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TMOV Act 3 Scene 3,4,5
TMOV Act 3 Scene 3,4,5
FRANCIS SCHOOL
CLASS - X
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
ACT III SCENE III
PASSAGE 1
Ans. These lines are addressed to Antonio by Shylock. Shylock speaks these lines when
he meets Antonio in a street in Venice. Antonio is accompanied by the jailor.
ii. Explain the line: “Thou call’dst me dog before thou hadst a cause.”
Ans. Shylock has a grievance against Antonio. He tells us that Antonio called him a
dog even when he had no reason for this. Shylock had not done any harm to him. Even
then Antonio abused him.
Ans. This speech of Shylock reveals that he is very revengeful. Now that he has caught
Antonio ‘upon the hip’ he is going to be extremely cruel and merciless.
iv. How does Antonio react to Shylock’s speech when he finishes it?
Ans. When Shylock finishes his speech Antonio begs of him to let him speak. But
Shylock gives him no time to speak.
v. Explain the lines: “Thou naughty gaoler, that thou art so fond/ To come
abroad with him at his request.”
Ans. Shylock is angry with the jailor also. He admonishes him by calling him foolish
and good-for-nothing fellow. He wonders why the jailor, simply on the request of
Antonio, has brought him outside the jail.
PASSAGE 2
Ans. Antonio, Salanio and Salarino have just met Shylock in the street. Antonio has
tried to make a request to Shylock but the latter has been insisting on having his ‘bond’.
Now that Shylock has gone, Salerio says that Duke will never grant Shylock this
penalty. In reply to him Antonio speaks these words.
Ans. Antonio speaks these words in a street of Venice where he meets Shylock. The
jailor, on his request, has brought him out to talk to Shylock.
Ans. The worries and losses which Antonio has suffered recently have almost broken
his back. He has become so thin and weak that he can’t pay a pound of flesh as penalty.
He is totally hopeless and disgusted with life. He says that his only desire is to see
Bassanio before his death.
Ans. Antonio prays to God that Bassanio might come to see him ‘discharging his debt’,
i.e. dying for the sake of his dear friend. Then he does not care whether he lives or dies.
ii. Explain the lines: “I have toward heaven breathed a secret vow/ To live in
prayer and contemplation.”
Ans. This line means that Portia has taken a solemn vow to heaven that she will
live in prayer and meditation, with no other attendant except Nerissa, till the return of
her husband.
Ans. These lines reveal that Portia is a woman of quick decision and determined
action. Having decided that she will go to Venice to save the life of her husband’s friend,
she does not bother about her household even. She leaves the management of the
house to Lorenzo.
Ans. Monastery is a convent. Portia says that she will live in a convent and spend
her time in prayer and meditation till her husband returns.
Ans. Lorenzo happily agrees to obey Portia’s honoured commands and stay in
Belmont in the absence of Portia and Bassanio.
Ans. Portia instructs Balthazar to take her letter and go to Padua and deliver the
letter to her cousin Dr. Bellario. He should also bring to her the papers and robes that
Dr. Bellario would give him.
iii. Explain the lines: “What notes and garments he doth give thee/Bring them....”
Ans. These lines mean that whatever papers and robes Doctor Bellario would give
him, Balthazar should bring them to Portia.
iv. What opinion do you form of Portia from her speech?
Ans. From this speech we come to know that Portia is very intelligent and a
practical woman. She understands the urgency of the matter. That is why she asks
Balthazar to go as fast as he can and do the work assigned to him.
Ans. Balthazar assures Portia that he would go with all convenient speed and
perform the duty assigned to him.
1. i. Whom are these lines addressed to? What is the occasion for Jessica’s
speech?
The two are staying in Belmont in Portia’s house. Portia and Bassanio are
away to Venice. Lorenzo asks his wife to say how she likes Bassanio’s wife. To this
Jessica gives the reply in these lines.
Ans. According to Jessica, she likes Portia very much. She lacks words to express
her appreciation for Portia. We have known Portia’s charm and sweetness from the way
she treated people. This praise from Jessica to whom Portia must have been very
courteous and obliging further enriches the character of Portia.
iii. Explain the line: “He finds the joys of heaven here on earth.”
Ans. Jessica says that Bassanio who has the good fortune of getting such a noble
wife, should live a morally upright life, for she has got through her all the joys of heaven
on earth. Perhaps it is a hint that Bassanio’s life in the past has not been up to the
mark. He has been indulging in frivolities.
Ans. When Lorenzo humorously points out that just as Portia is a matchless wife,
he is also a matchless husband to Jessica. Jessica banteringly contradicts him and
pretends to be dissatisfied with this way. From her speech, we get a comic touch about
the non-serious domestic quarrel between newly-married man and wife.
Ans. Jessica gives her argument that if by not living uprightly Bassanio does not
appreciate this heaven on earth, then after death he will have no right to come to heaven
above. It means that if Bassanio does not merit the joys of heaven by leading a pure life
and make Portia happy then in heaven he should not expect any happiness.