Original: To bait fish withal: if it will feed nothing else,
Modern: To use as fish bait: if it won’t serve any other purpose,

Original: it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, and
Modern: it will fuel my revenge. He has dishonored me, and

Original: hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses,
Modern: cost me half a million; laughed at my losses,

Original: mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my
Modern: made fun of my profits, insulted my people, ruined my

Original: bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine
Modern: business deals, turned my friends against me, stirred up my

Original: enemies; and what’s his reason? I am a Jew. Hath
Modern: enemies; and what’s his reason? I am a Jew. Doesn’t

Original: not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs,
Modern: a Jew have eyes? Doesn’t a Jew have hands, body parts,

Original: dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with
Modern: a physical body, senses, feelings, emotions? Fed with

Original: the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject
Modern: the same food, hurt by the same weapons, vulnerable

Original: to the same diseases, healed by the same means,
Modern: to the same diseases, healed by the same medicine,

Original: warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as
Modern: warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, just as

Original: a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed?
Modern: a Christian is? If you cut us, don’t we bleed?

Original: if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison
Modern: If you tickle us, don’t we laugh? If you poison

Original: us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not
Modern: us, don’t we die? And if you hurt us, shouldn’t we

Original: revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will
Modern: get revenge? If we’re like you in everything else, we will

Original: resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian,
Modern: be like you in that too. If a Jew wrongs a Christian,

Original: what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian
Modern: what does he humbly do? Revenge. If a Christian

Original: wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by
Modern: wrongs a Jew, what should his patient response be, following

Original: Christian example? Why, revenge. The villany you
Modern: Christian example? Why, revenge. The evil you

Original: teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I
Modern: teach me, I will carry out, and I’ll do everything I can to

Original: will better the instruction.
Modern: improve upon the lesson.

In Act III, Scene 1 of “The Merchant of Venice,” Solanio and Salarino discuss the news of Antonio’s misfortune at sea, with reports that one of his ships has been wrecked in the English Channel. When Shylock enters, they taunt him about his daughter Jessica’s elopement with the Christian Lorenzo, and Shylock expresses his anguish over her flight and the theft of his money and jewels. The two Venetians mock his conflated grief over losing both his ducats and his daughter, but Shylock insists that Jessica is damned for her actions and proclaims his determination to exact revenge upon Antonio if the merchant’s bond is forfeited.

After Solanio and Salarino depart, Tubal, another Jewish friend, arrives with news about Jessica and Antonio. Tubal reports that he has been unable to locate Jessica but has heard that she has been spending Shylock’s money extravagantly in Genoa, even trading a turquoise ring (given to Shylock by his late wife Leah) for a monkey. This news devastates Shylock, but his spirits lift when Tubal confirms that Antonio has indeed lost another ship and that the merchant will likely be unable to repay his debt. Shylock, now resolved in his intent, instructs Tubal to arrange for an officer to arrest Antonio, declaring his intention to claim his pound of flesh if the bond is forfeit.

The Merchant of Venice centers on Bassanio, a young Venetian gentleman who needs money to court the wealthy heiress Portia in Belmont. His friend Antonio, a merchant, agrees to help but has no ready cash since his ships are at sea. Antonio borrows 3,000 ducats from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, with the unusual condition that if the loan isn’t repaid within three months, Shylock may take a pound of Antonio’s flesh. Meanwhile, Shylock’s daughter Jessica elopes with the Christian Lorenzo, taking her father’s money and jewels.

In Belmont, Portia’s deceased father has decreed that her suitors must choose correctly among three caskets—gold, silver, and lead—to win her hand. The Prince of Morocco and the Prince of Arragon both choose incorrectly and depart. When Bassanio arrives and selects the lead casket, he wins Portia, while his friend Gratiano wins her maid Nerissa. Their celebrations are interrupted by news that Antonio’s ships have been lost and Shylock demands his pound of flesh.

Portia and Nerissa disguise themselves as a lawyer and clerk and travel to Venice for Antonio’s trial. In court, Portia grants Shylock his legal right to the flesh but warns he may take no blood and must cut exactly one pound—an impossible task. Defeated, Shylock loses his bond and, under Venetian law, must forfeit half his wealth and convert to Christianity. The disguised Portia requests Bassanio’s wedding ring as payment, which he reluctantly gives. Back in Belmont, Portia playfully scolds her husband for giving away his ring before revealing her disguise. The play concludes with news that Antonio’s ships have safely returned, restoring his fortune.