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PORTIA:

If I could bid the fifth welcome with so good a heart
as I can bid the other four farewell, I should be glad of(115)
his approach: if he have the condition of a saint and the
complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me
than wive me. Come, Nerissa. Sirrah, go before; whiles
we shut the gate upon one wooer, another knocks at the
door.(120)

Exeunt.

• Portia would prefer to have the fifth man hear her confession and grant absolution, rather than marry him.

1. Strategies for Understanding Shakespeare's Language
2. Reading Pointers for Sharper Insights
3. Dramatis Personæ
4. Act I
   1. Scene I
   2. Scene II
   3. Scene III
5. Act II
   1. Scene I
   2. Scene II
   3. Scene III
   4. Scene IV
   5. Scene V
   6. Scene VI
   7. Scene VII
   8. Scene VIII
   9. Scene IX
6. Act III
   1. Scene I
   2. Scene II
   3. Scene III
   4. Scene IV
   5. Scene V
7. Act IV
   1. Scene I
   2. Scene II
8. Act V
   1. Scene I
9. Copyright