| What is the final condition stipulated in Portia’s father’s will regarding the contest of thecaskets? What is the dramatic or narrative purpose of introducing such a condition? | If a suitor decides to play the lottery of chests and chooses the wrong one, not only does he lose a chance at Portia, he must never talk of marriage to another woman again. |
| What is Launcelot Gobbo’s apparent role in this play? How do we know? | Launcelot is the servant to Shylock, a wealthy Jewish merchant and money lender |
| What is Launcelot’s conflict at the beginning of this scene? What arguments does he offer foreither side of the issue? | He is hesitant whether or not he should run away from Shylock. He says he should run away, but part of him wants to stay because of loyalty. |
| Why does Launcelot at first pretend that Gobbo’s son is dead? | He wanted to see if his dad would recognize him or not, they haven’t seen each other in a while |
| Who is Jessica? What subplot is initiated by her presence in this brief scene? | Jessica is Shylock’s daughter and wants to marry Lorenzo to convert to Christianity. |
| Contrast Portia and Jessica in terms of love and marriage. | Portia and Jessica are both free to love whomever they want, but Portia can not marry freely, while Jessica can. |
| What details about Lorenzo and Jessica’s elopement do we learn in this scene? | Lorenzo will help Jessica escape and she will be his torchbearer. |
| Who is the “prodigal Christian,” and why does Shylock accept a dinner invitation that he haspreviously decline? | Bassanio is the prodigal christian and Shylock goes to the dinner because he knows they are going to flatter him because he lent them the money and out of hate. He will go to feed off of the “Prodigal Christian” aka Bassanio. |
| What is suggested by Shylock’s instructions to his daughter as he is leaving the house? | Shylock’s final instructions were for Jessica to lock up the house and stay inside. This helped push her because she hates her father and wants to disobey him whenever possible. |
| Shylock’s house, Venice: What does this scene contribute to the plot? | … |
| What aspects of love does the Prince of Morocco represent? What details does Shakespeare useto convey this? | The Prince of Morocco is very arrogant and is very self confident in choosing which casket has Portia’s picture in it. He is less well mannered and less attractive. Shakespeare uses the Prince’s wrong decision to convey his personality. |
| Why do Shylock and the Duke go to search for Bassanio’s ship? | They go to search for Lorenzo and Jessica |
| Shylock’s reaction to his daughter’s elopement is probably a comical scene for the Elizabethans.What stereotype does the reaction reinforce? | This is comical because it’s a stereotype to have Jews only concerned about money. And they would see a short, heavy man running around looking for his daughter and his money. |
| What ominous comments and predictions do Solanio and Salerio make about this developmentand how it will affect Antonio? | Solanio said that he heard about two ships crashing and it could be Antonio. It would effect antonio because if those were his ships, he wouldn’t have any money to pay his dues to shylock. |
| What are the 3 conditions to which all of Portia’s suitors must swear before they are allowed toparticipate in the casket challenge? | He can never marryhe must leave immediatlyhe can never speak of the casket ceremony |
| What is Arragon’s reasoning in rejecting the lead casket? | Arragon chooses the silver box, he finds a dead man and claims that he didn’t deserve this unlike the saying of the box “He will recieve what he deserves” |
| What is Arragon’s reasoning in rejecting the gold casket? | He rejects the gold casket because he thinks it would only appeal to those deceived into valuable appearances more than the actual value |
| Why does he choose the silver casket? | He chose it because it is the one which is labeled ‘Choose me and get what you deserve.’ Due to his huge ego and over-inflated opinions of himself, he probably thinks that he will get great things because of this |
| In what ways does Arragon deserve the picture of the fool? | He thinks he’ll get what he deserves and he deserves to be a fool for choosing the wrong casket. |
Merchant of Venice Act 2
July 30, 2019