at may be adding to Antonio’s imbalance of humors. One of these is that he is suffering from the existential dilemma to a degree. In a world of appearances, he realizes how difficult it is to find real meaning and the truth. As he warns Bassanio regarding Shylock, “Mark you this, Bassanio,/Th devil can cite scripture for his purpose./An evil soul producing holy witness/Is like a villain with a smiling cheek-/A goodly apple rotten at the heart:/O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!” (Shakespeare 206).
Thus, Antonio is searching for something higher or more spiritual than the world of materialism and superficial appearances he views all about him. His speech above mirrors the speech of Bassanio when he discusses how the world of appearances is deceptive and often conceals the truth underneath. As he says, “The world
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