Std.

: 9 & 10

LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

DRAMA- MERCHANT OF VENICE

ACT 3 Scene 1

I. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Salanio:
I would she were as lying a gossip in that as ever knapped ginger or made her neighbours
believe she wept for the death of a third husband. But it is true, without any slips of prolixity
or crossing the plain highway of talk, that the good Antonio, the honest Antonio ----- oh, that I
had a title good enough to keep his name company!

1. Whom does ‘she’ refer to in the first line of the extract? What is said about her in the extract?
‘She’ refers to Old Mother Rumour. Salanio wishes that she was lying and the gossip report
about Antonio’s ships being wrecked is false.

2. What was said earlier about the place where a ship of Antonio was wrecked? Where did the news
about the wreckage spread?
Antonio’s ship was wrecked on the narrow seas or the Goodwins. It was considered to be a
very dangerous flat and fatal stretch, where the carcasses of many a tall ship lie buried. The
news of the wreckage spread on the Rialto.

3. Give the meaning of: “without any slips of prolixity or crossing the plain highway of talk.”
It means talking straight to the point without lapsing into tedious speeches by using long and
boring phrases or deviating from straightforward speech.

4. What does Salanio comment on Shylock who enters just then?

5. What feelings for Antonio are expressed by Salarino and Salanio in this extract?
They consider him to be good and honest. Salanio thinks that there is no title worthy enough to
keep his name company. They hoped that losing his ships would prove to be the end of his
losses.

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II. Salarino:
That’s certain, I, for my part, knew the tailor that made the wings she flew withal.
Salanio:
And Shylock, for his own part, knew the bird was fledged, and then it is the complexion of
them all to leave the dam.

1. Whose ‘flight’ is being spoken of? Where has the person flown and with whom?
Jessica’s ‘flight’ is being spoken of. The person has flown to Genoa with Lorenzo.

2. What bad news, besides the flight of the bird, is given just before the arrival of Shylock?
Antonio’s ship, laden with rich cargo, has been wrecked at the Goodwins on the English
Channel.

3. Give the meaning of: “the bird was fledged; and then it is the complexion of them all to leave
the dam.”
Literally it means that the bird was ready to fly, having grown feathers on its wings. It is in
the nature of the birds to leave their mothers once they are ready to fly.
It was Shylock’s over-bearing and over-protective nature that had forced Jessica to seek
freedom. Her love for Lorenzo and the desire to marry him further strengthened her
resolve to break free from Shylock.

4. What steps has Shylock taken to get back the flown bird?
He has deputed Tubal to go to Genoa in order to investigate her disappearance and to get
her back with the jewels.

5. How does Salarino compare the character of the flown bird and of Shylock after the extract?
Salarino says that there is more difference between Shylock’s flesh and Jessica’s than
between jet and ivory. He also says that there is more difference between Shylock’s blood
and Jessica’s than there is between red wine and Rhenish. Thus, he believes that they are
very different from each other.

III. Shylock:
There I have another bad match! --- a bankrupt, a prodigal who dare scarce show his head on
the Rialto, a beggar that was used to come so smug upon the mart. Let him look to his bond.
He was wont to call me usurer; let him look to his bond.
Salarino:
Why, I am sure, if he forfeit thou wilt not take his flesh.
What’s that good for?

1. What is meant by a ‘bankrupt’ as well as a ‘prodigal’? Why has the man gone bankrupt?
A person declared by law as unable to pay his debt is referred to as ‘bankrupt’. A ‘prodigal’ is
a spendthrift or waster. The man has gone bankrupt because his ship laden with rich cargo has
been wrecked.

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 2. What is known as Rialto? Why was the man said to go “so smug upon the mart”?
Rialto is the Venetian stock-market or a centre of business or trade. He was said to go “so
smug upon the mart” because he was very self-satisfied as he was a Christian and wealthy and
respected.

3. Give some incidents to show that the man referred to in the extract used to insult Shylock?
Antonio had called Shylock a misbeliever, cut-throat dog, usurer. He had spat upon his Jewish
gaberdine and kicked him as one would to a stranger cur.

4. How was Shylock humiliated by Antonio in Venice?

5. Jewish sufferings were at their height during the time this play was written. How does Shylock make
the readers aware of and sensitive to the plight of the Jews through his speech?
After listing all the personal attacks that he’s dealt with on account of being a Jew, Shylock
reasons that a Jew should first and foremost be regarded as a human being. The speech is full
of rhetorical questions wherein he asks if a Jew does not have eyes, hands, organs, dimensions,
senses, affections, passions? Is he not fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons,
subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same
summer and winter as a Christian? He further questions Salarino by asking will a Jew not
bleed if he is pricked, will he not laugh if he is tickled, will he not die if he is poisoned and will
he not revenge, if he is wronged. He says that if a Jew can resemble a Christian in everything
else, he will follow the Christian example of taking revenge when wronged.

IV. Shylock:
Why thou, loss upon loss! The thief gone with so much, and so much to find the thief--- and no
satisfaction, no revenge. Nor no ill luck stirring but what lights o’ my shoulders, no sighs buto’
my breathing, no tears but o’ my shedding.

1. Who is the thief referred to in the extract? What had the thief stolen? What loss has Shylock suffered
due to the theft?
The thief is Jessica. The thief had stolen a diamond worth two thousand ducats in Frankfort.
She had also stolen two thousand ducats and other precious stones and jewels. Shylock is
stunned and grief-stricken to be at the receiving end of such a betrayal by his own daughter.
He is bemoaning the loss of so much money and jewels as well as the loss that he is
experiencing now in search of Jessica. He says that he finds no satisfaction, no revenge. All he
can feel is that only he is the one experiencing ill luck, or sighing and shedding tears.

2. Who is Tubal? Why did he go to Genoa? What news did he bring about the thief?

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 Tubal is a Jewish merchant. He is Shylock’s friend. He went to Genoa in search of Jessica. He
said that he visited all the places where he had heard of her but found her nowhere. He
informed Shylock that Jessica had spent fourscore ducats in Genoa in a single sitting. He also
told her that Jessica had traded the turquoise ring that Shylock’s wife had gifted him in return
for a monkey.

3. Why does he say that Antonio is undone? What is Shylock’s reaction on hearing about his
misfortune?
Tubal says that Antonio is undone because he brings the news that Antonio’s argosy coming
from Tripolis has been wrecked. He, thus, has no means to return Shylock’s loan of three
thousand ducats. Shylock is ecstatic and thanks God on hearing about Antonio’s misfortune.
He also thanks Tubal for giving him the good news. Tubal also informs Shylock that he met
several of Antonio’s creditors in his company in Venice who swore that Antonio cannot choose
but break (go bankrupt). Shylock confesses that he is glad to hear that. He promises to plague
and torture Antonio.

4. Give the meanings of: a. a wilderness of monkeys. b. I can make what merchandise I will
Wilderness of monkeys means a regiment of monkeys.
I can make what merchandise I will refers to the fact that if Antonio does not hinder Shylock
then Shylock can make as much profit as he wishes to.

5. In what way, by the end of the scene, does Shylock convince the audience that his attack on Antonio
is without any mercy?
Shylock articulates his desire to have nothing but the heart of Antonio. He urges Tubal to not
waste any time and to fee him an officer and to speak to him about the case a fortnight in
advance. He loathes Antonio for all the insults and losses that he has suffered at his hand and
has, thus, made up his mind to exact revenge.

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