If I were to direct Act 4 Scene 1, I would set it in the areas and time that it was originally written for, as I think that this would work best with the wording and themes of the play. I would dress the characters in dress that was typical of their time and Shylock in his Traditional Jewish dress as is mentioned on Act 1 Scene 3 lines 98-121 "You that did void your rheum upon my beard" "and spit upon my gaberdine".
Certain quotes help a director to decide how they want a scene directed. In this part of the essay I will use 7 quotes from Act 4 Scene 1 to help me to try to decide and explain how I will direct this scene. I will try to explain how they help, and what they make me want to do.
The first quote I am going to use is:
"I do oppose
My patience to his fury, and am armed
To suffer with a quietness of spirit
The very tyranny and rage of his."
This is from Antonio's speech on lines 10-13 of the scene. It shows Antonio's way of being patient and kind to try to slow Shylocks rage to mercy. I would have Antonio saying these lines very resignedly, as though he is calm, and ready for death if it comes to it, and as though he knows and understands that whatever happens cannot be changed, no matter what he does. I would have him standing, fairly relaxed, with no emotions showing on his face, again to emphasise that he is calm, and unafraid of the future. I would have these lines played like this as I think that what he says seems very gentle, typical of the gentle spirit he has shown previously to his friends - "neither have I money or commodity to raise a present sum; therefore go forth, try what my credit can do" (Act 1 Scene 1).
Lines 63-64 - spoken by Bassanio are
"This is no answer, thou unfeeling man,
To excuse the current of thy cruelty"
This shows Bassanio's immense anger at Shylock - Antonio borrowed the money for him and therefore he is now feeling very guilty for his good friend. This is also shown later in the scene, and my essay. I would have Bassanio jump from his seat, as though it is on fire, and spit the words out, at the same time as pushing his face as close to Shylock's as he possibly can, stressing both the 'thy' before cruelty and the whole of the word 'unfeeling'. I think that the stress should be on those words because they show that Bassanio thinks; 1, that Shylock is being exceptionally cruel and cold-hearted, as though he is not even thinking of other people; and 2, that it is only Shylock, who could ever be that cruel ("thy"). I think that Bassanio's anger at Shylock's previous speech would make him very confrontational - thus pushing his face at Shylock and spitting his words out.
The third of my important quotes is from lines 71-80. This is a part of one of Antonio's speeches:
"You may as well go stand upon the beach
And bid the main flood bate his usual height;
You may as well use question with the wolf
Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb;
You may as well forbid the mountain pines
To wag their high tops and to make no noise
When they are fretten with the gusts of heaven;
You may as well do anything most hard
As seek to soften that - than which what's harder? -
His Jewish heart."
This speech is very important to the scene. It shows how Antonio has accepted Shylocks cruelty, and has given up trying to do anything to change it. I would have Antonio say it very quietly, almost mumbling - to emphasise his resigned attitude, as though it does not anger him, as it does others, but instead saddens him that humans can be so cruel.
Lines 85-87 are again made by Shylock
"If every ducat in six thousand ducats
Were in six parts, and every part a ducat,
I would not draw them; I would have my bond."
These lines are very important to the play as it is Shylock showing his resistance and stubbornness against mercy, which will later become his downfall. He is very sure that he wants his bond and refuses to show any mercy at all - even saying that he would not take 36,000 ducats instead of the 3000 lent out, in replacement of his bond. I would have him saying this very slowly and loudly, as though he feels he is saying it to deaf and stupid children, and also to show how sure and confident he is that he is right. I would have him sitting, still and calm, as though he is sure, and not at all nervous or faltering over his decision. This is because his words are very strong and solid, offering him no way to back out of this speech later in the trial, and therefore insinuating that he feels there would be no need for this. This is one of the few speeches when he shows his true natural feelings, the other being his main speech aside in Act 1 Scene 3, about his first thoughts of Antonio.
"How like a fawning publican he looks!
I hate him for he is a Christian;
But more, for it's low simplicity
He lends out money gratis, and brings down
The rate of usance here with us in Venice.
If I can catch him once upon the hip,
I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.
He hates our sacred nation, and he rails
Even there where merchants most do congregate
On me, my bargains, and my well won thrift
Which he calls interest. Cursed be my tribe
If I forgive him!"
One of the Dukes few important lines is line 88:
"How shoult thou hope for mercy, rendering none?"
This is important because it is the last attempt to get Shylock to be merciful, and it fails. This is also the strongest attempt - trying to get Shylock to think of the consequences to himself rather than trying to reason with his conscience. I would have the Duke saying in this in a halfhearted attempt to hide the pleading in his voice, as he knows that it is the last chance, and that he cannot hold off his legal judgement very much longer.
The most important turning point in the act is Portia's lines 301-308:
"Tarry a little, there is something else.
This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood.
The words expressly are 'a pound of flesh'.
Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh,
But in the cutting it, if thou dost shed
One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods
Are by the laws of Venice confiscate
Unto the state of Venice.
This is when the direction of the plot changes and Shylock begins to break up. The lines say that Shylock can take the pound of flesh guaranteed by his bond, but he must spill no blood, which is completely impossible. This means he cannot take his bond, without forfeiting all of his land and possessions. Portia has just changed completely the direction of Antonio's trial and saved her husband's friend's life. I think she should both feel and sound very proud of herself, particularly because female lawyers were unheard of and females where the underdogs, in the times that the play is both written and shown in. Therefore Portia would be saying these lines with a flourish, as a poker player would lay her royal flush. She is proud of herself, and she knows she has good reason to be. She knows she has won this trial, and she would stand up, defiant that she would win over Shylock, a man who has by now disgusted her with his cruelty.
My last important quote is lines 370-374. It shows how Shylock is a crushed and devastated man, who nearly had everything, but then lost it all. He has wanted revenge on Antonio for a long long time "the ancient grudge I bear him" (Act 1 Scene 3 line 39) and now cannot get it. He nearly lost his life, but instead has lost half of his money and goods and has to allow Antonio to give the other half to Lorenzo (Jessica's Christian husband) upon his death. This is a betrayal of Shylock's religion, as he had abandoned his daughter when she had given up on his religion. He also has to change his religion to Christianity. He is a broken man and begins to show his true weakness.
" Nay, take my life and all, pardon not that:
You take my house when you do take the prop
That doth sustain my house; you take my life
When you do take the means whereby I live"
I would have him showing how weak and vulnerable he is currently feeling, he would be pathetic and emotional, crying, pleading for his goods and land not to be taken away, or else his life to be taken with them. By this stage, Shylock who had been sitting, comfortably until Portia's major speech and the change in direction of the scene, would now be deeply sunken into his chair - amazed at the speed at which everything has turned against him. He would seem desperate - his religion has been his life, and this kept him separated and viciously against many of the citizens of Venice. Now he is forced to take up their religion, and to mix with them. The main basis of his life has been taken away, and he does not know what to do.
Shylock's religion is very important within the play. His future starts to go wrong when his daughter, Jessica - brought up to be Jewish - runs away with a Christian, possibly because she is discouraged from Judaism by her father's attitudes. As part of his punishment for trying to harm Antonio, Shylock's religion is taken away from him and he is forced to become a Christian. "That for this favour he presently become a Christian" (Act 4 Scene 1, lines 382-383). This forces an abrupt change in Shylock's attitude and behaviour from both the first half of the play "I hate him for he is a Christian" "Cursed be my tribe if I forgive him" (Act 1 scene 3, lines 34 and 42-43) and the first half of the Act "If you deny it, let the danger light upon your charter, and your city's freedom!" (Act 4 Scene 1, lines 38-39). Shylock then seems very confident and angry but after the outcome of the trial he has lost everything, and even tries to give up his life: "Nay, take my life and all; pardon not that:"
Antonio's character is extremely varying. To his friends he is kind and generous: "Thou know'st that all my fortunes are at sea; neither have I money nor commodity to raise a present sum; therefore go forth, try what my credit can do in Venice" (Act 1 scene 1, lines 176-179) "the weakest kind of fruit drops earliest to the ground, and so let me. You cannot be better employed, Bassanio, than to live still and write mine epitaph." (Act 4 Scene 1, lines 116-118). He is always honest, and sometimes this honesty can become unkindly rough to people who he does not get on with: "I am as likely to call thee so again, to spit on thee again, and to spurn thee too."(Act 1 Scene 3, lines 122-123) "As seek to soften that – than which what's harder? – His Jewish heart" (Act 4 Scene 1, lines 79-80). These character traits do not change throughout the play. However, Antonio's character does change in Act 4 Scene 1, he becomes more mellow and calm "my patience to his fury" (Act 4 Scene 1, line 11) and seems to be accepting his impending death "Give me your hand, Bassanio. Fare you well. Grieve not that I am fall'n to this for you." (Act 4 Scene 1, lines 261-262).
Act 4 Scene 1 does not only contain changes in Antonio and Shylock's attitude. Many Characters change and develop in this scene, and this, linked strongly with the height of tension and dramatic climax in the scene is what makes it so important. I have tried to show and emphasise the many changes and turning points of the scene in my direction of it. This is very important especially as this particular scene is the one most likely to make an impact on the audiences' views and feelings, due to its importance within the play. I think that the act is very well written, as it is a very good and subtle mix of a fictional storyline and real morals and issues of both Shakespeare's time and the present day. It is also written so that the director can use a lot of free running creativity and has a lot of influence on the play due to the lack of stage directions. Lines 70-83 of Act 4 Scene 1 are particularly open to directorial interpretation.
"I pray you think you question with the Jew.
You may as well go stand upon the beach
And bid the main flood bate his usual height;
You may as well use question with the wolf
Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb;
You may as well forbid the mountain pines
To wag their high tops and to make no noise
When they are fretten with the gusts of heaven;
You may as well do anything most hard
As seek to soften that - than which what's harder? -
His Jewish heart. Therefore I do beseech you
Make no moe offers, use no farther means,
But with all brief and plain conveniency
Let me have judgement, and the Jew his will."
