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Merchant of Venice
By
William Shakespeare
QUESTIONS WITH MODEL ANSWERS
1. Who was Shylock? What do you know about him?
Shylock was a rich Jew living in Venice. He was a cruel man who made himself wealthy by
lending money at great interest to Christian merchants.
2. How did Shylock make himself wealthy?
Shylock made himself wealthy by lending money at great interest to Christian merchants and
forcing them to pay back with cruelty.
3. Why did Shylock hate Antonio?
Because Antonio lent money to people in trouble without any interest; thus taking business
away from Shylock.
4. “Whenever I meet you complain about me and my money lending. You kicked
me like a dog. Does a dog have any money to lend?” Comment.
These words were said by Shylock to Antonio when Antonio wanted to lend some money
from Shylock. Although Shylock was the enemy of Antonio, but Antonio resorted to him to
lend some money for his friend’s sake.
5. Who was Bassanio? What do you know about him?
Bassanio was a noble Venetian. He was the nearest and dearest friend to Antonio. He spent
his money foolishly and lived on borrowing from his friends and mostly from Antonio.
6. Why did not Bassanio have any money of his own when he needed it?
Because he foolishly spent the little money left to him by his father by living above his
means.
7. Why did Bassanio need money from Antonio?
Because he wanted to marry a very wealthy woman whose father died leaving her a great
wealth.
8. What was the contract made between Shylock and Antonio? Why did Antonio
agree to sign? OR on what condition did Shylock agree to lend Antonio the
money.
The contract said that if Antonio didn't repay the money back by a certain day, he would lose
a pound of flesh to be cut off from any part of his body that Shylock pleased. Antonio signed
this bond for he was sure his ships would come back before the day of payment with many
goods.
9. A friend indeed is a friend in need. Discuss.
Antonio showed great loyalty to his friend Bassanio. When Bassanio wanted to marry a
wealthy / rich woman, he resorted to his best friend to lend the money he needed.
Unfortunately, Antonio didn’t have much money because his ships hadn’t come back with
the goods. He had to lend the money from Shylock and made an aggressive contract which
said that if Antonio didn't repay the money back by a certain day; he would lose a pound of
flesh to be cut off from any part of his body that Shylock pleased. Antonio agreed to sign for
the sake of his best friend Bassanio. Antonio was a great lover and helper for his friend
Bassanio.

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10.Who was Portia?
Portia was the rich heiress that Bassanio wished to marry. She lived in Belmont, near
Venice. She had a large property.
11.What bad news came to Bassanio?
He received a letter from Antonio that he had lost all his ships and couldn't pay the Jew and
was waiting for death. Antonio wanted to see Bassanio before his death.
12.What was Portia's plan to save Antonio?
She dressed herself and her maid Nerissa in the clothes of a young lawyer and his clerk, and
after getting the advice of a relative of hers, she set for Venice to speak for Antonio.
13.Why was Portia married to Bassanio before he left her to save Antonio?
She did so in order to give him a right in law to her money.
14.What were Portia's sweet words of the quality of mercy?
She said that mercy dropped as gentle rain from Heaven upon the place beneath, it was a
double blessing; it blesses him who gives and him that receives it. It is a finer ornament for a
king than his crown itself because it is a quality of God himself.
15.Prove that Shylock wanted revenge more than money.
Bassanio offered to pay the three thousand pounds as many times over as Shylock wished
but Shylock still refused because he hated Antonio so much that he wished to see him dead.
16.Why did Shylock go to court and take a knife with him?
He went to court to have revenge on Antonio. He took a knife with him to cut one pound of
Antonio's flesh as the bond said.
17."A Daniel is come to judgment! O wise young judge, how I do honour you!
How much older are you than your looks!" Comment.
These words were said by Shylock to the young lawyer (Portia) when she said that she
couldn’t twist the law for Antonio. Shylock was so glad and thought that the lawyer was
speaking for him.
18.It was Portia's wisdom that saved Antonio's life. How was she able to turn the
case against Shylock?
She used Shylock's own words to turn the case against him. She said that the bond gave him
the right to have only one pound of flesh but without any blood. Thus he was beaten and
found himself helpless. He couldn't take flesh without shedding blood. Even when he tried to
take his money back, she refused saying that he was entitled only for what was written in the
bond "A pound of Antonio's blood."
19.Portia was a noble lady. Prove
 She accepted to marry Bassanio after he told her that he wasn’t as rich as her.
 Portia told him that he would be the master of her life.
 When she knew that Bassanio in trouble, she asked him to marry her to give him the
money needed to save Antonio.
20.Did Shylock have any mercy on Antonio? Why?
Shylock didn't have any mercy on Antonio because he hated him so much that he preferred
to lose his money to see Antonio dead.
21.Why did Shylock think at first that Portia was speaking for him?
Because she told Shylock that he had a right by the law of Venice to have what was
promised in the bond.

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22.How did Portia save Antonio from Shylock?
She told Shylock that he was entitled to have what was written in the bond no more or less.
She also warned him not to spill a drop of blood or he would lose his wealth and his life.
23.Why couldn't Shylock even take his own money?
He couldn't even take his money because the lawyer had another hold on him. His wealth
would go to the state of Venice for having made a plot against the life of one of its citizens.
24.Why didn't Shylock take the pound of flesh from Antonio's body?
He couldn't take a pound of Antonio's body without spilling blood and the lawyer warned
him that if he spilled a single drop of blood, he would lose his wealth as well as his life.
25.On what condition did Antonio give up his share of Shylock’s money?
Antonio gave up his share of Shylock's money on the condition that after his death Shylock's
money should go to his daughter and her husband.
26.What punishment did Shylock deserve for plotting against Antonio? How was
mercy shown to him?
For plotting against Antonio he deserved to lose his life as well as his wealth that should go,
half to the state of Venice and the other half to Antonio. Mercy was shown to him by the
duke who spared his life and by Antonio who gave up his share in Shylock's money.
27.Why was Shylock disappointed and poor when he left the court?
On leaving the court, Shylock was disappointed and poor because he had lost everything; he
couldn't revenge on Antonio, he lost most of his wealth and was about to lose his own life.
28.What did Bassanio offer the young lawyer? Did he accept it? Why?
Bassanio offered him the three thousand pounds due to the Jew but the young lawyer refused
to take that money because she wanted to save the life of the faithful friend of her husband.
29.How did Portia and Nerissa test their husbands' love for them?
They tested their husbands' love by asking them for the rings which they promised never to
part with.
30.What did Bassanio do with Portia's ring?
He gave it to the lawyer who saved Antonio's life as a sign of thankfulness, yet he was sorry
to give the ring away.
31.Why did she quarrel with her husband?
Because he gave away the ring she had given him though she made him promise never to
part with it.
32.What letter did Portia give to Antonio?
She gave him a letter with good news that some of his ships'which were thought to be lost
came back to harbour and he was rich once again.
33.Name five people who were happy when the play ended?
Antonio. Bassanio, Portia, Nerissa and her husband Gratiano.
34.Bassanio and Antonio were faithful friends. Discuss.
Antonio had to sign the bond to borrow some money for Bassanio to help him get married.
Bassanio came to Venice as soon as he heard that his friend was in danger. He was ready to
do anything to save his friend's life. He gave away the ring given to him by his wife to
please his friend Antonio.

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35.What was the theme of mercy in the play?
Shylock didn't show any mercy to Antonio but the duke showed mercy to Shylock when he
spared his life. Antonio also had shown mercy by giving up his share in Shylock's money
after Shylock had signed a bond that his wealth would go to his daughter after his death.

Challenging Questions
1. Shylock showed the theme of racial discrimination. Discuss Briefly.
2. Portia was a cunning lawyer as well as a noble wife. Discuss.
3. Which character in the play do you like best? Why?
4. "By my soul, I swear, there is no power in the tongue of man to change me."
 Who said the above words and to whom?
 What suggestion did the speaker refuse?
 Why did the speaker regret his refusal of the offer later?
5. What did Antonio say to Bassanio before his death? What qualities did that attitude
reflect?
6. "The trial scene reflected how merciless and cruel Shylock was." Discuss.
7. How did Portia make it impossible for Shylock to take a pound of Antonio's flesh?
8. "Most worthy gentleman, I and my friend Antonio have by your wisdom been this day
saved, and I beg you will accept the three thousand pounds due to the Jew."
Comment.

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SONNET (18)
WILLIAM SHAKESPEAR

√A short account on Shakespeare:

Shakespeare was born in 1564 and died in 1616. He wrote 37 plays and 134 sonnets
.He is still popular because he is actually not of one age, but for all time.
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd ;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest;

So long as men can breath, or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Difficult Vocabulary
compare=liken ,say you are like dimmed = made dim, made dull
thee = you fair (n.) = beautiful thing
art = are fair (adv.) = beauty
lovely = beautiful decline = decay , goes away
temperate = mild , moderate untrimm'd = having become ugly
rough =not soft , wild eternal = lasting forever
shake = move violently fade = grow dull and colourless, die
buds = young flowers lose possession = no longer possess
lease = duration of summer is short brag = boast , speak proudly
all too short = a very short thou wander'st = you wander , walk
eye of heaven = the sun aimlessly
complexion = colour of the face shade = shadow
thou growest = you continue to live lines = lines of verse , poetry

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√PARAPHRASE
Shakespear asks if he could compare his beloved to a summer's day. Then he
refuses doing so as she is more beautiful and more sweet-tempered. In the next
four lines, he mentions the reasons for this:
 A summer’s day is so windy that it shakes the small weak young flowers and
may hurt them.
 Summer is short and hot.
 Sometimes the sky is cloudy in summer.
 Summer is like every beautiful creature that surely comes to an end.: either
because of some accident or because it is natural for all living things to grow
old and die.
Unlike the summer’s day, his beloved’s beauty will last forever.
His love will never lose her beauty and death will never get her.
She will live in lines of his poetry that cannot die.

√Commentary
The opening line poses a simple question which the rest of the sonnet answers.
The poet compares his beloved to a summer’s day and finds him to be “more
lovely and more temperate.”
The poet discovers that love and the man’s beauty are more permanent than a
summer’s day because summer is tainted by occasional winds and the eventual
change of season. While summer must always come to an end, the speaker’s love
for the man is eternal.
Although Shakespeare changed the internal form of the sonnet, his sonnet is well-
formed as the following:
1. Shakespeare starts the main theme in the first line.
“Comparing his beloved to a summer’s day”
2. Then he gives an answer with examples (the bad points of a summer’s day &
his beloved who is different).
3. Finally he gives the conclusion in the last two lines.

The rhyme scheme of his sonnet is ABAB , CDCD , EFEF ,GG

The metere of the poem is the iambic pentameter
√Figures of Speech
☻Metaphor
In “the eye of heaven shines” to describe the sun.
☻Personification
 In “his gold complexion dimm’d”
The poet personifies the sun as a man with dark, dull face.
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 In “Death brag thou wander’st in his shade”.
He described death as a man.
☻Equation ‫توازن‬
“Youth” with “summer”

√Questions and answers :

1-What's a sonnet? What is the difference between the Italian and this Shakespearean
sonnet?
- The sonnet is a poem of 18 lines, dealing with one idea or emotion and that idea or
emotion is usually a personal one.

Shakespearean Sonnet Italian Sonnet

Shakespeare
*consists of 14 lines
*three quatrains (stanzas of
4 lines) and a heroic couplet
(two lines with the same
rhyming scheme).
Milton & Keats
*consists of 14 lines
*octave (a stanza of 8 lines)
and a sestet ( a stanza of 6
lines).

2-What will make the lady's beauty everlasting?

-Her beauty will be everlasting in the verse of the poet's sonnet that will be repeated
among people forever. As long as men live, and as long as they read poetry.
3-In sonnet 18 Shakespeare says that poetry defies time. Discuss.
-Shakespeare believes that poetry defeats time and death. He says that poetry prevents
death and time from frightening the people who are mentioned in the poems.
4-Why does the poet use the repletion of certain words?
- To create internal musical patterns in the sonnet, for example:
(more / fair/so long)

‫رقم اإليداع بدار الكتب‬

2015/15892

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