Merchant of Venice Workbook Answers Act 1, Scene 2 – ICSE Class 10 & 9 English
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Passage – 1 (Act I Sc.II, Lines 1-10)
Paraphrase :
PORTIA : Honestly, Nerissa, my little body is weary of this great world.
NERISSA : You would be, sweet madam, if your miseries were as abundantas your good fortunes are; and yet, for all I see, they that are sick from over-eating are as sick as those that starve with nothing. It’s not an insignificant happiness, therefore, to be well situated in regard to financial resources: having more than enough comes at some time or other to old men, but having a sufficient income lasts longer.
PORTIA : Good sentences, and well said.
NERISSA : They would be better sentences, if you followed them well.
Word Meaning With Annotation
By my troth : A mild form of oath which was a common figure of speech in Elizabethan times, surfeit : to be supplied with anything to excess. It is no mean happiness, therefore, to be seated in the mean : “moderate, of a sufficient amount”. So Nerissa says, “It is no small happiness to be situated in a position mid-way between poverty and riches.” superfluity : the man who lives wastefully through excess of luxuries. This is personification, comes sooner by : obtains more quickly, competency : the man who possesses just sufficient for a reasonably comfortable life, good sentences : fine opinions; excelllent sentiments.
Read the above passage and answer the following questions
Question 1.
Who is Nerissa? What is her relationship with Portia? From where are Portia and Nerissa speaking? What is the special significance of that place?
Answer:
Nerissa is a waiting woman to Portia. Her relationship with Portia is not that of a mistress and a servant but that of two friends who are free and frank in their speeches.
Portia and Nerissa persons are speaking from Belmont, the city where lives Portia, the rich, young lady. The significance of this place is that many suitors are coming here in the hope of marrying this beautiful lady. They have to win the game of lottery by choosing the right casket in order to qualify for winning the lady’s hand.
Question 2.
How does Nerissa explain why Portia’s body is “aweary of this great world? Where does the happiness lie according to Nerissa?”
Answer:
According to Nerissa, Portia is aweary of this world inspite of her good fortunes. She draws the conclusion that those who have too much of everything are as sick of the world as those who have nothing. It is no small happiness therefore to occupy a middle position.
Question 3.
Give the meaning of
(a) they are as sick that surfeit with too much as they that starve with nothing:
(b) superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer.
Answer:
(a) People are unhappy if they have too much of everything. Similarly, those who suffer the want of things and thus starve, are unhappy.
(b) Those who have too much grow old sooner but those who have neither too much nor too little have a longer life.
Question 4.
Against the background of what is said after this extract briefly explain why Portia is sad.
Answer:
Portia is worried because she has to marry according to the will left by her father. He has devised a lottery of casket. Her marriage depends upon her suitor’s choosing the right casket.
Portia is not free to choose her husband. She cannot choose the person she likes, nor is she free to reject him whom she dislikes. The will of her dead father imposes a restraint upon her free choice of a husband. It is this that makes her aweary of this great world.
Question 5.
What is the difference between Antonio’s weariness and that of Portia?
Answer:
Antonio is weary without knowing the cause of his weariness. Perhaps his heart is sad because it senses a crisis in future. He has perhaps premonition of his suffering in future. The signingt>f the bond is going to land him in the greatest trouble of his life. His life is going to be in peril.
Portia’s weariness is understandable. She herself can identify the reason. It is the time when she is going to decide the question of her marriage. Her father is dead but she has to carry out his instructions while selecting a husband. She feels insecure because she is not allowed to exercise her free choice.
Question 6.
Identify two lines of witty dialogue between Portia and Nerissa?
Answer:
There is an exchange of witty dialogue between Portia and Nerissa. When Nerissa comments on Portia’s weariness that is bom of excessively prosperous condition, Portia remarks that she has said some smart words. These are good maxims spoken impressively. Here Nerissa retorts that the value of these words would depend upon the condition whether these are acted upon or not.
Passage – 2 (Act I, Sc.II, Lines 95-105)
Paraphrase :
NERISSA : You don’t need to be afraid, lady, of having any of these lords; they have told me their intentions, which is indeed to go back to their homes, and to trouble you with no more suits, unless you may be won by some other way than your father’s command, that getting you depends on the chests.
PORTIA : If I live to be as old as Sibylla the witch, I’ll die as pure as Diana the goddess of purity, unless I am obtained by the letter of my father’s will. I am glad this batch of would-be husbands are so reasonable; because there isn’t one of them that I am not foolishly in love with his very absence, and I pray God grant them a fair departure.
Word Meaning With Annotation
Some other sort : by some different method, your father’s imposition : the conditions imposed by your father. Sibylla : this refers to Deiphobe, the traditional old woman of the ancient Romans. Apollo promised her that she would live as many years as there were grains in a handful of sand which she carried, as chaste as Diana : the classical goddess Diana is always used as typical of chastity. She was the goddess of hunting, and also of the moon, parcel of wooers : crowd of suitors, dote on : long for.
Read the above passage and answer the following questions
Question 1.
Explain the idea expressed in the first speech of the above dialogue?
Answer:
In the first speech Nerissa assures Portia that she need not have any fear of being compelled to marry anyone of the suitors who had lately come to Belmont. She informs her that they have all decided to return to their respective countries.
Question 2.
Illuminate the meaning of the phrase “Your father’s imposition depending on the caskets”.
Answer:
Nerissa means that the suitors of Portia do not find the conditions imposed by the will of her father to their liking. They are too hard for them. These conditions are that in the event of a suitor failing to choose the right casket he should take his departure and never marry afterwards.
Question 3.
What light does Portia’s reply throw on her character?
Answer:
Portia’s reply proves that she is deeply attached to her father. She respects his will and desires to be married only according to his will. She is determined not to violate her father’s will even if she has to pay a price by remaining unmarried. Another facet of Portia’s character that is revealed to us is her kindness. She bears no malice towards her suitors and prays to God to grant all of them a safe departure.
Question 4.
Explain the meaning of the term ‘Sibylla’?
Answer:
‘Sibylla’ is the name given by Romans and Greeks to a prophetess inspired by some deity usually the Sun-God Apollo. She had a very long life. The God, Apollo granted her as many years of life as she could hold grains of sand in her hand.
Question 5.
Explain the meaning of the term ‘Diana’?
Answer:
‘Diana’ is the Goddess of hunting. She is also regarded as a symbol of virginity because she never fell in love and never married.
Question 6.
Explain the meaning of the first two lines of Portia’s speech in above passage?
Answer:
Portia says that even if she is to live for centuries like Sibylla she would not marry except in accordance with her father’s will. She asserts that she would not mind remaining unmarried and untouched by a man like Diana, the virgin. Goddess of hunting, unless a man is able to win her by passing the test laid by her father.
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