The Merchant of Venice key quotes: every quotation analysed

Portia — 12 quotations

Portia: character analysis, readings and essay arguments →

Antonio — 6 quotations

Antonio: character analysis, readings and essay arguments →

Bassanio — 6 quotations

Bassanio: character analysis, readings and essay arguments →

Shylock (studied, never voiced) — 6 quotations

Shylock (studied, never voiced): character analysis, readings and essay arguments →

The quotations by theme

Money, love and friendship (11)

Money, love and friendship in The Merchant of Venice, taught in full →

• “my little body is aweary of this great world” — Portia, Act 1, Scene 2
• “the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father” — Portia, Act 1, Scene 2
• “You see me, Lord Bassanio, where I stand, / Such as I am” — Portia, Act 3, Scene 2
• “Myself and what is mine to you and yours / Is now converted” — Portia, Act 3, Scene 2
• “In sooth, I know not why I am so sad” — Antonio, Act 1, Scene 1
• “I am a tainted wether of the flock” — Antonio, Act 4, Scene 1
• “are not with me esteemed above thy life” — Antonio, Act 4, Scene 1
• “To you, Antonio, / I owe the most, in money and in love” — Bassanio, Act 1, Scene 1
• “In Belmont is a lady richly left” — Bassanio, Act 1, Scene 1
• “Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath” — Bassanio, Acts 2–3
• “are not with me esteemed above thy life” — Bassanio, Act 4, Scene 1

Mercy and justice (10)

Mercy and justice in The Merchant of Venice, taught in full →

• “If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do” — Portia, Act 1, Scene 2
• “The quality of mercy is not strained” — Portia, Act 4, Scene 1
• “It is twice blest” — Portia, Act 4, Scene 1
• “Tarry a little; there is something else.” — Portia, Act 4, Scene 1
• “This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood” — Portia, Act 4, Scene 1
• “So shines a good deed in a naughty world.” — Portia, Act 5, Scene 1
• “He presently become a Christian” — Antonio, Act 4, Scene 1
• “The villainy you teach me I will execute” — Shylock (studied, never voiced), Act 3, Scene 1
• “you take my life / When you do take the means whereby I live” — Shylock (studied, never voiced), Act 4, Scene 1
• “I am not well” — Shylock (studied, never voiced), Act 4, Scene 1

Antisemitism and prejudice (7)

Antisemitism and prejudice in The Merchant of Venice, taught in full →

• “Let all of his complexion choose me so.” — Portia, Act 2, Scene 7
• “I am as like to call thee so again, / To spit on thee again…” — Antonio, Act 1, Scene 3
• “He presently become a Christian” — Antonio, Act 4, Scene 1
• “Still have I borne it with a patient shrug, / For sufferance is the…” — Shylock (studied, never voiced), Act 1, Scene 3
• “Hath not a Jew eyes?” — Shylock (studied, never voiced), Act 3, Scene 1
• “If you prick us, do we not bleed?” — Shylock (studied, never voiced), Act 3, Scene 1
• “The villainy you teach me I will execute” — Shylock (studied, never voiced), Act 3, Scene 1

Appearance and reality (4)

Appearance and reality in The Merchant of Venice, taught in full →

• “an unlessoned girl, unschooled, unpractised” — Portia, Act 3, Scene 2
• “A stage where every man must play a part, / And mine a sad one.” — Antonio, Act 1, Scene 1
• “So may the outward shows be least themselves” — Bassanio, Act 3, Scene 2
• “The world is still deceived with ornament.” — Bassanio, Act 3, Scene 2