THE MERCHANT OF VENICE Essay Summary Example For Students

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE Essay Summary A monologue from the play by William ShakespeareMOROCCO: Some god direct my judgment! Let me seeI will survey th inscriptions back again.What says this leaden casket?Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath. Must give for what? for lead! hazard for lead?This casket threatens; men that hazard allDo it in hope of fair advantages.A golden mind stoops not to shows of dross;Ill then nor give nor hazard aught for lead.What says the silver with her virgin hue?Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves.As much as he deserves? Pause there, Morocco,And weigh thy value with an even hand:If thou best rated by thy estimation,Thou dost deserve enough; and yet enoughMay not extend so far as to the lady;And yet to be afeard of my deservingWere but a weak disabling of myself. We will write a custom essay on THE MERCHANT OF VENICE Summary specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now As much as I deserve? Why thats the lady!I do in birth deserve her, and in fortunes,In graces, and in qualities of breeding;But more than these, in love I do deserve.What if I strayed no farther, but chose here?Lets see once more this saying graved in gold:Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire.Why thats the lady! All the world desires her;From the four corners of the earth they comeTo kiss this shrine, this mortal breathing saint.The Hyrcanian deserts and the vasty wildsOf wide Arabia are as thoroughfares nowFor princes to come view fair Portia. The watery kingdom, whose ambitious headSpits in the face of heaven, is no barTo stop the foreign spirits, but they comeAs oer a brook to see fair Portia.One of these three contains her heavenly picture.Ist like that lead contains her? Twere damnationTo think so base a thought; it were too grossTo rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave.Or shall I think in silver shes immured,Being ten times undervalued to tried gold?O sinful thought! Never so rich a gemWas set in worse than gold. They have in EnglandA coin that bears the figure of an angelStamped in gold but thats insculped upon;But here an angel in a golden bedLies all within. Deliver me the key.Here do I choose, and thrive I as I may!