DRAMATIS PERSONAE.

AS FIRST PERFORMED, SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 1858.

THE INCIDENTAL MUSIC will be sung by Miss POOLE, Miss LEFFLER, Mr. J. COLLETT, Mr. T. YOUNG, and Mr. WALLWORTH.

Magnificoes of Venice, Officers of the Court of Justice, Gaoler, Servants, and other Attendants.

SCENE.—Partly at VENICE; and partly at BELMONT, the Seat of PORTIA, on the Continent.

THE SCENERY Painted by Mr. GRIEVE and Mr. TELBIN, Assisted by Mr. W. GORDON, Mr. F. LLOYDS, Mr. CUTHBERT, Mr. DAYES, &c.

THE MUSIC under the direction of Mr. J.L. HATTON.

THE DECORATIONS & APPOINTMENTS by Mr. E.W. BRADWELL

The DRESSES by Mrs. and Miss HOGGINS.

THE MACHINERY by Mr. G. HODSDON.

THE DANCES arranged by Mr. CORMACK.

PERRUQUIER; Mr. ASPLIN, of No. 13, New Bond Street

☞ For reference to Historical Authorities, see end of each Act.

PREFACE.

Venice, "the famous city in the sea," rising like enchantment from the waves of the Adriatic, appeals to the imagination through a history replete with dramatic incident; wherein power and revolution—conquest and conspiracy—mystery and romance—dazzling splendour and judicial murder alternate in every page. Thirteen hundred years witnessed the growth, maturity, and fall of this once celebrated city; commencing in the fifth century, when thousands of terrified fugitives sought refuge in its numerous islands from the dreaded presence of Attila; and terminating when the last of the Doges, in 1797, lowered for ever the standard of St. Mark before the cannon of victorious Buonaparte. Venice was born and died in fear. To every English mind, the Queen of the Adriatic is endeared by the genius of our own Shakespeare. Who that has trod the great public square, with its mosque-like cathedral, has not pictured to himself the forms of the heroic Moor and the gentle Desdemona? Who that has landed from his gondola to pace the Rialto, has

not brought before his "mind's eye," the scowling brow of Shylock, when proposing the bond of blood to his unsuspecting victim? Shakespeare may or may not have derived his plot of The Merchant of Venice, as some suppose, from two separate stories contained in Italian novels; but if such be the fact, he has so interwoven the double interest, that the two currents flow naturally into a stream of unity.

In this play Shakespeare has bequeathed to posterity one of his most perfect works—powerful in its effect, and marvellous in its ingenuity. While the language of the Jew is characterized by an assumption of biblical phraseology, the appeal of Portia to the quality of mercy is invested with a heavenly eloquence elevating the poet to sublimity.

From the opening to the closing scene,—from the moment when we hear of the sadness, prophetic of evil, which depresses the spirit of Antonio, till we listen at the last to the "playful prattling of two lovers in a summer's evening," whose soft cadences are breathed through strains of music,—all is a rapid succession of hope, fear, terror, and gladness; exciting our sympathies now for the result of the merchant's danger; now for the solution of a riddle on which hangs the fate of the wealthy heiress; and now for the fugitive Jessica, who resigns her creed at the shrine of womanly affection.

In the production of The Merchant of Venice it has been my object to combine with the poet's art a faithful representation of the picturesque city; to render it again palpable to the traveller who actually gazed upon the seat of its departed glory; and, at the same time, to exhibit it to the student, who has never visited this once

The far-famed place of St. Mark, with its ancient Church, the Rialto and its Bridge, the Canals and Gondolas, the Historic Columns, the Ducal Palace, and the Council Chamber, are successively presented to the spectator. Venice is re-peopled with the past, affording truth to the eye, and reflection to the mind.

The introduction of the Princes of Morocco and Arragon at Belmont, hitherto omitted, is restored, for the purpose of more strictly adhering to the author's text, and of heightening the interest attached to the episode of the caskets.

The costumes and customs are represented as existing about the year 1600, when Shakespeare wrote the play. The dresses are chiefly selected from a work by Cesare Vecellio, entitled "Degli Habiti Antichi e Moderni di diverse Parti del Mondo. In Venetia, 1590;" as well as from other sources to be found in the British Museum, whence I derive my authority for the procession of the Doge in the first scene. If the stage is to be considered and upheld as an institution from which instructive and intellectual enjoyment may be derived, it is to Shakespeare we must look as the principal teacher, to inculcate its most valuable lessons. It is, therefore, a cause of self-gratulation, that I have on many occasions been able, successfully, to present some of the works of the greatest dramatic genius the world has known, to more of my countrymen than have ever witnessed them within the same space of time; and let me hope it will not be deemed presumptuous to record the pride I feel at having been so fortunate a medium between our national poet and the people of England.

CHARLES KEAN.

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE.

SCENE I.—VENICE.(A) SAINT MARK'S PLACE.(B)

Various groups of Nobles, Citizens, Merchants, Foreigners, Water-Carriers, Flower Girls, &c., pass and repass. Procession of the Doge, in state, across the square.[1]

ANTONIO, SALARINO, and SALANIO come forward.

Enter BASSANIO, LORENZO, and GRATIANO.

Bas. Gratiano speaks an infinite deal of nothing, more than any man in all Venice. His reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff; you shall seek all day ere you find them; and when you have them they are not worth the search.

FOOTNOTES:

This procession is copied from a print in the British Museum, by Josse Amman, who died in 1591.

—argosies; A name given, in our author's time, to ships of great burthen. The name is supposed by some to be derived from the classical ship, Argo, as a vessel eminently famous.

Plucking the; By holding up the grass, or any light body that will bend by a gentle blast, the direction of the wind is found.

—my wealthy Andrew; The name of the ship.

Vailing her high-top; To vail is "to lower," or "let fall."

Let me play the fool; Alluding to the common comparison of human life to a stage-play. So that he desires his may be the fool's or buffoon's part, which was a constant character in the old farces; from whence came the phrase, to play the fool.—WARBURTON.

—whose visages do cream; The poet here alludes to the manner in which the film extends itself over milk in scalding; and he had the same appearance in his eye when writing a foregoing line: "With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come."—HENLEY.

—a wilful stillness entertain,; Id est, an obstinate silence.

let no dog bark!; This seems to be a proverbial expression.

—'twould almost damn those ears; The author's meaning is this:—That some people are thought wise whilst they keep silence; who, when they open their mouths, are such stupid praters, that the hearers cannot help calling them fools, and so incur the judgment denounced in the Gospel.—THEOBALD.

I'll end my exhortation after dinner.'; The humour of this consists in its being an allusion to the practice of the Puritan preachers of those times, who being generally very long and tedious, were often forced to put off that part of their sermon called the exhortation, till after dinner.—WARBURTON.

—for this gear.; A colloquial expression, meaning for this matter.

In a neat's tongue dried,; Neat, horned cattle of the Ox species.

—a more swelling port; Port, in the present instance, comprehends the idea of expensive equipage, and external pomp of appearance.

SCENE II.—BELMONT. A ROOM IN PORTIA'S HOUSE.

Enter PORTIA and NERISSA.

Por. By my troth, Nerissa, my little body is a-weary of this great world.

Ner. You would be, sweet madam, if your miseries were in the same abundance as your good fortunes are. And yet, for aught I see, they are as sick that surfeit with too much, as they that starve with nothing. It is no small happiness, therefore, to be seated in the mean; superfluity comes sooner by white hairs,[17] but competency lives longer.

Por. Good sentences, and well pronounced.

Ner. They would be better, if well followed.

Por. If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottages princes' palaces. It is a good divine that follows his own instructions: I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching. But this reasoning is not in the fashion to choose me a husband:—O me, the word choose! I may neither choose whom I would, nor refuse whom I dislike, so is the will of a living daughter curb'd by the will of a dead father:—Is it not hard, Nerissa, that I cannot choose one, nor refuse none?

Ner. Your father was ever virtuous; and holy men at their death have good inspirations; therefore, the lottery that he hath devised in these three chests, of gold, silver, and lead (whereof who chooses his meaning chooses you), will, no doubt, never be chosen by any rightly, but one who you shall rightly love. But what warmth is there in your affection towards any of these princely suitors that are already come?

Por. I pray thee, over-name them; and as thou namest them I will describe them; and according to my description level at my affection.

Ner. First, there is the Neapolitan prince.[18]

Por. Ay, that's a colt, indeed, for he doth nothing but talk of his horse,[19] and he makes it a great approbation of his own good parts that he can shoe him himself.

Ner. Then, is there the county Palatine.[20]

Por. He doth nothing but frown; as who should say, 'An you will not have me, choose;' he hears merry tales, and smiles not: I fear he will prove the weeping philosopher when he grows old, being so full of unmannerly sadness in his youth. I had rather to be married to a death's head with a bone in his mouth, than to either of these. Heaven defend me from these two!

Ner. How say you by the French lord, Monsieur Le Bon?

Por. Heaven made him, and therefore let him pass for a man.

Ner. How like you the young German, the Duke of Saxony's nephew?[21]

Por. Very vilely in the morning, when he is sober; and most vilely in the afternoon, when he is drunk: when he is best he is a little worse than a man; and when he is worst he is little better than a beast: an the worst fall that ever fell, I hope I shall make shift to go without him.

Ner. If he should offer to choose, and choose the right casket, you should refuse to perform your father's will if you should refuse to accept him.

Por. Therefore, for fear of the worst, I pray thee set a deep glass of Rhenish wine on the contrary casket; for, if the devil be within, and that temptation without, I know he will choose it.

Ner. You need not fear, lady, the having any of these lords; they have acquainted me with their determinations: which is, indeed, to return to their home and to trouble you with no more suit; unless you may be won by some other sort than your father's imposition, depending on the caskets.

Por. I am glad this parcel of wooers are so reasonable; for there is not one among them but I dote on his very absence, and I wish them a fair departure.

Ner. Do you not remember, lady, in your father's time, a Venetian, a scholar, and a soldier, that came hither in company of the Marquis of Montferrat?

Por. Yes, yes, it was Bassanio; as I think so was he called.

Ner. True, madam; he, of all the men that ever my foolish eyes looked upon was the best deserving a fair lady.

Por. I remember him well; and I remember him worthy of thy praise.—How now?—What news?

Enter BALTHAZAR.

Ser. The four strangers seek you, madam, to take their leave: and there is a fore-runner come from a fifth, the prince of Morocco; who brings word the prince, his master, will be here to-night.

Por. If I could bid the fifth welcome with so good heart as I can bid the other four farewell, I should be glad of his approach.

Come, Nerissa. Sirrah, go before.

Whiles we shut the gate upon one wooer, another knocks at the door.

[Exeunt.

FOOTNOTES:

—I am prest unto it:; Ready.

—Sometimes from her eyes; In old English, sometimes is synonymous with formerly; id est, some time ago, at a certain time. It appears by the subsequent scene, that Bassanio was at Belmont with the Marquis de Montferrat, and saw Portia in her father's lifetime.

—superfluity comes sooner by white hairs,; Id est, superfluity sooner acquires white hairs—becomes old. We still say, how did he come by it—MALONE.

—the Neapolitan prince.; The Neapolitans in the time of Shakespeare were eminently skilled in all that belonged to horsemanship.

—that's a colt, indeed, for he doth nothing but talk of his horse,; Colt is used for a restless, heady, gay youngster, whence the phrase used of an old man too juvenile, that he still retains his colt's tooth.—JOHNSON.

—the county Palatine.; Shakespeare has more allusions to particular facts and persons than his readers commonly suppose. The Count here mentioned was, perhaps, Albertus Alasco, a Polish Palatine, who visited England in our author's lifetime, was eagerly caressed and splendidly entertained, but, running in debt, at last stole away, and endeavoured to repair his fortune by enchantment.—JOHNSON.

County and Count in old language, were synonymous. The Count Albertus Alasco was in London in 1583.

—the young German, the Duke of Saxony's nephew.; In Shakespeare's time the Duke of Bavaria visited London, and was made Knight of the Garter. Perhaps in this enumeration of Portia's suitors, there may be some covert allusion to those of Queen Elizabeth.—JOHNSON

SCENE III.

Enter BASSANIO and SHYLOCK. (D)

Shy. Three thousand ducats,—well,

Bas. Ay, sir, for three months.

Shy. For three months,—well.

Bas. For the which, as I told you, Antonio shall be bound.

Shy. Antonio shall become bound,—well.

Bas. May you stead me? Will you pleasure me? Shall I know your answer?

Shy. Three thousand ducats, for three months, and Antonio bound.

Bas. Your answer to that.

Shy. Antonio is a good man.

Bas. Have you heard any imputation to the contrary?

Shy. Oh no, no, no, no;—my meaning in saying he is a good man is, to have you understand me that he is sufficient; yet his means are in supposition: he hath an argosy bound to Tripolis, another to the Indies; I understand, moreover, upon the Rialto, he hath a third at Mexico, a fourth for England; and other ventures he hath, squander'd abroad.[22] But ships are but boards, sailors but men: there be land rats and water rats, land thieves and water thieves; I mean, pirates; and then, there is the peril of waters, winds, and rocks: The man is, notwithstanding, sufficient;—three thousand ducats;—I think I may take his bond.

Bas. Be assured you may.

Shy. I will be assured I may; and that I may be assured I will bethink me: May I speak with Antonio?

Bas. If it please you to dine with us.

Shy. Yes, to smell pork; to eat of the habitation which your prophet, the Nazarite, conjured the devil into![23] 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.—What news on the Rialto?—Who is he comes here?

Bas. This is signior Antonio.

[Exit BASSANIO.

Re-enter BASSANIO with ANTONIO.

Bas. Shylock, do you hear?

[To ANTONIO.

Your worship was the last man in our mouths.

Shy. Ay, ay, three thousand ducats.

Ant. And for three months.

FOOTNOTES:

—squander'd abroad.; Scattered.

to eat of the habitation which your prophet, the Nazarite, conjured the devil into!; See 8th. c. St. Matthew, v. 30.

catch him once upon the hip,; Dr. Johnson says the expression is taken from the practice of wrestling.

—ripe wants of my friend,; Wants come to the height—wants that can have no longer delay.

—Is he yet possess'd; Id est, acquainted—informed.

—eanlings; Lambs just dropt.

—certain wands,; A wand in Shakespeare's time was the usual term for what we now call a switch.—MALONE.

—deed of kind,; Id est, of nature.

—the fulsome ewes; Lascivious—rank, obscene ewes.

—Fall; To let fall.

—and those were Jacob's.; See Genesis xxx. 37.

The devil can cite scripture for his purpose.; See St. Matthew iv. 6.

O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!; Falsehood, which, as truth means honesty, is taken here for treachery and knavery, does not stand for falsehood in general, but for the dishonesty now operating.—JOHNSON.

—and my usances:; Usance in our author's time signified interest of money.

A breed of barren metal of his friend?; A breed, that is, interest money bred from the principal. The epithet barren implies that money is a barren thing, and cannot, like corn and cattle, multiply itself.

Dwell; Continue.

—fearful guard; A guard not to be trusted, but gives cause of fear.

I like not fair terms; Kind words—good language.

SCENE IV.—SALOON OF THE CASKETS IN PORTIA'S HOUSE, AT BELMONT.

Flourish of Cornets. Enter the PRINCE OF MOROCCO, and his Train; PORTIA, NERISSA, and other of her Attendants.

The second, silver, which this promise carries:

The third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt:[42]

END OF ACT FIRST.

FOOTNOTES:

—whose blood is reddest, his, or mine.; Red blood is a traditionary sign of courage, as cowards are said to have livers as white as milk. It is customary in the East for lovers to testify the violence of their passion by cutting themselves in the sight of their mistresses.—PICART'S RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES.

—therefore be advis'd.; Therefore be not precipitant; consider well what you are about to do.

—with warning all as blunt:; That is, as gross as the dull metal.

HISTORICAL NOTES TO ACT FIRST.

(A) The foundation of Venice is attributed to the inhabitants of the surrounding districts, who fled from the cruelty of Attila, King of the Huns, and took refuge among the islets at the mouth of the Brenta. Here, about the middle of the fifth century, they founded two small towns, called Rivoalto and Malmocco, and, being in a manner shut out from all other modes of employment, naturally devoted themselves to commerce. In this way they soon became prosperous, and their numbers increased so rapidly, that in the year 697 they made application to the Emperor to be elected into a body politic, and obtained authority to elect a chief, to whom they gave the name of Duke or Doge. The town, continuing to increase, gradually extended its buildings to the adjacent islands, and, at the same time, acquired considerable tracts of territory on the mainland, then inhabited by the Veneti, from whence the rising city is supposed to have borrowed its name of Venetia or Venice.

(B) This is the heart of Venice, and is one of the most imposing architectural objects in Europe. Three of the sides are occupied by ranges of lofty buildings, which are connected by a succession of covered walk; or arcades. The church of St Mark, founded in the year 828, closes up the square on the east. The lofty Campanile, or Bell-tower, over 300 feet in height, was begun A.D. 902, and finished in 1155.