Merchant of Venice Workbook Answers Act 5 Scene 1
Merchant of Venice Workbook Answers Act 5 Scene 1 Questions and Answers, Passage Based Questions.
Merchant of Venice Act 5 Scene 1 Workbook Questions and Answers
Question 1.
‘In such a night
Medea gathered the enchanted herbs’. (Lines : 15-16)
Who speaks these lines ? What do you know of Medea ?
Answer:
These lines are uttered by Jessica. Medea was Jason’s wife who restored his father Aeson to youthful vigour by gathering herbs by moonlight with incantation and by giving their juice to him.
Question 2.
‘In such a night
Did Jessica steal from the wealthy Jew’. (Lines : 15-16)
On what occasion does Lorenzo utter these words ?
Answer:
Lorenzo utters these words when he and Jessica indulge in a game of outwitting each other in telling stories about classical lovers. They are in a romantic mood on a moonlit night.
Question 3.
‘The man that hath no music in himself (Lines : 91-92)
Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils’. What does Lorenzo think of the quality and influence of music ?
Answer:
Lorenzo thinks high of music. He believes that the man who has no ear for music and is not moved by it is a man with a black soul. Such a man, according to him, can only plan conspiracies and commit acts of plunder.
Question 4.
‘Nothing is good, I see, without respect : Methinks it sounds much sweeter than by day’. (Lines : 107-108)
What prompts Portia to talk about the general nature of all things including music ? Do you approve of what she says ?
Answer:
The sound of music prompts Portia to talk about the general nature of all things. She is of the opinion that nothing is pleasant or unpleasant, and that we only project our feelings on the things around. Yes, we think she is quite right.
Question 5.
‘You were to blame, —I must be plain with you—
To part so slightly with your wife’s first gift’. (Lines : 178-179)
Who is blamed by Portia, and why ? What is her accusation ? Is she serious ?
Answer:
Bassanio is blamed by Portia for giving his wife’s first gift, a ring, to someone casually. She accuses him of giving her ring to some woman. She is just teasing him.
Question 6.
‘No, by my honour, madam, by my soul, No woman had it, but a civil doctor’. (Lines : 224-225)
What is Bassanio accused of ? What does he say in his defence ?
Answer: Bassanio is accused of giving his ring to some woman. In his defence he says that he has given the ring to the lawyer who came to Venice to defend Antonio.
Question 7.
‘In both my eyes he doubly sees himself :
In each eye one ‘ (Lines : 260-261)
How is Portia teasing Bassanio ? What do you think about her ?
Answer:
When Bassanio says that he finds himself reflected in Portia’s beautiful eyes, Portia finds another point to tease him. She says he finds himself doubly reflected in both her eyes—one image in each. Thus, he swears in the name of double-dealing (deceiving) self. This shows how witty and clever Portia is.
Question 8.
‘By heaven, it is the same I gave the doctor!’ (Line : 274)
What surprises Bassanio ? How does Portia explain the mystery ?
Answer:
The ring which was handed over to Bassanio by Portia surprised him because it was the same ring which he had given to the lawyer. Portia explained how she got the ring as she herself was the lawyer in male dress.
Question 9.
What is the cause of quarrel between Nerissa and Gratiano ? What is amusing about it ?
Answer:
Nerissa finds her ring missing on Gratiano’s finger, so she starts quarelling with Gratiano. She accuses him of giving that ring to some young girl. The whole quarrel is amusing as we know that the ring is already with Nerissa.
Question 10.
What makes Antonio sad ? Who consoles him ?
Answer:
Like Nerissa, Portia accuses her husband of giving her ring to some young woman. Bassanio vehemently denies the charge. The quarrels between Nerissa and Gratiano and between Portia and Bassanio make Antonio feel sad. He accuses himself for all the quarrels. Portia consoles him by asking him not to feel upset, saying that he is very much welcome to her house.
Merchant of Venice Workbook Answers Act 5 Scene 1 Passage Based Questions
PASSAGE 1.
Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow :
Lorenzo :
The moon shines bright: in such a night as this,
When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees
And they did make no noise, in such a night
Troilus methinks mounted the Troyan walls
And sigh’d his soul toward the Grecian tents,
Where Cressid lay that night.
Jessica :
In such a night
Did Thisbe fearfully o’ertrip the dew
And saw the lion’s shadow ere himself
And ran dismay’d away.
(i) Where are the speakers ? In which mood are they ?
Answer: The speakers, Lorenzo and Jessica, are in a grove before Portia’s house in Belmont. It is a moonlit night, and the two lovers are in a joyful, romantic mood.
(ii) Who was Troilus ? What did he do at a moonlit night ?
Answer: Troilus was the son of Priam, king of Troy. He climbed the walls of the city of Troy on a moonlit night. He expressed his love in loud sighs for his beloved Cressida asleep in the Grecian tents.
(iii) Who was Thisbe ? What happened to her ?
Answer: Thisbe was a girl loved by Pyramus. She came out to meet her lover on a moonlit night. Sighting a lion’s shadow before her she ran away in terror.
(iv) Why are Lorenzo and Jessica referring to old romantic stories ?
Answer: Lorenzo and Jessica are referring to old romantic stories as they are in a romantic mood, and are playing this kind of game to while away the time while waiting for the return of Portia and Bassanio.
(v) Who enters later in the scene ? What news does he bring ?
Answer: Stephano, a messenger, appears later in the scene. He has brought the news that his mistress (Portia) will be back at home before dawn. At present she is visiting chapels and churches, praying for a happy married life.
PASSAGE 2.
Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow :
Lorenzo :
therefore the poet
Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones and floods;
Since nought so stockish, hard and full of rage,
But music for the time doth change his nature.
The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils;
The motions of his spirit are dull as night
And his affections dark as Erebus:
Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music.
(i) Who is being addressed to by Lorenzo ? What has prompted him to dwell on the power of music ?
Answer: Jessica is being addressed to by Lorenzo. The sound of music has prompted him to dwell on the power of music. Music, according to him, enchants humans as well as animals.
(ii) What has the speaker told about the effect of music on wild horses ?
Answer: Lorenzo, the speaker, has said that even when the horses were to hear accidently the sound of a trumpet or some other music, they would suddenly stand still. All the wildness would disappear in their eyes.
(iii) Who is the poet referred to here ? What did he imagine ?
Answer: The poet referred to here is Ovid. He imagined that the great musician Orpheus could draw trees, rocks and rivers after him. He could influence them with the power of his music.
(iv) What does the speaker think of a man who has no love for music ?
Answer: According to the speaker, Lorenzo, the person who has no love for music is an abnormal and wicked person. Such a man is fit for only conspiracies and acts of plunder.
(v) Who enter immediately after this speech ? From where have they come ?
Answer: Portia and Nerissa enter immediately after Lorenzo’s speech. They have come from Venice, unknown to everyone related to them, since they “went there in male dress.
PASSAGE 3.
Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow :
Portia :
What ring gave you my lord?
Not that, I hope, which you received of me.
Bassanio :
If I could add a lie unto a fault,
I would deny it; but you see my finger
Hath not the ring upon it; it is gone.
(i) What makes Portia want to know about the ring ?
Answer: Gratiano says that Lord Bassanio gifted his ring to the judge (Portia in disguise) who asked for it. This makes Portia want to know which ring Bassanio has given to the judge.
(ii) Who has taken the ring from Bassanio ? Why does she pretend not to know ?
Answer: Portia, in the guise of a male lawyer, has herself taken the ring from Bassanio, unknown to him. She pretends not to know only because she is in a mood to tease Bassanio just to have some fun.
(iii) What has Bassanio to confess ? How does he feel ?
Answer: Bassanio has to confess that he gave the lawyer the very ring Portia had given to him on the promise that he would never part with that. He feels embarrassed and even guilty.
(iv) What is Bassanio accused of ? How does he try to defend himself later in the scene ?
Answer: Bassanio is accused of being a cuckold. He tries to defend himself by swearing on his soul and on his honour that he did not give the ring to any woman. He gave the ring to the lawyer.
(v) Who settles the dispute ? What surprises Bassanio the most ?
Answer: It is Antonio who settles the dispute by pledging himself upon his soul that her husband will never again break his oath with her. When Portia asks him to give a ring to Bassanio with the promise to keep it in safe custody, Bassanio is greatly surprised to see it. It is the same ring which he had given to the lawyer.
PASSAGE 4.
Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow :
Portia :
How now, Lorenzo l
My clerk hath some gopd comforts too for you.
Nerissa :
Ay, and I’ll give them him without a fee.
There do I give to you and Jessica,
From the rich Jew, a special deed of gift,
After his death, of all he dies possess’d of.
Lorenzo :
Fair ladies, you drop manna in the way
Of starved people.
(i) What good news makes Portia to turn to Lorenzo ? What does her ‘clerk’ have for him ?
Answer: Antonio has got the news that his ships have safely come to harbour. This good news makes Portia turn to Lorenzo. Her ‘clerk’, that is Nerissa, has good news for him.
(ii) What does Nerissa tell Lorenzo and Jessica ?
Answer: Nerissa tells them about the gift deed signed by Shylock, according to which they will inherit all of his property after his death.
(iii) How does Lorenzo react to the news ?
Answer: Lorenzo reacts exultantly to the news. He calls the gift deed as a sort of heavenly food for hungry people. They will not have to worry about their future.
(iv) Where is the conversation going on ? Why does Portia later ask all of them to go inside ?
Answer: The conversation is going on in the grove before Portia’s house. Portia asks all of the people present to go inside. She knows that her listeners are still not satisfied with what she has told them. She promises to answer all their questions and satisfy their curiosity in every way.
(v) What do you think of the ending of the play ?
Answer: Shakespeare has intended to make The Merchant of Venice a comedy. Naturally, the play ends on a happy note for all, except for Shylock. Seen in this context, the last act or scene cannot be called superfluous, as some critics have opined.