act 3scene 1 merchant of venice
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Solanio and Salerio meet again in the Venetian streets to gossip. Salerio sadly reports there's still a rumor out there that one of Antonio's ships has been wrecked, and he hasn't been able to find anyone to disprove it. They lament that Antonio's fortunes are poor, but they're interrupted by Shylock or, as they say, the devil in the "likeness of a Jew."
Solanio asks Shylock for gossip from the marketplace, but Shylock points out the gossip he brings is likely old news to those two: Jessica has run off. Solanio and Salerio joke that it was about time she left the nest. As Shylock laments that his own flesh and blood has deserted him, the other two men are less than sensitive. They say Jessica was no more like Shylock than white wine to red.
Talk turns to the fate of Antonio's ships, and Shylock whines about that too—though it's unclear whether he's gleeful or upset. Either way, he keeps reiterating that Antonio needs to "look to his bond," suggesting that he has no plans to be merciful if Antonio forfeits. Salerio scoffs that he's sure, in the case of a forfeit, that Shylock wouldn't actually want a pound of Antonio's flesh. Right?
Shylock gives an illuminating speech on the nature of prejudice, though it's laced with vicious hatred and his desire for a pound of Antonio's flesh.
Shylock suggests he can use Antonio's flesh as fish bait, but the most important thing the human meat will feed is Shylock's hunger for revenge. Shylock lists off the little and big cruelties to which Antonio has subjected him and points out that Antonio's reason for all this hatred is simply that Shylock is a Jew