The Merchant of Venice Introducing Important Characters

GREEN VALLEY NATIONAL SCHOOL & PU COLLEGE, SHIRURU Class: X Subject: ENGLISH-2 (NOTES) The Merchant of Venice Introducing important characters Antonio- A wise old Venetian Merchant, who loves his close friend, Bassanio more than his own life. Bassanio-A young spendthrift, who has used all of his own estate in order to look more noble and rich than he really is. He is Antonio’s best friend. Shylock- A Jewish money lender in Venice who bears ancient grudge against Antonio. He is greedy, cruel and selfish. Launcelot: Servant of Shylock. He often reduces the tension in the play with his funny speech. Launcelot Gobbo: Lancelot’s father[ sand blind] Lorenzo- Bassano’s friend who runs away with Jessica, Shylock’s daughter. Jessica- Shylock’s daughter. She does not love her father as she ought to and plans to run away (elope) with Lorenzo, who is a Christian. Portia- A rich heiress of Belmont. She is wise, witty, beautiful, and obedient to her father. Duke – duke of Venice Nerissa- Portia’s maid. She consoles and advises Portia when Portia is depressed. Morocco- A suitor who had come from the tropics to win Portia’s hand Arragon- Another suitor comes to win Portia from France. Tubal- Shylock’s friend who goes to Genoa in search of Jessica. Salanio- Antonio’s friend Salrino -Antonio’s friend Selerio- Antonio’s friend Important questions and answers 1. Describe Antonio’s melancholy and his friends’ reaction. - Antonio was sad for no reason. He does not know how he caught the sadness. He says he now needs to know much about himself, for his sadness has made him absent minded. Salanio and Salarino say that Antonio is worried about his ships on sea. He has fear about their safe return. Storms, rocks and sandy shores may cause damage to his ships. So he is worried. But Antonio says that he has invested his money on different ships going to different countries. He is not worried, but confident about his returns. One of his friends says that Antonio may be in love. But Antonio rejects it calling them nonsense. 2. Describe Bassanio‘s nature and his plans. Bassanio is Antonio’s best friend. He is a spendthrift. He has spent all his property by living more luxuriously than his income allows him. He feels sorry for not returning Antonio’s loan. He assures his friend that he if he gets another loan from Antonio; he would carefully spend it and pay back the loans. In his child hood if he lost an arrow, he used to shoot another arrow in the same direction in the same speed and used to get the two together. Bassanio gives this example to prove that he would clear his debts. Bassanio is in need of money to furnish him to reach Belmont. He wants to woo Portia, the rich heiress of Belmont. 3. Describe Portia’s fathers will and the casket game. Portia is the rich heiress of Belmont whose father has left behind him a will. According to the will Portia has no freedom to choose her husband. The suitors have to choose one among the three caskets of gold, silver and lead. If it contains Portia’s picture, the suitor would marry her. Or else he would have to leave the place quietly at once. Further he should not think of his marriage in his life time. Portia is sad about her father’s will because it restricts her from choosing her husband. Sill she is obedient to her father’s will. She is ready to live as long as Sibylla lived and as chaste as Diana was, even if no suitor chooses the right casket. 4. Write a note on Prince of Morocco. Prince of Morocco is from Africa. So he is dark in complexion. He is very proud of his bravery. He requests Portia not to dislike him for his dark complexion. When he is taken to the caskets, he reads the inscriptions on the caskets. “One who chooses me will get what many men desire” is written on the golden casket One who chooses me will get what one deserves” is written on the silver casket. “One who chooses me will have to risk all he has” is written on the lead casket Morocco thinks that most precious Portia’s picture cannot be found in silver and lead caskets because they are too cheap metals to contain her picture. So he chooses golden casket. When opens the golden casket, he finds a skull. He accepts his failure and leaves the place at once. 5. Write a short note on Shylock Shylock is a Jewish money lender in Venice. Antonio, the rich Christian merchant insults him by calling him a dog ,spitting on his robes and causing Shylock’s money lending business heavy loss by lending money to others without charging interest. Antonio turned Shylock’s friends into enemies and insulted him in public places. So Shylock is waiting for a chance to take revenge on Antonio. 6. Why does Bassanio go to Shylock? Bassanio wants to go to Belmont top woo Portia but he needs money. When he went to Antonio for a loan, Antonio did not have cash at hand. He had invested all his money on his ships. So he suggested Bassanio to take loan from any money lender in Venice in his name (Antonio). Bassanio asked Shylock for 3000 ducats for three months. But Shylock said that he had to get a bond signed by Antonio. He said that he would not charge interest on the amount but he would take a pound of flesh from Antonio’s body if he fails to pay back on time. Antonio is very sure about his returns and so he signs the fatal bond. 6. Write about Prince of Arragon. He is suitor from France. He comes to woo Portia. He reads the inscription on the caskets. “One who chooses me will get what many men desire” is written on the golden casket. He says that he doesn’t like to be one among many. Crowd has no sense. Commons are like martlet birds that build their nests foolishly on the outer wall of the house, open to all dangers. So he chooses silver casket and gets a fool’s head. He says, at the end, that he had come with one fool’s head and now goes back with two. 7. Why does Bassanio choose the lead casket? Bassanio when reaches Belmont, Portia asks him to wait for few days so that she could teach him how to choose. But Bassanio prefers to choose his casket without delay. He reads the inscriptions and thinks for a while before making his choice. He says that gold is misleading because it is the food of Midas. He says that silver coins divided brothers. So silver is misleading one. The inscription on the lead casket is threatening one. But that which threatens is trust worthy. So he chooses lead casket and gets Portia’s picture. Thus he wins Portia. He knew the old proverb “Appearances are deceptive”. So he is not carried away by the outer beauty of the caskets. 8. Narrate in brief the episode of Jessica and Lorenzo. Jessica is the only daughter of Shylock. He was always after money. He never cared for his only daughter. He took more care of money than his daughter. Jessica says that as far as her blood relationship is concerned, she is daughter to Shylock but not to his manners. She is ashamed of being his daughter. She has planned to elope with Lorenzo, a Christian. She would dress up like a page [a servant] and carry away her father’s money and jewels. She had sent a letter to Lorenzo with her servant Launcelot. She ran away with Lorenzo along with 2000 ducats, precious stones and jewels. Both of them ran away to Genoa where she spent 80 ducats a day. She bought a monkey by giving away her father’s ring. Shylock’s friend Tubal reports it to Shylock. Shylock wandered in the streets of Venice saying” My ducats, my daughter, my ducats”. He even wished to see his daughter dead lying in coffin with all his money lying by her side. It means that he wants his money back but not his daughter. He calls her a thief and asks the duke to find her and punish her. He doesn’t have fatherly affection for his own daughter. 9. What happens with Antonio when Bassanio goes to Belmont? When Bassanio went to Belmont, Antonio suffered a heavy loss. His ships were drowned in the sea near Goodwin’s. Shylock, who was waiting for such time, forced the duke of Venice to imprison Antonio. Antonio requested the Geolor (Jailor) to save him from Shylock. The Geolor pleaded Shylock to be merciful but Shylock declared that he would have his bond. So Antonio wrote a letter to Bassanio saying that he would like to see Bassanio before he dies and Shylock was growing more and more revengeful. It was impossible for him to survive in that case. Lorenzo and Selerio bring that letter to Belmont and hand over to Bassanio. Portia understands the bond between the two friends and tells Bassanio two take 6000 ducats and go to Venice to save Antonio. Portia did not want Antonio to suffer because of the fault of Bassanio. 10. What did Portia plan to do to save Antonio from cruel Shylock? Portia tells Lorenzo and Jessica to look after her house .She told them that she would spend her days in a monastery with Nerissa until her husband returns.

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