Merchant of Venice Act2 Scence3
Extract I
Jessica:
I am sorry thou wilt leave my ………see me in talk
with thee.
11. Give reasons for Launcelot’s leaving
Jessica’s house.
Launcelot left Jessica’s house since her father
Shylock was a miserly Jew and is stay as his servant has half-famished
him. He felt that any further stay with him would make him like the Jew.
Besides, Bassanio has accepted him in his service and Launcelot feels that
Bassanio is a better master.
22. Give the meaning of:
Our house is hell, and thou, a merry devil,
Didst rob it of some taste of tediousness.
In the above lines, Jessica says that her house
is hell because of her father’s avarice. Launcelot with his jolly nature
and with his antics and nonsensical capering has relieved it of much
boredom and dullness.
33. How does Jessica show in
words and action that she liked Launcelot’s presence in her house?
Jessica shows in words and actions that she liked
Launcelot’s presence in the house. He calls him a merry devil and thanks him
for reducing the boredom and dullness in her house. She offers him a ducat too.
44. What errand does Jessica
give to Launcelot? What precautions does she ask him to take while doing the
errand?
Jessica gives to Launcelot the errand of
delivering a letter to Lorenzo at supper in Bassanio’s house that night. She
advises him to deliver the letter to Lorenzo secretly.
55. How does Jessica show herself as a
scheming but prudent young lady? In what way is her character different
from that of Portia?
Jessica shows herself as a scheming lady when
she plans to elope with a Christian boy, Lorenzo without the knowledge of her
father. She proves herself to be prudent when she instructs Launcelot to
deliver her letter to Lorenzo at Bassanio’s party secretly. Her character is
entirely different from that of Portia. While Portia obeys her deceased
father’s will to marry the one who wins the lottery of caskets, Jessica betrays
her father and religion to marry Lorenzo.
Extract II
Launcelot:
But, adieu: these foolish…….become a Christian,
and they loving wife!
1. How does Launcelot bid farewell to Jessica?
In this context, what are your feelings for Launcelot, Jessica and Shylock?
Launcelot bids farewell to Jessica calling her
‘most beautiful pagan’ and later ‘most sweet Jew’. He says that tears prevent
his tongue from uttering his feelings. We feel happy for Launcelot and Jessica.
Launcelot is leaving his miserly master and is undertaking
Bassanio’s service where he will be happier. Jessica too will soon escape
from the ‘hell’ and marry Lorenzo. We feel sorry for Shylock as he still
obstinate, miserly and with evil intentions. Further, he shall lose his
daughter as well as money.
2. Why does Jessica
regret being the daughter of Shylock? What is the ‘heinous sin’ referred to in
the extract? Is it really a sin? Give reasons to justify your answer.
Jessica regrets being the daughter of Shylock
due to his behaviour, his being a bad father to her and for making her home
‘hell’. Jessica describes her feeling of being ashamed for
being her father’s daughter as a heinous sin. It is not really a sin
because even if she is Shylock’s daughter by birth, she does not actually
detest her father but detests his miserliness and tyrannical nature.
3. Give the meaning of :
But though I am a daughter to his blood,
I am not to his manners.
The above lines mean that although I am his
daughter by birth, I don’t have his habits.
4. Which promise has
Lorenzo to keep? Describe the strife that Jessica is going to end.
Lorenzo has to keep the promise of eloping with
Jessica that night. Jessica will end the struggle between her desire to marry
Lorenzo and her duty to her father, Shylock.
5. Explain Jessica’s
relationship with her father which is shown in the scene.
Jessica is a lively young girl who rebels
against the oppression of her father and the joylessness of her life at
home. She calls her home ‘hell’. She cannot get along with her father.
She detests her father’s miserliness and tyrannical nature. She affirms that
though she is Shylock’s daughter by birth, she does not share his disposition.
Besides, she is influenced by the Venetians around her to form a different
attitude to life than her father’s. she is ready to leave her father and elope
with Lorenzo, a Christian.
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