Short Answer-type Questions on The Merchant of Venice

        Short Answer-type Questions on The Merchant of Venice

 Questions & Answers for B.A. Final Year: Semester VI:

                                  The Merchant of Venice

Short Answer-type Questions (Textual)

Q1. Who is Antonio?

Ans. Antonio is a rich merchant of Venice city of Italy. He is very kind and generous person. He helps people by giving them loans without taking interest from them. But he is a melancholy character. Sometimes he becomes sad without knowing the reason of it.

Q2. Who is Shylock?

Ans. Shylock is a Jewish money lender of Venice. He is a cruel, cunning, greedy and hypocrite type of person. He lends money to people at high rates of interest. He hates Christians.

Q3. Who is Bassanio?

Ans. Bassanio is Antonio’s fast friend. HE is handsome, romantic, brave, and intelligent person. Portia is in all praise for him. But, he is extravagant. He borrows loans from Antonio to raise his standard of living to impress Portia. He wins Portia’s hand for marriage by his intelligence.

Q4. Who is Nerissa and what role does she play in the text?

Ans. Nerissa is Portia’s waiting-woman. So we always find her with Portia. She also plays an important role in the development of the plot of the play. Their conversation makes the reader/audience several things clear to them. She also accompanies Portia to the court disguised as a male clerk. Her love story with Gratiano also creates a lot of interest for the audience/reader.

Q5.Who is Lorenzo?

Ans. He is a common friend to Bassanio, Antonio, Gratiano, etc. We also know him as Jessica’s lover. His elopement with his beloved, Jessica, makes Shylock, Jessica’s father, infuriated (extremely angry).  This incident makes the story move further at a quicker pace.

Q6. Who is Jessica?

Ans. Jessica is Shylock’s daughter. She is Lorenzo’s sweet heart also. She does not like her father’s greedy and mean nature. She calls her house a hell. She even feels ashamed of being her father Shylock’s daughter. All these points show that she herself is of a very good nature. She knows that her father would never allow her to marry Lorenzo because he is a Christian. So she elopes with him and marries with him.

Q7.Who is Portia?

Ans. Portia is a very beautiful and intelligent rich lady of Belmont city in Italy. Her father died leaving a huge property in her name. She proves loyal (faithful) to her father and her lover Bassanio. She helps Antonio in the guise of a male lawyer. She fights Antonio’s case and saves his life. She is truly witty, intelligent and noble at heart.

Q8. Who is the Prince of Morocco?

Ans. The Prince of Morocco also wants to marry Portia. So he reaches Belmont to try his luck in selecting the right casket. He keeps on boasting about himself. Portia tells him about the conditions about the caskets. He reads the words written on each casket carefully. But he selects the gold casket. It was a wrong choice.

Q9. Who is the Prince of Arragon?

Ans. The Prince of Arragon was also Portia’s suitor. Portia tells him about the conditions about the caskets. She also tells him to take an oath to follow three things. These are: (i) not to tell anyone as to which box he chose (ii) to remain unmarried all of his life if he failed (iii) to leave the place at once if he failed. He also selects silver casket. It was a wrong choice. So he has to leave the place in shock.

Q10. Who is Gratiano?

Ans. Gratiano is a common friend of Bassanio and Antonio. He is also a hard critic of shylock. He is also a talkative person. Bassanio says about him that it is very difficult to find out meaning from his words. He falls in love with Nerissa, Portia’s maid servant and finally marries her.

Q11. Why did not Antonio lend money to his friend, Bassanio?

Ans. Antonio had invested all of his money on goods. These were loaded in the ships to go in different parts of the world. He had no cash in hand. So Antonio did not lend money to his Bassanio.

Q12. What was Portia’s father’s will about choosing her husband?

Ans. Before dying, Portia’s father binds her with his will. According to it, Portia is bound to marry the person who chooses the right casket out of the three. The suitors from all over the world come to try their luck. There are three caskets and on each of them several lines are inscribed. One of the three caskets contains Portia’s portrait. That would be right casket. Whosoever chooses that would be Portia’s husband.

Q13.Why does Antonio feel sad or melancholy in Act I, Scene (i)?

Ans. As the play begins, we find Antonio in sad mood. He himself does not know as to why he is sad. His friends try to guess the reason for his sadness. Sararino says that he might be sad due to his ships. Antonio rejects it. Then Solanio says that Antonio might have been fallen in love. But this reason is also rejected. Actually, this is Antonio’s nature to become sad sometimes without knowing its reason.

Q14. What is Shylock’s first reaction when Antonio asks him for loan?

Ans. Antonio requests a loan from Shylock on behalf of Bassanio. But Shylock talks in a roundabout way. He does not say at once that he is ready to loan of 3000 ducats. He reminds Antonio that once he had insulted him. He expresses his hatred and feeling of revenge for Antonio. He blames him for harming his business by giving without interest money to people.

Q15. Which casket does the Prince of Arragon choose and why?

Ans. The Prince of Arragon chooses the silver casket. He is very much impressed to read the words written on the casket: ‘Who chooseth me, will get what he deserve.’ He thinks himself worthy of Portia. So he deserves her. Thus he opens the silver casket. He finds inside the portrait of a blinking idiot

Q16. How many caskets were there? What was there in each of the casket?

Ans. There were three caskets, i.e., of gold, silver and lead. The gold casket contains a human skull. The silver casket contains the portrait of a blinking idiot. The lead casket contains the portrait of beautiful Portia.

Q17. What is written on the three caskets?

Ans. (i) The words inscribed on the gold casket are: “Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire.”

(ii)The words inscribed on the silver casket are: “Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves.”

(iii)The words inscribed on the lead casket are: “Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.”

Q18. What is Portia’s reaction to prince of Arragon’s exit?

Ans. Portia never wants that the Prince of arragon should win the contest. So she feels relaxed on his failure in selecting the right casket. He leaves the place in anger. He did not take proper farewell from Portia. She says that another moth has got burnt in the candle’s flame.

Ans.19. Describe the scene of Jessica’s elopement with her lover, Lorenzo.

Ans. Jessica is Shylock’s daughter. She loves Lorenzo. She knows it very well that her father would never allow her to marry a Christian boy. So she makes a plan to elope with Lorenzo. She disguises herself as a boy and with valuables.

Q20. What wealth does Jessica take along with her while eloping with Lorenzo?

Ans. Jessica takes a lot of valuables like diamonds, ducats and other valuables from her house. She fills the valuables in boxes and gives them to Lorenzo. She knew that her father would never allow her to marry a Christian boy.

Q21.What is Shylock’s reaction to Jessica’s elopement?

Ans. Shylock gets (becomes) mad with anger and grief. He keeps on (continues) crying for most of time. He is shocked more at the loss of his valuables than that of his daughter. Solanio reports about his cries: ‘My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter!...’

Q22. Why did Portia and Nerissa appear in the court under disguise (in male dresses)?

Ans.Portia wanted to save Antonio. But, in those days, women were not allowed to appear in courts in Venice. So she had to appear in court in disguise. She was in the guise of a lawyer and Nerissa was a clerk.

Q23. Why did Portia allow Bassanio to leave for Venice just at the time of their marriage?

Ans. Portia and Bassanio were about to marry. But at that very time, Bassanio received a letter from Antonio, whose life was in danger. Shylock was adamant on taking one pound of flesh from his body. So Portia allows Bassanio to go at once to help his close friend.

Q24. Write a note on the importance of the casket scene.

Ans. The casket scene is very important in The Merchant of Venice. First, Bassanio wins Portia’s hand to marry her by selecting the right casket. Thus two lovers come together. Second, we come to know about Portia’s several qualities. She proves her loyalty to her father. She honours his will. The scene shows her intelligence and beauty was well known. The scene also shows Portia’s father’s wisdom and foresightedness.

Q25.How does the Prince of Morocco fail to choose the right casket?

Ans. The Prince of Morocco reads carefully the words written on each casket> he thinks and rethinks deeply. He rejects the lead casket. He thinks that Portia’s portrait cannot be placed in the casket made of cheap metal. Then he says that silver is ten times cheaper than gold. Finally, he decides to select the gold casket. That was his wrong choice. Thus he fails in his attempt.

Q26.Why does Bassanio need money from Antonio?

Ans. Bassanio wants to try his luck to win Portia as his wife. He believes that she also likes him. For this, he will have to raise his status to be capable of being Portia’s suitor. So he needs a loan from Antonio. He also thinks by marrying Portia, he will be able to pay off Antonio’s loan.

Q27. What kind of a money lender Shylock is?

Ans. Shylock is a cruel and heartless money lender. He charges (takes) high rate of interest from people on loans. He is full of hatred for Christians. He is a merciless fellow. He wants to kill Antonio by taking one pound of flesh from his heart.

Q28. Write a short note on the opening scene of the play ‘The Merchant of Venice’.

Ans. The opening scenes in all Shakespearean plays are very important. They strike the keynote of the plays. In this play, we meet several characters like Solanio, Salarino, Gratiano, Antonio, Bassanio and Lorenzo in scene one of the act one. We also come to know that Antonio is a melancholic character. We come to know that Antonio and Bassanio are fast friends. It is due to this friendship that Antonio signs a fatal bond with Shylock.

Q29. What does the opening scene of the play ‘The Merchant of Venice’ tell us about Antonio?

Ans. We find Antonio in sad mood in the opening scene of this play. He is unable to know the reason from his sadness. But the most important thing about Antonio we find is his true friendship with Bassanio. It is this friendship that makes Antonio sign the bond that further pushes the events of the play.

Q30. How does the Prince of Arragon fail to choose the right casket?

Ans. The Prince of Arragon also carefully reads the words inscribe on each box. He rejects the gold casket because he does not want to gain what many men desire. He also rejects the lead casket. He is not ready to hazard anything for that ugly looking casket. Finally he reads the words written on the silver casket: ‘Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves.’ He thinks that he deserves Portia. So he opens it and finds a blinking idiot inside. He fills with anger and leaves the place.

Q31.How does Antonio ill-treat Shylock?

Ans. Antonio’s behaviour with Shylock was not friendly. We come to know that he used to call him a dog and even spat at him. Antonio hates him because he is a cruel money-lender. Shylock does not forget insults made to him. Shylock himself says that Antonio has caused loss to his business. Antonio has also provoked Shylock’s enemies against him

Q32.How does Bassanio choose the right casket and wins Portia’s hand?

Ans. Bassanio thinks deeply before choosing the right casket. He is not attracted by the shine of gold and silver. He tells himself that the world is still deceived by outward show. People are quite seasoned () in fooling others by their sweet voice. Even priests may misguide people by interpreting text from religious books wrongly. After a long arguments with himself, Bassanio selects the lead casket. His joy is boundless to see Portia’s portrait in it.

Q33. What is Portia’s opinion about the Prince of Morocco?

Ans. Portia has no special liking for the Prince of Morocco. She shows no interest in him. She just tells him about the conditions that he must follow. He fails to choose the right casket and leaves the place in disappointment (sadness). Portia calls it a ‘gentle ridddance’.

Q34. What does the Prince of Morocco tell Portia about himself?

Ans. The Prince of Morocco boasts a lot about himself. First he tells her not to dislike him for his black skin. ‘Mislike me not for my complexion.’ He also tells her that ‘the best regarded virgins of his country love his black complexion. He also boasts of his bravery.

Q35. What does Jessica say about her father, shylock?

Ans.Jessica dislikes her father for his evil deeds (acts). She feels ashamed of calling himself her father’s (Shylock’s) daughter. She even calls her house a hell. Actuaqlly she is quite different from her father.

Q36. What does Portia say about mercy?

Ans.Portia says that mercy is a divine virtue. It is natural like rain. It has a double blessing. It blesses both, the heart that possesses it and the heart that receives it. She also says if justice is mingled (mixed) with mercy, it gets a god-like quality in it.

Q37.What does Portia say about the Count of Palatine?

Ans. She says that the count of Palatine looks serios and sad. ‘He doth nothing but frown.’ The frown on his face seems unpleasant to her. She thinks he will become like the weeping philosopher, Hereaclites. In his old age, he will become a pessimist.

Q38.What does Portia say about the Baron of England?

Ans. The Baron of England seems to be  a handsome and perfect man to Portia. But he speaks English and Portia does not understand it. He does not  even know other language that Portia may understand. So he is like a dumb man fpr her. ‘She even comments on his dress having different parts brought from different place.

Q39. What does Portia say about the French Lord?

Ans. She calls the French Lord ‘every man in no man.’ She says that it is a sin to laugh at God’s creation. But she says that his frown is more horrible than that of the Count of Palatine. He even starts dancing if he hears as bird singing. His knowledge on a horse is better than that of the Prince of Naples. In short she does not like him.

Q40.Why does Shylock ask his daughter not to look out of the window when masquerade passes their house?

Ans. Shylock advises his daughter to close all the windows and doors of the house. He does not like Christian festivals. So he tells his daughter not ot look out of the window when the masquerade passes through their street.

Q41. How does Portia finally save Antonio from Shylock’s death-net? Or How does Portia turn the tables upon shylock in the court of Venice disguised as a young lawyer?

Ans. Portia handles Antonio’s case very cleverly. She moves step by step in a logical way. She tells Shylock to cut one pound of flesh from Antonio’s chest. But, she also warns him not to shed even a single drop of blood from Antonio’s body. She tells him that the contract allows him to take one pound of flesh. If a drop of Christian blood sheds, his land and goods will be confiscated () by state’s law.

Q42. Why is Antonio willing to die?

Ans. We know Antonio’s melancholy nature. In the famous trial scene also, he often says that nothing can be done to save him. The Duke of Venice would pronounce judgment against him on the basis of the contract. He also equates himself to a diseased sheep whose fate is only to die. He wants to sacrifice his life for Bassanio.

Q43. Who is Old Gobo?        

Ans. Old Gobo is Launcelot’s father. He is almost blind. It is his own son, Launcelot, whom asks the address of Shylock’s house. Launcelot understands that he has not recognized him. So, first he creates some comedy out of this situation. Then he tells him about himself.

Q44. Who is Balthazar?

Ans. Balthazar is Portia’s most faithful servant. It is he, who takes a secret letter to Portia’s cousin, Bellario to Padua. He brings some notes and dresses for her. Portia names herself as Bathazar, a law doctor to fight the case to save Antonio from Shylock.

Q45. Who is Launcelot?

Ans. Launcelot is a servant in shylock’s house. Like a clown, he creates comedy in this play. It relieves (removes) tension from the audience/reader’s mind. He creates fun with his father Old Gobo. Then his conversation with Jessica in Act 3 scene 5, creates a lot of fun. He tells Jessica that the sins of father passes to children.

Q46. How is Shylock a cunning and hypocrite person?

Ans. Shylock is a cunning and hypocrite type of person. He gets the bond signed by Antonio very cleverly. He says the bond is just a joke. He is a revengeful person. He shows that he bears the misbehaviour done to him very peacefully. But he is full of hatred for Antonio just because he gives money to people without interest.

Q47. Write a note on Gratiano’s wisdom.

Ans. Bassanio says about Gratiano that it is very difficult to find meaning in his words. But in reality, he has a very deep insight into human nature. Some parts of his speeches are full of his wit and wisdom. When he talks to Antonio about melancholy people, he gives sound examples from life.

Q48. What does Bassanio’s request lead to?

Ans. Bassanio requests Antonio about a new loan from him. But Antonio refuses to pay him any money because at that time he had no cash with him. Then he manages money for him from Shylock. He has to sign a bond that leads the story of the play to a great tension. It is Portia who resolves all the issues in the play.