The Merchant of Venice · Chapter
Scene I explained
Salanio and Salarino discuss the rumor that Antonio has lost a ship.
What happens
Salanio and Salarino discuss the rumor that Antonio has lost a ship. Shylock enters, lamenting his daughter Jessica's elopement and theft of his ducats and jewels. He expresses his desire for revenge against Antonio, who has lost a ship. Tubal brings news of Jessica's spending and Antonio's losses, fueling Shylock's resolve to enforce the bond.
Themes in this chapter
Prejudice and Anti-Semitism
Shylock's speech 'Hath not a Jew eyes?' highlights the dehumanization and double standards faced by Jews, while Salanio and Salarino mock him.
Revenge and Forgiveness
Shylock explicitly states his intent to take revenge on Antonio for past wrongs, rejecting mercy.
Characters to notice
- Salanio
Discusses Antonio's shipwreck and taunts Shylock about Jessica's flight.
- Salarino
Engages in banter with Salanio and Shylock about Antonio's losses and Jessica's elopement.
- Shylock
Mourns his daughter's flight and stolen wealth, and vows revenge on Antonio.
- Tubal
Reports Jessica's spending in Genoa and confirms Antonio's shipping losses.
Key passages
“Why, yet it lives there uncheck’d that Antonio hath a ship of rich lading wrecked on the narrow seas; the Goodwins, I think they call the place; a very dangerous flat and fatal, where the carcasses of many a tall ship lie buried, as they say, if my gossip Report be an honest woman of her word.”
There's an unverified rumor that Antonio lost a richly loaded ship on the Goodwins, a dangerous sandbank where many ships have sunk.
Salarino reports the rumor of Antonio's shipwreck.
“Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?”
Jews are human just like Christians, with the same feelings and capacity for revenge when wronged.
Shylock defends his humanity and justifies his desire for revenge.
“I would my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear! would she were hearsed at my foot, and the ducats in her coffin!”
I wish my daughter were dead with the jewels in her ear and the ducats in her coffin.
Shylock expresses his rage and grief over Jessica's theft.
“Thou stickest a dagger in me: I shall never see my gold again: fourscore ducats at a sitting! fourscore ducats!”
You're stabbing me with that news; I'll never recover my gold—eighty ducats spent in one sitting!
Shylock reacts to Tubal's report of Jessica's spending.