Forfeit

A penalty incurred when someone fails to fulfil an agreement.

If Antonio fails to repay as agreed, Shylock proposes to “let the forfeit / Be nominated for an equal pound / Of your fair flesh,” cut from whatever part of Antonio’s body Shylock chooses (Act 1 Scene 3). A forfeit is a penalty for failing to fulfil an agreement. Here, a financial transaction has become a claim over a human body.

A penalty or something lost because a condition of an agreement has been broken.

Part (b): keep the bond’s terms precise: three thousand ducats for three months, with Antonio liable to forfeit a pound of flesh if he defaults.

A penalty or something surrendered for breaking an agreement; the bond’s proposed forfeit is a pound of Antonio’s flesh.

If Antonio fails to repay, Shylock may take a pound of his flesh from whichever part of his body he chooses. He proposes ‘let the forfeit / Be nominated for an equal pound / Of your fair flesh’. The precise measurement, ‘equal pound’, applies the language of commerce to a human body.

A penalty incurred when an agreement is broken.

A penalty or loss incurred when someone breaks an agreement.

At the height of this happiness, a letter arrives from Antonio: his ships are reported lost, he cannot repay the loan, and his bond is forfeit. This abrupt change of mood reveals the cost behind Bassanio's success. Belmont's celebration has depended on an agreement that now threatens a death in Venice.

The penalty incurred when an agreement is broken; Antonio's bond specifies a pound of his flesh.

A penalty or loss incurred when an agreement is broken.

A penalty or something surrendered for breaking an agreement.

The penalty incurred when someone breaks an agreement or fails to meet its conditions.

Almost immediately, Antonio’s letter interrupts the celebration. His ships are reported lost, the bond is forfeit, and he expects to die. Shakespeare places joy and threatened death within the same scene: Bassanio’s success has been made possible by the agreement now endangering his friend.

A penalty incurred when an agreement is broken. Antonio’s proposed forfeit is a pound of his flesh.

A penalty incurred when someone breaks an agreement or fails to fulfil a condition.

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AQA GCSE English Literature · 8702

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Edexcel GCSE English Literature · 1ET0

OCR GCSE English Literature · J352

Eduqas GCSE English Literature · C720