Act 2, Scene 9

Belmont. A room in PORTIA's house.

[Enter NERISSA, with a SERVITOR.]
Nerissa
1039 Quick, quick, I pray thee, draw the curtain straight;
1040 The Prince of Arragon hath ta'en his oath,
1041 And comes to his election presently.
[Flourish of cornets. Enter the PRINCE OF ARRAGON, PORTIA, and their Trains.]
Portia
1042 Behold, there stand the caskets, noble Prince:
1043 If you choose that wherein I am contain'd,
1044 Straight shall our nuptial rites be solemniz'd;
1045 But if you fail, without more speech, my lord,
1046 You must be gone from hence immediately.
Prince of Arragon
1047 I am enjoin'd by oath to observe three things:
1048 First, never to unfold to any one
1049 Which casket 'twas I chose; next, if I fail
1050 Of the right casket, never in my life
1051 To woo a maid in way of marriage;
1052 Lastly,
1053 If I do fail in fortune of my choice,
1054 Immediately to leave you and be gone.
Portia
1055 To these injunctions every one doth swear
1056 That comes to hazard for my worthless self.
Prince of Arragon
1057 And so have I address'd me. Fortune now
1058 To my heart's hope! Gold, silver, and base lead.
1059 'Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.'
1060 You shall look fairer ere I give or hazard.
1061 What says the golden chest? Ha! let me see:
1062 'Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire.'
1063 What many men desire! that 'many' may be meant
1064 By the fool multitude, that choose by show,
1065 Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach;
1066 Which pries not to th' interior, but, like the martlet,
1067 Builds in the weather on the outward wall,
1068 Even in the force and road of casualty.
1069 I will not choose what many men desire,
1070 Because I will not jump with common spirits
1071 And rank me with the barbarous multitudes.
1072 Why, then to thee, thou silver treasure-house;
1073 Tell me once more what title thou dost bear:
1074 'Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves.'
1075 And well said too; for who shall go about
1076 To cozen fortune, and be honourable
1077 Without the stamp of merit? Let none presume
1078 To wear an undeserved dignity.
1079 O! that estates, degrees, and offices
1080 Were not deriv'd corruptly, and that clear honour
1081 Were purchas'd by the merit of the wearer!
1082 How many then should cover that stand bare;
1083 How many be commanded that command;
1084 How much low peasantry would then be glean'd
1085 From the true seed of honour; and how much honour
1086 Pick'd from the chaff and ruin of the times
1087 To be new varnish'd! Well, but to my choice:
1088 'Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves.'
1089 I will assume desert. Give me a key for this,
1090 And instantly unlock my fortunes here.
[He opens the silver casket.]
Portia
1091 Too long a pause for that which you find there.
Prince of Arragon
1092 What's here? The portrait of a blinking idiot,
1093 Presenting me a schedule! I will read it.
1094 How much unlike art thou to Portia!
1095 How much unlike my hopes and my deservings!
1096 'Who chooseth me shall have as much as he deserves.'
1097 Did I deserve no more than a fool's head?
1098 Is that my prize? Are my deserts no better?
Portia
1099 To offend, and judge, are distinct offices,
1100 And of opposed natures.
Prince of Arragon
1101 What is here?
Prince of Arragon
1102 'The fire seven times tried this;
1103 Seven times tried that judgment is
1104 That did never choose amiss.
1105 Some there be that shadows kiss;
1106 Such have but a shadow's bliss;
1107 There be fools alive, I wis,
1108 Silver'd o'er, and so was this.
1109 Take what wife you will to bed,
1110 I will ever be your head:
1111 So be gone; you are sped.'
Prince of Arragon
1112 Still more fool I shall appear
1113 By the time I linger here;
1114 With one fool's head I came to woo,
1115 But I go away with two.
1116 Sweet, adieu! I'll keep my oath,
1117 Patiently to bear my wroth.
[Exit ARAGON with his train.]
Portia
1118 Thus hath the candle sing'd the moth.
1119 O, these deliberate fools! When they do choose,
1120 They have the wisdom by their wit to lose.
Nerissa
1121 The ancient saying is no heresy:
1122 'Hanging and wiving goes by destiny.'
Portia
1123 Come, draw the curtain, Nerissa.
[Enter a SERVANT.]
Servant
1124 Where is my lady?
Portia
1125 Here; what would my lord?
Servant
1126 Madam, there is alighted at your gate
1127 A young Venetian, one that comes before
1128 To signify th' approaching of his lord;
1129 From whom he bringeth sensible regreets;
1130 To wit,—besides commends and courteous breath,—
1131 Gifts of rich value. Yet I have not seen
1132 So likely an ambassador of love.
1133 A day in April never came so sweet,
1134 To show how costly summer was at hand,
1135 As this fore-spurrer comes before his lord.
Portia
1136 No more, I pray thee; I am half afeard
1137 Thou wilt say anon he is some kin to thee,
1138 Thou spend'st such high-day wit in praising him.
1139 Come, come, Nerissa, for I long to see
1140 Quick Cupid's post that comes so mannerly.
Nerissa
1141 Bassanio, lord Love, if thy will it be!
[Exeunt.]

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Notes

TLN 1041archaic vocab
“comes to his election presently”
'Election' here means the act of choosing — Arragon is about to make his selection from the three caskets. 'Presently' means immediately, not 'in a little while' as it does in modern English.
TLN 1057archaic vocab
“I address'd me”
'Address'd me' means he has prepared or composed himself — the reflexive construction 'address oneself' meant to make ready for an action. Arragon says he has braced himself for the choice.
TLN 1064cultural context
“fool multitude, that choose by show”
Arragon scorns the 'fool multitude' who judge by outward show rather than inner worth, and refuses to 'jump with' (agree with) the common crowd. His disdain for the masses is ironic: his self-congratulatory logic leads him straight to the silver casket and a fool's portrait, proving him the greatest fool of all.
historical The three caskets
TLN 1066cultural context
“like the martlet, Builds in the weather on the outward wall”
The martlet (also spelled 'martinet') is a swift or house-martin, a small bird that nests on the exposed outer walls of buildings rather than in protected eaves. Arragon uses it as a figure for foolish people who build their lives on surfaces exposed to storms and chance — 'in the force and road of casualty' means in the direct path of misfortune.
TLN 1079historical topical
“estates, degrees, and offices / Were not deriv'd corruptly”
Arragon wishes that rank ('estates'), social position ('degrees'), and public posts ('offices') were earned by merit rather than inherited corruptly. 'How many then should cover that stand bare' means: how many low-born people of true worth would then be entitled to keep their hats on (a mark of honour) before those who now receive that deference with none of the worth to deserve it. The complaint was a live one in Elizabethan England, where office and title were bought, inherited, or granted by favour.
TLN 1102biblical allusion
“The fire seven times tried this; / Seven times tried that judgment is”
The scroll inside the silver casket opens by invoking the image of silver 'tried' (refined, tested) seven times in fire -- a biblical figure for perfect purity. Psalm 12:6 declares that the words of God are 'as the silver, tried in a furnace of earth, fined seven fold' (Geneva 1599). The casket that looks purest, tried seven times, is still only silver; and the judgment that has never chosen amiss has just chosen wrong.
TLN 1107archaic vocab
“There be fools alive, I wis”
'I wis' is an archaic expression meaning 'certainly' or 'indeed.' It derives from the Old English verb 'witan,' to know, and was already old-fashioned in Shakespeare's time — appropriate here since the scroll is written in a mock-antique, rhyming verse form. The line means: 'There are fools alive, to be sure.'
TLN 1118rhetorical device
“the candle sing'd the moth”
Portia draws on a proverbial comparison: moths are attracted to candle flames and are burned by the very thing that draws them. The saying compressed the casket plot into a single image — the suitors are moths lured to what they think is light, and they are singed for their presumption. 'Deliberate fools' (TLN 1119) sharpens the irony: the more carefully they reason, the more certainly they fail.
TLN 1122wordplay
“Hanging and wiving goes by destiny”
Nerissa quotes a proverbial saying: marriage ('wiving') and hanging — both irreversible fates, both things one cannot escape when destined — are governed by fate, not choice. The dark comic pairing of marriage with execution was a stock Elizabethan joke. Coming just after Arragon departs humiliated, the proverb also reassures Portia: neither she nor Bassanio can force the outcome; destiny will bring the right man.
TLN 1129archaic vocab
“sensible regreets; / To wit,—besides commends and courteous breath”
'Sensible regreets' means tangible, physical greetings — gifts you can touch ('sensible' = perceptible to the senses), as opposed to mere words. 'Commends' means commendations, compliments. 'Courteous breath' is polite speech. The servant is reporting that Bassanio's messenger brings both spoken greetings and actual presents.
TLN 1135archaic vocab
“this fore-spurrer comes before his lord”
A 'fore-spurrer' is a forerunner who rides ahead — literally one who spurs his horse forward in advance of the main party to announce or prepare for its arrival. The servant is calling Bassanio's young messenger a herald or advance man who signals his lord's imminent approach.
TLN 1138archaic vocab
“Thou spend'st such high-day wit in praising him”
'High-day' means festive or holiday, the best and most elaborate. Portia is teasing the servant for burning his most extravagant, show-off eloquence ('high-day wit') on praise of Bassanio's messenger — as if he is saving his fine Sunday speech for this one young man. The implication is that his enthusiasm betrays a personal partiality for whoever this visitor is.
TLN 1140classical allusion
“Quick Cupid's post that comes so mannerly”
A 'post' was a mounted courier who rode quickly ('quick') between posts along a road — the fastest messenger of the period. Portia calls Bassanio's young envoy 'Cupid's post,' meaning Love's own swift messenger. Cupid was the Roman god of love, here imagined as the master who has sent this handsome young man ahead to announce Bassanio. Nerissa's closing line ('Bassanio, lord Love, if thy will it be!') confirms that she and Portia both believe and hope this suitor is the right one.
classical Cupid's golden and leaden arrows