 Three thousand ducats; well?
Bassanio
298 Ay, sir, for three months.
Shylock
299 For three months; well?
Bassanio
300 For the which, as I told you, Antonio shall be bound.
Shylock
301 Antonio shall become bound; well?
Bassanio
302 May you stead me? Will you pleasure me? Shall I know your
303 answer?
Shylock
304 Three thousand ducats, for three months, and Antonio bound.
Bassanio
305 Your answer to that.
Shylock
306 Antonio is a good man.
Bassanio
307 Have you heard any imputation to the contrary?
Shylock
308 Ho, no, no, no, no: my meaning in saying he is a good man
309 is to have you understand me that he is sufficient; yet his means
310 are in supposition: he hath an argosy bound to Tripolis, another
311 to the Indies; I understand, moreover, upon the Rialto, he hath a
312 third at Mexico, a fourth for England, and other ventures he
313 hath, squandered abroad. But ships are but boards, sailors but
314 men; there be land-rats and water-rats, land-thieves and
315 water-thieves,—I mean pirates,—and then there is the peril of
316 waters, winds, and rocks. The man is, notwithstanding,
317 sufficient. Three thousand ducats- I think I may take his bond.
Bassanio
318 Be assured you may.
Shylock
319 I will be assured I may; and, that I may be assured, I
320 will bethink me. May I speak with Antonio?
Bassanio
321 If it please you to dine with us.
Shylock
322 Yes, to smell pork; to eat of the habitation which your
323 prophet, the Nazarite, conjured the devil into. I will buy with
324 you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so
325 following; but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray
326 with you. What news on the Rialto? Who is he comes here?
[Enter ANTONIO]
Bassanio
327 This is Signior Antonio.
[Aside]
Shylock
328 How like a fawning publican he looks!
329 I hate him for he is a Christian;
330 But more for that in low simplicity
331 He lends out money gratis, and brings down
332 The rate of usance here with us in Venice.
333 If I can catch him once upon the hip,
334 I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.
335 He hates our sacred nation; and he rails,
336 Even there where merchants most do congregate,
337 On me, my bargains, and my well-won thrift,
338 Which he calls interest. Cursed be my tribe
339 If I forgive him!
Bassanio
340 Shylock, do you hear?
Shylock
341 I am debating of my present store,
342 And, by the near guess of my memory,
343 I cannot instantly raise up the gross
344 Of full three thousand ducats. What of that?
345 Tubal, a wealthy Hebrew of my tribe,
346 Will furnish me. But soft! how many months
347 Do you desire?
[To ANTONIO]
Shylock
348 Rest you fair, good signior;
349 Your worship was the last man in our mouths.
Antonio
350 Shylock, albeit I neither lend nor borrow
351 By taking nor by giving of excess,
352 Yet, to supply the ripe wants of my friend,
353 I'll break a custom.
[To BASSANIO]
Antonio
354 Is he yet possess'd
355 How much ye would?
Shylock
356 Ay, ay, three thousand ducats.
Antonio
357 And for three months.
Shylock
358 I had forgot; three months; you told me so.
359 Well then, your bond; and, let me see. But hear you,
360 Methought you said you neither lend nor borrow
361 Upon advantage.
Antonio
362 I do never use it.
Shylock
363 When Jacob graz'd his uncle Laban's sheep,—
364 This Jacob from our holy Abram was,
365 As his wise mother wrought in his behalf,
366 The third possessor; ay, he was the third,—
Antonio
367 And what of him? Did he take interest?
Shylock
368 No, not take interest; not, as you would say,
369 Directly interest; mark what Jacob did.
370 When Laban and himself were compromis'd
371 That all the eanlings which were streak'd and pied
372 Should fall as Jacob's hire, the ewes, being rank,
373 In end of autumn turned to the rams;
374 And when the work of generation was
375 Between these woolly breeders in the act,
376 The skilful shepherd peel'd me certain wands,
377 And, in the doing of the deed of kind,
378 He stuck them up before the fulsome ewes,
379 Who, then conceiving, did in eaning time
380 Fall parti-colour'd lambs, and those were Jacob's.
381 This was a way to thrive, and he was blest;
382 And thrift is blessing, if men steal it not.
Antonio
383 This was a venture, sir, that Jacob serv'd for;
384 A thing not in his power to bring to pass,
385 But sway'd and fashion'd by the hand of heaven.
386 Was this inserted to make interest good?
387 Or is your gold and silver ewes and rams?
Shylock
388 I cannot tell; I make it breed as fast.
389 But note me, signior.
Antonio
390 Mark you this, Bassanio,
391 The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
392 An evil soul producing holy witness
393 Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
394 A goodly apple rotten at the heart.
395 O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!
Shylock
396 Three thousand ducats; 'tis a good round sum.
397 Three months from twelve; then let me see the rate.
Antonio
398 Well, Shylock, shall we be beholding to you?
Shylock
399 Signior Antonio, many a time and oft
400 In the Rialto you have rated me
401 About my moneys and my usances;
402 Still have I borne it with a patient shrug,
403 For suff'rance is the badge of all our tribe;
404 You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog,
405 And spet upon my Jewish gaberdine,
406 And all for use of that which is mine own.
407 Well then, it now appears you need my help;
408 Go to, then; you come to me, and you say
409 'Shylock, we would have moneys.' You say so:
410 You that did void your rheum upon my beard,
411 And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur
412 Over your threshold; moneys is your suit.
413 What should I say to you? Should I not say
414 'Hath a dog money? Is it possible
415 A cur can lend three thousand ducats?' Or
416 Shall I bend low and, in a bondman's key,
417 With bated breath and whisp'ring humbleness,
418 Say this:—
419 'Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last;
420 You spurn'd me such a day; another time
421 You call'd me dog; and for these courtesies
422 I'll lend you thus much moneys?'
Antonio
423 I am as like to call thee so again,
424 To spet on thee again, to spurn thee too.
425 If thou wilt lend this money, lend it not
426 As to thy friends,—for when did friendship take
427 A breed for barren metal of his friend?—
428 But lend it rather to thine enemy;
429 Who if he break thou mayst with better face
430 Exact the penalty.
Shylock
431 Why, look you, how you storm!
432 I would be friends with you, and have your love,
433 Forget the shames that you have stain'd me with,
434 Supply your present wants, and take no doit
435 Of usance for my moneys, and you'll not hear me:
436 This is kind I offer.
Bassanio
437 This were kindness.
Shylock
438 This kindness will I show.
439 Go with me to a notary, seal me there
440 Your single bond; and, in a merry sport,
441 If you repay me not on such a day,
442 In such a place, such sum or sums as are
443 Express'd in the condition, let the forfeit
444 Be nominated for an equal pound
445 Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken
446 In what part of your body pleaseth me.
Antonio
447 Content, in faith; I'll seal to such a bond,
448 And say there is much kindness in the Jew.
Bassanio
449 You shall not seal to such a bond for me;
450 I'll rather dwell in my necessity.
Antonio
451 Why, fear not, man; I will not forfeit it;
452 Within these two months, that's a month before
453 This bond expires, I do expect return
454 Of thrice three times the value of this bond.
Shylock
455 O father Abram, what these Christians are,
456 Whose own hard dealings teaches them suspect
457 The thoughts of others. Pray you, tell me this;
458 If he should break his day, what should I gain
459 By the exaction of the forfeiture?
460 A pound of man's flesh, taken from a man,
461 Is not so estimable, profitable neither,
462 As flesh of muttons, beefs, or goats. I say,
463 To buy his favour, I extend this friendship;
464 If he will take it, so; if not, adieu;
465 And, for my love, I pray you wrong me not.
Antonio
466 Yes, Shylock, I will seal unto this bond.
Shylock
467 Then meet me forthwith at the notary's;
468 Give him direction for this merry bond,
469 And I will go and purse the ducats straight,
470 See to my house, left in the fearful guard
471 Of an unthrifty knave, and presently
472 I'll be with you.
Antonio
473 Hie thee, gentle Jew.
[Exit SHYLOCK]
Antonio
474 This Hebrew will turn Christian: he grows kind.
Bassanio
475 I like not fair terms and a villain's mind.
Antonio
476 Come on; in this there can be no dismay;
477 My ships come home a month before the day.
[Exeunt]

Reading mode

Word definitions on hover

Notes

TLN 297archaic vocab
“Three thousand ducats”
A ducat was a gold coin widely used across Europe and the Mediterranean world in the sixteenth century. Three thousand ducats was a very large sum — the equivalent of several years' wages for a skilled craftsman.
TLN 306wordplay
“Antonio is a good man”
Shylock's 'good' means financially solvent and creditworthy, not morally virtuous. Bassanio misreads the word as a moral verdict; Shylock immediately clarifies that 'good' = 'sufficient' as a guarantor. The confusion is deliberate — Shylock and the Christians talk in the same words but with different values underneath.
TLN 310archaic vocab
“he hath an argosy bound to Tripolis”
An argosy was a large merchant ship — the word comes from Ragusa (modern Dubrovnik), a trading city whose great vessels were famous across the Mediterranean. Shylock is cataloguing Antonio's wealth, which is entirely tied up in ships at sea. The detail plants the risk that will later destroy Antonio's credit.
TLN 323biblical allusion
“the Nazarite, conjured the devil into”
Shylock calls Jesus 'the Nazarite' — the man from Nazareth — and alludes to the episode in which Jesus cast a legion of demons out of a man and into a herd of pigs, which then drowned. For Shylock, eating pork means eating the very animal that housed the devil. His refusal to dine is a statement of Jewish dietary law (kashrut), but framed as mockery of a Christian belief.
TLN 323cultural context
“I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you”
Shylock draws a precise line: commercial dealings with Christians are permitted; social and religious fellowship (eating, drinking, praying together) is not. This reflects actual restrictions observed by traditionally observant Jews — sharing meals raised questions of dietary law and religious purity. Shylock is not being rude; he is stating a boundary that has legal and religious ground.
historical The 'Jew' on the Elizabethan stage
TLN 328biblical allusion
“How like a fawning publican he looks”
In the New Testament a 'publican' was a Jewish tax collector working for Rome — despised as a traitor and a sinner. Shylock uses the word as a term of contempt: Antonio creeps and fawns like a corrupt collaborator with the enemy. The irony is that it is Shylock, the Jew, flinging a New Testament insult at the Christian.
TLN 332archaic vocab
“The rate of usance here with us in Venice”
'Usance' means interest on a loan — the practice of charging extra money in return for the use of capital over time. Antonio lends at no interest ('gratis'), which Shylock says cuts into the going rate for lenders like himself. Charging interest was morally condemned by the medieval Church, and the word 'usance' carries that stigma.
historical Usury and the bond
TLN 333archaic vocab
“If I can catch him once upon the hip”
'Catch upon the hip' is a wrestling term: to hold an opponent by the hip is to have him in a throw from which he cannot escape. Shylock means he is waiting for the moment when Antonio is helpless and at his mercy — a metaphor from physical combat that gives his commercial grudge a violent edge.
TLN 363biblical allusion
“When Jacob graz'd his uncle Laban's sheep”
Shylock tells the story of Jacob from Genesis: Jacob struck a deal with his uncle Laban to take as wages any speckled or spotted lambs born to the flock. He then used peeled rods set before the ewes at mating to make them produce more speckled offspring. For Shylock, Jacob's shrewd increase of his share was a form of profit blessed by God — a defense of lending at interest. Antonio rejects the parallel.
biblical Jacob and Laban's sheephistorical Usury and the bond
TLN 371archaic vocab
“all the eanlings which were streak'd and pied”
'Eanlings' are newborn lambs (from 'yean,' to give birth to a lamb). 'Streak'd and pied' means streaked and multi-colored — speckled or patchy in appearance. These were the lambs Jacob was entitled to as wages under his deal with Laban.
TLN 391historical topical
“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose”
Antonio dismisses Shylock's biblical argument with a proverb: the devil can quote the Bible to advance an evil cause. The idea that Satan misuses scripture was a Christian commonplace rooted in the Gospel account of the Temptation, where Satan quotes Psalm 91 to tempt Jesus. Antonio compares Shylock to a 'goodly apple rotten at the heart' — outwardly sound, inwardly corrupt.
TLN 400historical topical
“In the Rialto you have rated me”
The Rialto was Venice's commercial and financial district — the equivalent of the City of London — where merchants gathered to exchange news and do business. To 'rate' someone is to scold or berate them publicly. Shylock tells Antonio that he has publicly abused him in Venice's commercial heart, specifically for charging interest. This speech is the most explicit account in the scene of how Antonio has treated Shylock.
historical The 'Jew' on the Elizabethan stage
TLN 403cultural context
“suff'rance is the badge of all our tribe”
'Suff'rance' means patient endurance of wrongs. Shylock says that patient tolerance of abuse is the defining mark of Jewish people in Venice — forced on them by circumstance, not chosen as a virtue. The word 'badge' is pointed: in some European cities Jews were required to wear a badge identifying them, and 'gaberdine' (the Jewish mantle he mentions) was itself a marker of Jewish identity.
TLN 405archaic vocab
“spet upon my Jewish gaberdine”
A gaberdine was a long, loose outer garment. Shylock's is specifically 'Jewish' — the long coat associated with Ashkenazi Jewish dress. Antonio has spat on it, a gesture of profound contempt. 'Spet' is an older past tense of 'spit.'
TLN 416archaic vocab
“in a bondman's key, With bated breath and whisp'ring humbleness”
A 'bondman' is a slave or serf. Shylock asks sarcastically whether he should speak in a slave's low, submissive tone — 'bated breath' means breath held in fear and submission, 'whisp'ring humbleness' a cringing voice. He is imitating the posture Antonio apparently expects of him while simultaneously refusing it.
TLN 434archaic vocab
“take no doit Of usance for my moneys”
A 'doit' was the smallest possible coin — a Dutch half-farthing, used proverbially for 'not a penny.' Shylock says he will take not the tiniest amount of interest. Coming from the man who has just catalogued Antonio's abuse of him, this offer of a free loan sounds magnanimous — and Bassanio suspects it immediately.
TLN 444historical topical
“Be nominated for an equal pound Of your fair flesh”
The flesh-bond is Shylock's condition: if Antonio fails to repay, Shylock may cut a pound of flesh from any part of Antonio's body he chooses. 'Nominated' means formally specified (as in a legal document). 'Equal' means exactly — precisely one pound, no more or less. The condition will be exploited literally in the trial scene (4.1). Shylock proposes it as a 'merry sport' — a jest — and Antonio accepts it as such.
historical Usury and the bond
TLN 455biblical allusion
“O father Abram, what these Christians are”
Shylock invokes Abraham (Abram), the founding patriarch of the Jewish people, as a private exclamation — an appeal to his own God. Abraham is the ancestor of both Jews and Christians in the biblical tradition, but Shylock's use of 'our father Abram' marks this as distinctly Jewish identity. The line comes as Antonio, who has just promised to spit on Shylock again, accuses him of being suspicious for no reason.