Skip to Main Content

Shakespeare's Monologues

Portia

The Merchant of Venice: Act 3, Scene 2

Monologue

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.

Scored Monologue

Each row of the following table represents one line of the monologue. The first column indicates the number of syllables in that line of text. The second column is scored text, meaning that boldfaced text indicates where emphasis should be placed when performing the monologue. The third column represents a beat, or section, of the monologue. The third column is only used to indicate the beginning of a beat and its meaning, or the end of a beat.

Number of syllables Scored text Meaning of beat
11 You see me, Lord Bassanio, where I stand [Beginning of beat 1] To rejoice
10 Such as I am. Though for myself alone  
10 I would not be ambitious in my wish  
10 To wish myself much better, yet for you  
10 I would be trebled twenty times myself  
10 A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times  
12 More rich that only to stand high in your account,  
10 I might in virtues, beauties, livings, friends,  
10 Exceed account; but the full sum of me  
10 Is sum of something, which to term in gross,  
11 Is an unlessoned girl, unschooled, unpractised,  
10 Happy in this, she is not yet so old  
9 But she may learn; happier than this,  
10 She is not bred so dull but she can learn; [End of beat 1]
12 Happiest of all is that her gentle spirit [Beginning of beat 2] To emphasize
11 Commits itself to yours to be directed,  
10 As from her lord, her governor, her king. [End of beat 2]
10 Myself and what is mine to you and yours [Beginning of beat 3] To proclaim
11 Is now converted. But now I was the lord  
11 Of this fair mansion, master of my servants,  
10 Queen o'er myself; and even now, but now,  
10 This house, these servants, and this same myself  
10 Are yours, my lord's. I give them with this ring,  
10 Which when you part from, lose, or give away,  
10 Let it presage the ruin of your love  
10 And be my vantage to exclaim on you. [End of beat 3 and monologue]

Definitions from David & Ben Crystal / Shakespeare's Words are under copyright, and may not be used without their express permission. All other definitions are from sources in the public domain.
Unless otherwise indicated, all other content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA) license.