Merchant of Venice Workbook Answers Act 2, Scene 5 – ICSE Class 9 & 10 English



Read the above passage and answer the following questions

Question 1.
What is the occasion for speaking of these words?
Answer:
When Lancelot speaks of the masque arranged by Lorenzo and others, Shylock warns his daughter before leaving the house to attend the feast to be given by Bassanio. Shylock asks his daughter Jessica to lock all the doors of his house. He urges her not to climb upto the windows and look out into the street when she hears the drum.

Question 2.
What is the meaning of the phrase ‘wry-necked fife’? Explain meaning of third line in the passage.
Answer:
The phrase “wry-necked fife” means a wry-necked musician for he always looks away from his instrument. Shylock warns Jessica not to climb upto the windows to see what is going on in the street when she hears to sound of the drum and the hatefull noise of the fife, which is a musical instrument having a bent mouth.

Question 3.
What light does the above passage throw on the character of Shylock?
Answer:
The above mentioned passage shows that Shylock is a strictly religious Jew. He is shocked to hear that there will be masques in the street. He objects to such profane shows. Moreover, he does not want his young daughter to watch such shows of dance and merriment. He does not want his strictly religious house to be profaned with any sound of loose enjoyment.

Question 4.
Explain the significance of the line “To gaze on Christian fools with varnished faces”.
Answer:
The above mentioned lines reveal Shylock’s hatred for Christians. The phrase ‘Christian fools’ shows Shylock’s contempt and hatred for the people who persecute his race, and for whose religion he has no respect.

Question 5.
Is Shylock interested in attending the feast to be given by Bassanio?
Answer:
Shylock has no desire to go out in order to attend any feast. He even swears by Jacob’s staff, which is sacred for the Jews, that he has no wish to go to the feast. However, he decides to go probably to fees on the prodigal Christian.

Question 6.
With whom Shylock is engaged in conversation. What place is this? Who else is present there?
Answer:
Shylock and Jessica are engaged in coversation. The place is Shylock’s residence. Launcelot too was present there. He had just left.

Question 7.
A man is described as ‘kind enough’. Who is he? Does the speaker mention some negative quality of the person concerned?
Answer:
The person referred to as ‘kind enough’ is Launcelot, who has been a servant in the house. He is leaving Shylock to join Bassanio’s service. Shylock admits that Launcelot is a nice sympathetic fellow. But he is a glutton. He eats too much. This for Shylock is a disqualification. Added to this is Launcelot’s laziness. He is very slow in doing work.

Question 8
What is the point of comparison between Launcelot and a wild cat?
Answer:
Launcelot sleeps too much. He is thus like a wild cat which is an animal of nocturnal habits as it sleeps by the day and prowls by the night.

Question 9.
“drones hive not with me,”
What does Shylock want to say here? Refer to his three comparisons.
Answer:
Shylock declares that he cannot put up with idle and lazy persons like Launcelot. The male bee is called the drone. It never searches for honey but depends upon the female bee to do all the work.
Launcelot is a drone. Shylock cannot give shelter to a person like him. Such is this man’s laziness * that it stirs his master’s fancy. Shylock compares him to three different animals in two lines-wild cat, snail, drone.

Question 10.
Shylock is glad to part with the person? What are the reasons?
Answer:
Shylock is glad to get rid of a slow and lazy person like Launcelot. As a servant he is a mere liability. Shylock is glad that Launcelot is leaving him to take service under Bassanio. This servant will disable his new master’s means which he has just raised by borrowing money. Shylock hates all Christians. It gives him great pleasure if Bassanio’s money is wasted in this manner, and he is unable to repay his loan.

Question 11.
Shylock refers to a proverb, “fast bind, fast find,” How do you apply it to this situation?
Answer:
Shylock advises his daughter to shut all the doors after he is gone. He refers to the proverb which says that what you lock up securely will be found safe when you return. This means that good watch prevents misfortune.
These words of Shylock are full of dramatic irony. He quotes the correct proverb. He seems to be very cautious about things. But he does not know that he will find his daughter and his money gone when he returns. A shock awaits him.