Act 3 Scene
1
Michael and Kayle
Summary of the Action


Salarino and Solanio are discussing recent
news of Antonio’s ship sinking. They hope it is
a rumour being spread.
Shylock walks into the scene, and accuses
Salarino and Solanio of being accomplices of
Jessica during her flight. They respond by
saying that all children leave, and Jessica is
allowed to leave, and that she is much better
than Shylock – as she has given up her Jewish
faith.
Summary of the Action 2



Shylock doesn’t know if the Antontio’s ships have
crashed, but hopes they do. This is followed by
Shylock’s famous speech about Antonio thwarting
Shylock – ‘He has hindered me half a million’ and
‘Hath not a Jew eyes?’
A serving man from Antonio calls Salarino and
Solanio away, they see Tubal coming and leave
Tubal enters and has a discussion with Shylock – he
was out searching for Jessica, but he couldn’t find
her. He does return with the knowledge that
Antonio’s ships have crashed and he will be
bankrupt, and that Jessica is recklessly spending
money
Literary and Dramatic Devices
- Foreshadowing
 Foreshadowing
of slightly later in the
scene – at the start they’re talking about
the ships crashing, which foreshadows the
later information that the audience is
given by Tubal. Salarino and Solanio says
‘Yet it lives there unchecked that Antonio
hath a ship of rich lading wrecked on the
Narrow Seas;’
Literary and Dramatic Devices
– Rhetorical Questions
 Rhetorical
questions are used to great
effect in Shylocks speech, for example
‘Hath a Jew not eyes?. This creates some
sympathy for Shylock, and also reveals
that he can be quite an eloquent
speaker, both positive traits where
previously he was almost exclusively
presented negatively
Literary and Dramatic Devices
– Monologues

Monologues are used by Shylock in his most
famous quote from the play – ‘He has
hindered me half a million, laughed at my
losses, mocked my gains, scorned my nation,
thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends’ is a
classic example of a monologue. This places
a heavy emphasis on his point, and also
reveals important information about his
character. This is repeated a little later in the
scene with a monologue about the value of
the things Jessica is losing, with the same
effect
Literary and Dramatic Devices
–
Inter-textual Links
 Intertexual
links – there are links to the
Bible throughout the scene. One quote is
‘The curse never full upon our nation till
now’, a reference to the prophesy of the
destruction of Jerusalem by Jesus Christ.
Another is ‘the devil himself turn Jew’,
referencing to the devil. Both of these are
used because they are (or were at the
time) well-known stories which can
convey a powerful message quickly.
Literary and Dramatic Devices
- Repetition
 ‘There
is more difference between thy
flesh and hers than between jet and ivory;
more between yours bloods than there is
between red wine and Rhenish;’ is one
example, where he repeats the same
message to emphasize the point, in this
case demeaning Shylock.
Literary and Dramatic Devices
– Repetition 2
 It
is also used in Shylock’s monologue,
where he repeats the same point;
effectively that Jews are also human.
‘Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew
hands, organs, dimensions, senses,
affections, passions?’ This is also used to
emphasize the point, but here the
emphasis creates sympathy for Shylock.