Spotlight 10 Merchant STORY key
12/3/08
12:15 PM
Page 204
Merchant of Venice Key While Reading 2 1 arrived 2 wearing 3 lawyer 4 angry
5 6 7 8
ring surprised silly wives
After Reading 3 (Suggested Answers) ñ Yes, because they confused their husbands but they didn’t really do any harm. / No, because the husbands felt foolish and embarrassed, and the trick with the rings put them in a very difficult position. ñ The story ends happily for almost everyone, but Shylock is not happy that his plan for revenge has failed. ñ It teaches us a number of lessons. Appearance and reality can be two different things: The three boxes show that things are not always as they appear on the outside. Money is less important than friendship and love: Shylock, whose god is money, is the most unhappy character in the play. Friendship and love are worth sacrificing oneself for: Bassanio shows that he is willing to give and risk all for Portia when he opens the lead box. The qualities of mercy and justice receive their just rewards: Shylock is not prepared to show any mercy to Antonio, but his plan for revenge misfires.
ñ Yes, I think it would be an easy way to make money. / No, because I feel that it is unfair to take advantage of people who are desperate for money by charging them interest. ñ Yes, because lawyers can really help people get out of difficult situations. / No, because lawyers are only interested in their clients and not necessarily in seeing justice done. ñ Clear, methodical thinking; a quick mind; good at public speaking and persuading others. ñ Yes, because it’s difficult to convince people. Defending someone who is in the wrong may make you feel dishonest. / No, since lawyers are well prepared by their study and training. They don’t have to make final decisions; the judge and jury do this. ñ When they return home to Belmont after the trial, Bassanio and Gratiano confess to giving the rings to the two young men in court. Portia and Nerissa are very angry with their husbands for breaking their promise to wear the rings always. They decide not to tell their husbands the true identity of the young lawyers. Instead, they pretend to believe that Bassanio and Gratiano have given the rings to other women. Therefore, feeling their husbands are not to be trusted to keep their promise, they end up leaving them. ñ The Pound of Flesh
Project (Suggested Answer)
Final Comprehension Quiz 1 B 2 B
3 B 4 A
5 C 6 C
7 A 8 B
9 C 10 C
(Suggested Answers) ñ My favourite character is Antonio, because he is willing to take a big risk to help his friend Bassanio. ñ I dislike Shylock, since all he cares about is money. He is also a cruel man who is not prepared to show any mercy.
204
Shylock was a rich and highly successful moneylender. Nobody liked him very much, as he charged much higher rates of interest than other moneylenders, but he was successful because you could always borrow as much as you wanted immediately. He lived all alone in the heart of London’s banking area. Every morning, dressed in expensive suits and silk ties, he walked to his office round the corner from his flat. Only very desperate people came to Fairway Financial Services, and the more desperate they were, the more interest Shylock charged them. One day a thin man dressed in shabby jeans came into his office.