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| Character | Morocco | |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | Male | |
| Age Range(s) | Young Adult (20-35), Adult (36-50) | |
| Type of monologue / Character is | Descriptive, Insecure | |
| Type | Dramatic | |
| Period | Renaissance | |
| Genre | Comedy | |
| Description | Morocco tries to pick the right chest to win Portia's hand | |
| Location | ACT II, Scene 2 | |
Summary
Bassanio, a gentleman from Venice, asks his kinsman and friend Antonio, a Venitian merchant, for a loan so that he can court Portia, a woman from Belmont he has fallen in love with. Having all his money locked in investments, Antonio suggests to visit Shylock, a Jewish moneylender he is not in best terms with. Antonio hates Jews and always criticizes them for their usury. As a revenge, Shylock agrees to lend Bassanio some money with the condition that if he fails to pay him back then he will be entitled to a pound of Antonio's flesh. In the meanwhile Portia has to deal with several suitors she is not interested in. Her father has decided to give his daughter's hand in marriage to the first suitor that manages to pick a chest containing her portrait out of three chests.
Lancelot Gobbo, Shylock's servant, decides to leave his master and work for Bassanio, who accepts him as his servant. Bassanio and his friend Graziano leave for Belmont after having helped their friend Lorenzo to escape with Jessica, Shylock's daughter.
In this scene we are in Belmont where Portia has lead one of her suitors, the Prince of Morocco, to the three chests from which he will have to pick the right one to win Portia's hand. In this monologue, ACT II, Scene 2, the Prince ponders on which one to choose..
Lancelot Gobbo, Shylock's servant, decides to leave his master and work for Bassanio, who accepts him as his servant. Bassanio and his friend Graziano leave for Belmont after having helped their friend Lorenzo to escape with Jessica, Shylock's daughter.
In this scene we are in Belmont where Portia has lead one of her suitors, the Prince of Morocco, to the three chests from which he will have to pick the right one to win Portia's hand. In this monologue, ACT II, Scene 2, the Prince ponders on which one to choose..
Written by Administrator
| Excerpt |
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| MOROCCO Some god direct my judgment! Let me see; I will survey the 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 all Do it in hope of fair advantages: A golden mind stoops not to shows of dross; I'll 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 be'st rated by thy estimation, Thou dost deserve enough; and yet enough May not extend so far as to the lady: And yet to be afeard of my deserving Were but a weak disabling of myself. As much as I deserve! Why, that's 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 stray'd no further, but chose here? Let's see once more this saying graved in gold 'Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire.' Why, that's the lady; all the world desires her; From the four corners of the earth they come, To kiss this shrine, this mortal-breathing saint: The Hyrcanian deserts and the vasty wilds Of wide Arabia are as thoroughfares now For princes to come view fair Portia: The watery kingdom, whose ambitious head Spits in the face of heaven, is no bar To stop the foreign spirits, but they come, As o'er a brook, to see fair Portia. One of these three contains her heavenly picture. Is't like that lead contains her? 'Twere damnation To think so base a thought: it were too gross To rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave. Or shall I think in silver she's immured, Being ten times undervalued to tried gold? O sinful thought! Never so rich a gem Was set in worse than gold. They have in England A coin that bears the figure of an angel Stamped in gold, but that's insculp'd upon; But here an angel in a golden bed Lies all within. Deliver me the key: Here do I choose, and thrive I as I may! |
