{"id":26334,"date":"2024-02-23T07:00:45","date_gmt":"2024-02-23T01:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aplustopper.com\/?p=26334"},"modified":"2024-02-23T15:42:56","modified_gmt":"2024-02-23T10:12:56","slug":"merchant-of-venice-act-2-scene-8-short-summary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aplustopper.com\/merchant-of-venice-act-2-scene-8-short-summary\/","title":{"rendered":"Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 8 Short Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary of Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 8 ICSE Class 10, 9 English<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

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Summary Act 2 Scene 8<\/strong><\/p>\n

Salarino and Salanio discuss developments in Venice. When Shylock discovered that Jessica was gone, he demanded that the Duke of Venice have Bassanio\u2019s ship searched; this proved to be impossible because Bassanio had already sailed. Antonio, however, assured the duke that Lorenzo and Jessica were not on board Bassanio\u2019s ship. Salanio then describes how Shylock raved in the streets, crying, \u201cMy daughter! O my ducats! 0 my daughter! \/ Fled with a Christian,\u201d while \u201call the boys in Venice\u201d followed him, mocking him, his daughter, and his ducats.<\/p>\n

Salanio worries about what will happen to Antonio: He knows Shylock\u2019s temper. Jessica\u2019s elopement and Antonio\u2019s swearing that Bassanio had no part in her escape \u201cbade no good\u201d for Antonio. He knows that Antonio must \u2019\u2019keep his day\u201d (repay his debt when it comes due) or else \u201che shall pay for this.\u201d Salanio is likewise worried about Antonio\u2019s future. Only yesterday, a Frenchman told him about an Italian ship that had sunk in the English Channel. He immediately thought of Antonio, hoping that the ship was not one of his. The news about the shipwreck must be broken gently to Antonio because Antonio is a sensitive man. Realizing that Antonio may need cheering up, Salanio and Salarino decide to pay him a visit.<\/p>\n

Analysis Act 2 Scene 8<\/strong><\/p>\n

Salarino\u2019s and Salanio\u2019s opening lines are hurried and excited. Here and elsewhere in the play, notably in Act I, Scene 1, these two act more or less like a chorus; that is to say, they discuss developments of the plot not shown on the stage so that the audience will be aware of them and also of their importance. Here, they are concerned about Antonio\u2019s fate, since Shylock is in a terrible temper, and the once \u201cmerry bond\u201d is no longer \u201cmerry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Salanio\u2019s speech, beginning at line 12, is introduced here for two reasons: First, Shylock\u2019s rage must be described before it is shown so that we can anticipate his state of mind at his next entrance. Second, Shylock\u2019s loss of both his daughter and much of his money are important for our understanding the extent of Shylock\u2019s desire for revenge. At the beginning of the play, he has only two real reasons for hating Antonio \u2014 a commercial hatred and a religious hatred. To these is now added a shattering personal loss \u2014 he has lost his daughter, his only child, to a Christian, a friend of Antonio \u2014 making plausible his implacable desire for revenge against all Venetian Christians in the person of a man whom he has legally cornered: Antonio. In a very real sense, our sympathy goes out to Shylock, yet Shakespeare keeps us from pitying the man by having Salanio enact a sort of exaggerated parody of Shylock\u2019s . greedy, histrionic behavior as he tells his friend Salarino how Shylock was chased in the streets by young boys, howling after him. Shylock\u2019s repetitions of \u201cO my ducats! O my daughter! … my ducats and my daughter\u201d indicate that Jessica is simply, at this point, another possession, like his coins. Thus we are prevented from being too over sympathetic to an obsession which has blinded the old moneylender to the true difference between monetary and human values.<\/p>\n

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