what are the argosies of Antonio compared to?in the play of Merchant of Venice
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The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
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Explain the following lines from Act I, Scene i of The Merchant of Venice: 'Your mind is tossing on the ocean; There, where your argosies with portly sail, Like signiors and rich burghers on the flood Or, as it were, the pageants of the sea, Do over peer the petty traffickers, That curt'sy to them, do them reverence, As they fly by them with their woven wings.'
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MARGARET MCCARNEY eNotes educator | CERTIFIED EDUCATOR
These lines early in the play reveal a common theme in Shakespeare's plays: we project onto others what most animates our own imagination. At the outset of The Merchant of Venice, Antonio is despondent yet unable to name a cause. The audience will eventually attribute this to a certain sadness relating to his friendship with Bassanio. In this play, major relationships are characterized by a certain unevenness of affection, and Antonio seems more committed to their friendship than Bassanio.
To Salerio and Salanio, however, the only reason they can imagine for wistfulness concerns money. They are fashionable young men who imagine wealth and status a their primary objective. Since Antonio has already achieved both, they imagine he worries at their loss. They even go so...