BASSANIO
If it please you to dine with us.
SHYLOCK
Yes, to smell pork! To eat of the habitation
which your prophet the Nazarite conjured the
devil into! I will buy with you, sell with you, talk
with you, walk with you, and so following; but I
will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with
you. (1.3.132-138)
Here we receive a lesson in how <em>not</em> to turn down a multi-faith dinner invitation. Shylock reveals here that he can be just as bigoted as Antonio when he refuses to eat, drink, or pray with men who don't share his religious identity.
Quote 2
BASSANIO
'Tis not unknown to you, Antonio,
How much I have disabled mine estate
By something showing a more swelling port
Than my faint means would grant continuance.
Nor do I now make moan to be abridged
From such a noble rate. But my chief care
Is to come fairly off from the great debts
Wherein my time something too prodigal,
Hath left me gaged. To you, Antonio,
I owe the most in money and in love,
And from your love I have a warranty
To unburden all my plots and purposes
How to get clear of all the debts I owe. (1.1.129-141)
Uh, oh—looks like somebody is really bad at managing his expenses. Bassanio reveals that he's not just broke but in serious debt—he's living way beyond his means. When Bassanio says he owes Antonio "the most, in money and in love," we also learn that Bassanio has been more than happy to sponge off his wealthy merchant friend. But Bassanio's got a plan for getting himself out of the financial mess he's created. Gee, we wonder what that could be...
Quote 3
BASSANIO
In Belmont is a lady richly left,
And she is fair, and, fairer than that word,
Of wondrous virtues [...] (1.1.168-170)
Oh, of course. Bassanio's going to get himself out of debt by going after a rich heiress who lives in Belmont (that would be Portia). Keep reading...