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IX & X - ICSE - ENGLISHVOLUME 2

Table of Contents

Volume 2 of 2 Universal Tutorials – IX & X ICSE – English II

Table of Contents DRAMA: THE MERCHANT OF VENICE ..................................................................... 1

Character List .................................................................................................................................... 1 Character Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 2 Act I Scene I ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Act I Scene II ................................................................................................................................... 17 Act I Scene III .................................................................................................................................. 20 Act II Scene I ................................................................................................................................... 28 Act II Scene II .................................................................................................................................. 32 Act II Scene III ................................................................................................................................. 34 Act II Scene IV ................................................................................................................................. 37 Act II Scene V: ................................................................................................................................. 37 Act II Scene VI ................................................................................................................................. 40 Act II Scene VII ................................................................................................................................ 43 Act II Scene VIII ............................................................................................................................... 46 Act II Scene IX ................................................................................................................................. 49 Act III Scene I .................................................................................................................................. 52 Act III Scene II ................................................................................................................................. 56 Act III Scene III ................................................................................................................................ 69 Act III Scene IV: ............................................................................................................................... 71 Act III Scene V: ................................................................................................................................ 75 Act IV Scene I: ................................................................................................................................. 76 Act IV Scene II ................................................................................................................................. 89 Act V Scene I ................................................................................................................................... 90

TREASURE TROVE: A COLLECTION OF POEMS AND SHORT STORIES ........ 101 POEM: .................................................................................................................................................... 101

1. The Heart Of The Tree .............................................................................................................. 101 2. The Cold Within ......................................................................................................................... 106 3. The Bangle Sellers .................................................................................................................... 110 4. After Blenheim ........................................................................................................................... 115 5. Television .................................................................................................................................. 123 6. Daffodils ..................................................................................................................................... 133 7. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings ........................................................................................... 140 8. The Patriot ................................................................................................................................. 147 9. Abou Ben Adhem ...................................................................................................................... 154 10. Nine Gold Medals .................................................................................................................... 160

PROSE:................................................................................................................................................... 168 1. Chief Seattle’s Speech .............................................................................................................. 168 2. Old Man At The Bridge .............................................................................................................. 176 3. A Horse and Two Goats ............................................................................................................ 184 4. Hearts and Hands ..................................................................................................................... 199 5. A Face in the Dark ..................................................................................................................... 208 6. An Angel in Disguise ................................................................................................................. 213 7. The Little Match Girl .................................................................................................................. 227 8. The Blue Bead ........................................................................................................................... 234 9. My Greatest Olympic Prize ........................................................................................................ 248 10. All Summer in a Day ................................................................................................................ 257

ICSE SPECIMEN PAPER 2019 ............................................................................... 267

Drama: The Merchant of Venice 1

Volume 2 of 2 Universal Tutorials – IX & X ICSE – English II 1

Drama: The Merchant of Venice

– William Shakespeare

Character List Antonio: A wealthy Venetian merchant who occasionally lends money, but never charges interest. Since his main source of income is from his merchant ships, he is the “merchant” of the play’s title. Bassanio: He is a typical Elizabethan lover and nobleman who is careless with his money; hence, he has to borrow from Antonio so that he can woo Portia in style. Portia: Is one of Shakespeare’s most intelligent and witty heroines, she is famous for her beauty and for her wealth, and she is deeply anguished that she must marry only the man who chooses the single casket of three which contains her portrait. Shylock: Shylock is an intelligent businessman who believes that, since he is a moneylender, charging interest is his right; to him, it makes good business sense. The Duke of Venice: He presides as a judge over the court proceedings in Shylock’s claim on Antonio. The Prince of Morocco one of Portia’s suitors; loses the opportunity to marry her when he chooses the golden casket. The Prince of Arragon: He chooses the silver casket; he is another disappointed suitor for Portia’s hand in marriage. Gratiano: He is the light-hearted, talkative friend of Bassanio, who accompanies him to Belmont; there, he falls in love with Portia’s confidante, Nerissa. Lorenzo: He is a friend of Antonio and Bassanio; he woos and wins the love of Shylock’s daughter, Jessica. Jessica: She is the young daughter of Shylock; she falls in love with Lorenzo and, disguised as a boy, she elopes with him. Nerissa: Portia’s merry and sympathetic lady-in-waiting. Salanio: He is a friend who believes that Antonio is sad because he is worried about his ships at sea. He is a messenger from Venice. Salarino: He is another friend of Antonio; he thinks Antonio’s melancholy may be caused because Antonio is in love. Salerio:Friend of Antonio. Launcelot Gobbo: He is a “clown,” a jester, the young servant of Shylock; he is about to run away because he thinks Shylock is the devil; eventually, he leaves Shylock’s service and becomes Bassanio’s jester. Old Gobbo: The father of Launcelot, he has come to Venice to seek news of his son. He is partially blind. Tubal: He is a friend of Shylock’s; he tells him that one of Antonio’s ships has been wrecked. Leonardo: Bassanio’s servant. Balthasar: The servant whom Portia sends to her cousin, Dr. Bellario. Di Bellario: A lawyer of Padua. Stephano: One of Portia’s servants.

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2 Universal Tutorials – IX & X ICSE – English II Volume 2 of 2

Character Analysis Antonio: Although the plot turns on Antonio’s predicament, his character is not sharply drawn.

He is a rich man and a comfortable man, and a popular man, but still he suffers from an inner sadness. One obvious, dramatic reason for Antonio’s quiet melancholy is simply that Shakespeare cannot give Antonio too much to do or say without taking away valuable dialogue time from his major characters. Therefore, Shakespeare makes Antonio a quiet, dignified figure.

One of Antonio’s most distinguishing characteristics is his generosity. He is more than happy to offer his good credit standing so that Bassanio can go to Belmont in the latest fashions in order to court Portia. And one of the reasons why Shylock hates Antonio so intensely is that Antonio has relieved Shylock’s borrowers by lending them money at the last minute to pay off Shylock; and Antonio never charges interest. He is only too happy to help his friends, but he would never stoop to accept more than the original amount in return. Antonio’s generosity is boundless, and for Bassanio, he is willing to go to the full length of friendship, even if it means that he himself may suffer for it.

Antonio is an honorable man. When he realizes that Shylock is within his lawful rights, Antonio is ready to fulfill the bargain he entered into to help Bassanio. “The Duke cannot deny the course of the law,” he says. And later, he adds that he is “arm’d to suffer, with a quietness of spirit. For if the Jew do cut but deep enough, I’ll pay it presently with all my heart.”

Antonio’s courage and goodness are finally rewarded; at the end of the play, when the three pairs of lovers are reunited and happiness abounds at Belmont, Portia delivers a letter to Antonio in which he learns that the remainder of his ships has returned home safely to port.

Bassanio: Bassanio’s character is more fully drawn than Antonio’s, but it does not possess the powerful individuality that Shakespeare gives to his portraits of Portia and Shylock. First off, when one begins considering Bassanio, one should dismiss all the critics who condemn him for his financial habits. Bassanio’s request to Antonio for more money is perfectly natural for him. He is young; he is in love; and he is, by nature, impulsive and romantic. Young men in love have often gone into debt; thus Bassanio has always borrowed money and, further more, no moral stigma was be involved. Shakespeare needs just such a character in this play for his plot.

If Bassanio is not a powerful hero, he is certainly a sympathetic one. First, he has some of the most memorable verses in the play – language which has music, richness, and dignity. Second, he shows us his immediate, uncalculated generosity and love; this is especially obvious when Bassanio, who has just won Portia, receives the letter telling him of Antonio’s danger. Bassanio is immediately and extremely concerned over the fate of Antonio and is anxious to do whatever is possible for his friend. Here, the situation is melodramatic and calls for a romantic, seemingly impossible, rescue mission.

When at last Bassanio and Portia are reunited, he speaks forthrightly and truthfully to her. He refuses to implicate Antonio, even though it was at Antonio’s urging that he gave away his wedding ring to the lawyer who cleverly saved Antonio’s life: “If you did know,” he tells Portia, “for what I gave the ring And how unwillingly I left the ring . . . You would abate the strength of your displeasure.” No matter how powerful the circumstances, he admits that he was wrong to part with the ring because he had given his oath to Portia to keep it. As the play ends, Bassanio’s tempestuous nature is once more stage center. Speaking to his wife, he vows: “Portia, forgive me this enforced wrong; and by my soul I swear I never more will break an oath with thee.” Of course, he will; this, however, is part of Bassanio’s charm. He means it with all his heart when he swears to Portia, but when the next opportunity arises and he is called on to rashly undertake some adventure full of dash and daring, he’ll be off. Portia knows this also and loves him deeply, despite this minor flaw.

Portia: Portia is the romantic heroine of the play, and she must be presented on the stage with much beauty and intelligence. Of her beauty, we need no convincing. Bassanio’s words are



enough; thus we turn to her love for Bassanio. Already she has given him cause to think that it is possible that he can woo and win her, for on an earlier visit to Belmont, Bassanio did “receive fair speechless messages” from her eyes. And when Nerissa mentions the fact that Bassanio might possibly be a suitor, Portia tries to disguise her anxiety, but she fails. Nerissa understands her mistress. Portia is usually very self-controlled, but she reveals her anxiety concerning Bassanio a little later when he has arrived at her mansion and is about to choose one of the caskets. She has fallen in love with him, and her anxiety and confusion undo her. “Pause a day or two,” she begs, for “in choosing wrong, I lose your company.” She thus makes sure that he knows that it is not hate but only love that she feels for him.

Bassanio’s correct choice of the casket overwhelms Portia. She wishes she had more of everything to give Bassanio: “This house, these servants and this same myself! Are yours, my lord: I give them with this ring.” She willingly shares all she owns with Bassanio. Once master of her emotions, she has fallen completely under the spell of love’s madness. Love is a reciprocal - giving and receiving, and so it is with perfect empathy that she sends her beloved away almost immediately to try and save his friend Antonio. They will be married, but their love will not be consummated until his friend is saved, if possible.

Portia’s second characteristic that is most readily apparent is her graciousness – that is, her tact and sympathy. Despite her real feelings about the Prince of Morocco, Portia answers him politely and reassuringly. Since the irony of her words is not apparent to him, his feelings are spared. She tells him that he is “as fair as any corner I have look’d on yet, for my affection.” She shows Morocco the honor his rank deserves. But once he is gone, she reveals that she did not like him. “A gentle riddance,” she says; “Draw the curtains.”

When the Prince of Arragon arrives, Portia carefully addresses him with all the deference due to his position. She calls him “noble.” But after he has failed and has left, she cries out, “O, these deliberate fools!” To her, both of these men are shallow and greedy and self-centered; yet to their faces, she is as ladylike as possible. Lorenzo appreciates this gentle generosity of spirit When Portia has allowed her new husband to leave to try and help his best friend out of his difficulty, he says to her: “You have a noble and a true conceit of god-like amity.”

In the courtroom, Portia (in disguise) speaks to Shylock about mercy, but this is not merely an attempt to stall; she truly means what she says. It is an eloquent appeal she makes. Her request for mercy comes from her habitual goodness. She hopes, of course, to soften his heart, knowing the outcome if he refuses. But the words come from her heart, honestly and openly and naturally.

Finally, of course, what we most remember about Portia, after the play is over, is her wit and her playfulness. Even when Portia is complaining to Nerissa about the terms of her father’s will, she does so wittily: “Is it not hard, Nerissa that I cannot choose one nor refuse none?” And then she ticks off, like a computer, the eccentricities of the six suitors who have arrived at Belmont to try for her hand. They are childish, humorless, volatile, ignorant, too fantastically dressed, weak, or have a drinking problem. She is clearly glad to be rid of them all, when it is announced that they are departing.

We recall too the humorous way that she imagines dressing up like a man and aping the mannerisms of all the men she has observed in her short life. She bets with Nerissa that she can out-man any man when it comes to swaggering and playing the macho bit: “I have within my mind / A thousand raw tricks of these bragging Jacks, which I will practise.” Men are as transparent as stale beer to her; she revels in turning the tables and having a bit of fun even while she is on a daring mission to try and save Antonio’s life. And even in the courtroom, when Bassanio extravagantly offers his life for Antonio’s, Portia quips in an aside that “Your wife would give you little thanks for that, if she were by, to hear you make the offer.”

The entire ring plot is Portia’s idea, and she and Nerissa relish the prospect of the jest at their husbands’ expense. Bassanio swears over and over that he never gave his ring away to another woman (and he is more than a little embarrassed to admit that he gave it to another man), but

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with a fine sense of comedy, Portia plays the role of the “angry wife” just as well as she played the role of the “learned young lawyer” at Antonio’s trial.

Only when Portia first falls in love with Bassanio, does she lose all self-control; once she regains self-control, she takes matters in hand until the very end of the play, and there she displays total command of the situation. “You are all amazed,” she tells them, and then she shows them a letter from Padua, explaining everything, and she gaily invites them inside where she will continue to explain and entertain. She is a delightful creature, one of Shakespeare’s most intelligent and captivating heroines.

Shylock: Shylock is the most vivid and memorable character in ‘The Merchant of Venice’, and he is one of Shakespeare’s greatest dramatic creations. On stage, it is Shylock who makes the play, and almost all great actors of the English and Continental stage have attempted the role. But the character of Shylock has also been the subject of much critical debate: How are we meant to evaluate the attitude of the Venetians in the play towards him, or his attitude towards them? Is he a bloodthirsty villain? Or is he a man “more sinned against than sinning”? One of the reasons that such questions arise is that there are really two stage Shylocks in the play: first, there is the stage “villain” who is required for the plot; secondly, there is the human being who suffers the loss of his daughter, his property, and, very importantly for him, his religion.

Shylock’s function in this play is to be the obstacle, the man who stands in the way of the love stories; such a man is a traditional figure in romantic comedies. Something or someone must impede young, romantic love; here, it is Shylock and the many and various ways that he is linked to the three sets of lovers. The fact that he is a Jew is, in a sense, accidental. Shakespeare wanted to contrast liberality against selfishness – in terms of money and in terms of love. There was such a figure available from the literature of the time, one man who could fulfill both functions: this man would be a usurper, or moneylender, with a beautiful daughter that he held onto as tightly as he did his ducats. Usury was forbidden to Christians by the church of the Middle Ages, and as a consequence, money lending was controlled by the Jews; as a rule, it was usually the only occupation which the law allowed them. As a result, a great deal of medieval literature produced the conventional figure of the Jewish moneylender, usually as a minor character, but also too, as a major character.

It is from this medieval literary tradition that Shakespeare borrows the figure of Shylock, just as Marlowe did for his Jew of Malta. Some commentators have said that the character of Shylock is an example of Elizabethan (and Shakespeare’s own) anti-Semitism. In contrast, many have the creation of Shylock as an attack on this kind of intolerance. But Shakespeare, they forget, was a dramatist. He was not concerned with either anti-nor pro-Semitism, except in the way it shaped individual characters in his plays to produce the necessary drama that he was attempting to create. The play is thus emphatically not anti-Semitic; rather, because of the nature of Shylock’s involvement in the love plots, it is about anti-Semitism. Shakespeare never seriously defined or condemned a group through the presentation of an individual; he only did this for the purposes of comedy by creating caricatures in miniature for our amusement. Shylock is drawn in bold strokes; he is meant to be a “villain” in terms of the romantic comedy, but because of the multi-dimensionality which Shakespeare gives him, we are meant to sympathize with him at times, loathe him at others. Shakespeare’s manipulation of our emotions regarding Shylock is a testament to his genius as a creator of characters.

When Shylock leaves the courtroom in Act IV, Scene 1, he is stripped of all that he has. He is a defeated man. Yet we cannot feel deep sympathy for him – some, perhaps, but not much. Shakespeare’s intention was not to make Shylock a tragic figure; instead, Shylock was meant to function as a man who could be vividly realized as the epitome of selfishness; he must be defeated in this romantic comedy. In a sense, it is Shakespeare’s own brilliance which led him to create Shylock as almost too human. Shylock is powerfully drawn, perhaps too powerfully for this comedy, but his superb dignity is admirable, despite the fact that we must finally condemn him. Perhaps the poet W. H. Auden has given us our best clue as to how we must deal with Shylock: “Those to whom evil is done,” he says, “do evil in return.” This explains in a few words much of the moneylender’s complexity and our complex reactions towards him.



Act I Scene I The first task confronting any playwright in his opening scene is his “exposition” of that play – that is, he must identify the characters and explain their situation to the audience. Shakespeare accomplishes this task of informative exposition very subtly in the opening fifty-six lines of dialogue between Antonio, Salarino and Salanio. We learn that Antonio is a wealthy merchant; that he is worried for some obscure reason which makes him melancholy; that he is a member of a group of friends who arrive later – Bassanio, Lorenzo, and Gratiano – who represent the lively, convivial life of Venice. And perhaps most important for the purposes of the plot, we are told that Antonio has many shipping “ventures” mercantile risks – and although he is not worried about them now, the idea is subtly suggested to us that his business ventures on the high seas may miscarry. We should recall this matter when Antonio initially decides to indebt himself to Shylock on Bassanio’s behalf. In this opening scene, Shakespeare begins to sketch in some of the characters and some of the atmosphere of the play. Antonio, for example, is presented as being “sad,” afflicted with a melancholy which he himself does not appear to understand. Critics have puzzled over this – Is Antonio to be viewed as a normally melancholy character? Is his sadness caused by his knowledge that he may shortly lose the companionship of his old friend Bassanio, who has told him of embarking on a “secret pilgrimage” to woo a beautiful and wealthy woman in Belmont? Or is his mood to be put down simply to an ominous foreboding which he has of some approaching disaster? For all dramatic purposes, in this scene Antonio’s gravity serves, foremost, as a contrast to the lightheartedness of his friends. Despite its dark and threatening moments, one should always remember that The Merchant of Venice is a romantic comedy and, like most of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies, it has a group of dashing, if not very profound, young men. For example, Salanio and Salarino are not terribly important. Their lines are interchangeable, and they are not really distinguishable from one another. They represent an element of youthful whimsy. Salarino begins, typically, with a flight of fancy in which Antonio’s ships are described as being like “rich burghers on the flood” and like birds, flying “with their woven wings.” He continues into a delightfully fantastic series of imaginings; on the stage, of course, all this would be accompanied with exaggerated gestures, intended to bring Antonio out of his depression. Thus, through the presentation on the stage of the sober, withdrawn Antonio, surrounded by the frolicsome language and whimsy of the two young gallants; Shakespeare suggests in compressed form two of the elements of the play – the real dangers that the merchant of Venice will face and the world of youth and laughter which will be the background to the love stories of Bassanio and Portia, Lorenzo and Jessica, and Gratiano and Nerissa. This same note of gentle raillery is carried on when we see the entrance of three more young courtiers – Bassanio, Gratiano, and Lorenzo. Again, Antonio’s mood is remarked on. Here again, Shakespeare is using Antonio as a foil for the spirited byplay of the others. Gratiano, especially, is ebullient and talkative, yet he is quite aware of his effervescence; he announces that he will “play the fool”; Gratiano talks, Bassanio tells Antonio, “of nothing, more than any man in all Venice,” and his willing accomplice is Lorenzo; significantly, both of these characters are more distinctly drawn than Salanio or Salarino, and they will play more major roles in the development of the romantic plot and subplot of the play Gratiano with Nerissa, and Lorenzo with Jessica. One of the major purposes of this opening scene is to introduce Bassanio and his courtship of Portia, which will constitute the major romantic plot and also set the “bond story” in motion. Antonio’s question concerning Bassanio’s courtship of Portia is turned aside by Bassanio; he goes directly to the question of money, in order that the basis for the bond story can be laid. Some critics have seen in Bassanio’s speeches some evidence of a character that is extremely careless of his money and very casual about his obligations; he seems, furthermore, to have no scruples about making more requisitions of a friend who has already done much for him. Yet clearly Shakespeare does not intend us to level any harsh moral judgments at Bassanio. According to the Venetian (and Elizabethan) view, Bassanio is behaving as any young man of his station might be expected to behave; he is young, he is in love, and he is broke. The matter is that simple. Antonio’s immediate reassurance to his old friend reminds us of the

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strong bond of friendship between the two men. Interestingly, neither of them seems to be unduly concerned about money at this point; one is a wealthy merchant and the other, a carefree young lover. This is a quality which we shall notice throughout the play in connection with both Bassanio and Portia; both of them recognize the necessity of money, but neither of them considers money to be of any value in itself. In their world of romantic love and civilized cultivation, they feel that they don’t need to be unduly concerned with money. Shakespeare is setting up this point of view to contrast later with Shylock’s diametrical point of view. For Shylock the moneylender, money constitutes his only defense against his oppressors. Considering again Bassanio’s problem with money and Antonio’s reaction to it, note that Bassanio is straightforward in this scene with Antonio. His request is made “In pure innocence,” and we take it at its face value. Those critics who decry Bassanio read more into his frank confession of poverty and his attempt to borrow money than is really there. We must recall that when Shakespeare wants to make us aware of some defect in one of his characters, he is always able to do so. The absolute the unconditional friendship of Antonio and Bassanio is one of the assumptions of the play, and we must never question it.

SOLVED EXERCISE

Passage 1: Read the passage and answer the following questions: ANTONIO Believe me, no: I thank my fortune for it,

My ventures are not in one bottom trusted, Nor to one place; nor is my whole estate Upon the fortune of this present year: Therefore my merchandise makes me not sad.

SALARINO Why, then you are in love. ANTONIO Fie, fie! SALARINO Not in love neither? Then let us say you are sad,

Because you are not merry: and ’twere as easy For you to laugh and leap and say you are merry Because you are not sad. Now, by two-headed Janus, Nature hath frame strange fellows in her time: Some that will evermore peep through their eyes, And laugh like parrots at a bag-piper;

i) Who are Salanio and Salarino? What are they worried about? Ans: Salanio and Salarino are Antonio’s friends. They find Antonio inexplicably sad. They are worried

about his sadness because he looks almost always sad. They try to guess the reason for his sadness. Salanio feels that he is sad because he is worried about his ships while Salarino thinks he is sad because he is in love.

ii) What is it that is denied by Antonio? What claims does he make? In what sense do his claims prove to be wrong later?

Ans: Antonio denies that he is worried about his ships. He claims that he has more than one ship and that they are sent to different parts of the world. His claims seem to be wrong or absurd when it is reported later that he has lost all his ships and has gone bankrupt.

iii) What do the words “Fie, fie !“ reveal about Antonio? Ans: Salarino, in trying to arrive at some conclusion about Antonio’s melancholy, says that he is sad

because he is in love. Antonio denies it vehemently and wonders how he has arrived at such an absurd suggestion. His words show that he is a practical, unromantic sort of person.

iv) What makes Salarino refer to two-headed Janus? What suggestion does he want to make?



Ans: Salarino refers to the two-headed Roman god, Janus, only to say that there are two kinds of persons in this world – the non- serious and the serious. He wants to suggest that Antonio belongs to the category of serious persons.

v) What is the dramatic significance of Antonio’s melancholy? Ans: Antonio’s melancholy which remains baffling seems to be innate in his character. It strikes the

key-note of the play. His melancholy is ominous, and prepares us for the oncoming trouble.

Passage 2 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: Gratiano : There are a sort of men whose visages

Do cream and mantle like a standing pond; And do a wilful stillness entertain, With purpose to be dress’d in a opinion Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit; As who should say, ‘I am Sir Oracle, And when I ope my lips let no dog bark!’.

i) In whose company is Gratiano? What has provoked him to give a long lecture? Ans: Gratiano is in the company of his friends: Antonio, Bassanio, Lorenzo, Salanio and Salarino.

Antonio has remarked that he is destined to play a sad role in life. This comment of Antonio provokes Gratiano to give a long lecture.

ii) Why do some people, according to Gratiano, try to look serious? Ans: According to Gratiano, some people try to look serious so that the world should regard them as

wise persons. They want to be passed for oracles. They want that no one should interrupt them when they speak.

iii) Whom is Gratiano criticising indirectly? Ans: Gratiano’s target of criticism is Antonio who, he feels, remains serious and quiet, perhaps to get

a reputation for wisdom, which is not desirable. He believes one should enjoy life as it is. iv) Later in the scene Gratiano says he will continue his speech: When are the friends

meeting again? How does the meeting become important? Ans: Gratiano says he will continue his speech, which shows that he is talkative. He thinks he will

complete his speech at the meeting of friends at dinner time. The meeting at dinner becomes important because Bassanio has invited their arch-rival and enemy Shylock for dinner.

v) What impression does Gratiano leave on Antonio and his friends? Why does he leave abruptly?

Ans: Gratiano does not leave a good impression on Antonio or Bassanio. Bassanio clearly tells Antonio that rational words in his talk are like two grains in two bushels of chaff. Gratiano leaves abruptly as he feels he should leave Antonio and Bassanio alone.

Passage 3 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: SALARINO: Your mind is tossing on the ocean; There, where your argosies, with portly sail, Like signiors and rich burghers on the floods, Or, as it were, the pageants of the sea, Do overpeer the petty traffickers, That curt’sy to them, do them reverence, As they fly by them with their woven wings. SALANIO: Believe me, sir, had I such venture forth, The better part of my affections would Be with my hopes abroad. I should be still Plucking the grass, to know where sits the wind;

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i) What has Antonio just narrated that makes the speaker say that Antonio’s mind is tossing on the ocean??

Ans: Antonio has just narrated the state of his mind. He is sad without knowing the reason what makes him sad. He does not know the nature of his mysterious sadness, nor does he know the source of its origin. This sadness had made him stupid.

On hearing Antonio’s explanation, his friend, Salanio tries to diagnose the disease. He guesses that Antonio is sad because he is worried about his merchant-ships gone into different directions on the sea.

ii) Where are Antonio’s ships? How do these ships move? How do they present an impressive spectacle on the sea?

Ans: His ships are at sea. With their majestic sails they voyage upon the seas and present an impressive spectacle. It appears as if other ships bow down before Antonio’s ships.

iii) How are Antonio’s big ships compared with the smaller ships? Ans: Antonio’s large ships tower above small vessels engaged in petty traffic, in the same way as

gentlemen of status and other rich citizens look far superior to humble people. The smaller ships fitted with light sails, bob up and down under the influence of the waves and so appear to show respect to Antonio’s ships.

iv) How would Salanio have behaved if he had ships at sea like those of Antonio? What would have made him sad?

Ans: Salanio would have also remained worried about his ships if he had any at sea. If he were facing a similar situation of having a commercial enterprise in danger, the greater part of his feelings would also have been connected with his hopes of safety of his ships. Thinking of the risks at sea, he would have become sad like Antonio.

v) Why would he be plucking the grass? What else would he be doing to console himself? Ans: He would continually be plucking blades of grass and throwing them in the wind to find out which

way the wind blew. Moreover, he would be examining the maps to know the situation of harbours, piers and anchorages. Every object that seemed to do harm to his ships would certainly make him sad.

Passage 4 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: BASSANIO : In Belmont is a lady richly left,

And she is fair, and, fairer than that word, Of wondrous virtues sometimes from her eyes I did receive fair speechless messages: Her name is Portia; nothing undervalued To Cato’s daughter, Brutus’ Portia; Nor is the wide world ignorant of her worth, For the four winds blow in from every coast Renowned suitors; and her sunny locks Hang on her temples like a golden fleece; Which makes her seat of Belmont Colchos’ strand, And many Jasons come in quest of her.

i) Who lives in Belmont? How has Bassanio got interested in her? Ans: A very beautiful and rich lady, Portia, lives in Belmont. Bassanio has got interested in her as he

has received many ‘silent’ messages of love from her when he had previously met her. He feels that she is in love with him.

ii) What tells you that Portia is a centre of attraction for many young people? Ans: According to Bassanio, Portia’s reputation as a rich, beautiful lady has spread far and wide. A

number of eligible bachelors are reaching Belmont to try their luck in quest of her.



iii) How does Bassanio describe Portia? Ans: Bassanio says that Portia is beautiful and rich. She also possesses all qualities of head and

heart. In no way is she inferior to the well-known Portia, the daughter of the Roman senator, Cato and wife of the still more famous Brutus.

iv) What is the significance of the allusion to Jason and the Golden Fleece? Ans: Jason was one of the Greek heroes in search of the Golden Fleece. Jason put his life into

danger to get the Golden Fleece. According to Bassanio, many brave persons, like Jason, are risking everything of theirs to get Portia who is as rare and valuable as the Golden Fleece.

v) What is the purpose of Bassanio in telling about Portia to Antonio? How does he succeed in getting Portia as his wife?

Ans: Bassanio wants to go to Belmont in style to woo Portia. He wants Antonio to lend him three thousand ducats for the purpose. Later, he succeeds in his mission by choosing the right casket at the lottery of caskets designed by Portia’s late father he marries Portia.

Passage 5 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: SALARINO: My wind, cooling my broth, Would blow me to an ague, when I thought What harm a wind too great might do

I should not see the sandy hour-glass run But I should think of shallows and of flats; And see my wealthy Andrew dock’d in sand, Vailing her high-top lower than her ribs To kiss her burial. Should I go to church, And see the holy edifice of stone, And not bethink me straight of dangerous rocks.

i) Why would Salarino be blown to an ague? Ans: If Salarino’s ships had gone to sea and if he had heard of a storm that could damage his ships

then he would be blown to an ague. ii) What effect would the running of the sandy hour-glass produce on Salarino? Ans: The running of the sandy hour-glass would make him think of shallow waters and sand-banks.

He would imagine his richly laden ship Andrew run aground. iii) What would a visit to the church set him doing? Ans: Even the stones in the church walls would bring to Salarino’s mind the dangerous rocks against

which his ships might collide and his spices and silk loaded in the ships would scatter on the surface of the water of the sea.

iv) What could cause sadness to him? Ans: The fear to the safety of his ships would certainly make Salarino sad. v) How does Salarino interpret or explain about Antonio’s sadness? Ans: Thus, says Salarino, about Antonio who is sad because his ships laden with goods are at sea

and he fears danger to their safety.

Passage 6 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: Antonio: Believe me, no: I thank my fortune for it, My ventures are not in one bottom trusted, Nor to one place; nor is my whole estate Upon the fortune of this present year: Therefore my merchandise makes me not sad.

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Salarino: Why, then you are in love. Antonio: Fie, fie! Salarino: Not in love neither? Then let us say, you are sad, Because you are not merry; and ’twere as easy For you to laugh and leap and say you are merry, Because you are not sad. Now, by two-headed Janus, Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time:

i) What does Antonio mean by saying “Fie, fie”? Ans: The word ‘Fie’ means ‘shame on you’. ii) Why does he react to Salarino’s suggestion in this way? Ans: Antonio means to say that Salanio should feel ashamed of himself for having made the

suggestion that Antonio might be in love. Antonio reacts to his suggestion adversely because, being an elderly man, he cannot fall in love. If he had not fallen in love in his younger days, there is no possibility of his falling in love now. Thus Antonio totally rejects the suggestion which Salarino has made.

iii) According to Salarino, what strange fellows have been framed by Nature in her time? Ans: Some fellows keep laughing without much reason, and others always look serious and sullen: In

other words, some have extremely cheerful temperaments, while others are too sober and serious- minded. The serious-minded ones do not laugh even at a joke which is very amusing.

iv) What is meant by ‘two-headed Janus’? Ans: Janus is the name of the God of doors. This god was represented as having two heads facing in

opposite directions because a door may be used for making an entry into a room and it may also be used for making an exit out of a room. Furthermore, this god was represented with one of his two faces as smiling and the other as frowning.

v) How does Antonio afterwards explain his melancholy? Ans: Antonio afterwards says that he regards this world as the stage of a theatre on which everyone

has to play some part, his own part on this stage being a sad one. In other words, Antonio says that he is, by nature and by temperament, a melancholy man and that there is no particular reason for his feeling melancholy at this time.

vi) What light does the dialogue quoted above throw upon the characters of the speakers? Ans: This dialogue shows that Antonio is such a serious-minded man that he has never fallen in love.

He regards love as a frivolous pastime. This dialogue also shows the Antonio has full confidence in his continuing prosperity. He believes himself to be a shrewd businessman who has not invested all his money on the merchandise carried by a single ship, and whose other investments also have been made discreetly and intelligently. As for Salarino, he is a well-wisher of Antonio; and both he and Salanio are trying to talk Antonio out of his melancholy. They are trying to divert Antonio’s mind by offering different explanations for his melancholy.

Passage 7 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: Gratiano : Let me play the fool: With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come,

And let my liver rather heat with wine Than my heart cool with mortifying groans. Why should a man ,whose blood is warm within, Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster? Sleep when he wakes?and creep into the jaundice By being peevish? I tell thee what, Antonio-



I love thee, and it is my love that speaks;- There are a sort of men, whose visages Do cream and mantle like a standing pond; And do a wilful stillness entertain, With purpose to be dress’d in an opinion Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit; As who should say, “I am Sir Oracle, And, when I ope my lips, let no dog bark!”

i) Why would Gratiano like to play the role of a comic actor? Ans: He is gay and cheerful by nature. It is difficult to find him sad and gloomy. He finds Antonio sad

and serious. But he would like to play the role of a clown. He will grow old with fun and laughter. ii) Why does Gratiano want to drink wine? Ans: Gratiano is a jolly good man who believes in eating, drinking and making merry. He doesn’t want

to sicken his heart with sad sights and sobs. iii) Why doesn’t he like a serious looking man? Ans: Gratiano believes that a young man has no reason to be sad and serious. He cannot tolerate a

warm young man sitting like a marble statue of his grandfather. It is against his nature. iv) What truth does he want to reveal to Antonio? Ans: Gratiano wants to reveal to Antonio that there are some persons whose faces are always sad

and sullen. They look like a stagnant pool But the fact is that they deliberately look serious so that they may earn the reputation of being wise and thoughtful..

v) Explain the line - “I am Sir Oracle. And when I ope my lips let no dog bark.” Ans: Like Sir Oracle, commenting upon the men who always look serious and thus pretend to be wise

and deep thinkers. Gratiano says that they wish to be known as prophets. When they speak they do not want anyone to disturb them. In other words, nobody should have the courage to contradict them for they speak the last word on the subject.

Passage 8 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: Gratiano : O my Antonio, I do know of these

That therefore only are reputed wise For saying nothing; when I am very sure If they should speak, would almost damn those ears Which (hearing them) would call their brothers fools, I’ll tell thee more of this another time. But fish not with this melancholy bait For this fool gudgeon, this opinion:- Come, good Lorenzo.are ye well a while, I’ll end my exhortation after dinner.

Lorenzo: Well, we will leave you then till dinner-time I must be one of these same dumb wise men For Gratiano never lets me speak.

Gratiano : Well keep me company but two years more Thou shalt not know the sound of thine own tongue.

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i) What is the point of the first speech in the above dialogue? Ans: The point of the first speech in this dialogue is that there are some people who try to win the

reputation of being wise by remaining silent most of the time. Actually such persons are not wise. Actually they may even be foolish or stupid; but, by remaining silent most of the time, they try to create an impression that they are serious-minded and philosophical.

ii) Explain the following lines in your own words: But fish not with this melancholy bait For this fool gudgeon, this opinion: Ans: Gratiano says that Antonio should not use his melancholy as a means of gaining a reputation for

being a wise man. Gratiano compares melancholy to bait with which a fish can be caught. In the present case, the fish is the reputation for wisdom which a man seeks to win. Gratiano disapproves of any man’s adopting melancholy as a pose in order to attain a reputation for wisdom. The word ‘opinion’ here means public opinion or reputation which is compared to a fish. The word ‘gudgeon’ means a kind of fish.

iii) Does Antonio really grow a talker afterwards? Ans: No, Antonio does not grow a talker even afterwards. He is a serious-minded man and remains

serious-minded throughout. Even in the trial scene he talks very little, though he does make two long speeches, one to describe Shylock’s cruelty, and the other to bid farewell to Bassanio when he feels certain that Shylock is going to kill him.

iv) Is Gratiano right in his comment on Antonio’s melancholy? What is your view of Antonio’s melancholy, and how has Antonio himself explained it.

Ans: Antonio is not trying to win any reputation for wisdom by looking melancholy. Our own view of his melancholy is that he is by nature a melancholy man; and he himself also explains his melancholy as something temperamental and inborn. He says that his part on the stage of the theatre of this world is that of a sad man.

v) What is the dramatic importance of Antonio’s melancholy? Ans: Antonio’s melancholy in the opening scene strikes the keynote of the whole play. The Merchant

of Venice certainly contains several comic elements and several romantic elements. Yet there is an atmosphere of seriousness and sadness in it also. The whole of the bond story in the play is serious and sad; and Antonio’s melancholy prepares us unconsciously for the sad events which would take place in Antonio’s life.

Passage 9 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: Bassanio : Gratiano speaks an infinite deal of nothing more than any man in all Venice, His

reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff. You shall seek all day ere you find them and when you have them, they are not worth the search.

Antonio: Well, tell me now what lady is the same To whom you swore a secret pilgrimage- That you today promis ‘d to tell me of? 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: i) Explain Bassanio’s comment on Gratiano’s talk. Ans: Bassanio means to say that Gratiano talks too much and that there is very little sense in his talk

Suppose that there are only two grains in a large heap of chaff, one would take a long time in order to find those two grains of wheat which have got lost somewhere in that big heap of straw. In the same way, one may listen to the copious talk of Gratiano but may feel lost in the torrent of



words coming from Gratiano’s mouth and may not be able to find much meaning in those words. There is, according to Bassanio, very little substance in the glib talk of Gratiano.

ii) Explain the phrase ‘swelling port’. Ans: The word ‘swelling’ here means showy or ostentatious; and the word ‘port’ here means the style

of living. The phrase ‘swelling port’, therefore, means a lavish style of living or living above one’s means in order to enjoy oneself and in order to impress other people with one’s large-heartedness and wealth even if one is not actually wealthy.

iii) To which place has Bassanio sworn a secret pilgrimage, and what is the outcome of his pilgrimage?

Ans: Bassanio has sworn a secret pilgrimage to Belmont, and the outcome of his pilgrimage is his marriage to Portia.

iv) What light does Bassanio’s reply to Antonio’s question throw on Bassanio’s character? Ans: Bassanio’s reply to Antonio’s question shows that he is a prodigal young man who has been

living beyond his means and who now finds it difficult to continue the standard of living which he has been maintaining till now. He has impoverished himself by his lavish style of living, and he may thus be regarded as being an irresponsible, and even reckless, kind of a young fellow.

v) In what sense has the word ‘pilgrimage’ been used here in the above dialogue? Ans:The word ‘pilgrimage’ means a journey to a sacred place. Here this word has been used for the

place which Bassanio wishes to visit; and Antonio uses this word for that place because Bassanio has given him an impression that his proposed journey is connected with a matter of the heart or with his passion of love for a lady. For a lover, the woman, with whom he is in love, is a kind of goddess to be worshipped; and the place where she lives is sacred. Thus from Bassanio’s point of view Belmont is a kind of a shrine. Of course Antonio at this moment does not know Bassanio’s exact reason for undertaking a journey but Bassanio has mentioned to him a lady whom he wants to visit, without telling many people about his intention.

Passage 10 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: “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 i) Who is the speaker of above words and to whom? Ans: Bassanio is the speaker of these words. He speaks these words to Antonio in Act. I Scene I ii) What light do the above lines throw on the character of Bassanio? Ans: The above lines reveal the character of Bassanio. He is a young man who has been living his life

beyond his means and has now reduced himself to penury. He is now unable to maintain the high standard of living that he has been used to. Another important facet of Bassanio’s character that is revealed to us is his honesty. Although Bassanio has squandered all his wealth and is now in distress yet he is keen to pay his debts which he has incurred because of his extravagance.

iii) Explain the meaning of the phrase ‘swelling port’. To whom is this phrase applicable? Ans: In the above mentioned passage the word ‘swelling’ means ostentations and the word ‘port’

means a style or living beyond one’s means. This phrase applies to Bassanio who has lived his life spending lavishly much beyond his means.

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iv) From the above mentioned lines what do you know about Antonio? Ans: The above mentioned passage throws a valuable light on the personality of Antonio. He seems

be a wealthy and generous man as he has lent, money to Bassanio in the past. v) What does the above mentioned passage tell us about the relation between Bassanio and

Antonio? Ans: From the above passage we come to know that Bassanio and Antonio are very good friends

Bassanio has full faith in Antonio and he discloses to Antonio all his plans and thoughts. Bassanio; tells Antonio everything about his past and present life. Antonio has been a good

friend to Bassanio in the past Antonio has lent money to Bassanio.

Passage 11 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: BASSANIO : 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. ANTONIO: I pray you, good Bassanio, let me know it And if it stand, as you yourself still do, Within the eye of honour, be assured, My purse, my person, my extremest means, Lie all unlock ‘d to your occasions. i) Who owes money to Antonio? Ans: Bassanio confesses that he has wasted much money by spending it extravagantly. He has also

taken loans from Antonio to meet his expenditure. Thus, he owes money to Antonio. ii) Does he owe him anything else? Ans: Besides money, Bassanio owes love to Antonio. He has always been treated with sympathy and

love by Antonio. He has yet to repay his money and love to Antonio. iii) What encourages him to disclose his plans to Antonio? Ans: Bassanio fully relies on Antonio’s love. He knows that his friend will always help him in need.

This has encouraged him to disclose his plans to Antonio. iv) How does Antonio respond to his friend’s needs? Ans: Antonio responds eagerly to his friend’s needs. He is keen to know what he can do to help

Bassanio. He is ready to place at his friend’s disposal everything he has. v) How has his plan expected to help him to pay off Antonio’s loans? Ans: Bassanio hopes that his plan will succeed. He will make enough money to pay off Antonio’s

debt. In fact, he is planning to try his luck among the suitors of a rich lady. For this he will have to travel to Belmont. But he is sure that he will be lucky to marry that lady with a rich inheritance. This will make him rich. He will be able to clear his debts.

Passage 12 : Read the passage and answer the following questions. ANTONIO : I pray you good Bassanio ,let me know it; And if it stand as you yourself still do, Within the eye of honour, be assured My purse, my person, my extremest means, Lie all unlock’d to your occasions.



BASSANIO : In my school-days, when I had lost one shaft, I shot his fellow of the self-same flight The self-same way, with more advised watch To find the other forth, and by adventuring both, I oft found both: I urge this childhood proof Because what fellows is pure innocence. i) What does Antonio mean to say in the following lines? And if it stand as you yourself still do, Within the eye of honor, be assured. Ans: Antonio says that he would do anything for Bassanio’s sake if Bassanio has undertaken some

honourable task. Antonio admits that Bassanio has always behaved and acted in an honourable manner in the past, and says that, if Bassanio’s present intention is also honourable, he would go to any length to help him.

ii) What is Bassanio driving at, and in what context is he talking about shooting arrows? Ans: Bassanio is going to ask Antonio for a second loan; and it is in that context that he here talks

about the sport of shooting arrows. Bassanio tells Antonio that as a boy he sometimes used to locate the first arrow by shooting a second arrow in the same direction in which he had shot the first arrow which he had failed to find. By keeping a watch on the second arrow, he could find the first arrow, which lay somewhere near the second arrow. Thus Bassanio indirectly assures Antonio that, if he now gets a second loan, he would not only repay the second loan in course of time but would also repay the first loan which has so far remained unpaid.

iii) How does Antonio react to Bassanio’s speech and what is your own reaction to it? Ans: Antonio feels somewhat impatient at Bassanio’s roundabout manner of talking. He would like

Bassanio to come to the point rather than indulge in unnecessary talk. Our own action to Bassanio’s speech is exactly the same as Antonio’s. We too feel that Bassanio is beating about the bush. His account of his experience of his school-days has nothing very interesting or exciting about it; and so we find this account to be absolutely dull, and also superfluous. But Bassanio finds it awkward to ask for a second loan straight away, and he therefore tries to prepare the ground for his request before he actually makes the request for the second loan.

iv) What does Bassanio’s request lead to? Ans: Bassanio’s request leads to Antonio’s obtaining a loan of three thousand ducats from Shylock,

his signing a bond to the effect that, if he fails to repay this loan to Shylock within a period of three months, the latter would acquire the right to cut off a pound of flesh from any part of Antonio’s body.

v) Do you approve of Antonio’s response to Bassanio’s request? Ans: In view of Antonio’s deep affection for Bassanio, we certainly approve of Antonio’s favourable

response to Bassanio’s request. Bassanio wants to go to Belmont to try to win a rich and beautiful heiress as his wife. There is nothing wrong with Bassanio’s aspiration; and, as Bassanio should not have enough money to equip himself for his journey to Belmont, Antonio would certainly like to help him, Nobody could have anticipated that Antonio would suffer heavy losses and would be reduced to a state of bankruptcy. His obtaining a loan from Shylock even on Shylock’s own terms is nothing to which we can object.

PRACTICE EXERCISE

Passage 1: Read the passage and answer the following questions: BASSANIO: In Belmont is a lady richly left., And she is fair, and,fairer than that word, O wondrous virtues. Sometimes from her eyes I did receive fair speechless messages:

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Her name is Portia; nothing undervalued To Cato’s daughter, Brutus’ Portia. i) What importance is attached to Belmont? ii) What is her name? What comparisons are drawn? iii) What kind of lady lives in Belmont? iv) What response did Bassanio receive from Portia? v) What attraction does Portia offer the suitors?

Passage 2: Read the passage and answer the following questions: BASSANIO : Nor is the wide world ignorant of her worth, For the four winds blow in from every coast. Renowned suitors, and her sunny locks Hang on her temples like a golden fleece, Which makes her seat of Belmont Colchos strand, And many Jasons come in quest of her. O my Antonio, had I but the means To hold a rival place with one of them I have a mind presages me such thrift, That I should questionless be fortunate. ANTONIO : though knows’st that all my fortunes are at sea: Neither have I money or commodity To raise a present sum; therefore go forth, Try what my credit can in Venice do: i) What is the point of the speech in the above dialogue? ii) What light does the above speech throw on the character of Portia? iii) Explain the significance of ‘golden fleece’, “Colchos strand’ and ‘Jason’. iv) What light does the second speech throw on the character of Antonio? v) From the above mentioned lines what idea do you form of the relation between Bassanio

and Antonio?

Passage 3 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: ANTONIO: Thou know’st that all my fortunes are at sea; Neither have I money, nor commodity To raise a present sum: therefore go forth, Try what my credit can in Venice do; That shall be rack ‘d, even to the uttermost, To furnish thee to Belmont, to fair Portia. Go, presently inquire, and so will I, Where money is; and I no question make, To have it of my trust, or for my sake. i) Who speaks these words? To whom are they addressed? ii) Where are all Antonio’s fortunes? iii) What are his difficulties about raising a sum? Why does he need such a sum? iv) What is his suggestion about raising the sum? v) Is the speaker taking any risk in raising a loan for the other person?



Act I Scene II The opening of this scene is deliberately reminiscent of the opening of Scene 1. Like Antonio, Portia announces her sadness, but unlike Antonio’s, Portia’s sadness is clearly due to the conditions imposed on her by her dead father’s will: in the matter of her marriage, she must abide by the test of the choice of the three caskets; she can neither choose nor refuse who I would dislike [as a husband].” We had been led to expect that Portia would be a woman who was very beautiful and very rich, but at what we have now before us is a woman who is not only fair but quite impressive for her wit, for her agility of mind and for her sharp, satiric intelligence. It is, in fact, Portia’s satiric flair that provides this comedy with most of its sparkle; here, it is displayed brilliantly when Nerissa urges Portia to reconsider her various suitors thus far, and Portia offers her wry and droll comments on each one. It is at this point that Shakespeare is giving his audience the conventional Elizabethan satiric view of the other European nations. Portia’s dismissal of each of her suitors corresponds to her age’s caricatures of the typical Italian, Frenchman, German and so on. The Neapolitan prince “does nothing but talk of his horse,” a characteristic of only the southern Italian; the “County Palatine” (from the Rhineland) is a pure, unadulterated dullard: he is unable to laugh at anything; “Monsieur Le Bon” is “every man in no man” – that is to say, he has many superficial and changeable characters but no single, substantial one. (To marry him. as Portia says would be “to marry twenty husbands.”) The English suitor, on the other hand, affects European fashions in clothing but gets all of the various national fads – in clothes, music, literature, etc. completely confused, and refuses to speak any language except his own. And then there is the Scot – defined by his anger at the English and finally, there is the German who does nothing but drink. Portia sensibly refuses to be married to a “sponge.” Basically, we can say that this scene has three major purposes. First, it outlines the device of the caskets for us, which will provide the dramatic basis for the scenes in which the various suitors “hazard” their choice of the proper casket for Portia’s hand in marriage. Second, it introduces us to Portia not simply as the “fair” object of Bassanio’s love, but as a woman of powerful character and wit, perceptive about the people around her and quite able to hold her own in verbal combat with anyone in the play. This is a very important quality, given Portia’s subsequent importance in the development of the plot. Her brilliance much later in the play, as a result, will not come as a surprise to the audience, especially when she superbly outwits the crafty Shylock. Finally, there is a minor but significant touch toward the end of the scene, when Nerissa asks Portia whether or not she remembers a certain ‘Venetian, a scholar and a soldier’ who had earlier visited Belmont. First, we hear Portia’s immediate recall of Bassanio, indicating her vivid memory of him and implying an interest in him. This scene reminds us that, despite the obstructions to come, this is a comedy, and that because of Bassanio’s attempt to win Portia and her affection for him, both of them will be finally rewarded.

SOLVED EXERCISE

Passage 1 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: Portia : If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been

churches, and poor men’s cottages princes’ palaces. It is a good divine that follows his own instructions. I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching. The brain may devise laws for the blood, but a hot temper leaps o’er a cold decree: such a hare is madness (the youth), to skip o’er the meshes of good counsel the cripple.

i) Where are the speakers now? What is the occasion? Ans: The speakers, Portia and Nerissa, are in a room in Portia’s house in Belmont. They are speaking

while many suitors from different parts of the world have arrived to try their luck at the lottery of caskets.

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ii) What prompts Portia to react? In which mood is she? Ans: When Nerissa says that her thoughts would be better and effective if they were put into practice,

Portia retorts that it is easy to know what is good but very difficult to put it into practice. She is in a sad and sombre mood.

iii) What does Portia say? What comes in the way of happiness and prosperity? Ans: Portia says that to practise goodness is not as easy as to know what is good. Man often does

not practise what he preaches. This is what comes in his way of happiness and prosperity. iv) To what is youth compared here? What poetic device is used here? Ans: Youth is compared to a rash hare, which easily skips over snares and nets laid by wise old men,

and invites trouble. The poetic device used here is simile. v) Who enters later in the scene? What news is conveyed to Portia? Ans: A servant enters later in the scene. He conveys the news that four suitors are leaving without

taking a chance, while a new suitor, the Prince of Morocco, is coming soon to try his luck.

Passage 3 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: PORTIA : By my troth, Nerissa, my little body is a weary of this great world. NERISSA : You would be, sweet madam, if your miseries were in the same abundance as your

good fortunes are; and yet, for aught I see, they are as sick that surfeit with too much, as they that starve with nothing. It is no mean happiness, therefore, to be seated in the mean; superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer.

PORTIA : Good sentences, and well pronounced. NERISSA : They would be better, if well followed. i) Who is Nerissa? What is her relationship with Portia? Ans: Nerissa is a waiting woman to Portia. Her relationship with Portia is not that of a mistress and

servant but that of two friends who are free and frank in their speeches. ii) From where are Portia and Nerissa speaking? What is the special significance of that

place? Ans: Portia and Nerissa are speaking from Belmont, the city where the young lady, Portia lives. The

significance of this place is that many suitors are coming here in the hope of marrying this beautiful lady. They have to win the game of lottery by choosing the right casket in order to win the lady’s hand.

iii) How does Nerissa explain why Portia’s body is “aweary of this great world”? Where does her happiness lie according to Nerissa?

Ans: According to Nerissa, Portia is aweary of this world inspite of her good fortunes. She draws a conclusion that those who have too much of everything are as sick of the world as those who have nothing. It is no small happiness therefore to occupy a middle position.

iv) Briefly explain why Portia is sad. Ans: Portia is worried because she has to marry according to the will left by her father. He has

devised a lottery of a casket. Her marriage depends upon her suitor’s choosing the right casket. Portia is not free to choose her husband. She cannot choose the person she likes, nor is she

free to reject him whom she dislikes. The will of her dead father imposes a restraint upon her free choice of a husband. It is this that makes her aweary of this great world.

v) What is the difference between Antonio’s weariness and that of Portia? Ans: Antonio is weary without knowing the cause of his weariness. Perhaps his heart is sad because

it senses a crisis in the future. He has perhaps a premonition of his suffering in the future. The signing of the bond is going to land him in the greatest trouble of his life. His life is going to be in peril. Portia’s weariness is understandable. She herself can identify the reason. It is the time when she is going to decide the question of her marriage. Her father is dead but she has to carry



out his instructions while selecting a husband. She feels insecure because she is not allowed to exercise her free choice.

Passage 4 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: NERISSA : You need not fear, lady, the having any of these lords: they have acquainted me

with their determinations, which is indeed to return to their home, and to trouble you with no more suit unless you may be won by some other sort than your father’s imposition, depending on the caskets

PORTIA : If I live to be as old as Sibylla, I will die as chaste as Diana, unless I be obtained by the manner of my father’s will. I am glad this parcel of wooers is so reasonable, for there is not one among them but I dote on his very absence: and I pray God grant them a fair departure.

i) Explain the idea expressed in the first speech of the above dialogue? Ans: In the first speech Nerissa assures Portia that she need not have any fear of being compelled to

marry anyone of the suitors who had lately come to Belmont. She informs her that they have all decided to return to their respective countries.

ii) Illuminate the meaning of the phrase “Your father’s imposition depending on the caskets”?

Ans: Nerissa means that the suitors of Portia do not find the conditions imposed by the will of her father to their liking. They are too hard for them. These conditions are that in the event of a suitor failing to choose the right casket should take his departure and never marry afterwards.

iii) What light does Portia’s reply throw on her character? Ans: Portia’s reply proves that she is deeply attached to her father. She respects his will and desires

to be married only according to his will. She is determined not to violate her father’s will even if she has to pay a price by remaining unmarried. Another facet of Portia’s character that is revealed to us is her kindness. She bears no malice towards her suitors and prays to God to grant all of them a safe departure..

iv) Explain the meaning of the term ‘Sibylla’? Ans: ‘Sibylla’ is the name given by Romans and Greeks to a prophetess inspired by some deity

usually the Sun-God Apollo. She had a very long life. The God, Apollo granted her as many years of life as she could hold grains of sand in her hand.

v) Explain the meaning of the first two lines of Portia’s speech in above passage? Ans: Portia says that even if she is to live for centuries like Sibylla she would not marry except in

accordance with her father’s will. She asserts that she would not mind remaining unmarried and untouched by a man like Diana, the Virgin Goddess of hunting, unless a man is able to win her by passing the test laid by her father.

PRACTICE EXERCISE

Passage 1 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: Portia : By my troth, Nerissa, my little body is aweary of this great world. Nerissa : You would be, sweet madam, if your miseries were in the same abundance as

your good fortunes are : and yet, for aught I see, they are as sick that surfeit with too much as they that starve with nothing. It is no mean happiness, therefore, to be seated in the mean superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer.

i) Where are the speakers now? Why is Portia sad and bored? ii) Who is Nerissa? Who are happy according to her? iii) What does Nerissa have in mind? Do you agree with what she seems to suggest? iv) How does Portia receive Nerissa’s speech? What is Nerissa’s reaction? v) What is the real reason of Portia’s sadness?

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Act I Scene III This scene has two important functions. First, it completes the exposition of the two major plot lines of the play: Antonio agrees to Shylock’s bond – three thousand ducats for a pound of flesh; and second, and more important dramatically, this scene introduces Shylock himself. In this scene, Shakespeare makes it clear at once why Shylock is the most powerful dramatic figure in the play and why so many actors have regarded this part as one of the most rewarding roles in all Shakespearean dramas. Shylock enters first; Bassanio is following him, trying to get an answer to his request for a loan. Shylock’s repetitions (“Well ... three months . . . well”) evade a direct answer to Bassanio’s pleas, driving Bassanio to his desperately impatient triple questioning in lines 7 and 8; the effect here is similar to an impatient, pleading child badgering an adult. Throughout the whole scene, both Bassanio and Antonio often seem naive in contrast to Shylock. Shylock has something they want – money – and both Antonio and Bassanio think that they should get the loan of the money, but neither one of them understands Shylock’s nature. In reply to Bassanio’s demand for a direct answer, Shylock still avoids answering straightforwardly. Shylock knows what he is doing, and he uses the time to elaborate on his meaning of ‘good’ when applied to Antonio. Only after sufficient ‘haggling’ does he finally reveal his intentions: “I think I may take his bond.” At Antonio’s entrance, Shylock is given a lengthy aside in which he addresses himself directly to the audience. Shakespeare often uses the devices of asides and soliloquies to allow his heroes and, in this case, his ‘villain,’ a chance to immediately make clear his intentions and motivations to the audience – as Shylock does here. Shylock’s declaration of his hatred for Antonio immediately intensifies the drama of the scene; the audience now waits to see in what way he will be able to catch Antonio “upon the hip” and “feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.” Then Shylock is called back from the front of the stage by Bassanio, and he pretends to notice Antonio for the first time. Their greeting has ironic overtones for the audience, which has had just heard Shylock’s opinion of Antonio. There then follows a debate between Antonio and Shylock on the subject of usury, or the taking of interest on a loan – permissible for Shylock but not for Antonio, according to Antonio’s moral code and religion (Christianity) In making Shylock avoid committing himself immediately to lending Antonio the money, Shakespeare is building a dramatic crisis. For example, Antonio’s mounting impatience leads to increased arrogance; he compares the moneylender to the “apple rotten at the heart.” Still, however, ShyIock does not respond; he pretends to muse on the details of the loan, producing from Antonio the curt and insolent remark, “Well, Shylock, shall we be beholding to you?” Only then does Shylock bend to answer directly, and he does so with calculated calm. “Signor Antonio,” he says, “many a time and off in the Rialto you have rated me.” His words are controlled but carry a cold menace that silences Antonio at once. At the phrase “You call me misbeliever, cutthroat dog,” Shylock reveals to us that Antonio did “void your rheum upon my beard and foot me as you spurn a stranger cur over your threshold!” This is a vivid dramatic change, climaxing in his taunting lines: “Hath a dog money? Is it possible? A cur can lend three thousand ducats?” In Shylock’s earlier aside (“I’ll hate him [Antonio] for he is a Christian”), the audience was inclined to pigeonhole Shylock as the “villain” of this drama; anyone who hates a man simply because he is a Christian must logically be a villain. Yet now, in this speech, there is much more depth and complexity; we are given a most revealing glimpse of a man who has been a victim, whose imposition of suffering on others is directly related to his own suffering. Shakespeare is manipulating us emotionally; we have to reconsider Shylock’s character. After Shylock regains control of himself and skillfully leads Antonio toward the sealing of the bond, he says that he “would like to be friends” with Antonio. This gives him the excuse to make light of the bond, but a bond sealed “in merry sport” – a bond where a pound of flesh can ‘be cut off and taken in what part of your body pleaseth me.” Here, Shakespeare has the difficult problem of making us believe that Antonio is actually innocent enough to accept such a condition; after all, Antonio is probably fifty



years old and a wealthy merchant; he is no schoolboy, and this “merry sport” of a bond is absurd. Clearly, to us, Shylock’s interest is not only in money in this case, but Antonio does not realize this, nor does he realize or fully understand the depth of Shylock’s hatred of him. He is therefore unable to be persuaded that this bond is dangerous. To him, the bond is merely a “merry bond.” And thus Shylock is able to rhetorically ask Bassanio: “Pray you tell me this: if he should break his day, what should I gain by the exaction of the forfeiture?” Shakespeare has set up a situation in which a man has put his life in the hands of a moral enemy and the outcome depends on fortune – that is, whether or not Antonio’s merchant ships survive pirates and the high seas. Antonio and Shylock are diametrical opposites. Shylock is cunning, cautious, and crafty; he belongs to a race which has been persecuted since its beginnings. As a Christian, Antonio is easygoing, trusting, slightly melancholy, romantic, and naive. Shylock trusts only in the tangible – that is, in the bond. Antonio trusts in the intangible – that is, in luck. Here, Shylock seems almost paranoid and vengeful, but on the other hand, Antonio seems ignorantly over-confident rather stupid because he is so lacking in common sense.

SOLVED EXERCISE

Passage 1 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: Antonio: Mark you this, Bassanio, The 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!

Shylock: Three thousand ducats; ’tis a good round sum. Three months from twelve: then, let me see; the rate–

i) What provokes Antonio? What does he think of Shylock? Ans: Shylock’s referring to the Biblical story of Jacob to justify his charging interest. This provokes

Antonio. He thinks that Shylock is a cunning hypocrite who can do anything to justify his evil deeds, even if is quoting the Bible for his benefit.

ii) How does Antonio describe a wicked person like Shylock? Ans: Antonio describes Shylock as a villain who keeps smiling to hide his real intentions. He is like an

apple which is good to look at from outside but is rotten inside. He is like a liar who puts on an impressive show.

iii) Later in the scene Shylock reminds Antonio of his behaviour. How has Antonio insulted him in the past?

Ans: Shylock reminds him of how Antonio had abused and insulted him many times in public. He has called him an atheist and unbeliever. He has spat on his face and his cloak. He has called him a dog. He has instigated his enemies. He has done everything to harm his business interests and his friend circle.

iv) What proposal is made by Shylock? What makes Antonio accept it? Ans: Shylock proposes a bond to be signed by Antonio according to which Shylock will be entitled to

cut a pound of Antonio’s flesh in case he fails to pay back the loan in time. Antonio accepts it, thinking that he will be able to pay back the loan soon or before the stipulated time.

v) How does Shylock trap Antonio to accept his proposal? What is his aim? Ans: Shylock proposes a ‘dangerous bond’ which he says he is doing in a spirit of mere fun. He says

that he wants to befriend Antonio. In this way he is able to entrap Antonio. His real aim is to make the best of the opportunity by taking revenge on Antonio.

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Passage 2 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: Shylock: (Aside) How like a fawning publican he looks!

I hate him for he is a Christian; But more for that in low simplicity He lends out money gratis, and brings down The rate of usance here with us in Venice. If I can catch him once upon the hip, I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. He hates our sacred nation, and he rails, Even there where merchants most do congregate, On me, my bargains, and my well-won thrift,

i) Who is with Shylock? Who is seen coming? Does Shylock speak these lines to someone? Ans: Bassanio is with Shylock. Antonio is seen coming. No, Shylock does not speak these lines to

anyone. He speaks to himself in an ‘aside’ a way to express what one is thinking at the moment. ii) Why does Shylock hate Antonio? Do you think he is right in hating Antonio? Ans: Shylock hates Antonio for being a Christian and his business rival who jeopardises his business

interests by lending money without interest. He is not totally wrong in hating a person who humiliates him in public and runs down his faith.

iii) ‘Like a fawning publican’. Explain. Ans: Shylock feels that Antonio looks like a cringing publican (keeper of a pub). He uses this

expression in hatred of the man who is coming to seek monetary help. iv) What is Antonio’s behaviour towards Shylock? Do you approve it? Why or Why not? Ans: Antonio’s behaviour towards Shylock later is simply outrageous. He says he is ready to call him

a dog and spit on him again. It is strange that he gets so provoked even when he is a supplicant, needing financial help for his friend.

v) What makes Antonio accept the dangerous bond proposed by Shylock? What does it tell you of him?

Ans: Antonio agrees to sign the dangerous bond proposed by the cunning Shylock as he believes that he will pay back the loan before the stipulated time. It shows that he is over-confident and rash, too.

Passage 3 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: 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.

i) Where are the speakers now? Who has come to Shylock, and why? Ans: The speakers, Bassanio and Shylock are at a public place in Venice. Bassanio has come to

Shylock to ask for a loan of three thousand ducats. He is immediately followed by Antonio as it is on his surety that the loan can be secured.

ii) What is Shylock’s response to Bassanio’s request for three thousand ducats ? Why does Bassanio need so much money?



Ans: Shylock’s response to Bassanio’s request for three thousand ducats is somewhat confusing, though it is not totally negative. Bassanio needs so much money to go in style to impress and woo Portia.

iii) Why does Shylock refuse to dine with Christians? What does it show? Ans: Shylock does not want to eat pork in the company of Christians because he is a Jew. He cannot

even stand the sight of pork. it shows that he is a bigot. In fact, he hates all Christians. iv) What does Shylock propose later? Does Antonio accept the proposal? Ans: Shylock proposes a bond to be signed by Antonio, according to which Shylock will be entitled to

cut a pound of flesh from Antonio’s body if he fails to pay back the loan in a specified time. Yes, Antonio accepts the proposal.

v) What alarms Bassanio? Why is Antonio confident of meeting Shylock’s condition? Ans: The penalty of the pound of flesh alarms Bassanio. However, Antonio is ready to sign the

dangerous bond because he is confident of paying the loan as he expects his ships to arrive very shortly.

Passage 4 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: SHYLOCK : Three thousand ducats, for three months, and Antonio bound. BASSANIO : Your answer to that, SHYLOCK : Antonio is a good man. BASSANIO : Have you heard any imputation to the contrary? SHYLOCK : Ho no, no, no, no: my meaning in saying he is a good man, is to have you

understand me that he is sufficient.- Yet his means are in supposition: he hath an argosy bound to Tripolis, another to the Indies, I understand moreover upon the Rialto, he hath a third at Mexico, a fourth for England,-and other ventures he hath squandered abroad,- but ships are but boards, sailors but men, there be land-rats, and water-rats, water-thieves, land thieves,- I mean pirates, and then there is the peril of waters, winds, and rocks. The man is, not withstanding sufficient. Three thousand ducats, - I think I may take his bond.

i) What is the occasion for the dialogue quoted above? Ans: The occasion for this dialogue is Antonio’s request to Shylock for a loan of three thousand

ducats. Antonio’s request has been conveyed to Shylock by Bassanio who had been authorized by Antonio to borrow the required amount of money in Antonio’s name from someone or the other in Venice. It is in that connection that the present dialogue takes place between Shylock and Bassanio.

ii) What does Shylock mean by saying that “his means are in supposition”, and how does he substantiate his view?

Ans: Shylock means to say that Antonio’s present wealth is in some doubt. Shylock tries to prove the point by saying that all Antonio’s wealth at present consists of the ships and the merchandise which those ships are carrying to different destinations. Antonio has no cash in hand. If Antonio did have any cash, he would not be seeking a loan from a money-lender. Ships sailing upon the seas face many dangers. Ships may get wrecked in a storm or by colliding against rocks. Or sea- robbers may attack ships and take away all the merchandise. Thus Antonio might suffer heavy losses and find it impossible to repay the loan within a period of three months.

iii) Do you find Shylock’s logic in his speech to be convincing? Ans: Shylock’s speech is perfectly rational and logical and, therefore, quite convincing. Ships in those

days did get wrecked in storms, and there were pirates also in those days to rob trading vessels Shylock talks here in a very plausible manner and, we may say, even in a realistic manner subsequently Antonio does suffer heavy losses, and is reduced to a state of bankruptcy.

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iv) What inference can you draw from this dialogue about Shylock’s character? Ans: Shylock here appears to be a worldly kind of man possessing a lot of practical experience of life

and a lot of practical sense. He is aware of all the dangers which ships sailing upon the seas had to face. He is also aware of the fact that sometimes a debtor finds it impossible to repay a debt. Thus Shylock here gives evidence of his shrewdness and his capacity to talk in a plausible and convincing manner. He gives us the impression of being a seasoned money-lender, and a money lender who knows how to transact his business. He is a very calculating kind of man who peers into the future and assesses the prospects of a bargain into which he is entering.

v) Why does Shylock “take his bond”, and what does he gain or lose thereby? Ans: ‘Take his bond’ means “accept Antonio as surety for the repayment of the loan. Shylock gains

the opportunity to take his revenge upon Antonio, but soon afterwards loses the opportunity. He is thwarted in his purpose by the superior intelligence of Portia and by her ingenuity in interpreting the bond in such a way as to frustrate Shylock’s design. But Shylock does experience a sense of exultation, though temporarily, at finding that he might, after all, be able to take his revenge on Antonio.

Passage 5 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: SHYLOCK : (aside) How like a fawning publican he looks!

I hate him for he is a Christian; But more, for that in low simplicity He lends out money gratis, and brings down The rate of usance here with us in Venice. If I can catch him once upon the hip, I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. He hates our sacred nation, and he rails, Even there where merchants most do congregate On me, my bargains, and my well-won thrift, Which he calls interest: Cursed be my tribe, If I forgive him!

BASSANIO : Shylock, do you hear? SHYLOCK : I am debating of my present stores; Any by the near guess of my memory I cannot instantly raise up the gross Of full three thousand ducats. What of that? Tubal a wealthy Hebrew of my tribe Will furnish me. But soft! how many months Do you desire? (To Antonio) Rest you fair, good signior, Your worship was the last man in our mouths. i) What are the grounds for Shylock’s ancient grudge against Antonio? Ans: Shylock bears a grudge against Antonio because Antonio has been bringing down the rate of

interest in Venice by lending out money gratis. Shylock is also hostile to Antonio because Antonio hates the Jews and because Antonio has been criticizing and defaming Shylock at the Venetian Stock Exchange. Antonio has been condemning Shylock’s money-lending operations and the undue profits which Shylock has been-making from those operations.

ii) What idea would you form about Shylock’s character from the dialogue quoted here from ‘The Merchant of Venice?’

Ans: Shylock here appears as a revengeful kind of man. He hates Antonio because Antonio is a Christian while Shylock himself is a Jew. Thus Shylock is a fanatical follower of his religion. Then



we find that Shylock is a usurer who cannot tolerate the idea of any man lending out money gratis and thus bringing down the general rate of interest in the city. He is also a hypocrite. because, when he says that he does not have so much cash in his own possession and that he would get some money from Tubal, he is telling a lie. He is trying to create an impression on Bassanio that it would be very difficult for him to lend such a large amount of money to Antonio.

iii) To what extent does Shylock afterwards succeed in feeding fat his ancient grudge against Antonio?

Ans: Shylock afterwards does succeed in feeding his ancient grudge against Antonio to some extent, but his success is short-lived and very limited. Antonio does become a bankrupt, and he does forfeit the bond. The bond is found to be in order by the judge trying the case; and Shylock is even told that he can cut off a pound of Antonio’s flesh. But, when Shylock is almost ready with his knife, the lawyer warns Shylock against shedding any blood while cutting off the flesh. And so Shylock is, at the last moment, deprived of the opportunity of feeding his ancient grudge.

iv) Explain the words ‘your worship was the last man in our mouths’ which Shylock here speaks to Antonio.

Ans: Shylock offers his good wishes to Antonio and says that Antonio’s name had just been mentioned by him (Shylock) and Bassanio. Antonio’s name, says Shylock, had been mentioned in the very last exchange of remarks between him (Shylock) and Bassanio before Antonio’s arrival on the spot.

v) To what extent do you find Shylock’s reasoning in his first speech here to be convincing? Ans: Shylock’s reasoning in his first speech here is quite plausible and even convincing to some

extent. The reasons, which Shylock here enumerates for his hatred of Antonio, are seen to be quite strong. Antonio hates Shylock for being a Jew; and Shylock is, therefore, justified in hating Antonio for being a Christian. Shylock is a usurer, while Antonio lends out money gratis thus bringing down the rate of interest in Venice. Here Shylock is not justified because usury is not something which we can defend. But Shylock is justified in his grievance that Antonio has been publicly denouncing him for charging high rates of interest and for driving hard bargains with his clients.

Passage 6 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: ANTONIO : l am as like to call thee so again,

To spit on thee again, to spurn thee too. if thou wilt lend this money, lend it not As to thy friends; for when did friendship take A breed for barren metal of his friend?- But lend it rather to thine enemy; Who, if he break, thou mayest with better face Exact the penalty.

SHYLOCK: Why, look you, how you storm! I would be friends with you, and have your love, Forget the shames that you have stain’ d me with, Supply your present wants, and take no doit Of usance for my moneys, and you’ll not hear me: This is kind I offer.

i) “I am as like to call thee so again,” What has Antonio called Shylock? Ans: When Antonio approaches Shylock for a loan to satisfy the demand of his friend, Shylock

reminds him that he has always treated him badly. Antonio has called him a dog. Now Shylock demands, ‘”Can a dog lend money?” He reminds Antonio that he has come to seek the help of the person whom he has always abused.

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ii) What else is Antonio prepared to do again? What reasons has he for behaving in this manner?

Ans: Antonio is angry when he says that besides calling Shylock a dog, he is going to spit on him again. He is likely to kick him again. Antonio has his own reasons for behaving in this manner. He thinks that it is immoral to charge any interest on loans given to the needy people.

iii) Why should Shylock not advance the loan on a friendly basis? Ans: Antonio challenges Shylock and tells him not to advance any loan as if he is doing so to a friend

as this is a business loan. When we advance a loan to a friend, we do not charge any interest on it. But Shylock is not going to give up his interest, as this is a business loan not a friendly one.

iv) “But lend it rather to thine enemy”. Antonio admits that he is Shylock’s enemy. What is Shylock’s benefit in lending it to an enemy?

Ans: Antonio admits that he is Shylock’s enemy. He is frank in saying that Shylock may lend it rather to him who is his enemy, and also charge interest. It is a business deal He will have the benefit of providing an opportunity to the Jew to claim penalty in case of non-repayment of the money.

v) Is he really making a generous offer to his former enemy? Ans: Shylock seems to be making a generous offer. A hard bargainer like him is willing to give a loan

on such terms. But he is not sincere in what he is saying. He is a cunning fellow dealing with a supposedly simple person like Antonio.

Passage 7 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: SHYLOCK: This kindness will I show:

Go with me to a notary, seal me there Your single bond; and, in a merry sport, If you repay me not on such a day, In such a place, such sum, or sums, as are Express’d in the condition, let the forfeit Be nominated for an equal pound Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken In what part of your body pleaseth me.

i) What kindness is referred to by Bassanio? Which are the legal formalities proposed by

Shylock before he would give the loan? Ans: Bassanio is referring to Shylock’s offer to advance a loan of three thousand ducats, on which he

will charge no interest. According to Bassanio, it will be an act of kindness. Shylock, however, proposes that certain legal formalities may be completed before he would

give the loan. They will go to a Notary, an official who attests agreements of this kind. There Antonio will execute a bond, affirming that if the money is not repaid on the fixed day, Antonio will lose a pound of flesh to be cut off from any part of his body.

ii) State the remark which Shylock makes in order to calm any fear Antonio might have about sealing the proposed bond.

Ans: Shylock remarks that “in a merry sport” the bond will mention the penalty for failure to repay the loan on time. This remark that it will be just for fun that they state the unusual penalty is cleverly made to calm any fear Antonio might have about sealing the proposed bond.

iii) Is Shylock sincere in his remark? Give a reason to substantiate your answer? Ans: Shylock is not sincere in his remark. He is trying to cover up the cruel nature of his condition to

pay the loan. This fact is brought out by the future events when Shylock insists on cutting off a pound of flesh from Antonio’s body.

iv) Why does Shylock insist on demanding a pound of Antonio’s flesh? Which aspect of his character is shown in his demand?



Ans: Shylock insists on demanding a pound of Antonio’s flesh because he hates this Christian. Shylock loves to earn interest on the loan advanced to others. But in the case of Antonio he has personal and professional reasons to take his revenge on this man.

Shylock shows his cruel and heartless nature. He is cunning in concealing his intention hiding his words in a pleasant language. He is actually seeking a chance to kill Antonio.

v) What does Antonio say in reaction to Shylock’s demand? What aspect of Antonio’s character is shown in this incident?

Ans: Antonio readily agrees to sign the bond. He accepts all conditions proposed by Shylock. This shows that Antonio is a simple hearted person. He does not suspect his enemy’s motives in proposing an unusual penalty on forfeiture of the bond. He is extremely sure a paying back the loan within the prescribed period. He is too short–sighted for a successful businessman as he does not know about the unknown future.

PRACTICE EXERCISE

Passage 1 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: SHYLOCK: Signior Antonio, many a time and oft,

In the Rialto you have rated me About my moneys, and my usances: Still have I borne it with a patient shrug, For sufferance is the badge of all our tribe: You call me, – misbeliever, cut-throat dog, And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine, And all for use of that which is mine own.

i) What is Shylock’s grievance against Antonio? ii) In what ways has Antonio insulted Shylock? iii) What according to Shylock, is the cause for which Antonio has been abusing Shylock? iv) What tone does Shylock talk in while considering Antonio’s request for money? v) Who is ‘Fair Sir’, and who is ‘Cur’ in the passage?

Passage 2 : Read the passage and answer the following questions: ANTONIO: Content I’ faith: I’ll seal to such a bond And say there is much kindness in the Jew. BASSANIO: You shall not seal to such a bond for me I’ll rather dwell in my necessity. ANTONIO: Why, fear not, man, I will not forfeit it; Within these two months, that’s a month before This bond expires, I do expect return Of thrice three times the value of this bond. i) Where are Antonio and Bassanio? Why are they there? Who else is present? ii) Explain what the word: ‘bond’ here means? What were the terms of this bond? iii) What does Antonio means by saying ‘kindness in the Jew’? iv) What danger does Bassanio foresee for Antonio? What does Bassanio mean by saying

‘rather dwell in my necessity’?

cessf l u ut - universal tutorials · 2019-02-24 · 2 2 universal tutorials – ix & x icse...

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