The Merchant

of Venice ACT 2
byWilliam
Shakespeare

Done by : Maria ,Wasan

,Areen,Farah 9B NAT
 Scene 1

Characters : Portia , Morocco

Portia is still at Belmont having a chat with the Prince of Morocco. Portia didn’t
like his dark skin. But the Prince says he wouldn't change his skin color except
to change Portia's thoughts about him.
the Prince would stand in her affections just like any of the other suitors
. all of his bravado doesn't matter. Rules are rules, and he can only win Portia
through chance. 
The Prince comments that in a game of dice, even Hercules could be beaten by
his servant. Luck doesn't favor anybody, no matter how worthy he is. Still, he
wants to take the chance to win Portia.
Finally Portia reveals that, her father has also placed a condition on anyone
who chooses to try their luck. If a suitor decides to play the lottery of chests
and chooses the wrong one, not only does he lose a chance at Portia, he must
never talk of marriage to another woman again. Hearing this, the Prince insists
on playing the lottery anyway,
 Scene 2

Characters : Bassanio,Gratanio,Launcelot ,
Gobbo
Lancelot Gobbo, Shylock's servant,, having a very serious conversation with himself about his
desire to quit his job. He says his conscience tells him to stay with Shylock out of loyalty
Just then Old Gobbo—Lancelot's dad, who is mostly blind—shows up looking for his son.
Lancelot decides to have some fun with his father before he reveals his identity
Lancelot continues to mess with the poor old blind man, telling him the joke that his son is
dead.
Lancelot finally reveals himself to be Old Gobbo's son,. Old Gobbo has brought Shylock a
present, and Lancelot suggests his dad give the present to Bassanio instead, as Bassanio is
Lancelot's new chosen master.
Bassanio enters the scene and hears a convoluted attempt on the part of both Lancelot and
his father to get the younger man employed by Bassanio. Bassanio cuts off all the idiocy by
announcing that Shylock's already given over Lancelot's service to him, though Lancelot will
be leaving a rich Jew to serve a poor gentleman. Lancelot insists he's okay with this, and
Bassanio sends Old Gobbo off with young Gobbo to buy some fancy new threads.
Bassanio is then left to talk with the newly arrived Graziano. Graziano insists that Bassanio
must take him along to Belmont when he goes to woo Portia. Bassanio is hesitant.
Graziano promises he'll be on his very best behavior and won't do anything to ruin
Bassanio's chance of winning Portia. Then they agree that tonight is a night for celebration.
 Scene 3

Characters:Jessica, Launcelot
At Shylock's house, Jessica, who is his rebellious daughter,
laments Lancelot's impending departure. Living in Shylock's house
is apparently miserable, and Lancelot was always a good
distraction from the surrounding misery. Giving him a gold coin,
she instructs Lancelot to take a letter to Lorenzo, who should be at
Bassanio's house for dinner.
Jessica at least feels guilty about the fact that she is ashamed of
being Shylock's daughter.  
Still, Jessica declares that, even though she shares her father's
blood, she's nothing like him. Jessica hopes to put an end to all
her troubles by becoming Lorenzo's wife and converting to
Christianity
 Scene 4

Characters:
Lorenzo,Gratanio,Salerio,Solanio,launcelot
Lorenzo, Gratiano, Solanio, and Salerio all meet at a street in Venice to discuss a
plot they've concocted that is not quite ready to be carried out. Lorenzo suggests
that they slip away during dinnertime and disguise themselves, but Salerio points
out that they don't have torchbearers (guys to carry their lights){girl}, and Solanio
thinks the whole thing is a waste of timeJust then, Lancelot (young Gobbo) enters
with Jessica's letter, which Lorenzo is excited to receive. Hearing that Lancelot is
planning to invite Shylock to dine with Bassanio, Lorenzo tells Lancelot to reply for
Jessica letterAfter Lancelot is gone, Lorenzo cryptically announces that he's found
a torchbearer after all. (jessica} So Lorenzo instructs everyone to meet up at
Gratiano's house later that evening. He is then left alone with Graziano to unfold
the secret contents of Jessica's letter, which says (essentially) the following: "Dear
Sweetie, Please steal me away from my father's house, sooner rather than later.
Oh, and I've got some gold and manservants packed and ready to go."Lorenzo
declares that any harm the girl comes to will be because she is the child of a
"faithless Jew" and for no other reason...especially not her being a thief.
 Scene 5

Characters : Shylock,Launcelot,Jessica
In front of Shylock's house, Shylock chats with Lancelot, who's just brought him the dinner invitation from
Bassanio. 
Lancelot is a clown and a servant. Like all Shakespearean clown figures, Lancelot's job is to fool around, make
smart-alecky comments, and bag on all the other characters in the play.
Shylock says Lancelot will soon see the difference between being in his service and being in Bassanio's. He
then roughly calls in Jessica and tells her he's been invited to dinner. He says this isn't a friendly dinner invite
but mere flattery. He's committed to feed upon his hatred of the Christians.
Shylock tells Jessica that she'll have to look after the house. He says he fears something bad is about to
happen, since he dreamed about money bags, supposedly a bad omen. Lancelot teases Shylock about his
superstition, making up some silly omens of his own, but Shylock ignores him and warns Jessica of some revels
that will fill the street that night. She's not to put her head outside the window or otherwise let any foolish
merriment seep into his house. Shylock especially doesn't want any sounds of music coming through the
windows, which you can read more about in the "Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory" section.
Shylock then heads off to dinner, though he says he'd rather not. As he leaves with Lancelot, the clown
delivers a seemingly harmless little rhyme to Jessica, telling her that a Christian (Lorenzo) will be worth looking
out her window for later tonight.  Shylock wonders what he said, but Jessica quickly deflects his inquiry,
leaving her father to wax on about how Lancelot's departure is no great loss, as he was lazy and slept too
much anyway.
If anything, Shylock is grateful that Lancelot will assist Bassanio in wasting his borrowed cash. Again reminding
Jessica to lock up the doors and stay inside, Shylock exits. 
Alone at Shylock's house, Jessica declares she will soon have a new father and hers will be rid of a daughter.
 Scene 6

Characters: Gratiano , Salerio ,

Lorenzo,Jessica ,Antonio.
Graziano and Salerio wait outside Shylock's house for Lorenzo to show up. Graziano notes that he should be early, since he
is moved by love, which makes time run fast. 
Graziano, ever a cynic, compares love to a banquet: you're famished when you first sit down at the table, but you're never
hungry when you get up. In other words, once lovers have had their "fill" of each other, their desire isn't as strong as it once
was.
Graziano then quips that young men newly in love are like rich ships embarking on a new and exciting sea journey, but
whose sails soon become ragged when they're tossed around the ocean by violent winds. (Translation: Love is rough and
things between Jessica and Lorenzo will probably end badly.) 
Lorenzo shows up just then, claiming it was his business that made him late. Then Lorenzo channels Romeo and calls up to
his girl.
Lorenzo and Jessica exchange a few sweet (if a little sappy) words.  
Jessica passes down a chest of money and says she's ashamed of being dressed like a boy.
Lorenzo says she looks hot in her disguise and tells her to come down and hold the lamp since she's supposed to pretend
she's a hired torchbearer. 
Jessica says, "Hang on. Let me lock the door real quick and stuff some more of my dad's gold in my shirt."
Lorenzo takes her stalling as an opportunity to detail what he loves about her, namely her wisdom, beauty, and honesty.
Jessica finally comes downstairs and leaves with Lorenzo and Salerio.
Graziano is left behind, ever convenient for Antonio to stumble upon as he wanders in himself at that very moment,
wondering where all of his buddies have gone. 
Antonio says everyone's waiting for Gratiano. There's been a change of plans. There will be no masque tonight. Instead,
they're all headed for Belmont so Bassanio can land himself a rich wife.
 Scene 7

Characters : Portia , Morocco

At Portia's place in Belmont, we again find Portia with the Prince of Morocco. We finally get the details of her father's scheme for
picking her suitor. There are three chests, made of gold, silver, and lead respectively, each with an inscription. The gold chest says,
"Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire." The silver reads, "Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves."
The lead casket reads, "Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath." Inside one chest is a picture of Portia; if a suitor
chooses (oh, sorry, if a suitor chooseth) the chest with the picture, he can have the girl. Otherwise, he dies old and alone.
Now that he knows all the rules, the Prince of Morocco sets about choosing a chest. He goes over each of the inscriptions and
reasons to himself. The lead chest asks the man who choos es it to risk everything; the Prince decides he wouldn't risk everything,
or anything really, for plain old lead. 
Then he decides the silver chest has better promise, as it says he'll get what he deserves in choosing it. The Prince declares that
he has to weigh what he deserves carefully, and he determines that in birth, fortunes, grace, and stature, he deserves Portia. Oh,
and because of how much he loves her. He says he could be happy with the silver chest, but he checks out the gold one anyway,
as it promises what many men desire. It seems all men desire Portia, as they're coming from every corner of the earth to woo
her.
It's time for the Prince to choose. He decides lead is too worthless, and silver is of less worth than gold, so gold is the only thing
worthy enough to hold Portia's picture.
When the Prince opens the golden casket, he finds a picture of a Death's head (a skull and crossbones) and a scroll beginning
with the famous words, "All that glisters [glitters] is not gold." Essentially, the chiding inscription is saying that what's golden
outside isn't always golden inside, and the chooser would've known that had he been as wise as was bold. 
So...Morocco is condemned to a life of solitude. He takes his leave quickly and quietly, and Portia says that she hopes every suitor
with Morocco's complexion makes the same choice. 
Mm hm. We've got anti-Semitism and racism in this play. 
References:
Shmoop.com