An ornate standing mirror reflects an empty upholstered chair in a quiet violet-gray room.

Original artwork, not a still

The Merchant of Venice · 1600

William Shakespeare

So the may the outward shows be least themselves; The world is still deceived with ornament.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The passage distrusts outward ornament because appearances can conceal what things are. Its warning concerns the gap between a surface and the reality behind it.

Context reviewed

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