Shakespeare.
“You see me, Lord Bassanio, where I stand, Such as I am: though for myself alone
I would not be ambitious in my wish, To wish myself much better; yet, for you
I would be trebled twenty times myself; A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times more rich; That only to stand high in your account, I might in virtue, beauties, livings, friends, Exceed account; but the full sum of me Is sum of something, which, to term in gross, Is an unlesson’d girl, unschool’d, unpractised;
Happy in this, she is not yet so old But she may learn; happier than this,
She is not bred so dull but she can learn; Happiest of all is that her gentle spirit
Commits itself to yours to be directed, As from her lord, her governor, her king.
Myself and what is mine to you and yours Is now converted: but now I was the lord
Of this fair mansion, master of my servants, Queen o’er myself: and even now, but now,
This house, these servants and this same myself Are yours, my lord: I give them with this ring; Which when you part from, lose, or give away, Let it presage the ruin of your love And be my vantage to exclaim on you.”
Shakespeare was genius! This quote from the merchant of Venice touched me. Portia who is the heroine is speaking to her lover and (basically) saying that everything that was hers including herself is now his, completely.
I freely admit to being a fan of the bard and I enjoy his comedies the most. This tale tho not very funny is considered one of his comedies, but I’d say it was more drama than anything.
While I loved the play, I have to say that I did not understand the ending. Shakespeare is very wordy and can be hard to understand sometimes but its not that I didn’t understand the dialogue. Maybe I just missed something somewhere in the story. Anyway weather or not I got the ending the whole itself was a masterpiece!
