Question

Why, look you, how you storm!
I would be friends with you and have your love,
Forget the shames that you have stain' d me with,
Supply your present wants, and take no doit
Of usance for my money, and you'll not hear me:
This is the kind I offer. 

(i) Where does this scene take place? Who is the speaker? To whom is he talking?

(ii) What are the 'slaves' which the speaker says hau stained him?

(iii) What are the 'present wants'? Who is its need of I~ 'present wants'? Why?

(iv) Explain "Tlris is kind I offer". What does the speaker propose to do immediately after this?

(v) What do you think of Antonio and of Shylock 1vi' regard to the signing of the bond? 

Answer 1

(i) The scene took place in Venice. The speaker is  Shylock. He was talking to Antonio.

(ii) Shylock says so because Antonio called him a non-believer, merciless dog and spat on his Jong Jewish robe.

(iii) The 'present wants' were a sum of money of three thousand Ducats. Bassanio was in need of them because he wanted to go to Belmont to present himself as a worthwhile suitor to woo Portia.

(iv)  Assuring Antonio that he means to be friends, Shylock offers to make the loan without interest. He proposes to go to the notary and get Antonio to sign a single bond.

(v)  Shylock is cunning, cautious and crafty. He belongs to a race that has been persecuted since its beginning. Antonio is easy-going, trusting, slightly melancholic, romantic and naive.
Shylock trusts only in the intangible - that is, in the bond. Antonio trusts in the intangible, that is luck. Here, Shylock seems almost paranoid and vengeful, but on the other hand, Antonio seems ignorantly over-confident rather stupid because he is lacking common sense.