Merchant of Venice: Act 1 - Scene 2 (Workbook answers)

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Merchant of Venice

Act 1 

Scene 2

(Workbook Answers)

Extract 1

Ans 1: Portia has just said that she doesn’t have the freedom to choose her own husband. The person she has to marry will be decided by the lottery of caskets created by her father. She can neither say yes to a person whom she likes, nor refuse a person whom she dislikes.
 
Ans 2: Portia’s father had made 3 caskets - one made of gold, one made of silver and the last one made of lead. The suitors had to choose a casket from the three. If they chose the right casket, they would win Portia’s hand in marriage.
 
Ans 3: Portia was anxious about the lottery of caskets, because she did not have any choice in the matter of her own marriage. Portia wanted to be a good daughter, so she decided to follow her father’s will. Nerissa was positive about the lottery. She believed that Portia’s father was a great wise man and only a worthy man would choose the correct casket. 
 
Ans 4: The given lines mean the right casket will be chosen by a man whom Portia would truly love.
 
Ans 5: The reason for Portia's melancholy is the lottery of caskets that will choose her husband. On the other hand, the reason for Antonio's melancholy is unknown. 
 

Extract 2

 
Ans 1: Portia and Nerissa are in a room in Portia’s house at Belmont. They are discussing the lottery of caskets and about the suitors who have come to try their luck. In this scene, Portia is in a mood of melancholy and anxiety.  

Ans 2: County Palatine was the Count from Palatinate. Palatinate is a region in Germany, near the Rhine river. He has come to Belmont to win Portia’s hand in marriage.
 
Ans 3: The first prince described by Portia is the Neapolitan prince. Portia calls him a colt because he keeps talking about his horse. He is very proud of his ability to shoe his horse.
 
Ans 4:  The ‘weeping philosopher’ refers to Heraclitus of Ephesus. He was a Greek philosopher. He had a poor opinion of humans and their nature. He was depressed and suffered from melancholy. So, he was called the ‘weeping philosopher’. ‘A death’s-head with a bone in his mouth’ means ‘a skull with a bone in its mouth’.
 
Ans 5: County Palatine was a proud man who always had a frown on his face. He was so proud that he refused to be forced into participating in the lottery of caskets. He didn’t laugh at jokes. Portia was afraid that in his old age he would become a weeping philosopher. 
 
Extract 3
 
Ans 1: Earlier, Portia described the Neapolitan prince as a horse because he always talked about his horse. Count Palatine and Le Bon share the common characteristic of frowning.
 
Ans 2: The given line means he has the characteristics of every man other than him.
 
Ans 3: When the French lord hears the singing of a thrush, he immediately starts jumping and dancing.
 
Ans 4: 
(a) It would be like Portia is married to twenty husbands as he has the characteristics of twenty men.
(b) If he were to despise Portia, she would forgive him and would not be bothered about him.
(c) If he were to love Portia passionately, she could never return his love. 
 
Ans 5: According to Portia, the French lord is very attached to his horse, even more than the Neapolitan prince. He frowns more than the Count of Palatine. She adds that he starts jumping and dancing when he hears a bird singing and he loves fencing so much that he will start fencing with his own shadow. 
 
Extract 4
 
Ans 1: The young baron’s external appearance is described as strange. He wears an Italian jacket, French breeches and a German hat. His manners didn’t come from his own country, but from everywhere around the world. This shows that the English people of Shakespeare’s time liked foreign clothes and foreign manners.
 
Ans 2: Portia’s statement, that the Englishman doesn’t know Latin, French or Italian, shows that he has poor knowledge of European languages. Portia finds it difficult to interact with him because Portia knows Latin, French and Italian, but not English. On the other hand, the English lord speaks only English and none of the other languages. 
 
Ans 3: 
(a) He is a handsome man.
(b) He is dressed very strangely.
 
Ans 4: ‘A dumb-show’ refers to pantomime. A pantomime is a play in which the characters don’t speak, but use gestures to communicate. The baron is said to be a ‘dumb-show’ because he doesn’t know any of the languages that Portia speaks, and as a result he uses gestures to communicate with Portia. 
 
Ans 5: According to Portia, the Scottish Lord is a coward, because he didn’t retaliate to the Englishman’s blow. She also sarcastically calls him a kindhearted man. The description of the Scottish Lord is a reference to the alliance signed between Scotland and France, when Scotland was at war against England. 
 
Extract 5
 
Ans 1: When sober, the young German is ‘very vile’ and less than a man in behaviour i.e. he doesn’t behave like a man. When drunk, he is ‘most vile’ and little better than a beast i.e. he behaves more dangerous than any wild animal. If the worst happens to Portia, she will manage to live without him. 
 
Ans 2: 
(a) When he is drunk, he is not better than a beast. 
(b) Place a glass filled with Rhenish wine on the wrong casket.

Ans 3: To prevent the young German from choosing the right casket, Portia instructs Nerissa to place a glass, filled with Rhenish wine, on the wrong casket. Portia thinks that the young German is such an alcoholic that he will be tempted to choose the casket on which the wine-filled glass is kept. 
 
Ans 4: The young German is referred to as a sponge because he absorbs alcohol just like a sponge absorbs water.
 
Ans 5: To console Portia, Nerissa tells her that she doesn’t need to worry, because the suitors have informed Nerissa of their decision to go back to their homes. From Nerissa’s speech, we get to know about her affection for Portia.
 
Extract 6
 
Ans 1: The will of Portia’s father was that her marriage will be decided by the lottery of caskets. The suitor, who chooses the right casket, will be her husband. 
 
Ans 2: In Roman mythology, Sibylla was a prophetess. She was granted a wish by a God named Apollo, that she would live for as many years as the grains of sand she held in her hand. Diana was the goddess of the moon and of hunting, in Roman mythology.
They are referred to here, to explain Portia’s resolve. Unless a suitor chooses the correct casket and wins the lottery to marry her, she would remain unmarried like Diana, even if she lives to be as old as Sibylla. 
 
Ans 3: Nerissa speaks about the visit of a young Venetian, who came along with the Marquis of Montferrat, when Portia’s father was alive. He was a scholar, as well as a soldier. 
Portia replies that she remembers him and he is worthy of Nerissa’s praise. Portia’s reply shows that she is already in love with Bassanio. 
 
Ans 4: The two main plots of the play are: the bond-story and the casket-story. We learn about the bond-story in Scene 1 and the casket story in Scene 2. So, we can say that the opening of the first two scenes of Act 1 give the plots of the play.
 
Ans 5: The six suitors are: the Neapolitan Prince; the County Palatine; Monsieur Le Bon; Falconbridge; the Scottish Lord; and the Duke of Saxony’s nephew. 
Characteristics of two suitors: 
Monsieur Le Bon: He had the characteristics of every man other than him. He would dance when a bird sang and would fight with his own shadow. 
Falconbridge: He dressed in a strange manner. He spoke only English and he did not speak Latin, French or Italian.

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