Merchent of Venice Questions

Drama: Merchant of Venice Shakespeare

SET I

Question 1(a)

Directions: Each of the questions below is followed by four responses. Choose the correct answer or response that best fits the given question and write it in your answer sheet [1x5]

1. This young person is characterized by high spirits, a sense of humour, and speeches full of "an infinite deal of nothing":

A.    Salario.    

B.     Launcelot

C.     Bassanio. 

D.    Gratiano.

2. Antonio has inspired such animosity in Shylock because Antonio

 A. has brought down Venetian interest rates.
 B. lends out money at a much lower percentage.
 C. has encouraged the Duke to order synagogues closed.
 D. supports anti-Semitic societies and laws against Jews.

3. What is Portia’s reason for feeling “aweary of this great world”?

A.    Portia’s abundance of wealth makes her blind to little happiness.

B.     Portia is apart from Bassanio, and she misses him.

C.     Portia has no freedom to choose her husband.

D.    Portia does not know who to choose as her husband.

4.   Launcelot Gobbo would best be described as….

A.    a professional jester

B.     an idle aristocrat.

C.     an ignorant buffoon.

D.    a self-important idiot.

5. Which of the following in the play is NOT a classical allusion?

A.    Vailing

B.     Nestor               

C.    Janus       

D.    Thisbe

Why, I were best to cut my left hand off………..

6. Bassanio speaks the above line because:

A.    he had lost the ring that Portia had given him

B.     Portia is likely to ask about the ring

C.    He can’t think of any excuse for not having the ring on his finger

D.    Gratiano told Nerissa about the rings

Question 1 b. (4x5= 20 marks)

Read the following questions carefully and answer them.

                                           I.            Many critics feel that the images of the sea in Act I, Scene 1, strike the keynote of the play, that they suggest the bond story as the central theme. Show the connection between the images of sea and the bond story. 

Ans:  Sea as the agreement between shylock and Antonio, ship as the commitment between Antonio and Bassanio, destroying of the ship is the failure of repaying the wages and sinking of the goods is the extravagant use of wealth by Bassanio.

                                          II.            The famous eighteenth-century writer Samuel Johnson refers in one of his essays to the "improbability" of The Merchant of Venice. What qualities of the play are the most impractical? (5)

Ans: 1. Casket Riddle

2. Pound of flesh

3. Disguise

4. Coming back of the ship

                                       III.            From references in the play, quotes, allusions, etc., show the contrast between Venice and Belmont as a setting for this play. (5)

Ans:  Venice

  It is a place where man dominates over everything. Venice is filled with merchants and it is a business hub. People living here are always gossiping or are involved in gossip. This place is filled with vengeance and money lending business can be found here.

Belmont

This place is an ideal place where women take the lead. Unlike Venice which is filled with confusion, Belmont is a calm place where men and women are in love with each other and is very devoted. This place is filled with romance.

                                        IV.            What superior values does mercy have over justice? Explain in context to the trial scene. (5)

SET II

Question 2 (25 marks)

Read the following questions carefully. Copy the number of the questions onto your answer sheets and answer them accordingly.

1.      What are the hypocrisies of the Christian society emphasized in the play? Give at least two examples.(10)

2.      Compare the argument about usury (I.iii), the talk about friendship (III.ii), and the plea for mercy (IV.i) from the standpoint of dramatic intensity. Which one of these subjects, in your view, is the most important issue in this play? (15)

Section: D   Merchant of Venice

DRAMA                   

  SET1                                                                                      [25]

Q. Choose the correct option and write it on your answer sheet.       [1X5]                                      

1: What complaint does launcelot make regarding Jessica’s conversion to Christianity?

A: He says the Catholic church would be unable to handle so many conversions.   

B: He says there will be one left to loan money

C:   He says that bacon will be too expensive       

D:  He says the garment industry would suffer

2:  "All things that are’

   Are with more spirit chased than enjoyed" Who said this?

A: Salerio               B: Solanio

C: Gratiano             D: Lorenzo

3: "In faith I gave it to the judge's clerk

would he were gelt that had it, for

my part..........."

    This is an example of

                         A: Metaphor                B:  Alliteration

                        C: Dramatic Irony        D:  Consonace

 4: Which of the following is NOT addressed in Act IV, Scene 1 of The      Merchant of Venice?

A: Power relations in Venice.

B: Superiority of Christians over others.

C:  showing mercy

D The conflict in Bassanio and Antonio’s friendship.

5:  What is Portia’s reason for feeling “aweary of this great world”?

A:Portia’s abundance of wealth makes her blind to little happiness.

B:Portia is apart from Bassanio, and she misses him.

C:Portia has no freedom to choose her husband.

D:Portia does not know who to choose as her husband.

Q.2       Answer the following questions                                        [5X4]                                                                                        

1:  Highlight three differences between Belmont and Venice. Where would you prefer to live? Give one reason.                                                           [5]

2:  Bassanio  "There is no vice so simple but assumes

       Some mark of virtue in his outward part"

 In this extract Bassanio debates upon outward appearances. Give three examples to prove that all vices have some mark of virtue.               [5]

3:  Shylock  " Nay take my life and all; pardon not that :

                       You take my house when you do take the prop

                       That doth sustain my house: you take my life

                       When you do take the means whereby I live."

            A:  Where did he say this?                                                              [1]                                                                                           

            B:  Who and how have they taken his life?                                     [4]

4: What are the qualities of mercy according to Portia? Did she show mercy to Shylock? Why or why not                                                                                                                                            [3+2]

Q.3    Set 11                                                                                          [25]

1: The Merchant of Venice has multiple plots. Explain how these are interrelated in making the play into a success.                                      [15]                        

2: Discuss two similarities and three differences in the portrayal of Portia and Jessica in the Merchant of Venice.                                                         [10]                                                                           

Section D: Drama

Direction: From the two sets of questions under this genre, choose ONE SET and write your responses in your answer sheet.

Set I

Question 1a.                                                                                        (1x5)

Direction: Each question below is followed by four responses. Choose the correct answer or response that best fits the given question and write it in your answer sheet.

1. What is Antonio concerned about at the beginning of the play?

 (a) A loan he just took out.

 (b) His merchandise.

(c) His mother.

            (d) His melancholy.

2. Why does Portia tell her lady in waiting she is tired of the world?

(a) She is shackled by her fortune.

(b) She cannot make her own choices.

 (c) Her father and friend died.

 (d) War and tyranny are frustrating her.

3. A pair of lively, talkative gossip who serve as a sort of chorus because they are keenly interested in the fortunes and affairs of Antonio and Bassiano are

(a) Tubal and Shylock.

(b) Nerissa and Portia.

(c) Old Gobbo and Launcelot.

(d) Salerio and Solanio.

4. How much money does Portia tell Bassanio to pay to “deface the bond”?

(a) 6,000 ducats

(b) 12,000 ducats

(c) 36,000 ducats

(d) 72,000 ducats

5. Shylock may best be described as all of the following EXCEPT

(a) Protective of his daughter.

(b) Passionate about money and Judaism.

(c) Vindictive and virulently and anti-Christian.

(d) Weak, vain, and consistently self-deluded.

 Question 1b.                                                                                       (20)

Direction: Read the following questions carefully. Copy the number of the questions onto your answer sheets and answer them briefly.

i.                    Discuss the relationship between Antonio and Bassanio. What does their relationship reveal about their characters? (5)

ii.                  According to Shylock, why does he hate Antonio? (5)

iii.                Explain the reasons for Jessica’s embarrassment? Do you think she is a good daughter? Give two reasons why or why not? (5)

iv.                What are the inscriptions and contents of the three caskets and what significance do they play on the course of the plot?(5)

Set II

 Question 2.                                                                                         (25)

Direction: Read the following questions carefully. Copy the number of the questions onto your answer sheets and answer them accordingly.

i.                    Do you think Morroco would have been a good match for Portia? Elucidate. (10)

ii.                  The theme “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is very significant in the play. Support your points with reference to the text. (15)

Questions

From the TWO SETS of questions of this genre, choose ONE SET and provide your responses as per instructions given.

Set I 

Question 1a           [1x5] For each of the following questions there are four responses: A, B, C & D. Choose the alphabet corresponding to your response and CIRCLE it neatly. DO NOT circle more than ONE response. If there are more than one choice circled, NO score will be awarded.

(i) The Prince of Morocco would change his dark complexion only if

A he can win Portia’s love.

B he can choose the gold casket.

C the liveries can be exchanged.

D the sun-god commands him to.

(ii) “If my gossip report be an honest woman of her word.”  The figure of speech used in the above line is a

A simile. 

B metaphor.

C hyperbole.

D personification.

(iii) Shylock narrates the biblical story of Laban and Jacob to justify his  

A state of being a Jew.

B reasons for being a miser.

C purpose of lending money.

D right to charge interest on his money.

(iv) Shylock: …But yet I’ll go in hate, to feed upon the Prodigal Christian…(Act 2, Scene 5). The closest synonym of ‘prodigal’ is

A proud. 

B wasteful.

C plentiful.

D pretentious.  

(v) The trial scene in Act 4 Scene 1 depicts the play’s

            A climax.

B resolution.

C exposition.

D rising action.

Question 1b                                                                                                                                        [20]

Answer the following questions:

(i)                 Match the quotes from the play given in Column A with the ones closest in meaning given in Column B. The first one has been done for you.

                                                                                                                                                                                    (5)

	Column A		Column B
1	Some there be that shadows kiss, Such have but a shadow’s bliss.	A	Do not judge a book by its cover.
2	His reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in bushels of chaff: you shall seek all day ere you find them and when you have them, they are not worth the search.	B	A fool’s paradise is a wise man’s hell.
3	I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching.	C	Practice what you preach.
4	Because I will not jump with common spirits and rank me with the barbarous multitudes.	D	Arrogance isn’t thinking too high of yourself but thinking too little of others.
5	All things that are, are with more spirits chased than enjoy’d.	E	Catching my attention is easy, keeping my interest is harder.
6	All that glitters is not gold.	F	Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.

(ii)               What historical information can we infer from the play about the treatment of Jews by the society during that period?

                                                                                                                                                                                    (5)

(iii)             Comment on Portia’s attitude towards her suitor, the Prince of Morocco.

                                                                                                                                                                                    (5)

What is Balthazar’s motive in asking Bassanio for his ring given by Portia?

                                                                                                                                                          (5)

Set II

        Question 2                                                                                                                              [25]

Answer ALL the following questions:

(i)           Portia’s father left behind the ‘will’ that prevented her from choosing her life partner. Nerissa considers him ‘ever virtuous’. Substantiate with two reasons to argue if his decision was virtuous. 

                                                                                                                                                        (10)

(ii)         Would you recommend the play to your friends who have not read it? Justify your stand based on any of its two themes and language used in the text.

                                                                                                                                                        (15)