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The Merchant of Venice · Chapter

Scene III: The Bond explained

Bassanio negotiates a loan of three thousand ducats from Shylock for three months, with Antonio as guarantor.

What happens

Bassanio negotiates a loan of three thousand ducats from Shylock for three months, with Antonio as guarantor. Shylock, nursing a grudge against Antonio for his anti-Semitic abuse and his practice of lending money without interest, agrees to the bond but proposes a 'merry sport' forfeit: a pound of Antonio's flesh. Despite Bassanio's misgivings, Antonio accepts, confident his ships will return in time.

Themes in this chapter

  • Prejudice and Anti-Semitism

    Shylock recounts Antonio's public abuse—spitting on his gaberdine, calling him a dog—highlighting the deep religious and ethnic hatred that fuels the conflict.

  • Mercantilism and Risk

    The loan hinges on Antonio's merchant ventures; Shylock enumerates the perils of sea trade (pirates, storms, rocks) to underscore the speculative nature of wealth.

Characters to notice

  • Bassanio

    Seeks a loan from Shylock to court Portia, with Antonio as surety.

  • Shylock

    Agrees to lend the money but proposes a flesh bond, revealing his deep resentment toward Antonio.

  • Antonio

    Confidently signs the bond, dismissing Bassanio's fears and trusting in his ships' timely return.

Key passages

  • “I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following, but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you.”

    I'll do business with you and socialize in public, but I refuse to share a meal or religious fellowship with you.

    Shylock draws a clear line between commercial interaction and personal intimacy, reflecting religious divisions.

  • “If you repay me not on such a day, In such a place, such sum or sums as are Express'd in the condition, let the forfeit Be nominated for an equal pound Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken In what part of your body pleaseth me.”

    If you fail to repay the loan on time, the penalty will be a pound of your flesh, to be cut from wherever I choose.

    Shylock proposes the bond's shocking forfeit, ostensibly as a 'merry sport' but laden with vengeful intent.

  • “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly apple rotten at the heart.”

    Even the devil can quote the Bible to justify his actions. A wicked person using holy words is like a smiling villain or a beautiful apple that's rotten inside.

    Antonio dismisses Shylock's biblical defense of usury, accusing him of hypocrisy.

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