answers of merchant of venice workbook

Merchant of Venice Workbook Answers Act 3, Scene 5

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Merchant of Venice Workbook Answers Act 3, Scene 5 – ICSE Class 10 & 9 English

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Passage – 1 (Act III, Sc.V, Lines 45-55)

Merchant of Venice Workbook Answers Act III, Scene V 1

Paraphrase :

JESSICA : So much I can’t express it. It is very proper The Lord Bassanio live an upright life, Because, having such a blessing in his lady, He finds the joys of heaven here on earth; And if he doesn’t merit it on earth, It stands to reason he should never enter heaven. Why, if two gods should play some heavenly match, And place a bet on two earthly women, And Portia is one of them, there must be something else To bet on with the other, because the poor rude world Does not have her equal.

Word Meaning With Annotation

Past all expressing : more than words can express, meet : proper, is reasion : one might reasonally expect, heavenly match : a competition between heavenly or divine beings, pawn’d : put up as a stake; wagered by the other of the two competitors, fellow : equal or match.

Read the above passage and answer the following questions

Question 1.
Who is the speaker of these words? To whom are these words addressed? What is the occasion?
Answer:
Jessica is the speaker of these words. She is talking to her husband, Lorenzo. The two are staying in Belmont in Portia’s house. Portia and Bassanio are away to Venice. Lorenzo just asks his wife to say how she likes Bassanio’s wife. To this Jessica gives the reply in these lines.

Question 2.
What is described as “Past expressing”?
Answer:
According to Jessica, she likes Portia (Bassanio’s wife) very much. She lacks words to express her appreciation for Portia. We have known Portia’s charm and sweetness from the way she treated people. This praise from Jessica to whom Portia must have been very courteous and obliging, still further enriches our conception-of her character.

Question 3.
What kind of life should lord Bassanio lead? What are the reasons to form this expectation?
Answer:
Jessica says that Bassanio who has the good fortune of getting such a noble wife, should live a morally upright life, for she has got through her all the joys of heaven on earth. Perhaps it is a hint that Bassanio’s life in the past has not been up to the mark. He has been indulging in frivolities.

Question 4.
On what condition will he lose the right to enter heaven?
Answer:
Jessica gives her argument that if by not living uprightly Bassanio does not appreciate this heaven on earth, then after death he will have no right to come to heaven above. This passage means that if Bassanio on earth in the sweet company of Portia does not merit the joys of heaven by leading a pure life and make Portia happy, then even in heaven he should not expect any happiness.

Question 5.
Explain what is indicated in the comparison of two gods who “play some heavenly match”.
Answer:
Jessica poetically explains that she wants to impress upon Lorenzo. She says that if two gods should enter into a competition and two earthly women be on stake, it will create a difficult situation if Portia was to be one of them. It will be impossible to find another women to match Portia. Something else will have to be added to the other woman to make her equal to Portia. Jessica is all praise for Portia, whom she considers incomparable.

Question 6.
Does the other person claim something humorously? Is his claim accepted?
Answer:
It is then that Lorenzo humorously points out that just as Portia is a matchless wife, similarly. Lorehzo is a matchless husband to Jessica. Jessica banteringly contradicts him. She pretends to be dissatisfied with his way. Thus, there is a comic touch about his non-serious domestic quarrel between newly-married man and wife.

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Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 4 Translation Meaning Annotations

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Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 4 Modern English Translation Meaning Annotations – ICSE Class 10 & 9 English

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Original Text
Act III Scene IV

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 4 Translation Meaning Annotations 1

Modern English Reading
Act III Scene IV

LORENZO : Madam, although I’m saying it in front of you, you have a noble and a true understanding of god like friendship, which appears most strongly in your behaving like this in the absence of your lord. But if you knew to whom you give this friendship, how true a gentleman you send in relief, how dear a friend of my lord is your husband, I know you show more pride in the work than accustomed behavior can make you show.

Word Meaning With Annotation

Conceit of god-like amity : conception of friendship which is truly divine, how dear a lover : “lover” often means “friend”, you would be prouder of the work, than customary bounty can enforce : you would be more proud of this act than of any ordinary act of kindness.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 4 Translation Meaning Annotations 2
Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 4 Translation Meaning Annotations 3

Modern English Reading

PORTIA : I never did regret doing good, and I won’t now; because in companions that talk and waste the time together, whose souls bear an equal burden of love, there must be a sharing of things like proportion of limbs, manners, and spirit, which makes me think that this Antonio, being the closest friend of my lord, must be like my lord. If it’s true, how little is the cost I have paid in purchasing the image of my soul from out of the state of hellish cruelty! This sounds as if I am praising of myself; So, no more about it; listen to other things. Lorenzo, I am putting the farming and management of my house into your hands until my lord’s return; as for me, I have taken a secret vow to heaven to live in prayer and contemplation, only attended by Nerissa here, until her husband and my lord’s return. There is a monastery two miles off, and we’ll stay there. I don’t want you to deny this imposition, which my love and some necessity now lays on you.

LORENZO : Madam, I shall obey you in all fair commands. With all my heart

PORTIA : My staff already know my mind, And will report to you and Jessica in place of Lord Bassanio and myself. So goodbye until we shall meet again.

LORENZO : Beautiful thoughts and happy hours attend on you!

JESSICA : I wish your ladyship all my heart’s content.

Word Meaning With Annotation

That do converse and waste the time together : who live and pass their time together, whose souls do bear an equal yoke of love : whose sources are united in a common bond of love. The “yoke” is a common enough sight in India, and may be described as the cross piece of wood against which a bullock pushes when pulling a cart hence Antonio and Bassanio are like two bullocks yoked to the same cart, there must be needs a like proportion, of lineaments, of manners, and of spirit : there must be a similarity between them in countenance, in manners and in disposition, bosom Lover : dear friend. In purchasing the semblance of my soul : in saving by my money one who is the very double of Bassanio, my soul’s love, husbandry and manage : administration and management, monastery : religious house or convent, not to deny this imposition : not to refuse this task I place upon you.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 4 Translation Meaning Annotations 4

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 4 Translation Meaning Annotations 5

Modern English Reading

PORTIA : I thank you for your wish, and I’m happy to wish it back on you. Goodbye, Jessica. Now, Balthasar, as I have always found you to be honest and true, So let me find you the same! Take this letter, and use all the power of a man to speed to Padua; see that you put this into my cousin’s hands, Doctor Bellario; and look what notes and garments he gives you, bring them, please, with imagined speed to the bridge, to the common ferry which sails to Venice. Don’t waste time in words, but get going; I’ll be there before you.

BALTHASAR : Madam, I go with all convenient speed.

PORTIA : Come on, Nerissa, I have work in hand that you don’t know about yet; we’ll see our husbands before they think about us.

NERISSA : Shall they see us?

Word Meaning With Annotation

Doctor Bellario : he is a doctor of law. This, might not denote the holder of an actual degree, as it would at the present day, but perhaps a celebrated teacher a man renowned for his knowledge of the law. Padua was noted as a centre of law studies, with imagined speed : with all conceivable speed.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 4 Translation Meaning Annotations 6

Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 4 Translation Meaning Annotations 7

Modern English Reading

PORTIA : They shall, Nerissa; but in such a costume that they’ll think we are finished with that we don’t have. I’ll bet you any amount, when we are both dressed like young men, I’ll prove the prettier fellow of the two, and wear my dagger with the braver grace, and speak with a reed voice, that’s between the change of man and boy; and turn two delicate steps into a manly stride; and speak about fights like a fine bragging youth; and tell quaint lies, how honorable ladies have looked for my love, who fell sick and died when I told them, “No”;I couldn’t do everything. Then I’ll be sorry, and wish that, for all of that, I had not killed them. And I’ll tell twenty of these flimsy lies so well, that men shall swear I have been out of school about a year. I have thousand raw tricks for these bragging Jacks within my mind, which I’ll practice.

NERISSA : Why, shall we turn into men?

PORTIA : Nonsense, what kind of a question is that, If you were near a nasty interpreter ! But come, I’ll tell you all about my whole plan when I am in my coach, which waits for us at the park gate; and so hurry, because we must travel twenty miles today.
Exeunt.

Word Meaning With Annotation

Habit : dress. In the same sense we still speak of a lady’s “riding-habit.” accoutred : equipped, prettier : which is now only applied to feminine beauty, was formerly used in this manner to denote manly qualities. And speak, between the change of man and boy : She is speaking of the period when a change comes in a boy’s shrill voice, but it has not yet become the deep voice of a man. reed voice : a thin sharp voice, mincing steps : the short quick steps that ladies take when walking, quaint lies : “fanciful lies.” I could not do withal : “I could not help it.” raw : childish. Jacks : fellows; young men.

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Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 3 Translation Meaning Annotations

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Merchant of Venice Act 3, Scene 3 Modern English Translation Meaning Annotations – ICSE Class 10 & 9 English

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Original Text
Act III Scene III

merchant-of-venice-act-3-scene-3-translation-meaning-annotations - 14

Modern English Reading
Act III Scene III

SHYLOCK : Jailer, look to him. Don’t tell me about mercy; This is the fool that lent out money for free: Jailer, look to him.

ANTONIO : But, listen to me, good Shylock.

SHYLOCK : I’ll have my promise to pay; don’t speak against my promise to pay. I have sworn an oath that I’ll have my promise to pay. You called me dog before you had a cause, but, since I am a dog, beware my fangs; The Duke shall grant me justice. I am curious, You naughty jailer, that you are so eager to come out with him at his request.

ANTONIO : Please listen to me speak.

Word Meaning With Annotation

I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond : we saw in a previous scene that Shylock was preparing to go to the synagogue, the Jewish church. It was evidently for the purpose of swearing an oath that he would exact full vengeance from Antonio, fond : “foolish”.

Original Text

merchant-of-venice-act-3-scene-3-translation-meaning-annotations - 1

merchant-of-venice-act-3-scene-3-translation-meaning-annotations - 1.1

Modern English Reading

SHYLOCK : I’ll have my promise to pay. I won’t listen to you speak; I’ll have my promise to pay; so speak no more. I won’t be made a soft and dull-eyed fool, to shake my head, give in, and sigh, and surrender to Christian intercessors. Don’t follow; I won’t put up with your speaking; I’ll have my promise to pay.
Exit Jew.

SOLANIO : It is the most difficult to understand dog that ever stayed with men.

ANTONIO : Let him alone l won’t follow him any more with useless prayers. He wants my life; I know his reasons well: Often I saved many who have, at times, complained to me, from defaulting on his loans. So he hates me.

SOLANIO : I am sure the Duke Will never enforce this default.

ANTONIO : The Duke cannot deny the course of law, Because of the benefits that strangers have with us in Venice, if it is denied, it will reflect very badly on the justice of the state, because the trade and profit of the city is from all nations. So, go; These griefs and losses have so upset me that I shall hardly have a pound of flesh tomorrow give to my bloody creditor. Well, jailer, let’s go on; I pray good Bassanio comes to see me pay his’debt, and then I won’t care.
Exeunt.

Word Meaning With Annotation

Dull – eyed : stupid; foolish in look. Impenetrable : not to be penetrated or moved by any appeals, kept with men : lived among men. bootless : fruitless; vain, from his forfeitures : out of his clutches, into which they had fallen by borrowing money, made moan : told their sad story, will never grant this forfeiture to hold : will never allow this penalty to be exacted, for the commodity that strangers have, with us in Venice, if it be denied, will much impeach the justice of the state, Since that the trade and profit of the city, Consisteth of all nations : because to refuse Shylock the privilege, at present enjoyed by all aliens, of having the same rights in law as the citizens of Venice, would injure the reputation of the state for impartial justice, bated : abated red: lessened in bodily weight.

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Character Sketch of Launcelot Gobbo in Merchant of Venice

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Character Sketch of Launcelot Gobbo in Merchant of Venice – ICSE Class 10, 9 English

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LAUNCELOT GOBBO

A Clown as well as a Servant

Launcelot Gobbo is the servant, first of the Jew, and later of the Christian Bassanio. But he is not merely a servant. Shakespeare describes him as a clown, meaning that he is a jester too. The word “fool” is also used for a person of that kind in Shakespearean drama. As a clown or a fool or a jester, Launcelot Gobbo makes a substantial contribution to the comedy of this play. However, he is not as clever and intellectual a clown as certain other clowns created by Shakespeare.

His Low, Cheap, Crude, and Farcical Kind of Humour

Much of the humour of Launcelot’s talk is of a crude and farcical kind; and the same is true of his behaviour and conduct. Hi£ fooling of his aged and blind father is not only crude and farcical but also in very bad taste. He tells his father that the young master Launcelot has died. This sort of thing fills us with disgust. It is all right for him to use his father to get a job under Bassanio; but to put up a pretence that he is dead means giving a shock to an old man who might not have been able to bear to shock. Indeed, Launcelot’s sense of humour in this particular episode is very cheap and Low. And, even in using his father to aid him in getting a job under Bassanio, he behaves in a manner which seems to us to be stupid and grotesque. He first prompts his father to say something and then he interrupts his father when the old man begins to say what he has been prompted to say. Every sentence begun by the old man is interrupted by his young son who then completes that sentence. This sort of thing certainly amused the groundlings in those times and had its utility from the point of view of public entertainment; but from the literary and artistic point of view this kind of humour ranks very low.

His Capacity to Make Truly Witty Remarks

A better example of Launcelot’s sense of humour is to be found in the conflict which is going on in his mind and which he describes in a really amusing manner. The conflict is between his desire to get a job under Bassanio and his conscience which stands in the way of his quitting the Jew’s service. While his conscience does not permit him to quit the Jew’s service, the fiend or the devil urges him to quit this job and seek one under Bassanio. The devil urges him to run away from Shylock’s house, while his conscience urges him to scorn running, and to remain loyal to his present master. Later in the play, Launcelot shows that he is also capable of making truly witty remarks. When Jessica informs him that her husband has converted her to Christianity, Launcelot makes a truly witty remark by saying that this making of Christians would raise the price of hogs, and by going on to say that, if all the Jews turn Christians and begin eating pork, there would not be a single slice of bacon available in the market at any price. He also shows his wit in using words in a double sense. His talent at punning makes Lorenzo call him “wit-snapper”; and Lorenzo then tells Jessica that this fool “has planted an army of good words in his mind”, and that he uses those words when occasion demands. Launcelot is also capable of making intelligent remarks indicative of a certain measure of wisdom. For instance, lie says to Bassanio: “You have the grace of God, sir, and he (Shylock) hath enough” On the whole, his humour and wit may be described as an interesting mixture of various elements.

Not Devoid of Sentiment: His Affection for Jessica

Launcelot is not devoid of feeling or sentiment. While leaving Jessica after having given up his job under Shylock, he becomes quite sentimental, and his eyes fill with tears. He is evidently attached to Jessica who also has a good deal of liking for him. He is glad to have got a job under the large-hearted Bassanio, but he is sorry to lose the company of Jessica.

His Manifold, But Flimsy, Role in the Play

Launcelot’s role in the play, apart from his contribution to the comedy of the play, is very slight. He does a service to Jessica by carrying a letter from her to her lover, Lorenzo. He also does a service to her by telling her indirectly that a masked procession would go through the streets at night. Later, he goes to Belmont in the company of his new master, Bassanio; and still later he conveys to Lorenzo and Jessica the information that his master Bassanio would be returning to Belmont at an early hour in the morning. He also serves to emphasize the contrast between the miserliness of Shylock service he is famished (that is, starving), while Lord Bassanio gives rare liveries to his servants. He is also brought into the Bond story because it is he who goes to Shylock with an invitation from Bassanio, asking Shylock to dine with him at the feast which Bassanio has arranged for his friends on the eve of his departure for Belmont. In fact, Launcelot appears at different places and among different persons on different occasions. He moves from Venice to Belmont, and from Belmont to Venice. He moves from the Jew’s house to Bassanio’s, and from Bassanio’s house to the Jew’s. He figures in the Lorenzo- Jessica love-affair, in the Caskets story, and also in the Bond story, though he does not play any vital part in any of these stories. By moving from one place to another and from one group of characters tc another, he contributes, in some measure, to the interweaving of the various stories in the play. In othe: words, he serves as a connecting-link among the various stories. But his chief contribution to the play is to amuse and entertain the audience (and the readers). This is how a critic describes his role in the play: “Shakespeare, always careful about the knitting of a play into unity, links Launcelot to the Jew, to Lorenzo, and to Jessica; and then, having bound him up with the Jew, binds him up with the Caskets story. He sends him to Belmont as one of Bassanio’ servants.”

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Character Sketch of Nerissa in Merchant of Venice

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Character Sketch of Nerissa in Merchant of Venice – ICSE Class 10, 9 English

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NERISSA

A Miniature Portia, Though Without Portia’s Beauty and health

Nerissa is the waiting-maid of Portia; but actually she is more of a companion to Portia than a maidservant. The main point to note about Nerissa is that she possess almost all those qualities which Portia has but possesses those qualities in a much lesser degree. She may almost be regarded as another Portia though on a greatly diminished and reduced scale. In her talk and her actions, she is almost an echo of her mistress. We could even call her an imitation Portia though we certainly do not imply thereby any contempt or scorn for her. In fact, we feel quite attracted by her, and are inclined to have an extremely favourable opinion of her as a person. She is a miniature Portia, though lacking in Portia’s beauty and Portia’s wealth.

Her Capacity to Make Aphoristic Remarks

Nerissa strikes us as a highly intelligent woman who understands Portia’s nature and character well. When we are first introduced to Portia, she (Portia) is in a rather melancholy mood. At this time Nerissa makes some very shrewd remarks by means of which she is able to provide some comfort to her mistress and soothe her troubled mind. She points out to Portia that the latter has every reason to feel happy because of her good fortune, and then she further consoles her by saying that the lottery, which her late father had devised with regard to her marriage, is a sound method by which she would be able to acquire a suitable husband. Here Nerissa also gives evidence of her capacity to speak in an aphoristic* style. For instance, she says that people, who have too much to eat or to enjoy, ultimately feel as sick of their sumptuous food and their wealth as those persons feel who have no wealth at all and no food to eat. She then goes on to say that “It is no mean happiness therefore to be seated in the mean”, meaning that only those persons can be really happy who have neither too much of wealth nor too little of it. She then makes another aphoristic statement when she says: “superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer.”

Her Sense of Humour; and Her Wit

Nerissa has a strong sense of humour and is capable of making witty remarks just as she is capable of making wise ones. She fully gets into the spirit of Portia’s witty comments on the four suitors who come to Belmont to win her but who go away without venturing to make a choice of the caskets. She also fully enjoys the comedy of the rings conceived and started by Portia. She takes Gratiano to task for having given away her ring to somebody though he had sworn to keep it always with him. She pretends to disbelieve him entirely when he says that he had given the ring not to any woman but to a man who had functioned as the judge’s clerk in the court at Venice. Here she shows her wit by countering Gratiano’s plea, and asserting that he is trying to throw dust into her eyes.

A Copy of Portia; and Well Matched with Gratiano

Nerissa feels very happy at Bassanio’s choice of the right casket; and she offers her best wishes and her congratulations to both Portia and Bassanio. She feels almost as happy at acquiring Gratiano as her husband as Portia feels at acquiring Bassanio as her husband. Portia gets Lord Bassanio as her husband, and Nerissa gets Lord Bassanio’s subordinate, Gratiano, as her husband. If Bassanio had to undergo an ordeal in order to win Portia as his wife, Gratiano too had to undergo some difficulty in winning Portia’s maid as his spouse. Gratiano had to give all sorts of assurances 10 Nerissa, and had to swear his love for her with many oaths, before she agreed to marry him; and, even while giving her consent, she had laid down the condition that she would marry him only if Bassanio succeeded in winning Portia. When Portia decides to put on a man’s disguise, Nerissa too raises no objection to doing the same at Portia’s behest. All these facts only serve to prove the point that she is almost a copy of Portia.

According to a critic, Nerissa is a clever, confidential waiting-woman who has caught something of her mistress’s elegance and romance, and she mimics her mistress with emphasis and discretion. Nerissa and Gratiano, says this critic, are as well matched as the incomparable Portia and her splendid lover.

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