Prasanna

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The Merchant of Venice Act 3 Scene 3 Summary Workbook Answers

The Merchant of Venice Act 3 Scene 3 Summary

The audience is taken back to Venice. We come to know about Antonio’s miserable state, He has been allowed to leave jail for a short time. Shylock tells the jailor to guard Antonio closely. Antonio’s mercy pleas have been completely ignored by Shylock. The Jew is very keen to avenge all the wrongs done to him.

He repeatedly says, ‘I’ll have my bond!’ He says that earlier Antonio had called him a dog without reason. Since he is considered a dog, Antonio will now have to face his fangs. Shylock complains that Antonio is shown favoritism, as he is allowed to come out of the jail.

He is not ready to listen to Christian pleaders. Antonio decides not to plead further. Solanio hopes for some mercy from the Duke. But the duke is also duty bound to follow the strict rules of Venice. Venice depends on the prosperity from the International trade which, in turn, depends on impartial treatment towards all. If the laws are violated and justice is denied, Venice will lose its credibility. It will surely affect its trade.

Antonio says that the worries and griefs of the past few days have made him lose weight that he doubts whether there will be enough flesh to be cut off the next day. He only prays that Bassanio come to see him discharge his debt; he wishes for nothing else.

The Merchant of Venice Act 3 Scene 3 Summary Word Meanings

1. fangs – teeth
2. naughty – good for nothing
3. abroad – outside the prison
4. dull – eyed – stupid
5. relent – show pity
6. intercessors – pleaders
7. impenetrable cur – hard hearted dog
8. kept with – lived among
9. bootless – futile
10. delivers – rescued
11. forfeiture to hold – to be enforced
12. commodity – rights
13. strangers – foreigners
14. impeach – questioned or accused
15. bated – affected
16. bloody – blood thirsty.

The Merchant of Venice Act 3 Scene 3 Summary Questions and Answers

1. Shylock:
I’ll have my bond; speak not against my bond :
I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond.
Thou call’dst me dog before thou hadst a cause,
But, since I am a dog, beware my fangs :
The duke shall grant me justice. I do wonder,
Thou naughty gaoler, that thou art so fond
To come abroad with him at his request.

Antinio : I pray thee, hear me speak.
Shylock : I’ll have my bond; I will not hear thee speak :
I’ll have my bond, and therefore speak no more.
I’ll not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool,
To shake the head, relent, and sigh, and yield
To Christian intercessors. Follow not;
I’ll have no speaking; I will have my bond.

Question 1.
To whom are these words spoken? When? Who else is with the characters? Where are they?
Answer:
These words are being spoken to Antonio, when he requests Shylock to listen to him. Solanio and the jailor are with them. They are in a street in Venice.

Question 2.
In what state of mind is Shylock, now? What has he accused the jailer of, a little while earlier?
Answer:
Shylock is excited and very keen to take his revenge against Antonio. He keeps on repeating, ‘I’ll have the bond’. He has accused the jailor of showing partiality towards Antonio by allowing him to come out of the jail.

Question 3.
Explain ‘I’ll not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool, to shake the head, relent, and sigh, and yield to Christian intercessors’. Earlier he tells the listener to be beware of his fangs. Why?
Answer:
The line means that Shylock will not become a soft and stupid fool to shake his head and relent to forgive Christian pleaders. Earlier he says that Antonio had called him a dog and now he must suffer the dog’s bite.

Question 4.
Why and when does the listener say, ‘Let him alone’?
Answer:
When Solanio comments that the Jew is the most heartless dog, Antonio says that there is no use pleading in front of the blood-thirsty Shylock.

Question 5.
Why is Shylock after his life, according to the speaker?
Answer:
According to .Antonio, Shylock is after his life as he had rescued many people from the Jew’s clutches by helping with his money. So Shylock has been deprived of his forfeiture many a time: therefore, the Jew hates him and he is after his life to take revenge.

Question 6.
Why can’t the Duke save the speaker?
Answer:
The Duke can’t save the speaker, as he has to abide by the strict laws of Venice. If he goes against justice, Venice will lose its credibility among foreign traders and this will affect its trade and prosperity.

Question 7.
How does the scene end? Bring out the significance of the scene.
Answer:
The scene ends on a sad note with Antonio losing all hope for his life. His last wish is to meet Bassanio, his best friend. This is the preparation for the trial scene that follows. The audience is prepared for Antonio’s tragedy. This also gives a time gap for Bassanio to reach. The scene emphasizes the theme of friendship in which Antonio without any complaint submits to his fate.

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The Merchant of Venice Act 2 Scene 4 Summary Workbook Answers

The Merchant of Venice Act 2 Scene 4 Summary

The subplot further develops in this scene. We see how Jessica and Lorenzo plans to elope. Bassanio’s friends are making arrangements for a celebration, a masquerade dinner party. Lorenzo suggests that they should ‘slink away1 by supper time and meet at his residence to disguise themselves.

They also have to arrange for the torch bearers for the masque. While they are talking, Launcelot enters and hands over Jessica’s letter to Lorenzo. Launcelot is in a hurry as Bassanio had told him to give the invitation for dinner to Shylock. Lorenzo gives the clown some money and sends a message to Jessica with him.

Lorenzo shares his secret elopement plans with Gratiano. Jessica has informed him that she’ll leave her father’s house that night, dressed as a page. She’ll carry some money and jewels from the house. Lorenzo decides that he’ll be their torch bearer. Gratiano is delighted to hear about the plan and offers to help them in any manner he can.

The Merchant of Venice Act 2 Scene 4 Summary Word Meanings

1. slink away – slip away
2. disguise – dress as someone or something else to hide own identity
3. preparation – arrangement
4. spoke us yet – provided us with
5. vile – disgusting
6. quaintly order’d – done with style
7. furnish us – be ready
8. seem to signify – inform you
9. know the hand – recognize the handwriting
10. by your leave – with your permission
11. bid – invite
12. masque – a procession in which the participants wear masks
13. some hour hence – in an hour
14. furnished – supplied
15. page’s suit – uniform of a boy servant to a person of high rank
16. foot – path
17. cross her foot – come in her way
18. issue – offspring
19. faithless – one who doesn’t believe in Christianity
20. peruse – study.

The Merchant of Venice Act 2 Scene 4 Summary Questions and Answers

1. Lorenzo :
I must needs tell thee all. She hath directed
How I shall take her from her father’s house;
What gold and jewels she is furnish’d with;
What page’s suit she hath in readiness.
If e’er the Jew her father come to heaven,
It will be for his gentle dauther’s sake;
And never dare misfortune cross herfoot,
Unless she do it under this excuse,
That she is issue to a faithless Jew.
Come, go with me : peruse this as thou goest.
Fair Jessica shall be my torch-bearer.

Question 1.
Where is Lorenzo now? Who else is with him? What are they preparing for?
Answer:
Lorenzo is on the street outside the house of Shylock. Gratiano is with him. They are preparing for a masque, as they are going to celebrate that night at Bassanio’s masquerade dinner party.

Question 2.
What is a masque? What have they not arranged, so far?
Answer:
A masque is a procession in which all the guests participate in disguise, covering their faces with masks. They have not been able to arrange for the torch bearers for the masque.

Question 3.
What does Lorenzo want to inform Gratiano? Explain in detail.
Answer:
Lorenzo wants to inform Gratiano about the plan of eloping with Jessica. Jessica has informed him through the letter that how he should take her from her father’s house, what gold and jewels, she would be taking, and about the dress of the page she would be wearing.

Question 4.
Who is the ‘Jew, her father’? On what condition can he go to heaven?
Answer:
The ‘Jew, her father’ is Shylock. According to Lorenzo, it is only the fact that gentle and loving Jessica is his daughter, who can work as a passport for Shylock to go to heaven.

Question 5.
For what reason can misfortune ‘cross her foot’? Explain ’faithless Jew’.
Answer:
Lorenzo prays that no misfortune should cross the way of Jessica. If it happens, it’ll be only because of the fault, that her father is a faithless Jew which means a non-believer; one who doesn’t believe in Christianity.

Question 6.
What decision does Lorenzo make at the end of the scene? What does he ask Gratiano to peruse as they go?
Answer:
Lorenzo decides that Jessica will be dressed as a page, and he will be their torchbearer for the masque. He asks Gratiano to read the message sent by Jessica.

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The Merchant of Venice Act 2 Scene 3 Summary Workbook Answers

The Merchant of Venice Act 2 Scene 3 Summary

This scene is set in Shylock’s house. This introduces the sub-plot of Lorenzo- Jessica love story. Launcelot comes to take his leave from Shylock, but finds his master’s daughter, Jessica, sitting alone in the house. She is sad to know Launcelot is leaving but understands the reason.

She says that he had brought some cheer to the house which is as oppressive as hell. She also asks him to deliver a letter to Lorenzo, her lover. Launcelot sadly bids farewell to the sweet Jew and is happy that she is going to run away with a Christian. After the clown goes, Jessica reveals that she is ashamed of being Shylock’s daughter.

She has only ‘blood1 in common with her father. She says that if she succeeds in running away, she’ll marry Lorenzo and become a Christian. The scene exposes the conflict between her father and her love for Lorenzo.

The Merchant of Venice Act 2 Scene 3 Summary Word Meanings

1. taste – part
2. tediousness – boredom
3. exhibit – inhibit my tongue
4. pagan – non¬believer in Christianity
5. play the knave – be dishonest
6. deceived – cheated
7. drops – tears
8. spirit – courage
9. heinous – evil
10. strife – conflict.

The Merchant of Venice Act 2 Scene 3 Summary Questions and Answers

1. Jessica :
I am sorry thou wilt leave my father so.
Our house is hell, and thou, a merry devil,
Didst rob it of some taste of tediousness.
But fare thee well; there is a ducat for thee
And, Launcelot, soon at supper shalt thou see
Lorenzo, who is thy new master’s guest:
Give him this letter—do it secretly.
And so farewell; I would not have my father
See me in talk with thee.

Question 1.
Where is Jessica now? Whom is she addressing? Why has this person come here, at this moment?
Answer:
Jessica is in her father’s house now. She is addressing Launcelot as the ‘merry clown’. He has come there to take leave of his hitherto master, Shylock as he is joining his new master Bassanio.

Question 2.
Explain the meaning of ‘Didst rob of it some taste of tediousness’.
Answer:
Jessica means that the jokes and pranks of the country clown had made the atmosphere of the house a little better than hell. He made her life cheerful.

Question 3.
What does Jessica request the other person to do? What does she gives him?
Answer:
Jessica gives Launcelot a gold coin and requests him to deliver a letter secretly to Lorenzo, whom he’ll be meeting at Bassanio’s dinner.

Question 4.
What does this extract show about the character of Jessica?
Answer:
The extract shows that Jessica is a generous person and has true affection for the clown. She is unhappy with the cruelty of her father and finds her house to be a veritable hell. She is troubled by her conscience, as she wants to leave her father to marry a Christian. She is neither loyal to her father nor her religion.

Question 5.
In what way is her character contrasted with that of Portia?
Answer:
Portia is shown as a lady of high character who has great reverence for her dead father. She is willing to follow the instructions of her father regarding her marriage. Jessica is ashamed to call Shylock, her father as she is fed up on the contrary, of his harsh ways. She is going to elope with a Christian even if she knows that it will be a terrible blow to her father.

2. Launcelot :
Adieu ! tears exhibit my tongue. Most beautiful pagan, most
sweet Jew ! If a Christian do not play the knave and get thee, I
am much deceived But, adieu ! These foolish drops do something
drown my manly spirit: Adieu !

Question 1.
Why does Launcelot say Adieu? What is the humour in the first line of the extract?
Answer:
Launcelot has decided to leave Shylock’s house and has come now to bid farewell. He sees Jessica and bids her adieu. The humour is provided by Launcelot’s tendency to use the wrong words in place of similar sounding correct words. Here he uses ‘exhibit’ instead of inhibit. He actually wants to say that his tears are preventing him from using his tongue.

Question 2.
Why does the speaker calls Jessica, a pagan and sweet Jew.
Answer:
Christians considered everyone from other religion than Christianity as a non-believer or pagan. Launcelot also has the same prejudice and hence he calls Jessica pagan, as she is a Jew. But since she is good and he likes her a lot, he calls her sweet.

Question 3.
Explain the meaning of ‘If a Christian do not play the knave and. get thee, I am much deceived.’
Answer:
Launcelot wants Lorenzo to be dishonest enough to take away Jessica, without the permission of her father. If Lorenzo, the Christian does not play the cheating game, Launcelot, will feel cheated. He wanted Lorenzo to acquire Jessica as his wife.

Question 4.
What does the speaker mean by, ‘These foolish drops do something drown my manly spirit’?
Answer:
Launcelot feels sad to leave Jessica. He feels that if he stays longer, his tears will make him look less manly.

Question 5.
What does Jessica say to herself, soon after this extract?
Answer:
Jessica says that it is a deadly sin to feel ashamed of her own father. She was a daughter to him only in blood but not in manners. If Lorenzo keeps his promise, she was ready to be his wife and become a Christian. In this way, she would be able to finally make a choice between her loyalty to her father and love for Lorenzo.

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The Trees Summary in English by Adrienne Rich

The Trees by Adrienne Rich About the Poet

Adrienne Rich (1929-2012) was born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. She was a famous poet, essayist and feminist. She has published nineteen volumes of poetry, three collections of essays and other writings.

Poet Name	Adrienne Rich
Born	16 May 1929, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Died	27 March 2012, Santa Cruz, California, United States
Spouse	Alfred H. Conrad (m. 1953–1970)
Awards	National Book Award for Poetry, Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize

The Trees Summary in English

The poet has unusual theme for the trees which want to break all the barriers of man-made things so as to reunite with their natural surroundings. The poet very clearly depicts the disadvantage of growing trees inside the houses in enclosures which are cramped enough to make these trees revolt. They lose their natural utility by housing the insects and birds and spreading their shadow to the tired souls. The trees though appear to be weak, make ceaseless efforts from all the sides to come out of the boundaries by smashing the glass.

The condition of land without forest
a. No bird will be there.
b. No insect will be there.
c. The sunlight cannot make shadow.
Activities by plants for reforestation
d. Plants are coming out of the pots kept in veranda.
e. The leaves in the picture frames are breaking the glasses.
f. Very small plants that look like discharged patients are also moving for reforestation.
The reaction of poet
g. She is happy to hear the movement sound of plants.
h. She writes a letter but does not mention this departure of plants because she is afraid that those people may again cut the forest.
The image of moon
i. Unbroken moon – It is sad for not scattering its light over forest because all trees are cut.
j. Broken Moon – It has scattered its rays over the reforested jungle.

The Trees Summary Questions and Answers

1. I sit inside, doors open to the veranda
writing long letters
in which I scarcely mention the departure
of the forest from the house.

a. ‘I’ in the above lines is ___________
(i) a young man
(ii) the poet
(iii) a boy
(iv) a young woman
Answer:
(ii) the poet

b. The speaker is ___________
(i) in her house
(ii) is writing letters
(iii) watching the departure of the forest
(iv) all of the above
Answer:
(iv) all of the above

c. The trees are moving ___________
(i) inside
(ii) outside
(iii) nowhere
(iv) sideways
Answer:
(ii) outside

2. All night the roots work
to disengage themselves from the cracks
in the veranda floor.

a. Where are the roots?
Answer:
The roots are entangled in the cracks of the veranda floor.

b. What are the roots doing?
Answer:
The roots are trying to disengage themselves from the cracks of the veranda floor so that they can move out into the forest.

c. Where have the cracks appeared?
Answer:
The cracks have appeared on the veranda floor.

3. I sit inside, doors open to the veranda
writing long letters
in which I scarcely mention the departure
of the forest from the house.

a. Who is ‘I’?
Answer:
The poet is ‘I’ here.

b. What is he doing?
Answer:
She is writing letters.

c. Where are the trees in the poem?
Answer:
The trees are inside the house. But now they are moving out of the house.

Question 4.
What are the three things that cannot happen in a treeless forest?
Answer:
The forest has been empty all these days because its trees have been cut down. Three things cannot happen in a treeless forest. Firstly, birds cannot sit there. Secondly, insects can’t hide themselves. Thirdly; the sun cannot bury its rays in shadow.

Question 5.
In the poem ‘Trees4, where are the trees? What are their roots, twigs, etc. trying to do?
Answer:
The trees are inside the houses. Their roots, twigs, etc. are making ceaseless efforts from all the sides to come out of the boundaries by smashing the glass.

Question 6.
What does the poet mean by the sun’s feet? What picture do these words create in mind?
Answer:
The sun’s feet refer to the sunrays which are not able to penetrate through the thick cluster of trees. These words create a dark and gloomy image in the mind.

Question 7.
long-cramped boughs shuffling under the roof Like newly discharged patients.
Why does the poet compare branches with patients?
Answer:
The poet compares the ‘long-cramped’ branches that have been shuffling under the roof to newly discharged patients who look half-dazed as they move towards the hospital doors after long illnesses and wait to get out of the hospital. The branches also have cramped under the roof and want to get out into the open to spread themselves in fresh air.

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Summary of The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie

Summary of Mousetrap Summary by Agatha Christie

The Mousetrap Summary About the Author

Agatha Christie was born in Torquay, Devon 1890 to Clarissa Margaret Boehmer and a wealthy American stockbroker. She was brought up by both, her mother and sister. In the First World War, she trained and worked as a nurse helping to treat wounded soldiers. She also took education in the field of pharmacy. She recalled her time as a nurse with great fondness, saying, it was one of the most rewarding jobs she ever undertook.

Agatha Christie married an aviator in the Royal Flying Corps – Archibald Christie, in December 1914. The marriage was somewhat turbulent and ended in, divorce in 1928, two years after Archibald had begun an affair. In 1926, Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days. The circumstances were never really resolved and it created widespread ‘ media interest in the disappearance of this famous novelist. She was eventually discovered in Harrogate Hotel ‘ eleven days later. Though, Agatha Christie never said why, it was probably a combination of shock over her mother’s death and the discovery of her husband’s affair.

In 1930, she married her second husband, Max Mallowan. This marriage was happier, though her only child, Rosalind Hicks, came from her first marriage. Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, was an English writer of crime and romantic novels. She is known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, Christie also wrote the world’s longest-running play, a murder mystery, ‘The Mousetrap’, and six romances under the name ‘Mary Westmacott’. In 1971, she was appointed as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her contribution to literature. Agatha Christie went on to write over 40 novels featuring the proud and immaculate Hercule Poirot. Like Conan Doyle, Christie had no great love for her own creation – Poirot seemed to be admired by the public more than the writer herself.

The plot of Agatha Christie’s novels could be described as formulaic. Murders were committed through ingenious methods – often involving poison, of which Agatha Christie had great knowledge. After interrogating all the main suspects, the detective would bring all the participants into some drawing-room before explaining who was the murderer. The psychological suspense of the novels and the fact that, the readers feel they have a good chance of solving the crime, undoubtedly added to the popularity of her books.

During the Second World War, Christie worked in the pharmacy of the University College London, which gave her ideas for some methods of her murders. After the war, her books continued to grow in international popularity. In 1952, her play, The Mousetrap, was debuted at the Ambassador’s Theatre in London and has been performed without a break ever since. Her success led to her being honoured in the New Year’s honour list. In 1971 she was appointed as Dame Commander of the British Empire.

Dame Agatha Christie died on 12 January 1976, at age 85 from natural causes at her home in Winterbrook, Cholsey, Oxfordshire. She is buried in the nearby churchyard of St Mary’s, Cholsey, having chosen the plot for their final resting place with her husband Sir Max, some ten years before she died. The simple funeral service was attended by about 20 newspaper and TV reporters, some having travelled from as far away as South America. Thirty wreaths adorned Dame Agatha’s grave, including one from the cast of her long-running play, The Mousetrap, and one sent ‘on behalf of the multitude of grateful readers’ by the Ulverscroft Large Print Book Publishers.
She was survived by her only child, Rosalind Hicks, and only grandson, Mathew Prichard. Her husband, Max, died in 1978, aged 74.

The Mousetrap Summary About the Play

The Mousetrap is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. It was initially performed as a radio play in 1952 and was broadcasted by the BBC with the title ‘Three Blind Mice’. Queen Mary who was a fan of Agatha, commissioned the radio play in 1947. The forty-five-minute play was based on a short story. The reaction of the audience was very positive, so Agatha elaborated the script with its first performance on October 6, 1952.

The Mousetrap became a stage play. The play opened in London, at ‘The Ambassadors Theatre’, on November 25, 1952. Later the play was transferred to St. Martin’s Theatre in London, on March 23, 1974, and is still running there. Since the play has broken several records for its continuous theatrical run, it is estimated that more than four million people had seen the play by the time its twenty-fifth anniversary was celebrated in 1977.

It is safe to speculate that an additional three to four million people have probably sat in the dark and tried to puzzle out the identity of the murderer. After another twenty years,’The Mousetrap’ continues to benefit from tourists, both/for its artistic merits and for the joy of being part of a theatrical tradition. Christie signed over the royalties from the play to her grandson at its opening in 1952. It is believed that he has become a multimillionaire from the royalties of this one property alone. The play is known for its twist ending, which the audience are traditionally asked not to reveal after leaving the theatre.

The Mousetrap Summary of the Play

The play begins in England, at the Great Hall of Monkswell Manor. Early one winter afternoon, a brutal murder occurs on Culver Street in Paddington. Witnesses heard someone whistling the nursery rhyme, “Three Blind Mice”, just before the victim had screamed. Later that afternoon, in the Great Hall of Monkswell Manor, Mollie and Giles Ralston prepare for the opening of their guest house, worrying about the effects of the severe snowstorm outside and their own inexperience of their new venture. Eventually, their four guests arrive. First to enter is Christopher Wren.

He is hyperactive and unkempt. Giles instantly dislikes Christopher, whereas Mollie has the opposite reaction. Mrs. Boyle and Major Metcalf arrive next, together in a cab from the station. Mrs. Boyle is a complainer, and Metcalf is a friendly, former military man. Miss Casewell arrives next, described as a mannish woman.

She’s the last of the expected guests, but a fifth person arrives unannounced. In a foreign accent, he introduces himself as Mr. Paravicini. His car, he explains, is trapped in a snowdrift, and the storm has the added effect of trapping all the characters in the house as the roads are now unpassable. Mollie is uncomfortable with Mr. Paravicini, but she prepares the house’s final room.

The next afternoon the storm continues to keep the guests trapped at the house. Superintendent Hogben of the Berkshire Police tails and tells Mollie that he’s sending Sergeant Trotter to the house and that the Ralstons need to listen carefully to what he has to say. Trotter arrives on a pair of skis, and Metcalf discovers that the phone is no longer working.

Trotter is there in regard to the murder. Lyon and her husband had mistreated their three foster children, resulting in the death of the youngest child. Sentenced for the crime, the husband died in jail and Maureen served her sentence. Upon her release, she was strangled to death. Trotter explains that police suspect the oldest boy of the abused children, who would now be twenty-two years old, of being the killer.

He further explains that a notebook found at the scene contained the Manor’s address, along with the words: “Three Blind Mice”. A note reading, “This is the First”, was pinned to the woman’s body. Trotter is there to investigate the connection and ensure that the people there are safe. When Trotter asks all the guests about their connections to the case, they all deny any knowledge or connections.

The first Act draws to its conclusion as the evening continues. Giles and Mollie become distrusting of each other, and the guests get increasingly short-tempered. Trotter follows the phone wire to find out if it has been cut. Meanwhile, Mrs. Boyle listens to the radio, alone in a room. Someone unseen whistles the opening notes of “Three Blind Mice.” Mrs. Boyle responds without fear, conversing with the person only she can see. Suddenly, the lights go out. The audience can hear a struggle in the darkness. Just then, Mollie walks into the room and turns on the lights. She finds Mrs. Boyle, dead on the floor. In Act II, Mrs. Boyle has been strangled. Trotter has taken over the house, and he tries to understand what’s happened as the rest of the cast sits together in one room.

Mollie is so badly shaken she offers little help, remembering only a radio playing loudly. Trotter is frustrated and reminds the cast that everyone’s lives are still very much in danger. Each character explains his/her whereabouts at the time of the murder, and Trotter concludes that any of them could have committed the crime. But, though everyone had the opportunity, only one man matches the police description of the suspect: Christopher Wren. Wren denies involvement immediately, claiming to be the victim of a frame-up.

Mollie and Trotter later have a private conversation, which reveals that any of the characters possibly could have committed the crime. Mollie even admits to knowing very little about Giles’s past. Then Mollie speaks privately with Wren, who reveals he’s an army deserter on the run, using a false name. Mollie, too, is running from something in her past. Giles and Wren then become suspicious of each other.

Trotter sits for a moment before calling out for Mollie. He explains that he knows Mollie once worked as a schoolteacher for the deceased foster children. She failed to answer a letter from the youngest boy begging for help. Mollie claims she was sick and unable to read the letter before it was too late. She is still haunted by the kids’ death. Trotter reveals a gun, and points it at Mollie. Trotter is not a policeman, but the oldest of the foster children. He’d faked the phone call himself. He reverts to a childlike state, drops his gun, and begins strangling Mollie. Miss Casewell arrives and calls him by name, revealing that she is his long-lost sister, here to take him to some safe place.

Major Metcalf, who’s arrived with Miss Casewell, then reveals that he’s a policeman himself, working undercover as a result of the “Three Blind Mice” note and that he’s known all along that Trotter is an imposter. The Mousetrap ‘ received lukewarm responses from critics upon its debut. The play, however, achieved massive popularity with audiences and has been staged, without stop, for over sixty years, making it the longest-running show of any kind in history. It’s a prime example of a twist ending, and members of the audience are asked to not reveal the killer to the awaiting audiences on their way out.

The Mousetrap Summary Major Characters

Mollie Ralston
Mollie Ralston is the wife of Giles Ralston. She is a tall, pretty woman in her late twenties. Mollie is the young owner of Monkswell Manor, a Victorian-era estate that has recently been converted into a guest house. In earlier years, she had taught at the school that the Corrigan children attended.

Jimmy Corrigan
Jimmy Corrigan sent her a letter and pleaded with her to help. She fell ill with pneumonia on the very day the letter arrived, she could not see it until weeks later, by the time Jimmy was dead. She is also a suspect in the killing of the other two women who were involved in the tragedy. She went to London secretly, on the day Mrs. Stanning was killed and she is the first one to find the body of Mrs. Boyle.

Giles Ralston
Giles Ralston is Mollie s husband. Giles is the co-host of Monkswell Manor. After three weeks of meeting, they both married. Giles past remains a mystery. He wears a coat, scarf, and hat like those seen on the killer. He made a clandestine trip to London on the day of Mrs. Stanning’s death.

Mrs. Boyle
Mrs. Boyle is a large, middle-aged, stern and generally unpleasant woman. She is a guest at Monkswell Manor. She was a former magistrate and unwittingly sent the Corrigan children to Longridge Farm. At the end of the first act, she is strangled.

Major Metcalf
Major Metcalf is a middle-aged, square-shouldered, military in manner and bearing person. He is a typical retired British military officer. He is a guest at Monkswell Manor.

Miss Casewell
Miss Casewell is a young woman who is masculine in appearance and has a masculine voice. She is another guest at Monkswell Manor. She remains mysteriously aloof from the other guests.

Mr. Paravicini
Mr. Paravicini is a foreign, dark, elderly man with a small flamboyant moustache. He is an unexpected guest at Monkswell Manor. He is there only because his car got stuck in a snowbank during a terrible blizzard.

Defective Sergeant Trotter
Detective Sergeant Trotter is a cheerful, young man posing as a police officer. He is a late-arriving guest at Monkswell Manor. He is trying to establish a relationship between any of the guests and a murder already committed at another location.

The Mousetrap Act Wise Summary of the Play

ACT I, Scene I.

The play opens with a radio account of a woman murdered in London. The scene opens with darkness and the sounds of someone whistling the tune of “Three Blind Mice.” Shouts in the darkness indicate something is amiss, and then we hear police whistles. After that, the lights come up and we hear radio announcer reporting on a recent murder. The scene is the great hall at Monkswell Manor, an old home with a large window in the centre of the stage. There is a fireplace on ont^side and several doors leading to other parts of the house.

The first character to appear on stage is Mollie Ralston. She turns on the lights, turns off the radio and removes • her coat Next Giles Ralston, her husband enters. The first guest to arrive is Christopher Wren. He praises both the style and decor of the house and is enthusiastic. The second guest to arrive is Mrs. Boyle. She is complaining that a taxi did not meet her at the train., Major Metcalf is the third guest to arrive. He is carrying his luggage when he enters the hall. Mrs. Boyle’s complaints about everything, including the lack of servants.

Miss Casewell is the last of the booked guests to arrive. Mr Paravicini tells the Ralstons his car has overturned in a snowdrift. He remarks that the snow has blocked the roads and that the denizens of the house are trapped. Mobile places him in the last remaining room. Uneasy about Paravicini’s manner.
The next afternoon the guest house proves to be snowed in, and the residents are restless. Mollie answers the telephone to Superintendent Hogben. Hogben tells her that he is dispatching Sergeant Trotter to the guest house, and that the Ralstons must listen carefully to what Trotter has to tell them. The Ralstons wonder what they could have done to gamer police attention.

Trotter appears at the door on a pair of skis and Major Metcalf discovers that the phone has stopped working. Trotter explains he has been sent in regard to the murder of Maureen Lyon. The dead woman and her husband had mistreated their three foster children resulting in the death of the youngest. Both adults were imprisoned for their actions; the husband died in gaol, while the wife served her sentence and had been released, only to be found strangled. Police suspect the elder boy of the abused children, who would now be twenty-two, of being the killer.

Trotter reveals that a notebook found at the murder scene contained the address of Monkswell Manor and the words “Three Blind Mice”. A note reading “This is the First” was pinned to the woman’s body. The Police have sent Trotter to find out how the Ralstons’ guesthouse is connected to the murder, and whether the residents are in danger. Both Giles and Mollie deny a connection to the case, though Mollie is not comfortable answering Trotter’s questions and quickly excuses herself. Trotter asks each of the guest to explain why they are at Monkswell Manor and any personal Knowledge of the case.

The Mousetrap Summary Word Meanings:

1. Alcove – A recess in the wall of a room
2. Skidding – An unexpected sliding
3. Complacently – Confidently
4. Neurotic – Mentally disturbed
5. Mahogany – Hard reddish-brown timber
6. Prolific – Plentiful
7. Assorted – Mixed; varied
8. Baptized – Administer or enrol to Christianity
9. Absurd – Illogical
10. Indignantly – Anger or annoyance
11. Blizzard – A severe snowstorm with high winds
12. Amenities – A desirable facility of a place
13. Equipped – Having the necessary tools etc.
14. Misapprehension – A failure to understand something
15. Straddles – Sit or stand with one leg either side off
16. Stridently – Loud and harsh sound
17. Exploration – Observation
18. Four-poster – A bed with a post at each corner supporting a canopy
19. Twerp – A silly or annoying person
20. Grins – Smile broadly

ACT I, Scene II.

It is now the next day, and the guests are settling in, having decided what they think of each other. Things get really interesting when Monkswell Manor receives a phone call from the Berkshire Police Department. They are sending over a sergeant, although the phone call ends before Mollie can find out why. While they’re waiting for the sergeant to arrive, Mollie and Mrs. Boyle have a conversation in which we find out that Mrs. Boyle was once a magistrate or courtroom judge.

Paravicini warns Mollie that she should not be too trusting—that people seem to be fine but turn out to be robbers, and even murderers. Mollie announces that the police are coming, which elicits strong reactions from both Major Metcalf and Mr. Paravicini.

While Trotter and Giles tour the house, Major Metcalf confronts Mrs. Boyle, revealing that she was one of the magistrates who had assigned the children to the foster parents. Mrs. Boyle acknowledges this but denies that she has any responsibility for what eventually happened to the children there. As the evening wears on, Giles and Mollie become suspicious of each other while the guests snipe at one another.

Sergeant Trotter traces the phone wire to find out if it has been cut. Mrs. Boyle wanders back into the now-empty room and listens to the radio. The opening notes of “Three Blind Mice” are heard whistled by an unknown party, and Mrs. Boyle responds without alarm, speaking to the person only she can see. Suddenly, the lights go out and a scuffle is heard. Moments later, Mollie walks into the room and turns on the lights, only to find Mrs. Boyle dead on the floor.

The Mousetrap Summary Word Meanings:

1. Scrambled eggs – A dish of eggs prepared by beating them, then cooking and stirring gently
2. Marmalade – A preserve made by citrus fruits
3. Amateurish – Done in an unskillful way
4. Stubs – Remains of a cigarette
5. Chilblains – An inflammatory smelling
6. Refectory – A room used for communal meals
7. Bonafide – In good faith, real, genuine
8. Snowdrift – A bank of deep snow driven by wind
9. In credulous – Unwilling or unable to believe something
10. Acquainted – To know or be familiar with something
11. Whereabouts – The place where a person or thing is
12. Bygone – A thing dating from an earlier time
13. Melodramatic – Showing much stronger emotions than are necessary or usual for a situation
14. Strangled – To kill someone by squeezing the throat

ACT II

The act opens with Trotter questioning everyone as to how and when Mrs. Boyle was murdered. As each one replies in turn, Trotter has some sort of doubts and suspicion.

Ten minutes after Mollie found Mrs. Boyle dead, Sergeant Trotter has taken charge of the household. All the remaining residents are gathered in one room as he attempts to sort out the events of the evening. Mollie Ralston cannot provide him with any useful clues. As each person recounts his or her whereabouts, Trotter takes them to account for weaknesses in their stories. Finally, he declares that everyone in the house had the opportunity to commit the murder since each of them was alone at the time. Giles counters that only one person fits the description of the man the police suspect to be the murderer: Christopher Wren.

Wren insists that it is all a frame-up, and Trotter acknowledges that he lacks any evidence pointing to Wren in particular. Trotter says that while the police suspect the elder boy to be the killer, the relatives, the children’s father, the dead boy’s sister, are suspected to be involved in the murder. Mollie soon finds that Christopher Wren is actually an Army deserter hiding from his past under a false name. Mollie acknowledges that she, too, is running away from her past.

Trotter again calls all the guests, declaring that he now intends to check the details everyone provided him with after Mrs. Boyle’s murder. Trotter’s hope is that while most of the alibis will be verified, one will be proved impossible. Each person is to go to his or her assigned position and stay there until summoned back by Trotter. The household obediently disperses, leaving Trotter alone on the stage.

The Mousetrap Summary Word Meanings:

• Numbed – Deprived of the power of physical sensation
• Cathay – Instantly appealing
• Gesturing –  A movement usually of the limbs
• Antiquarian –  A person who studies or collects antiques
• Persecution –  Hostility and ill-treatment
• Desertion – The action of illegally leaving the Armed forces.
• Homicidal – A crazed killer running around stabbing everyone
• Nightmare – A frightening or unpleasant dream
• Thimble –  A small metal tube
• Whacking – To hit someone or something noisily
• Foie gras – The liver of a specially fattened goose
• Concoct – Make dish by combining various ingredients
• Incoherently – Expressed in a confusing way
• Predicament – A difficult or embarrassing situation
• Inquisition – A period of prolonged and intensive questioning

The Mousetrap Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Mollie: (moving down to the sofa and sitting) Oh! I do so want everything to go well at first. First impressions are so important.
Giles: (Moving down to Right of the sofa) Is everything ready? Nobody’s arrived yet, I suppose?
Mollie: No, thank goodness. I think everything’s in order. Mrs. Barlow’s hooked it early. Afraid of the weather, suppose?
Gilt’s: What a,wisance these daily women are. That leaves everything on your shoulders.
Mollie: And yours! This is a partnership.
Answer:
(i) This conversation takes place in the opening part of the play- ‘The Mousetrap’ by Agatha Christie. The scene is of Act I, Scene I. The scene is at Monkswell Manor, a guest house which the couple has purchased. The weather is very cold outside. Mollie’s nose gets frozen, cars and vehicles are stuck in the snow.

(ii) Mollie and Giles are waiting for the guests to arrive at the guest house i.e. the Monkswell Manor, though the signboard which they have got it made shows Monkswell Manor. The couple wants to satisfy their guests since it will be the first impression. It is important because only if the customers or the guests are satisfied, the guest house will run well and fetch more customers.

(iii) In the conversation between Mollie and Giles, we come to know that Mrs. Barlow secretly went to London on the day Mrs. Stanning was killed and is the first to find the body of Mrs. Boyle. When asked by Mollie, if Giles had got the chicken netting, he replied that Mrs. Barlow had hooked it early being afraid of the weather.

(iv) When Mollie and Giles are discussing about, whether everything is in order, Giles realizes that the daily women are nuisance and everything is left on Mollie’s shoulders. Mollie replies that many jobs are even on Giles shoulders and further says that it was a partnership. So, here it is a partnership between the two to make arrangements for the guests, who are to arrive.

(v) The playwright seeks to create a mood, where the readers come to know from the very beginning that it is a murder mystery. The techniques used by the author are very impressive. The opening scene reveals a simple set up. Agatha Christie fashioned one of her most ingenious puzzles. ‘The Mousetrap’ the world’s longest-running play, is something less that human. Music, darkness and the sounds of someone whistling the tune of “Three Blind Mice”, keep the readers bound with the play, in fact, engrossed in the play.

Question 2.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Mrs. Boyle: You’re very young.
Mollit: Young?
Mrs. Boyle: To be running an establishment this kind. You can’t have had much experience.
Mollie: (backing away) There has to be a beginning for everything hasn’t there?
Mrs. Boyle: I see. Quite inexperienced. (She looks around) An old, old house. I hope you haven’t got dry rot.
(She sniffs suspiciously).
Mollie: Certainly not!

(i) State the three complaints that Mrs. Boyle makes.
(ii) What answer does she give when Giles tells her that she is welcome to leave?
(iii) What does this tell you about Mrs. Boyle’s character?
(iv) Who is Mrs. Boyle’s really?
(v) What happens to Mrs. Boyle at the end? Why?
Answer:
(i) Mrs. Boys is a complainer in nature. Firstly. she complains that no one came to receive her and she had to shari taxi with Maior Metcalf. Secondly, she criticizes Mollie for being too young and feels that young people are not experienced. Thirdly, she thinks that it would have been better if the Manor could get a coat of paint as there could be worms in the oak.

(ii) Mrs. Boyle is a generally unpleasant person who is always dissatisfied. When Giles tells her that she is . welcome to leave, she said that she would not leave before she tried what the place was like. She even stated that Giles should not think that he can turn her out. She further told them to show her bedroom.

(iii) The above extract which has been taken from Act I, Scene I of the play ‘The Mousetrap’ by Agatha Christie, shows that Mrs. Boyle is a large, middle-aged quarrellous woman. She is bad-tempered. She complains about everything. She disapproves of every effort that Mollie and Giles make.

(iv) Mrs. Boyle is just one of the guests who arrived that night at Monkswell Manor. She is a former magistrate. She unwittingly sent the Corrigan children to Longridge Farm.

(v) In the end, Mrs. Boyle is strangled to death. She listens to the radio alone in a room. Someone whistles the opening notes of “Three Blind Mice”. Mrs. Boyle responds without fear, conversing with the person only she headquarters has been cut.

Question 3.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Trotter: We don’t actually know a thing. All we’ve got so far is that the woman who joined with her husband in ill-treating and starving those children have been killed and that the woman magistrate who was responsible for placing them there has been killed. (He moves down to Right of the sofa.) The telephone wire that links me with police headquarters has been cut…
(i) What is Mollie’s response to this? How is she answered?
(ii) What news does Trotter give Mollie about the children’s father?
(iii) What is Mollie’s ‘surmise’?
(iv) Wiry is Major Metcalf a possible suspect?
(v) How is the mystery solved?
Answer:
(i) When Trotter says that the telephone wires which linked him to the police headquarters had been cut, Mollie responded that it could be due to snow.
At this, Trotter answered that the lines were cut purposely, just outside by the front door and he had found the place.

(ii) Trotter told Mollie that the children’s father was an Army Sergeant who must have been discharged from the Army by then. It would take time to trace him. He further added that he is sure that the police would take every eventuality into account.

(iii) Mollie’s surmise is that, if the children’s father, came home having suffered terribly and found his wife dead, and his children go through some terrible experience and one of them being dead, he would want revenge.

(iv) Major Metcalf is a possible suspect because he was frightfully upset when Mollie said the police had rung up. According to Mollie, she had seen his face. The murderer may be middle-aged or even old.

(v) The mystery is solved not in a while. Sometimes Christopher is suspected to be the murderer, other times Major Metcalf. Trotter sits and speaks to all the guests, and when he speaks to them he considers each one of them to be the murderer. Finally, Trotter himself is the murderer, which is proved at the end of the play.

Question 4.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Paravicini: A thousand pardons. I am-where am I?
Giles: This is Monkswell Manor Guest House.
Paravicini: But that stupendous good fortune! Madame!
(He moves down to MOLLIE, takes her hand and kisses it.)
(Giles crosses above the armchair centre.)
What an answer to prayer. A guest house-and a charming hostess. My Rolls Royce, alas, has run into a snowdrift. Blinding snow everywhere. I do not know where I am. Perhaps, I think to myself, I shall freeze to death. And then I take a little bag, I stagger through the snow; I see before me big iron gates. A habitation! I am saved. Twice I fall into the snow as I come up your drive, but at last I arrive and immediately-(He looks round.) despair turns to joy.
(Changing his manner) You can let me have a room-yes?
Giles: Oh yes….
Mollie: It’s rather a small one, I’m afraid.
Paravicini: Naturally-naturally-you have other guests.
Mollie: We’ve only just opened this place as a guest house today, and so we’ re-we’re rather new at it.
Paravicini: (leering at Mollie) Charming-charming…
Giles: What about your luggage?
Paravicini: That is of no consequence.
I have locked the car securely.
Giles: But wouldn’t it be better to gqt it in?
Paravicini: No, no. (He moves up to right of Giles.)
I can assure you on such a night as this, there will be no thieves abroad.
And for me, my wants are very simple.
I have all I need-here-in this little bag.
Yes, all that I need.
Mollie: You’d better get thoroughly warm.

(i) Give the reference to the above extract.
(ii) Who is the unexpected guest in the above extract?
(iii) How was Paravicini dressed when he entered the guest house?
(iv) Give a character sketch of Paravicini.
(v) How did Mollie and Giles Ralston treat Paravicini?
Answer:
(i) The above extract has been taken from Act I Scene 1 from the play “The Mousetrap” by Agatha Christie. Mollie and Giles Ralston have recently started a guest house. The weather is very bad, snowstorm have made people get stuck.

(ii) The unexpected guest is Paravicini. He is an unexpected guest since the other guests had already booked their rooms in Monkswell Manor. His Rolls Royce has run into a snowdrift. Everywhere blinding snow has surrounded. Paravicini does not know where he is. He saw an iron gate and entered it.

(iii) Mr. Paravicini staggers in the guest house carrying a small bag. He is a foreign and dark, elderly person with a rather flamboyant moustache. He wears a heavy fur lined overcoat.

(iv) The above passage reveals that Mr. Paravicini is a brave person, who survived the snow storm. He is bold but mannered person, as he asks the Ralston’s to pardon him; since he entered the Manor without informing them. He is simple as he says to Mollie that his wants are very less. In short, he is a sophisticated person.

(v) Mollie and Giles Ralston welcome him as they are the owners of the guest house and would like to treat their guests nicely. They offer him a room towards the north, because no other rooms are vacant. They ask Paravicini about his luggage. Paravicini, Mollie and Giles have a humorous conservation. So, in all, Paravicini was treated equally good by the Ralston’s.

Question 5.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Christropher: (sitting at the right end of the sofa) He’s very attractive, don’t you think so? I always think that policemen are very attractive.
Mrs. Boyle: No brains. You can see that at a glance.
Major Metcalf: (into the telephone) Hullo! Hullo!…. (to Mollie) Mrs. Ralston, this telephone is dead-quite dead.
Mollie: It was all right about half an hour ago.
Major Metcalf: The line’s gone with the weight of the snow, I suppose.
Christopher: (laughing hysterically) So we’re quite cut off now. Quite cut off. That’s funny, isn’t it?

(i) About whom are Christopher and Mrs. Boyle speaking?
(ii) How would you describe Christopher?
(iii) Who is Trotter? What is the purpose of his arrival?
(iv) Who is the third guest to arrive?
(v) What impression do you form of Mrs. Boyle?
Major Metcalf: (moving to left of the sofa) I don’t see anything to laugh at.
Mrs. Boyle: No, indeed.
Christopher: Ah, it’s a private joke of my own. Hist, the sleuth is returning.
(Trotter enters from the archway up right, followed by Giles. Trotter moves down centre while Giles crosses to left of
the sofa table.)
Trotter: (taking out his notebook) Now we can get to business, Mr. Ralston. Mrs. Ralston?
Answer:
(i) The above extract has been taken from Act 1 Scene 2 of the play “The Mousetrap” by Agatha Christie.
Christopher and Mrs. Boyle are speaking about Trotter. Christopher is highly impressed with Trotter and states that the former is very attractive and further adds that, in fact, policemen are attractive.

(ii) The term which is used to describe Christopher is, mentally unhinged. He seems to be fixated with nursery rhymes. He recites ‘The North Wind Doth Blow’ and sings ‘Little Jack Horner’. He is a wild looking neurotic man.

(iii) Trotter is actually Detective Sergeant Trotter from Berkshire Police. He has arrived at Monkswell Manor to detect about the murder of Mrs. Maureen Lyon. As there are some clues about Monkswell Manor, so Trotter has come to visit to find the actual murderer.

(iv) Major Metcalfe is the third guest to arrive. He is a middle aged square-shouldered person. He is military in manner. He is a typical retired Military officer.

(v) Mrs. Boyle is a person who is always criticizing. In the above passage also she states that Trotter has no brains. According to her, it can be known by just looking at Trotter, that she is a stern and generally unpleasant woman. She is also a guest*it Monkswell Manor.

Question 6.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Mrs. Boyle: (with relief) Oh, it’s you. I can’t find any programme worth listening to. (She moves to the radio and tunes in to the music programme.)
(A hand shows through the open doorway and clicks the light switch. The lights suddenly go out)
Here- what are you doing? Why did you turn out the light?
(The radio is at full volume, and through it are heard gurgles and a scuffle. Mrs. Boyle’s body falls. Mollie enters by the archway up right and stands perplexed.)
Mollie: Why is it all dark? What a noise!
(She switches on the lights at the switch up right and crosses to the radio to turn it down. Then she sees Mrs. Boyle lying strangled in front of the sofa and screams as-the curtain quickly falls.)

(i) Give the reference to the above extract.
(ii) What does Trotter want Giles to do for him?
(iii) What does Mrs Boyle notice when she enters the room?
(iv) Who is the first person to hear the noise?
(v) What does Mollie do when she finds darkness in the room?
Answer:
(i) The above extract is the end of Scene 2 of Act I of the play “The Mousetrap”, by Agatha Christie. Detective Trotter is at Monkswell Manor for a murder case. He wants to use the telephone, but the wires are cut which were intact a little while before.

(ii) Trotter wants Giles Ralston to find out whether there is an extension of the telephone wire. But he (Trotter) continues to trace the wire to the window. Giles also exits to the stairs, carrying the glove, but looking dazed.

(iii) When Mrs. Boyle enters the room from the library and notices the open window, she shuts the window and closes the curtain, then moves to the window. She frowns at the running music programme on the radio and tunes into a different programme.

(iv) Mollie is the first person to hear the noise. Mrs. Boyle is speaking to someone and asking what the person is doing there and further, Mollie asks why did the person turned out the light.

(v) When Mollie hears the noise, she enters by the archway and stands surprised. She switches on the lights, crosses across to the radio to turn it down. She screams on seeing Mrs. Boyle lying strangled in front of the sofa. The curtain falls down.

Question 7.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Mollie: Yes. I screamed and screamed. And at last-people came.

Trotter: (moving down to left of Mollie) Yes. As you say, people came-a lot of people from different directions-all arriving more or less at once. (He pauses, moves down centre and turns his back to the audience) Now then, when I got out of that window (He points.) to trace the telephone wire, you, Mr Ralston occupy, to try the extension telephone, (moving up centre) Where were you when Mrs. Ralston screamed?

Giles: I was still up in the bedroom. The extension telephone was dead too. I looked out of the window to see if I could see any sign of the wires being cut there, but I couldn’t. Just after I closed the window again, I heard Mollie scream and I rushed down.

Trotter: (leaning on the refectory table) Those simple actions took you rather a long time, didn’t they, Mr. Ralston?

(i) What does the opening scene of Act II tell the viewers?
(ii) What is Mollie’s state of mind?
(iii) Why is Giles Ralston irritated?
(iv) What is Miss Casewell’s observation?
(v) How would you estimate Trotter’s behaviour in the complete incidence?
Answer:
(i) In the opening scene of Act II, when the curtain rises, Mrs. Boyle’s body has been removed and everyone is assembled in the room. Trotter is on the upstage side of the reflectory table. Mollie is standing at the right end. The others are all sitting.

(ii) Mollie is very much disturbed as she was the first one to see Mrs. Boyle strangled. She says that she can’t think and her head is numbed. She is not sure if she heard a door creak or not. She just came out of the kitchen.

(iii) When Trotter emphasises Mrs. Ralston to try and think, Mollie moves down the armchair and sits. Seeing Mollie in a disturbed state of mind, Giles Ralston angrily says to Trotter to stop bullying Mollie.

(iv) Miss Casewell tells Trotter’s imagination to be senseless. She thinks that it would unlikely be a coincidence, that there should be two people brought there by chance. Both of them must have a share in the Longridge Farm case.

(v) Trotter is right at his own place, as he is the Sergeant to investigate the case. He wants statements from everyone present there. He has to cross question each and everyone, to come to a decision. Though, his behaviour or cross-questioning is not accepted willingly by other people present there.

Question 8.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Giles: “Lovers’ quarrels!” That’s good. (He moves a left of the refectory table.) .
Paravicini: (moving down to the small armchair right) Quite so.
Quite so. I know just how you feel. I have been though all this myself when I was a younger man.
Jeunesse -jeunesse – as the poet says. Not been married long, I imagine?
Giles: (Crossing to the fire) It’s no business of yours, Mr. Paravicini…
Paravicini: (moving down centre) No, no, no business at all.
But I just came in to say that the Sergeant cannot find his skis and I’m afraid he is very annoyed.
Mollie: (moving to right of the sofa table) Christopher!
Giles: What’s that?
Paravicini: (moving to face Giles) He wants to know if you have by any chance moved them, Mr. Ralston.
Giles: No, of course not.

(i) What do you understand by the term ‘Lovers’ quarrels?
(ii) What are Giles and Mollie fighting about? 3
(iii) Why did Paravicini interfere into the matter?
(iv) Why does Trotter need the skis immediately?
(v) What does Paravicini advise Trotter?
Answer:
(i) The term ‘Lovers’ quarrels is used by Mr. Paravicini in Act II of the play ‘The Mousetrap’ by Agatha Christie. Mollie and Giles are putting allegations on each other and are fighting for no apt reason. They have been married one year back and they love each other very much. So the above term is used by Mr. Paravicini.

(ii) Giles and Mollie are fighting for no valid reason. Giles and Mollie put allegation on each other for going to London. Giles had found a London bus ticket in Mollie’s gloves and Mollie found an evening paper in Giles overcoat, so they suspected each other of bad relations.

(iii) When Mr. Paravicini enters from the archway up right, he moves between them. He interfered in between, since he understood that both the young people were not saying a little more than they meant. He further said that any one of them was right.

(iv) Mr. Paravicini came to say that Sergeant Trotter needed the skis immediately. He needed them since the snow was still ljang there. Trotter wanted to ski over to the police station at Market Hampton to report on the situation.

(v) When the skis are not found anywhere, Mr. Paravicini advises Mr. Trotter, that now he couldn’t report on the situation. He further said that somebody has seen to it, and did not want Trotter to do that. He is also of the view that there might be some other reason. Mr. Paravicini further suspects that Christopher must have hooked it.

Question 9.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Paravicini: Yes, Sergeant? (He moves to the desk chair.) What can I do for you? Little Bo Policeman has lost his skis and doesn’t know where to find them. Leave them alone, and they’ll come home, dragging a murderer behind them. (He moves down left.)
(Major Metcalf enters through the arch up right.
Giles and Mollie enter up right, with Christopher.)
Major Metcalf: What is all this? (He moves down to the fire.)
Trotter: Sit down, Major, Mrs. Ralston …
(No-one sits. Mollie moves above the armchair centre,
Giles moves to right of the refectory table and Christopher stands between them)
Mollie: Must I come now? It’s very inconvenient.
Trotter: There are more important things than meals, Mrs. Ralston, Mrs. Boyle, for instance, won’t want another meal.
Major Metcalf: That’s a very tactless way of putting things, Sergeant.
Trotter: I’m sorry, but I want co-operation and I intend to get it.
Mr. Ralston, will you go and ask Miss Casewell to come down again?
She went up in her room.
Tell her it will only be for a few minutes.

(i) Why is Miss Casewell upset?
(ii) How does Trotter react to the situation?
(iii) What is Christopher’s reply to Trotter?
(iv) What does Paravicini think about the policeman?
(v) What does Trotter want frifin the guests?
Answer:
(i) The above extract is taken from Act II of the play ‘The Mousetrap’ by Agatha Christie. Miss Casewell is one of the guests at Monkswell Manor. She is being interrogated by Sergeant Trotter with reference to the murder of Miss Boyle. This interrogation upsets her.

(ii) When Christopher tells Trotter that the later has upset Miss Casewell, Trotter does not believe. He (Trotter) says that he had seen something he ought to have seen before. He further says that now he may be able to . get to the result.

(iii) Christopher responds to Trotter explaining that Giles and Mollie were in the kitchen. Christopher himself had been helping Major Metcalf to look for Trotter’s skis.
He further added that Paravicini was not seen anywhere.

(iv) Paravicini thinks that the policeman, i.e., Sergeant Trotter had lost his skis, and he does not know where to find them. Paravicini asks the Sergeant, what could he do for the latter. Paravicini even thinks that they’ll come home, dragging a murderer behind them.

(v) Sergeant Trotter wanted co-operation from all the members and he intend to get it. Trotter requests Mr. f Ralston to go and ask Miss Casewell to come down again. He further said that he required only few minutes from Miss Casewell. Trotter said that he had a shrewd suspicion, which would be declared later on.

Question 10.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Trotter: (rising) You’d better not scream, Mrs. Ralston-because if you do I shall fire this revolver… I’d like to talk to ” you a little. (He turns away.) I said I’d like to talk to you a little. Jimmy died. (His manner becomes very simple and childlike.) That nasty cruel woman killed him. They put her in prison. Prison wasn’t bad enough for her. I said I’d kill her one day… I did, toot. In the fog. It was great fun. I hope Jimmy knows. “That’s what I said to myself. Because grown-ups can do anything they like, (gaily) I’m going to kill you in a minute.

Mollie: You’d better not. (She tries very hard to be persuasive.) You’ll never get safely away, you know.

Trotter: (pettishly) Someone’s hidden my skis! I can’t find them. But it doesn’t matter. I don’t realy mind if I get Y away or not. I’m tired.- It’s all been such fun. Watching you all. And pretending to be a policeman.

Mollie: That revolver will make a lot of noise.

Trotter: It will rather. Much better to do it the usual way, and take you by the neck. (He slowly approaches her, – whistling “Three Blind Mice”. The last little mouse in the trap. (He drops the revolver on the sofa, and leans over her with his left hand on her mouth and his right hand on her neck.) (Miss Casewell and Major Metcalf appear in the arch up right.)

(i) What does Trotter admit?
(ii) What does Trotter want Mollie to do?
(iii) Did Trotter enjoy being in disguise?
(iv) How did Miss Casewell recognize Trotter?
(v) Why was Giles Ralston worried?
Answer:
(i) Trotter admits that he is Georgie-Jimmy’s brother. He further admits that he was not a policeman. He was the one who had cut the telephone wires, he rang up from a call box saying that he was speaking from police head quarters and that Sergeant Trotter was on his way.

(ii) Sergeant Trotter wants Mollie to not scream, and if she does that he would fire the revolver. He wanted to talk to her. He states that Jimmy, his brother had been killed and the woman was put in prison.

(iii) Trotter enjoyed being in disguise. He himself stated this, that it was fun watching all and pretending to be a policeman. He further said that he really did not mind if he would get away or not.

(iv) Miss Casewell and Trotter had been in an animal farm together. In fact, Miss Casewell came to England to find Trotter. She recognized him when he twirled his hair the way he always he used to do.

(v) Giles Ralston was worried when Major Metcalf called for him screaming ‘Ralston! Ralston!’ He was worried about Mollie whether she was alright or not. Giles rushes over to Mollie, takes her in his arms, placing the revolver on the sofa.

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The Merchant of Venice Act 3 Scene 2 Summary Workbook Answers

The Merchant of Venice Act 3 Scene 2 Summary

The casket story comes to its climax in this long scene. Bassanio makes his choice. The scene begins with Portia begging Bassanio to delay in making the choice. She feels if he chooses wrongly, she’ll miss his company. There’s something that tells her that she won’t like to lose him. So, she wants him to stay in Belmont at least for a month before making the choice. She wishes she could tell him about the right casket.

As Bassanio is eager to make the choice, she allows him to do so. In order to make the atmosphere less tense, she asks for some music.She sings praises of Bassanio, comparing him to Hercules who rescued a maiden from the clutches of a sea monster. Bassanio surveys the caskets and reads the inscriptions. The words of the song make him feel fancy which sometimes bred in the heart and sometimes in the head.

He is warned, not to judge by outward appearance. Beauty, at times, deceives. So he rejects the gaudy gold and silver which is a pale common drudge. He chooses the humble lead. When he opens it, he finds the magnificent portrait of Portia. He also reads the scroll, which tells him to claim the lady with a loving kiss.

Portia in turn commits herself and whatever she has to her lord. She wishes she had more to offer. She gifts him a ring saying that he should not part with it on any account. He is supposed to wear it as long as he lives.Nerissa surprises her mistress with her wish to marry Gratiano at the same wedding ceremony. Portia agrees and Nerissa gives a ring to Gratiano, making him vow not to part with it in his lifetime.

At this happy time, news comes about the bad fortune falling upon Antonio. Reading the message, Bassanio grows pale. Portia wants to share his problem. Bassanio informs her about the events that lead to the borrowing of money from Shylock and the conditions governing the bond.

Jessica confirms her father’s intention to take a pound of flesh from Antonio. Portia urges Bassanio to marry her and leave for Venice with Gratiano.Bassanio reads Antonio’s letter to Portia in which he has expressed his wish to see Bassanio before his death. This will clear all debts Bassanio owes to his friend. Bassanio decides to leave for Venice.

The Merchant of Venice Act 3 Scene 2 Summary Word Meanings

1. tarry – wait
2. hazard – take this risk
3. venture for me – try to win me
4. beshrew – shame on
5. o’erlook’d – bewitched
6. peise – measure out
7. rack – an instrument of torture
8. amity – friendship
9. deliverance – release
10. swan like end – it was believed that swan sings only once just before it dies
11. flourish – ceremonial fanfare on trumpets
12. dulcet – sweet
13. Alcides – Hercules, the Greek hero,
14. bleared visages – tear-stained faces
15. issue – outcome
16. exploit – rescue operation
17. fray – fight
18. fancy- passing affection
19. begot – created,
20. engendered – born
21. gazing – loving glances
22. knell – funeral bell
23. least themselves – illusory
24. tainted and corrupt – bad and dishonest
25. seasoned – covered up
26. gracious – eloquent
27. damned error – a great sin
28. grossness – base qualities
29. ornament – outward show
30. livers white as milk – cowardice
31. crisp’d – curly
32. gambols – games
33. excrement – outgrowth
34. sepulcher – tomb
35. veiling – covering
36. Indian – dark skinned
37. Midas – the king who got the boon to turn whatever he touched into gold
38. hard food – food that turned to gold and thereby inedible
39. drudge – save
40. meager – humble
41. fleet – vanish
42. allay – diminish
43. measure – moderation
44. scant – restrain
45. counterfeit – image
46. sunder – separate
47. gnats – insects
48. it should have power to steal both his – the painter was blinded after making one lustrous eye
49. giddy – dazed with excitement
50. people’s eyes – estimation
51. ratified – fully confirmed
52. livings – possessions
53. presage – sign
54. vantage – opportunity
55. bereft – deprived
56. buzzing – murmuring with appreciation
57. prosper – be fulfilled
58. solemnize – celebrate
59. bargain of your faith – contract of your love
60. infidel – non-believer
61. power – right
62. commends him to you – sends his greetings
63. estate – condition
64. shrewd – unpleasant
65. constitution – complexion
66. blotted paper – spoiled paper
67. freely – honestly
68. was a braggart – was exaggerating
69. to feed my means – to get the money I needed
70. merchant marring – that ruin merchants
71. confound – destroy
72. plies – keeps on urging his demand
73. impeach – question
74. freedom of the state – integrity of the law of Venice
75. port – position
76. unwearied – not tired of
77. courtesies – acts of kindness
78. ancient Roman humour – age old values of loyalty to friends and the country,
79. appears – displayed
80. draws breath – lives
81. deface – cancel
82. unquiet soul – distracted and disturbed
83. miscarried – been lost
84. estate – means
85. dispatch – finish
86. no bed shall be guilty – I will not take rest,
87. interposer – one that comes in the way
88. twain – two.

The Merchant of Venice Act 3 Scene 2 Summary Questions and Answers

1. Portia :
I pray you, tarry, pause a day or two
Before you hazard; for, in choosing wrong,
I lose your company : therefore, forbear awhile.
There’s something tells me (but it is not love)
I would not lose you; and you know yourself,
Hate counsels not in such a quality.
But lest you should not understand me well
And yet a maiden hath no tongue but thought
I would detain you here some month or two
Before you venture for me. I could teach you
How to choose right, but then I am forsworm

Question 1.
To whom are these words addressed? What request does the speaker made to the person addressed?
Answer:
These words are addressed to Bassanio. Portia requests him to wait for a couple of days before making the choice of the caskets.

Question 2.
What’s the meaning of ‘forbear’? Why is the person asked to forbear?
Answer:
‘Forbear’ means, to show patience or wait for a while before making the choice. Portia is scared that if Bassanio makes a wrong choice, he’ll have to leave immediately as per the conditions and she’ll be deprived of his company. There’s something that tells her that she should not lose him.

Question 3.
Explain ‘a maiden hath no tongue but thought’.
Answer:
A maiden’s modesty prevents her from expressing her love directly. A young girl has no choice. She only thinks of her feelings but cannot express them.

Question 4.
What does the given passage tell you about Portia’s attitude towards her father?
Answer:
The above given passage portrays Portia as a devoted and loving daughter. Even though her father is not alive, yet she is deeply attached and very much loyal to his memory. She is determined in marrying only as per her father’s will even at the risk of losing the man she loves.

Question 5.
Why does Portia wish that she had not forsworn?
Answer:
Portia wishes that she had not taken the oath to reveal the right casket because after meeting Bassanio she wishes to guide him in the right choice of the caskets as she loves him and wants to be his wife.

2. Bassanio :
Let me choose;
For as I am, I live upon the rack.

Portia : Upon the rack, Bassanio ! then confess
What treason there is mingled with your love.

Bassanio : None but that ugly treason of mistrust,
Which makes me fear th’ enjoying of my

love : There may as well be amity and life
’Tween snow and fire, as treason and my love.

Portia : Ay, but Ifear you speak upon the rack,
Where men enforced do speak anything.

Bassanio : Promise me life, and I’ll confess the truth.
Portia : Well, then, confess, and live.

Question 1.
Why does Bassanio want to make the choice as soon as possible?
Answer:
Bassanio can no longer bear the suspense and the uncertainty. He wants to make the choice and know if Portia can be his.

Question 2.
What’s the meaning of ‘rack’? Explain in detail its significance.
Answer:
‘Rack’ here means torture of not knowing the outcome of choosing the caskets. The rack was an instrument in the old times used to torture the suspects and make them confess their sin. The person used to be tied to a frame which was stretched and the pain of stressing the limbs was unbearable. Here Portia and Bassanio are also tortured as their feelings are stretched to the limit.

Question 3.
What’s the ‘treason’ mentioned here? Explain the comparison in the extract. How is this reference relevant here?
Answer:
Treason is disloyalty. Portia playfully asks what disloyalty has Bassanio committed to be on the rack. Bassanio says the torment is due to the doubt whether he will be able to choose correctly. This is taking away his peace of mind; so he wants to make the choice fast.

Question 4.
What has been spoken by Portia earlier that reveals her feelings for Bassanio?
Answer:
Portia had revealed her feelings by asking Bassanio to stay back and wait a while before making the choice. She says his eyes have cast a spell on her and divided her. One half is his and the other half is also his as she gives herself to Bassanio.

Question 5.
What’s the significance of this scene?
Answer:
This is the famous casket scene that makes the drama very popular. The theme of appearance and reality culminates in this scene. All that glitters is not gold; even humble and not so good looking things have value. The others who chose gold and silver were blinded by pride and desire for worldly things. It is Bassanio, guided by true love makes the right choice and wins the hand of Portia.

3. Portia :
Away then ! I am lock’d in one of them :
If you do love me, you will find me out.
Nerissa and the rest, stand all aloof.
Let music sound while he doth make his choice;
Then, if he lose, he makes a swan-like end,
Fading in music : that the comparison
May stand more proper, my eye shall be the stream
And watery death-bed for him.

Question 1.
What does Portia mean by, ‘Away then’? Is she happy in saying this? Give reason.
Answer:
Portia is asking Bassanio to go ahead with the choice of the casket. She is not very happy as she is anxious about the outcome. She wants to enjoy his ‘ company at least for a month or so, but if he makes a wrong choice, he’ll have to leave her.

Question 2.
Explain ‘I’m locked in one of them’. What is Nerissa and others asked to do?
Answer:
Portia shows the caskets and says that her portrait is locked in one of them. The one with her portrait is the right choice. Nerissa and others are asked to stand a little distance away, so that Bassanio can make the choice.

Question 3.
Why should the music sound?
Answer:
The music should sound so that the right atmosphere is created for the choice. It is also to soothe the tension. The music may be to warn Bassanio against giving importance to appearance over less showy things.

Question 4.
What contemporary belief about swans is expressed here?
Answer:
The contemporary belief expressed is that swans sing only once, just before they die. In fact, swan just disappears into a distance, singing its last song.

Question 5.
What does Portia want to do to make the comparison more proper?
Answer:
Portia compares Bassanio to a swan. To make the comparison more proper, she says that her tears will become the stream in which the swan will drown itself. If he fails to make the right choice, he’ll have to leave and that will drown Portia in grief. The stream will be Bassanio’s grave, as he’ll be seen no more.

Question 6.
What music will be played if Bassanio wins?
Answer:
If Bassanio makes the right choice, the music will be like the sound of the trumpet, when loyal subjects bow before the newly crowned king. It will be like the melodious sound that reaches the ear of a dreaming bridegroom at dawn, to call him for his marriage.

4. Portia :
Now he goes,
With no less presence, but with much more love,
Than young Alcides, when he did redeem
The virgin tribute paid by howling Troy
To the sea-monster.

Question 1 .
Who is the ‘he’ mentioned in the first line? Who is Alcides?
Answer:
The ‘he’ mentioned here is Bassanio who is venturing to make his choice of the caskets. Alcides was Hercules, the Greek hero who saved the daughter of the Trojan king from a sea monster. He was famous for his courage.

Question 2.
Why is the ‘he’ compared to Alcides?
Answer:
Bassanio is being compared to Hercules or Alcides as he is also venturing for a prize in the form of Portia. His mission is also adventurous and risky as the attempt of Alcides who had to rescue the princess who was being given as a sacrifice to a sea monster.

Question 3.
What adventurous deed did Alcides do? How is his act is compared to the act ‘he’ is going to make?
Answer:
Alcides rescued Hesoine, the virgin princess of Troy, from being sacrificed as a virgin tribute to a sea monster. Alcides did it not for love, but for the horses offered as a reward. Portia imagines herself as Heroine and Bassanio rescuing her with more love than Alcides had for the girl.

Question 4.
Give the meaning of ‘virgin tribute’ and ‘howling Troy’.
Answer:
Virgin tribute is the sacrifice of unmarried daughter of the Trojan king to appease the sea monster. The women of Troy were grief stricken to see this pitiable sight and cried loudly in miseiy.

Question 5.
In what state of mind is Portia now?
Answer:
Portia is full of anxiety about the outcome of the choice. Bassanio’s success will give her life and happiness. She will watch the choice with more anxiety than Bassanio shows although he is the one going to make the choice.

5. Bassanio :
So may the outward shows be least themselves :
The world is still deceiv’d with ornament.
In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt
But, being season’d with a gracious voice,
Obscures the show of evil ? In religion,
What damned error, but some sober brow
Will bless it and approve it with a text.
Hiding the grossness with fair ornament ?
There is no vice so simple but assumes
Some mark of virtue on his outward parts.

Question 1.
Bring out the context of the passage.
Answer:
Bassanio is about to make the choice in this last of the casket scenes. He was shown the caskets by Portia and was asked to wait before making his choice, but Bassanio can’t stand the tension and decides to go for it. Portia orders for music to ease the tension. It warns Bassanio against choosing according to appearance.

Question 2.
What major theme of the play is dealt with in this extract?
Answer:
The theme of appearance against reality is the theme dealt within the extract. The world is always misled with outward show.

Question 3.
What two examples are given by Bassanio to prove his point?
Answer:
Bassanio gives examples from the Law and religion. In the law court, a case most dishonest may be pleaded with utmost eloquence to conceal the face of the evil. In religion some pious looking person may do a sin but justify it with verses from the scriptures. A vice is concealed by the appearance of virtue.

Question 4.
Explain the last two lines of the extract.
Answer:
The last two lines means that an evil may not have the least element of goodness in it and not the least touch of grace about it; but it is possible for that evil to wear some mark of virtue on its outward appearance.

Question 5.
What does Bassanio say about cowards soon after this?
Answer:
Bassanio says that cowards with hearts are as deceptive as a sand staircase. They may wear a beard like that of Hercules or the frowning Mars but on close observation; they turn out to be lily livered cowards. They show off as though they are most courageous and hard to deal with.

6. Bassanio :
Therefore, thou gaudy gold,
Hard food for Midas, I will none of thee;
Nor none of thee, thou pale and common drudge
‘Tween man and man : but thou, thou meagre lead,
Which rather threaten’st than dost promise aught,
Thy paleness moves me more than eloquence,
And here choose I: joy be the consequence !

Question 1.
What does the speaker say about beauty before this extract? What idea is brought out here?
Answer:
Bassanio says that artificial beauty can be purchased by weight in a chemist’s shop and those who wear most of this artificial make up are light, in character. The idea that one should not go by appearance is brought out. Gaudy things are for show; they lack value.

Question 2.
Why does the speaker talk about crispy golden locks earlier? What do they turn out to be at times?
Answer:
The speaker talks about crispy golden locks again to reinforce the idea that appearance is deceptive. Beautiful, crispy locks may be a wig, made by hair borrowed from another head that may be lying now in a tomb. Outward shows are treacherous shores of a dangerous sea at times.

Question 3.
Who is ‘Midas’? What was hard food for him? Why?
Answer:
Midas was the mythical king of Phrygia from Greek mythology. He had asked for the boon that everything he touched should turn to gold. When he touched his food, it turned to gold and he could not eat it. Gold was hard food for him. Therefore, he remained hungry. Then he realized his foolishness

Question 4.
Why does Bassanio not choose the golden casket?
Answer:
Bassanio doesn’t choose the golden casket as he feels that, all that glitters is not gold. It may invite you to its outward show but deceives you rvhen it comes to reality. Thus, he rejects the gold casket with its inviting inscription.

Question 5.
What does Bassanio call the silver casket? Why? Why does Bassanio choose the lead casket?
Answer:
Bassanio calls the silver casket ‘thou pale common drudge’. He considers it as an ordinary slave passing from hand to hand as coins. He chooses the lead casket as the ugly material seems to warn rather than promise anything. The plain message on it moves him than the eloquent words engraved on the other caskets.

Question 6.
What does he find inside the lead casket? What does he say about the thing found inside it?
Answer:
Bassanio finds Portia’s portrait inside the lead casket. He says only a demy god could have created such a lovely picture which is almost like the person herself. The eyes seem to move, lips be slightly parted as though they fire in motion. Her hair is as though the artist has worked like a spider spinning a golden web to entrap the hearts of men. But all his praises seem to do injustice to her portrait just as the portrait does underestimate the original beauty, that is, Portia herself.

7. Portia :
Myself and what is mine, to you and yours
Is now converted : but now I was the lord
Of this fair mansion, master oj my servants,
Queen o’er myself; and even now, but now.
This house, these servants, and this same myself
Are yours, my lord’s. I give them with this ring;
Which when you partfrom, lose, or give away,
Let it presage the ruin of your love,
And be my vantage to exclaim on you.

Question 1.
Where are Portia and Bassanio? Two other people are also present. Name them.
Answer:
Portia and Bassanio are in Belmont, in a room in Portia’s house. Gratiano and Nerissa are also present there.

Question 2.
Which possession does Portia want to transfer to Bassanio? What does this show of her character?
Answer:
Portia offers herself, her house, her servants and a ring to Bassanio. She, like a true wife, generously offers everything to Bassanio. This shows her deep love for her husband and desire to please him.

Question 3.
In what ways does Portia want to excel herself?
Answer:
Portia wants to excel herself in many ways. She wants to be a thousand times more beautiful, ten thousand times richer and many times better in virtues, property and friends. She calls herself inexperienced, untrained and uneducated girl but she is happy that she is young enough and capable enough to improve.

Question 4.
On what condition does she give the ring to Bassanio?
Answer:
Portia gives an expensive ring to Bassanio, saying that he should not part with it at any time, at any cost. If and when he parts with it, it’ll be a sign of his diminishing love for her and that will give her an opportunity to accuse him for that.

Question 5.
Explain the last two lines of the extract. How do these become significant later in the play?
Answer:
The last two lines mean that if Bassanio gives the ring away that will be a sign that his love is dead and Portia will take it as an opportunity to accuse him of that. These words become significant later in the play, as Bassanio feels obliged to give the ring to the lawyer who asks for it as the fee for rescuing Antonio. Portia berates him for giving away the ring without revealing herself as the lawyer. This is a source of humor in the ring episode.

Question 6.
What does Bassanio say in reply to this speech of Portia?
Answer:
Bassanio says that he is deprived of words. Only blood running in his veins can show his emotions. There is so much confusion in his thoughts like the one that follows after the speech of a prince, amid the applause of the delighted audience. His confused joy cannot be expressed. He promises that when the ring leaves his finger it’d be a sign that Bassanio is dead. In other words, he’ll not part with that ring till he dies.

8. Salerio :
Not one, my lord.
Besides, it should appear, that if he had
The present money to discharge the Jew,
He would not take it. Never did I know
A creature, that did bear the shape of man,
So keen and greedy to confound a man.

Question 1.
To whom is Salerio speaking? Where is he? Who else are with him?
Answer:
Salerio is speaking to Bassanio. He is in Belmont, in Portia’s house where the caskets are kept. Lorenzo, Jessica and Portia are with him.

Question 2.
What is Salerio referring as ‘No one’? What has he brought for Bassanio? What’s the content of that?
Answer:
When Bassanio asks Salerio to confirm that no ship of Antonio has escaped from getting lost, he says not a single one. He has brought a letter from Antonio addressed to Bassanio. The content of the letter is that Antonio’s ships have miscarried, his creditors are mercilessly troubling him, his resources are very low, and the Jew is waiting for the forfeiture. If he pays for the penalty, he will not be alive and he wants to meet Bassanio before he dies. If Bassanio fulfills his wish, all debts owed to Antonio will be cleared.

Question 3.
According to the speaker, what would not the Jew do? How is he describing the Jew in this extract?
Answer:
According to Salerio, even if Antonio pays the money to the Jew, it’ll be too late, as the time for the forfeiture is over and as per the condition, he will insist on taking one pound of flesh. He describes the Jew as a creature that has taken the shape of a man, who is so keen and greedy to bring ruin to another man.

Question 4.
What does the speaker say about the efforts of the Jew in extracting the forfeiture?
Answer:
The Jew urges the duke at morning and at night to take speedy actions. He threatens legal actions against the country’s legal system, if he is denied justice. Twenty merchants, the duke himself and the noblemen of the highest rank have tried to persuade him but no one is able to prevent him from his revengeful claim.

Question 5.
What does Jessica say about her father just after this extract?
Answer:
Jessica says that she had heard her father conversing with Tubal and other Jews that he would rather have a pound of Antonio’s flesh than twenty times the value of the debt. She says that she knows well that unless the law and the higher powers intervene, it is going to be tough for Antonio.

9. Portia :
What, no more ?
Pay him six thousand, and deface the bond;
Double six thousand, and then treble that,
Before a friend of this description
Shall lose a hair through Bassanio’s fault.
First go with me to church and call me wife,
And then away to Venice to your friend;
For never shall you lie by Portia’s side
With an unquiet soul.

Question 1.
To what information does Portia say, ‘What no more? In what way had Bassanio praised Antonio just before this?
Answer:
When Portia comes to know that the debt owed by Antonio is only three thousand ducats, Portia says ‘What no more?’ Bassanio had praised Antonio as his dearest friend and kindest man with the best of intention who never gets tired of showing kindness to others. He displays the old spirits of Roman honor more than any other person in Italy.

Question 2.
What does Portia advice Bassanio regarding the bond? What does it show of her character?
Answer:
Portia advises Bassanio to pay Shylock six thousand ducats and cancel the bond. If it is not enough, he should double the six thousand and multiply that by three. This shows that she is generous at heart. As a true wife, she considers her husband’s honor and problems as hers and she values his friendship.

Question 3.
What does she tell Bassanio to do before he leaves? Why does she want Bassanio to leave immediately?
Answer:
Portia tells Bassanio to go to church, marry her, and then go to the rescue of his friend. She wants Bassanio to leave immediately as she knows that Bassanio’s mind will be troubled as long as his friend is in dire trouble. She doesn’t like her husband to be in a distraught condition when he is with her. Moreover, it is his duty to be with his friend who has helped him in spite of the risk to his life.

Question 4.
How will Portia and Nerissa spend the days of separation? What does Bassanio promise his wife at the end of the scene?
Answer:
Portia and Nerissa will live as unmarried women or widows. Bassanio promises his wife that he will hurry up and come back to Belmont as soon as possible. No bed will be guilty of his stay; no rest will keep him separated from his wife.

Question 5.
What is Portia actually going to do? Does she succeed in her mission?
Answer:
Portia along with Nerissa is planning to go to Venice dressed in male attire to argue the case for Antonio. Yes, she succeeds in saving Antonio with her argument that not a drop of blood should be shed while taking the flesh.

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Call of the Wild Summary by Jack Londan

Call of the Wild by Jack Londan About the Author

Born : John Griffith Chaney
January 12,1876 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation : Novelist, Journalist, short storywriter and essayist
Literary movement : Realism, Naturalism
Died : November 22,1916 (aged 40) Glen Ellen, California, (U.S.)

John Griffith “Jack” London was born on January 12, 1876. Jack London was an American novelist, journalist, social-activist and short-story writer, whose works deal romantically with elemental struggles for survival. He was the highest paid and the most popular of all living writers. Because of early financial difficulties, he was largely self educated past grammar school.

London spent time in the Klondike during the Gold Rush. His first work was published in 1898. From there he went on to write such American classics as Call of the Wild, Sea Wolf, and White Fang. London was a boxing fan and an avid amateur boxer. “A Piece of Steak” is a tale about a match between older and younger boxers. It contrasts the differing experiences of youth and age but also raises the social question of the treatment of aging workers. Several of London’s stories would today be classified as science fiction.

“The Unparalleled Invasion” describes germ warfare against China; “Goliath” is about an irresistible energy weapon; “The Shadow and the Flash” is a tale about two brothers who take different routes to achieving invisibility; “A Relic of the Pliocene” is a tale about an encounter of a modern-day man with a mammoth. “The Red One” is a late story from a period when London was intrigued by the theories of the psychiatrist and writer, Jung. It tells of an island tribe held in thrall by an extraterrestrial object.

Some nineteen original collections of short stories were published during London’s brief life or shortly after his death. There have been several posthumous anthologies drawn from this pool of stories. Many of these stories were located in the Klondike and the Pacific. A collection of Jack London’s San Francisco Stories was published in October 2010, by Sydney Samizdat Press.

London’s “strength of utterance” is at its height in his stories, and they are painstakingly well-constructed. “To Build a Fire” is the best known of all his stories. In The Youth’s Companion in 1902, London offered a second, more severe take on the man’s predicament in “The Century Magazine” in 1908. Reading both, provides in illustration of London’s growth and maturation as a writer. As Labor (1994) observes. “To compare the two versions is itself an instructive lesson in what distinguished a great work of literary art from a good children’s story”. London’s most famous novels are “The Call of the Wild”, “White Fang”, “The Sea-Wolf”, “The Iron Heel”, and “Martin Eden”.

In a letter dated Dec 27, 1901, London’s Macmillan publisher George Platt Brett Sr. said, “He believed Jack’s fiction, represented ‘the very best kind of work’, done in America.” Jack London was an uncomfortable novelist, who forms too long for his natural impatience and the quickness of his mind. His novels, even the best of them, are hugely flawed.

Some critics have said that his novels are episodic and resemble linked short stories. “The Star Rover”, the magnificent experiment, is actually a series of short stories connected by a unifying device. London died on November 22, 1916, sleeping in the porch in a cottage on his arch. London had been a robust man but had suffered several serious illnesses. At the time of his death, he suffered from dysentery, late-stage alcoholism, and uremia; he was in extreme pain and taking morphine. London’s ashes were buried on his property not far from the Wolf House.

London’s funeral took place on November 26,1916, attended only by close friends, relatives, and workers of the property. In accordance with his wishes, he was cremated and buried next to some pioneer children, under a rock that belonged to the Wolf House. After Chairman’s death in 1955, she was also cremated and then buried with her husband in the same simple spot that her husband chose. The grave is marked by a mossy boulder and the property was later preserved as Jack London Slate Historic Park, in Glen Ellen, California.

Call of the Wild Summary Introduction of the Novel

• Call of the Wild Chapter 1 Summary
• Call of the Wild Chapter 2 Summary
• Call of the Wild Chapter 3 Summary
• Call of the Wild Chapter 4 Summary
• Call of the Wild Chapter 5 Summary
• Call of the Wild Chapter 6 Summary
• Call of the Wild Chapter 7 Summary

The Call of the Wild is a short adventure novel by Jack London, published in 1903, and set in Yukon, Canada, during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named Buck. The story opens at a ranch in Santa Clara Valley, California, when Buck is stolen from his home and sold into service as a sled dog in Alaska. He becomes progressively feral in the harsh environment, where he is forced to fight to survive and dominate other dogs. By the end, he sheds the veneer of civilization, and relies on primordial instinct and learned experience to emerge as a leader in the wild.

London spent almost a year in the Yukon, and his observations form much of the material for the/his book. The story was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post, in the summer of 1903, and was published a month later in book form. The book’s great popularity and success made a reputation for London. As early as 1935, the story was adapted to film, and there has since been several more cinematic adaptations.

Call of the Wild Summary Important Characters

Buck : The protagonist of our story, Buck is part St. Bernard, part Scotch shepherd. At the beginning of the story, Buck is a domesticated, but a typical dog who lives in the home of Judge Miller in California. After being kidnapped and taken to Alaska to become a sled-dog, Buck’s wild nature is reawakened, and he slowly returns to the ways of his ancestors.

Spitz : An experienced and clever Husky, Spitz is the original lead dog of Buck’s dogsled team. He fears and hates Buck, whom he sees as a rival. He is eventually killed by Buck in a fight for leadership.

Curly : A sweet Newfoundland dog, one of Buck’s first companions after he has been kidnapped. She is unexpectedly killed for trying to make friendly advances towards another dog.

Dave : Another one of Buck’s first companions, he is one of the most knowledgeable dogs on the team. Mostly aloof, new life springs into him the moment he is placed in harshness. Not only does he help teach Buck the procedures, he also embodies pride in his work.

Sol-leks : Another member of the team. Like Dave, he is aloof until attached to sled. At first only wary of being approached on his blind-slide, poor treatment makes Sol-Leks more and more unfriendly.
Billie: Another member of the team. He is good-natured and sweet, and shows Buck how to make a bed in snow. He is killed by Hal.

Joe : Another member of the team, Billie’s brother. Unlike Billie, Joe is always snarling and defensive.
Pike: Another member of the team, referred to as “He rarely gets up on time, and he will steal food and undermine the expedition”. When Buck becomes the leader, he forces Pike to shape up and become member of the team.

Dub : Another member of the team. He is an awkward blunderer who gets blamed for Buck’s thievery.

Dolly: Another member of the team, Dolly goes mad after being bitten by wild huskies, tries to attack Buck, and is killed by Francois.

Skeet: A motherly Irish setter who belongs to John Thornton. She nurses Buck through his recovery and engages him in play.

Nig : A huge black dog who belongs to John Thornton. He has laughing eyes and a good nature.

Lone Wolf: The “wild brother” that Buck meets in the forest. He understands Buck’s wild nature.

Judge Miller: Buck’s original owner. He is presumably a sedate and prosperous man with a large family.

Manuel: The gardener’s helper on Judge Miller’s estate. He kidnaps and sells Buck to fund his gambling habit.

Red sweater : Also known as the man with the club. He metes out discipline to all dogs that will be sold for . sledding. Ruthless in his repeated beatings of unruly creatures such as Buck, he maintains composure and control. He does not beat out of cruelty, it seems. Rather, he looks to teach these dogs the lessons that will allow them to survive in his harsh environment. Buck never forgets the law of the club.

Francois : A Canadian Frenchman, the original dogsled driver. He is knowledgeable and has understanding of . his dogs, but still very strict.

Perrault: Francois’ superior and an agent of the Canadian government. He is admired by Buck for his fearlessness in blazing their trail, disregarding the threat of ice that might break.

Hal : A young man of nineteen or twenty who purchases Buck and his team once they have used up their usefulness to the government. He has ambitions to find gold, but his incompetence and laziness are out of place in the harsh environment. He has no understanding of the dogs, and mistreats them terribly.

Charles : Hal’s brother-in-law, a weak figure who does not say much. He basically follows Hal around and does what he is told.

Mercedes : Sister of Hal, wife of Charles. She is exceedingly self-centered, and spends most of her time crying and complaining.

John Thornton : The man who rescues Buck from Hal’s cruelty. He is by far the most admirable human character in the story, kind but full of the uncompromising strength that is necessary to survive on the trail. John is the ideal master because his nature is so dog-like.

Pete : One of John Thornton’s partners.

Hans : One of John Thornton’s partners.

“Black” Burton : A notorious troublemaker, he picks a fight in a bar and John Thornton steps in.

Matthewson : The man who bets John that Buck cannot pull a ton of weight.

Jim O’Brien : The man who loans John the money to make the bet against Mathewson.

Yeehats : The group of Valley Indians that raids the camp of John Thornton and his companions and kills them. They are terrorized when Buck returns and kills most of them. From then on, they speak of a dog inhabited by the devil that roams the forest.

Call of the Wild Chapter Wise Summary

Call of the Wild Chapter 1 Summary

The story begins in the fall of 1897, at the time of the Klondike Gold Rush. Buck is a large, four year old, one- hundred and forty pound dog, who lives on a ranch owned by Judge Miller in Santa Clara, California, some forty miles south of San Fransciso. Buck, is part St. Bernard and part Scotch Shepherd.

Unlike the other smaller dogs on the ranch, Buck is allowed to roam over the entire property. He goes into the swimming tank, hunts with the Judge’s sons, and escorts the Judge’s daughters on their morning walks. In winter he lies at the feet of Judge in front of the fire in the library. He is like a king who lords it over all the other creatures, and is treated with respect by everyone.

One night, when no one is around, a gardner takes Buck on a walk with a rope on his neck and sells him to a strange man. Buck growls, and is surprised when the man tightens the rope and chokes him. This is the first time Buck has ever been treated badly. He bites the man’s hand, but can’t get away. Buck is put on a train to Seattle with nothing to eat or drink. He’s angry about how he’s being treated.

In the morning, four men come to pick up the crate. They amuse themselves by poking sticks at him. Buck is conveyed to a railway depot, where he is placed in an express car. He stays there for two days and nights, during which he neither eats nor drinks. He is bundled off the train at Seattle, where a man in a red sweater takes charge of him. The man lets Buck out the cage, and Buck attacks him in fury, but the man brutally beats him into submission with a club. Buck is beaten but his spirit is not broken. In the days that follow, more dogs arrive. One day a man named Perrault buys Buck for $300. He can see that Buck is special.

He also buys another dog, Curly, and they all travel by boat with a man named Francois, and two other dogs.
The dogs are turned over to Francois, a swarthy French-Canadian. Buck learns to respect both men, since they are calm and fair. There are two other dogs on the ship, a big dog from Spitzbergen, and a gloomy one named Dave. ‘ Buck encounters snow for the first time.

Call of the Wild Chapter 2 Summary

On Buck’s first day on the Dyea beach, he understands that he has been taken from civilization into a wild, primitive place. Buck’s travelling companion, named Curly, is killed simply for trying to make friendly advances towards a husky dog only half her size. The rest of the dogs in the camp attack and kill Curly when she does not rise. Buck realizes that to survive in this world, he should never go down in a fight. Buck hates Spitz as the latter is a dominating dog.

Francois ties Buck into a harness and sets him to work. Buck has seen horses performing such labour before. He tries his best, responding to Francois’s whip and the nips of Dave. Buck learns quickly and makes good progress. ‘ He learns to stop at “ho” and to move at “mush,” and how to turn and move downhill.

Two more dogs, Billie and Joe, are added to the team. They are both huskies and are brothers. Billie is excessively good-natured, while Joe is sour. Soon another husky, Sol-leks, arrives. He is an old husky with one eye, and he does not like to be approached from his blind side. Buck accidently approaches him from that side once and gets his shoulder slashed. He learns quickly not to repeat the mistake.

That night, Buck had trouble finding a place to sleep. After wandering around the camp, he comes across Billie buried in the snow and proceeds to make his own hole and fall asleep instantly. When he awakes, he forces his way out of the snow. Perrault and Francois are very glad to have Buck. Every night in the camp, Buck is exhausted. He is bigger than the other dogs, and though he receives a larger ration, he never feels satisfied.

He imitates Pike, a new dog, by stealing a whole chunk of bacon and another weaker dog is punished in his place. Buck is placed between Dave and Solleks to receive instruction from them. He also learns to steal; his old morals, learned in Judge Miller’s sunny home, gradually slip away. Old urges and instincts, which belonged to his wild ancestors, begin to assert themselves.

Call of the Wild Chapter 3 Summary

At the beginning of Chapter 3, Buck is tough but quiet and does not start fights. One night, Buck settles down under the shelter of a rock, but when he goes to get his food, he finds the space occupied by Spitz. To everyone’s surprise, Buck becomes furious and he fights Spitz. Just then, they hear Perrault shouting and see almost 80-100 starving huskies charging into the camp.

Perrault and Francois fight them off with clubs, and some of Buck’s teammates get hurt. Buck is attacked by three huskies at once, and his head and shoulder are slashed; Spitz continues to nip at him. Some of the dogs fall through the ice but get pulled out.

Dolly, one of the dogs, goes mad one morning and begins chasing Buck. Francois kills the mad dog with an axe, and Buck is left exhausted from running. Spitz jumps at Buck. Francois punishes Spitz, but from then on, Spitz and Buck are at war. Francois and Perrault realize it, with Francois betting on Buck and Perrault on Spitz. It happens one day when a rabbit runs by the camp.

The whole team of dogs and fifty other dogs from a nearby camp start chasing the rabbit, with Buck in the lead. Spitz finds a shortcut and kills the rabbit, and Buck attacks Spitz. The other dogs wait to see who falls first. Spitz was an experienced and smart fighter, but Buck uses imagination, instinct, and his head. In the end Buck kills Spitz.

Call of the Wild Chapter 4 Summary

The next morning, Francois discovers Spitz missing and Buck covered with wounds. As the dogs are about to be harnessed, Buck trots up to spot that Spitz occupied. Francois brings Sol-leks to the position of leader instead. Buck is furious and springs upon him. He will not let Francois harness the team. But Francois drags Buck away by the scruff of the neck. Sol-leks does not mind giving up the position, but Francois comes back with the club. Buck retreats but then refuses to take his old position. Francois realizes, that he thinks that he has earned the lead position and will be satisfied with nothing less. Buck trots to the lead position and is harnessed in.

Buck forces Pike to carry his share of the load, and he soundly punishes Joe for his bad behaviour. After receiving their orders, Francois and Perrault leave the team in the care of officials, a “Scotch half-breed,” and pass out of Buck’s life for good. The dogs are tired when they reach Dawson, but they are allowed little rest and are soon on their way out with another load. They are treated well, attended to even before the men.

Dave, one of the dogs, becomes terribly ill, but refuses to stop pulling behind the sled. The driver puts sole in his place, meaning to allow him to run easily behind the sled. Dave cannot stand to see another dog doing his work. He runs into the soft snow beside Sol-leks, trying to resume his usual place, is yelping and again attempts to resume his place. Finally, the driver decides it is kinder to allow Dave to pull, for he will die either way. During his final pull, he often falls and is caught in the traces of the sled. The next morning, Dave is too weak to rise. The team is driven ahead some ways, but they cannot ignore the gunshot that rings out. Buck and everyone else know what the shot means.

Call of the Wild Chapter 5 Summary

After arriving at Skagway from Dawson for the second time, the dogs are in a wretched state. The journey took one month. Buck has lost twenty-five pounds in weight. Within four days, Buck and his mates are sold to Charles, a middle-aged man, and Hal, a man of about nineteen. Travelling with the men is Mercedes, who is Charles’s wife and Hal’s sister.

Buck’s new owners are incompetent, and overload the sled. The dogs are unable to move it. Hal calls them lazy and whips them, although Mercedes tries to persuade him not to. An onlooker suggests that Hal help the dogs by freeing the runners of the sled that are frozen in the snow.

When this is done, the dogs are able to pull the sled, but it is so badly loaded, it overturns. The owners reluctantly cut the load in half, and acquire six more dogs, making a total of fourteen. The newcomers, are not of much use, however, and nor does Buck have his heart in the work.

He knows he cannot depend on his new masters, because they do not know how to do anything.They are barely travelling ten miles a day, and it is inevitable they will run short on dog food. One of the dogs,Dub, is injured, and Hal shoots him. Six dogs die of starvation. As the going gets tougher, the three travellers fall to quarrelling.

Mercedes insists on riding on the sled, which adds intolerably to the load pulled by the weak and starving dogs. Hal, Charles and Mercedes are insensitive to the suffering of the animals. But the seven remaining dogs continue to pull the sled, despite their ill-treatment. One day Billie falls and cannot get up. Hal kills him with an axe and cuts him out of the traces. The team knows this fate approaches. The next day Koona goes, but the five remaining struggle on, despite their serious pains. The spring weather is beautiful, but no one can take notice of it.

The ice on the river is beginning to break up, but they manage to reach the camp of John Thornton at the mouth of White River. Thornton tells them to take no more chances on the melting ice. Hal refuses to take his advice and wants to continue. But he cannot persuade his exhausted dogs to get up, so he whips them until they begin to move. But Buck refuses. Hal takes up the club, but Buck will not move. He is too numb.

Thornton intervenes, striking Hal, and telling Hal he will kill him if he hits the dog again. Hal draws a knife, but Thornton knocks it out of his hand. Hal decides to make off without Buck. They pull out from the bank and start off down the river. After a quarter of a mile, the ice break up and the men and dogs are all drowned.

Call of the Wild Chapter 6 Summary

Having frozen his feet that past December, John Thornton walks a slight limp. Staying with Thornton during the spring, Buck’s strength is also restored. Buck’s muscles swell, and flesh returns to cover his bones. He makes friends with John Thornton’s other dogs, Skeet and Nig. They await the raft that will carry them to Dawson. Skeet is motherly and nurses Buck’s wounds during his convalescence. Nig is also quite friendly. The dogs manifest no jealously towards Buck. The kindness of John Thornton arises for them as well. Buck adores him, and goes wild with happiness when Thornton touches him or speaks to him.

He does not even like to lose sight of Thornton, however, Buck retains the wildness that has been growing in him since he was first kidnapped. If a strange dog appears, he fights fiercely, and always prevails. He never shows any mercy. He also hears the call of his wild nature, and apart from Thornton, he no longer has any ties to the human world. Later that year, a man named “Black” Burton, picks a quarrel with Thornton at a bar.

Burton hits him, and is immediately attacked by Buck. He barely escapes with his life, and as a result of his defense of his master, Buck gets a reputation through all the camps in Alaska. Again when John falls into the rapids of a river, Buck aids Hans and Pete in rescuing him and breaks three ribs. That winter, Buck’s fame spreads even farther throughout Alaska, when he wins a bet that Thornton makes in a bar.

The bet is that Buck can start a sled that weighs a thousand pounds. The test takes place in the street outside the bar, and Buck succeeds in his task, breaking the sled out of the ice and pulling it for one hundred yards. This feat of Buck wins sixteen hundred dollars for his master. A man then offers to Buck for twelve hundred dollars, but Thornton is not interested in selling Buck.

Call of the Wild Chapter 7 Summary

The money Buck wins for him enables Thornton to pay off some debts and journey with his partners in search of a fabled lost gold mine that no living man has ever found. They travel east on an unknown trail. Buck leads a team of six dogs 70 miles up the Yukon. Buck is very happy as they trek through the wilderness, fishing, hunting and unthinking of time.

For two years they wander, seeking an ancient cabin and a mythical mine. They never find the mine, but in the spring of the second year they find a “shallow place in a broad valley where the gold showed like yellow butter across the bottom of the washing-pan.”

With little work to do, Buck spends his days by the fire, dreaming once more of that ancient man. In his mind he wanders in this early, undefined world. Buck rightly hears an ancient call deep in the forest. Sometimes he searches for it, sometimes he hears it, springs from his place and runs wild through the forest. One night he hears it more clearly than ever before. He goes into the forest and sees a timber wolf. Wishing to make friends, Buck approaches; but the wolf is afraid of this beast three times his size and flees. Several times this meeting is repeated, until finally the wolf understands Buck’s intentions, and they sniff noses.

For two days he does not leave, but then he hears once more the call of the forest. He starts to wander in the woods, and stays away from the camp for days at a time, hunting and fishing for his food. He exhibits a wild, wolf-like cunning. As a fearsome hunter, he kills a moose by separating it from the herd and remorselessly pursuing and attacking it. He shows great patience and ferocity. It takes him four days to pull the moose down.

When he returns to Thornton’s camp, he finds it has been overrun by Yeehat Indians. The Yeehats are gleefully dancing. Three miles out he sees a fresh trail, and he becomes more cautious. Suddenly he comes across the body of Nig, an arrow sticking from his head. He passes the dog almost dead, and then he passes the body of Hans. He sees Yeehat Indians dancing around the wreckage of the camp.

Buck leaps at the Indians, ripping open the throat of the chief, and keeps killing until the rest of the tribe runs away in terror. For a few moments, Buck pursues them, killing a few more as they attempt to flee. Buck sees Pete’s body, and then he follows the scent to the lake, where he knows John Thornton’s body lies. Skeet, loyal to the end, lies dead just by the lake. Buck sits and contemplates the ache in his heart. He feels a bit better only when he looks at the bodies of the men he has killed. He realizes that men are no match for dogs without their arrows, clubs and spears.

For years Buck runs in the wild as a wolf. The Yeehats say a Ghost Dog that runs at the head of the pack, and they are afraid of him. They know he continues on occasion to kill human hunters. They do not enter the valley where he lives.

We have decided to create the most comprehensive English Summary that will help students with learning and understanding.

Animal Farm Chapter 2 Summary

Soon after the meeting, something unusual happened at Manor Farm. Old Major died peacefully in his sleep, three days after the meeting took place. The animals buried him in the farm’s orchard. In the three months that followed, the most intelligent of the animals began meeting regularly. Even though they didn’t know when the Rebellion would happen, yet, they organized for it. The work of organizing and teaching fell upon the pigs, who were considered to be the cleverest of all animals.

The two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, took the responsibility upon themselves. Snowball was a vivacious pig, whereas Napoleon was a large, rather fierce pig who was not much of a talker. Another pig named Squealer, joined Napoleon and Snowball, as he was well known for his powers of speech and persuasion. The three pigs worked together to formalize old Major’s ideas into a system of ideas called ‘Animalism’.

They held several secret meetings to expound the principles of Animalism to others. The pigs faced difficulty to convince other animals about the need for Rebellion. Some wondered why they should work for the Rebellion that might not happen in their life times. Among them was Moses, the raven, who promised them that they would go to a land of plenty called ‘Sugarcandy Mountain’, when they died. Boxer and Clover proved helpful in winning the animals over to the cause, because the animals believed the horses to be trustworthy.

Soon the animals got the opportunity to rebel against Mr. Jones who had lately fallen into evil ways. He lost a lawsuit and therefore, continued to neglect the farm and drank too much. His men were dishonest who also neglected the farm and, thus the farm kept deteriorating and the animals were kept underfed.

One Saturday night, Mr. Jones got drunk in the Red Lion and forgot to feed the animals. The cows broke in the door of the store shed and, thus all animals helped themselves to food. When Mr Jones tried to stop and whip the animals, they fought back. Jones, his family and his men ran out of the farm.

The animals, seeing what they had accomplished and realizing that they were free, destroyed the farmer’s tools and the symbols of their bondage, such as bits, nose rings and halters. They burned everything that reminded them of their oppressor. After that, they all sang ‘Beasts of England’ seven times before they could go to sleep.

The next morning the animals hurled themselves into the air with leaps of excitement and gazed around in the morning light. They all agreed on the point that no animal must ever live there. In the meantime, the pigs had taught themselves to read and write and renamed Manor Farm as Animal Farm.

On the bam wall they wrote the basic tenets of Animalism as Seven Commandments :

• Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
• Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
• No animal shall wear clothes.
• No animal shall sleep in a bed.
• No animal shall drink alcohol.
• No animal shall kill any other animal.
• All animals are equal.

All animals agreed to them. Just before the animals moved out to the hayfield to harvest, they realized that the cows needed milking, so the pigs decided to do the job. When the animals wondered about what would be done with the buckets of milk, Napoleon told them not to worry. Soon after when the animals returned from the hayfield, they noticed that the milk in the buckets had disappeared.

Animal Farm Chapter 2 Summary Word Meaning

• Squealer – One who reveals confidential information in return for money.
• Unalterable – Not capable of being changed.
• Rebellion – Organized opposition to authority
• Manor – The land estate of a lord, including the house on it.
• Nimble – Moving quickly and lightly
• Vivacious – Vigorous and animated
• Apathy – An absence of emotion or enthusiasm
• Expound – Add details, as to an account or idea.
• Ecstasy – A state of elated bliss
• Persuasive – Intended or having the power to induce action or belief.

Animal Farm Chapter 2 Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
These three had elaborated Old Major’s teachings into a complete system of thought, to which they gave them the name of Animalism.
(i) Who had elaborated on Old Major’s teachings?
(ii) When and where did they hold their secret meetings? How did the meetings end?
(iii) What had the Old Major said about the nature of this life of ours’?
(iv) Who were the most faithful disciples? How did they contribute towards the preparations for the rebellion?
(v) Mention any two changes that were seen on the farm in the days immediately after the rebellion? How would you justify such a change ?
Answer:
(i) Two young boars, Snowball and Napolean, and a small fat pig Squealer, had elaborated on Old Major’s teaching.

(ii) The secret meetings were held several nights a week in barn, when Mr. Jones was fast asleep. The meetings always ended with the singing of song “Beasts of England” by Boxer and Clover leading other animals.

(iii) The Old Major said that nature of their lives (animal lives) was miserable, laborious and short. Animals were born, given as much food as would keep the breath in their bodies. And those of them who were capable were forced to work to the last of their strength in their bodies. The very instant their usefulness had come to an end, the animals were killed cruelly or slaughtered. No animal in England knew the meaning of happiness or leisure after it was a year old; no animal in England was free. The life of an animal was one of misery or slavery.

(iv) The most faithful disciples were the two cart-horses, Boxer and Clover. They accepted the pigs as their teachers, the two of them absorbed everything they were told, and passed it on to the other animals by simple arguments. They were the unfoiling attendants to the secret meetings in the barn and led the other animals in to singing ‘Beasts of England’, during the conclusion of the meetings.

(v) The two changes that took place on the farm after the rebellion were, firstly, Snowball changes the sign reading ‘Manor Farm’ to ‘Animal Farm’. Secondly, on the barn wall they wrote the basic tenets of Animalism as Seven Commandments. The change was justified because their owner Mr. Jones, ill-treated, and starved them to death. Nobody wants to lead a slave-life.

Question 2.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
These three had elaborated Old Major’s teachings into a complete system of thought, to which they gave them name of Animalism.
(i) Who had elaborated on Old Major’s teachings ?
(ii) When and where did they hold their secret meetings ? How did the meetings end ?
(iii) What had the Old Major said about the ‘nature of this life of ours’ ?
(iv) Who were the most faithful disciples ? How did they contribute towards the preparations for the rebellion?
(v) How did the animals celebrate the day after the rebellion ?
Answer:
(i) Two young boars, Snowball and Napoleon, and a small fat pig Squealer, had elaborated on Old Major’s teachings.

(ii) The secret meetings were held several nights a week in barn, when Mr. Jones was fast asleep. The meetings always ended with the singing of song “Beasts of England” by Boxer, and Clover leading other animals.

(iii) The Old Major said that nature of their lives (animal lives) was miserable, laborious and short. Animals were born, given as much food as would keep the breath in their bodies. And those of them who were capable were forced to work to the last of their strength in their bodies. The very instant their usefulness had come to an end, the animals were killed cruelly or slaughtered. No animal in England knew the meaning of happiness or leisure after it was a year old; no animal in England was free. The life of an animal was one of misery or slavery.

(iv) The most faithful disciples were the two cart-horses, Boxer and Clover. They accepted the pigs as their teachers, the two of them absorbed everything that they were told, and passed it on to the other animals by simple arguments. They were the unfoiling attendants to the secret meetings in the bam and led the other animals in to singing ‘Beasts of England’ during the conclusion of the meetings.

(v) The day after the rebellion, the animals woke up early as usual and raced out into the pasture together. They rushed to the top of a knoll and gazed around them in the clear morning light. In ecstasy, the animals gambolled round and round, they hurled themselves into the air in great leaps of excitement. They rolled in the dew, cropped mouthfuls of the sweet summer grass. They kicked up clods of the block earth and snuffed its rich scent, made a tow of inspection of the whole farm and surveyed with speechless admiration the plough land, the hayfield, the orchard, the pool, the spinney.

Question 3.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
Three nights later Old Major died peacefully in his sleep. His body was buried at the foot of the orchard. This was Piaetice the important event and epnodei of the stouf. Each incident in the novel mint he given due importance. early in March. During the next three months there was much secret activity.
(i) Who is the Old Major?
(ii) What dream did the Major have?
(iii) What secret activity was going on in the farm?
(iv) Who was responsible for expounding the teachings of the Old Major?
(v) Who was Moses? What lies was he spreading?
Answer:
(i) The Old Major was a prized Middle White Boar living at the Manor Farm, through the name under which he had been exhibited was, ‘Willingdon Beauty’. He was highly regarded by the residents of the farm.

(ii) The Old Major talked about the dream that he had the previous night. In his dream, all men had vanished from Earth. It also reminded him of a song, ‘Beasts of England’, that he had long forgotten.

(iii) The Major had sown the seeds of rebellion in the hearts of the residents of the farm. After his speech, they all started to prepare for the rebellion to happen not knowing when it would actually happen. They began teaching and organising themselves.

(iv) The work of teaching and organising the other animals fell naturally upon the pigs, who were generally considered the cleverest of the animals. Two of them were young boars named Snowball and Napoleon. The others were porkers and the best known amongst them was a pig named Squealer.

(v) The pigs were trying to convince the animals that the rebellion was much needed. But they had a hard time counteracting the lies put about by Moses, the tame raven. He was Jones’ special pet. He kept telling the animals that he knew of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy Mountain, to which all the animals went when they died.

Question 4.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
‘Now as it turned out, the Rebellion was achieved much earlier and more easily than anyone had expected.’
(i) What was the “Rebellion”?
(ii) How was it achieved?
(iii) Whose idea was it and what preparations were required to achieve it?
(iv) Why do you think it was easily achieved?
(v) Describe the animals’ reaction after achieving success in the Rebellion.
Answer:
(i) The Farm animals depicted a rebellion for their freedom from the human tyranny. The farm animals revolted because of farmer Jones’ malnourishment and disinterest in them.

(ii) The thoughts which Old Major had instilled in his fellow comrades lived on and inspired them. They started to prepare for the rebellion not knowing when it would happen.

(iii) The idea of rebellion was planted by Old Major who had a vision of a farm owned by animals, who would work together for the common goal. His ideas were taken and expanded by the three clever pigs, Napoleon, Snowball and Squealer.

(iv) The rebellion happened more quickly than expected. Mr. Jones had been a good farmer before, but lately he had fallen into evil ways. He did not care much for the farm and the animals. One night Mr. Jones got drunk in the Red Lion and forgot to feed the animals. One of the cows broke into the store shed and all the other animals also started to help themselves. When Jones and four of his farmhands started whipping the animals to get them under control, they turned and butted and kicked, driving Jones off his farm. His wife packed her bags quickly and followed. Mr. Jones was expelled and his farm belonged to the animals now.

(v) The animals could hardly believe their luck. They searched the farm to ascertain if any of the humans were hiding there. Then they reached back to the farm buildings to wipe out the last traces of Jones hated reign. They burned everything reminding of Jones. They sang ‘Beasts of England1 and slept as they had never slept before. The merry making corginued even on the next day.

Question 5.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
In a very little while, the animals had destroyed everything that reminded them of Mr Jones. Napoleon then led them back to the store-shed and served out a double ration of com to everybody, with two biscuits for each dog.
(i) Which major incident took place before this extract?
(ii) Why were the animals destroying the things belonging to Mr. Jones?
(iii) What happened right after this extract?
(iv) What did the animals do the very next morning?
(v) Later in the chapter, the pigs give out the Seven Commandments. What were these?
Answer:
(i) Just before this extract, the rebellion had happened. However, it had happened before anyone had expected it to occur. Mr Jones had forgotten to feed the animals one day. The animals were not able to bear the hunger and broke free. Then they scared Jones out of the farm.

(ii) The animals were living under the tyrannical rule of Mr Jones. They had been exploited by him. They were starved and had suffered many of his atrocities. But when he was overthrown, they did not want to see his belongings. These reminded them of the suffering and hence, they destroyed them.

(iii) After the animals had destroyed everything that reminded them of Mr Jones, they sang ’Beasts of England’ from beginning to end seven times running, and after that they settled down for the night and slept as they had never slept before.

(iv) The animals raced out into the pasture together. They went to the knoll from where they could see the whole farm. They enjoyed in the natural surroundings and were very happy to see that the whole farm belonged to them now. ’

(v) The pigs revealed that during the past three months they had taught themselves to read and write. Snowball took a brush and renamed the Manor Farm as Animal Farm. They further explained that they had reduced the principles of Animalism to Seven Commandments.

These would become an unalterable law by which all the animals on the Animal Farm must live ever after. They ran thus:

• Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
• Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
• No animal shall wear clothes.
• No animal shall sleep in a bed.
• No animal shall drink alcohol.
• No animal shall kill any other animal.
• All animals are equal.

Question 6.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
The Commandments were written on the tarred wall in great white letters that could be read thirty yards away.
(i) What were the Commandments?
(ii) Why did the animals need Commandments?
(iii) Who devised the Commandments and who wrote them on the wall?
(iv) Were the animals able to read and learn all the Commandments?
(v) What was the significance of the Seven Commandments in the ’Animal Farm1?
Answer:
(i) The Seven Commandments were as follow :

• Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
• Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
• No animal shall wear clothes.
• No animal shall sleep in a bed.
• No animal shall drink alcohol.
• No animal shall kill any other animal.
• All animals are equal.

(ii) The animals needed commandments, because principles of Animalism were reduced to Seven Commandments and this will help all the animals of the farm to follow such unalterable law if they wanted to live happily ever after on the Animal Farm.

(iii) The three pigs, Napoleon, Snowball and Squealer, devised the commandments and Snowball who was best at writing them on the wall.

(iv) No, not all the animals were able to read and learn all the commandments. Snowball read it aloud for the benefits of others. All the animals nodded in complete agreement, and the cleverer ones at once began to learn the commandments

(v) Without law and order, it is nearly proven that civilization will fail. Because of this, Snowball saw it necessary to create a set of rules for the animals on the newly evolving farm, in Seven Commandments.

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The Merchant of Venice Act 2 Scene 2 Summary Workbook Answers

The Merchant of Venice Act 2 Scene 2 Summary

The scene shifts to Venice and it offers a humorous relief. Launcelot Gobo, the clown, dominates this scene. As the scene opens, the clown is debating with himself whether to continue with Shylock or not. A ‘fiend’ urges him to leave his present employment. His conscience urges him to be loyal to his master and stick on.

Ultimately, he decides to run away. The comic situation builds up when Old Gobo makes his appearance. The blind father does not recognize his son at first. He seeks direction to Shylock’s house without realizing that the dim image before him is his son.

Launcelot gives him crazy directions where he would meet ‘Master Launcelot’. Continuing the joke, he tells old gobo that Master Launcelot is dead. After much clowning and double talk, he finally reveals his identity and kneels before his father for blessings. Bassanio enters. The two Gobos intimate him of the plan of Launcelot leaving the service of Shylock. Bassanio is ready to employ him.

He orders for new livery for Launcelot. Gratiano enters, seeking to go to Belmont with Bassanio. Bassanio agrees thinking that Gratiano will curb his high spirits; Gratiano suggests revelry before they leave and Bassanio consents. All look forward to festivity.

The Merchant of Venice Act 2 Scene 2 Summary Word Meanings

1. fiend – devil
2. heed – care
3. aforesaid – said before
4. scorn – contemptuous
5. pack – go
6. hanging-heart – clinging to heart
7. budge – move
8. ruled – guided
9. reverence – respect
10. incarnation – in human form
11. sand-blind – half blind
12. high-gravel blind – almost completely blind
13. marry – by the Virgin Mary
14. sonties – saints, raise the waters – bring tears
15. ergo – therefore
16. the sisters three – the sisters of fates or destinies
17. staff – support
18. cudgel – short stick for support
19. hovel post – main support of a poor building
20. fill-horse – cart horse
21. famished – starved
22. liveries – uniforms
23. hasted – speeded up
24. at the farthest – at the latest
25. anon – at once
26. gramerci – many thanks
27. infection – wrong word used for affection
28. cater-cousins – good friends
29. fructify – wrongly used for notify
30. suit – request
31. impertinent – relevant
32. defect – used for effect
33. preferment – promotion
34. guarded – more ornamented
35. table – palm
36. trifle – unimportant
37. maids – unmarried girls
38. peril – danger
39. wench – lady
40. besto’wd – placed in the boat
41. hie – hurry
42. yonder – over there
43. rude – unmannerly
44. bold – loud
45. parts – qualities
46. pray – request
47. allay – moderate
48. skipping – playful
49. misconstrued – misunderstood
50. wear – carry
51. demurely – grave
52. civility – good manners
53. bearing – conduct
54. gauge – judge
55. suit of mirth – party dress or amusing manner
56. purpose – intend
57. merriment – enjoyment.

The Merchant of Venice Act 2 Scene 2 Summary Questions and Answers

1. Launcelot:
To be ruled by my
conscience, I should stay with the Jew my master, who (God bless the mark !)
is a king of devil; and, to run away from the
Jew, I should be ruled by the fiend, who (saving your reverence)
is the devil himself. Certainly, the Jew is the very devil
incarnation; and, in my conscience, my conscience is but a kind of hard conscience, the offer to counsel me to stay with the Jew. The fiend gives the more friendly counsel: I will run, fiend; my heels
are at your commandment; I will run.

Question 1.
Where is the speaker now? Who is he? Who is the ‘Jew my master’?
Answer:
The speaker is on a street in Venice. Launcelot is the typical country clown whom the Elizabethans loved watching in plays. The Jew is Shylock, under whom Launcelot is employed.

Question 2.
What is the conflict going on in the speaker’s mind? What do you think is the reason for his confusion?
Answer:
The conflict in his mind is whether to be loyal to Shylock and continue working for him or run away. The reason, to a great extent is racial discrimination. He doesn’t like being under a Jew. Moreover, Bassanio has offered his hires to him and he feels that life under the English man will be more easy, respectful and better paid.

Question 3.
Why is the Jew called a ‘devil’s incarnation?
Answer:
Launcelot says that the very devil has taken the form of Shylock who is a Jew, a miser and a bad master. This marks the racial discrimination the Christians had for the Jews, they consider them as the monsters of cruelty.

Question 4.
Give the meaning of, ‘I should be ruled by the fiend’ and ‘a kind of hard conscience’ and ‘my heels are at your command’
Answer:
Launcelot’s mind, here, is torn by conflict. His conscience tells him, as he is now employed by Shylock, he should stick with him. He says his conscience is being cruel as it advises him to take the difficult choice. Finally, he gives up Shylock’s service in order to take up a job under Bassanio.

Question 5.
What is the importance of this scene, in regard to the play?
Answer:
This scene offers comic relief after the pompous talks of Prince of Morocco. The scene also makes us think about conscience, loyalty of a servant to a master, false expectations, prejudice and relationship of children with parents.

2. Launcelot :
[Aside] O heavens ! this is my true-begotten father, who, being
more than sand-blind, high gravel-blind, knows me not: I will try
confusions with him.

Question 1.
To whom is Launcelot referring? When does this person makes his entry? What does he have in his hand?
Answer:
Launcelot is referring to his own father, Old Gobo. The old man comes soon after Launcelot makes his decision to leave Shylock’s employment. Old Gobo has a basket in his hand.

Question 2.
Explain the meanings of ‘sand-blind’ and ‘gravel blind’. Of which category is the newcomer?
Answer:
Sand-blind mean half blind and gravel blind means almost completely blind. The newcomer is sand-blind as he can see vaguely. The speaker does not reveal that he is the one his father is looking for and confuses him by referring to Master Launcelot.

Question 3.
What has the speaker decided to do now? What does the new¬comer ask the speaker, at this time? How do you fell about Launcelot’s attitude towards his father in this scene?
Answer:
The speaker decides to confuse the old man. The newcomer asks for the way to Master Jew’s house. At this point of time, we feel that Launcelot is quite cruel to his half-blind father. He doesn’t spare him from his practical jokes. He torments him by telling him that his son is dead. The scene also shows his desire to be considered as a gentleman, so he insists that his father calls him, ‘Master Launcelot’.

Question 4.
How does the speaker confuse the newcomer?
Answer:
he speaker gives a lot of complicated directions for Shylock’s house, only to distract and confuse him. Then he calls himself Master Launcelot, which makes the old man say that his son is not a Master. Later on he tells his poor father that Master Launcelot is dead, in order to have some fun.

Question 5.
How does this interlude end?
Answer:
After distressing his father for a long time, Launcelot kneels before his father, asking for his blessing. He admits that he is his son. He also tells his father about his decision to run away and join the service of Bassanio.

3. Launcelot :
Well, well : but, for mine own part, as I have set up my rest to
run away, so I will not rest till I have run some ground.

Question 1.
To what comment of Old Gobo does the speaker reply in this manner. Why does he say, ‘I will not rest till I have run some ground’?
Answer:
Old Gobo says that he has brought a gift to Shylock. Launcelot says that his father can do what he likes, but he has decided to run away and he’ll not stop till he has covered some distance.

Question 2.
‘My master is a very Jew’. Comment on the line. According to him what should his father do with the gift?
Answer:
Launcelot says that his master shows the characteristics of a typical Jew; miserly, cruel and cunning. Anti-Semitism or racial prejudice is evident here, as Christians didn’t like Jews and considered them incarnations of the devil. Launcelot wants the gift to be given to Bassanio.

Question 3.
What is the halter? Why does Launcelot say that his father should do? Why?
Answer:
A halter is a rope used for hanging. Launcelot says that his father should present the Jew with a rope; so that he can hang himself with it. Thereby, the world will be rid of one Jew.

Question 4.
Why does the speaker refer to his ribs? What do you think is the importance of the character of Launcelot in the play?
Answer:
The speaker tells his father to run his hands over his ribs. He is famished under the service of the Jew, and has become thin like a skeleton that his ribs can be counted. The importance of Launcelot in the play is that he plays the role of the clown and contributes to the mirth with his comments and antics. His humour provides comic relief.

Question 5.
What does he say about Bassanio at this time?
Answer:
The speaker says that Bassanio will give him new uniform. If he can’t join his service, he’ll run to the end of the world.

4. Bassanio :
I know thee well; Thou hast obtain’d thy suit:
Shylock thy master spoke with me this day,
And hath preferr’d thee, if it be preferment
To leave a rich Jew’s service, to become
The follower of so poor a gentleman.

Question 1.
Who is the ‘thee’ in the extract? What had Shylock told about the thee?
Answer:
The ‘thee’ in the extract refers to Launcelot Gobo. Shylock had referred Launcelot to Bassanio, saying that he is a lazy fellow who knows only to eat and sleep.

Question 2.
Explain the meaning of the extract.
Answer:
Bassanio says that he knows Launcelot as he had talked to him earlier. Shylock had recommended him to Bassanio. Bassanio wonders if it is wise on the part of Launcelot to leave the rich Jew and join a poor man’s service.

Question 3.
What proverb is quoted as an answer to this speech of Bassanio?
Answer:
Launcelot quotes the proverb ‘you have the grace of God and he hath enough’. He means, the Jew has enough wealth but Bassanio has reputation of being very generous and liberal. Bassanio is blessed by God.

Question 4.
What instructions are given by Bassanio, soon after this? What does this show of his character?
Answer:
Bassanio tells Gobo to go on and take leave of the Jew. He tells his servants to arrange for liveries for Launcelot and well-decorated ones as he is going to be in a better position. This shows the generous nature of Bassanio. He looks after his retinue well.

Question 5.
Just after this extract, Launcelot has predicted certain things for himself by looking at his palm. What are they?
Answer:
By looking at his palm, Launcelot predicts he’ll have a good fortune and fifteen wives. He’ll escape drowning thrice and the danger of falling over the side of a feather bed.

5. Gratiano :
Signior Bassanio, hear me :
If I do not put on a sober habit,
Talk with respect, and swear but now and then,
Wear prayer-books in my pocket, look demurely,
Nay more, while grace is saying, hood mine eyes Thus with my hat, and sigh, and say ‘amen’,
Use all the observance of civility,
Like one well studied in a sad ostent To please his grandam, never trust me more.

Question 1.
Where is the speaker now? What had the speaker requested Bassanio a little earlier?
Answer:
The Speaker is now on a street in Venice. Gratiano had earlier requested Bassanio to take him along to Belmont, in his visit.

Question 2.
What had Bassanio accused Gratiano, a little while ago? Why should Gratiano change his habits? What changes should Gratiano make in his behavior and why?
Answer:
Bassanio had accused Gratiano that he was too wild, too rude and too loud. These characteristics suit his personality and his friends do not mind his behaviour; but outside the friend circle, it may be considered too liberal, hence he should mend his habits if he is going to Belmont. Bassanio tells Gratiano to moderate his speech, be more decent and in a playful spirit. If he doesn’t do so, it may affect Bassanio’s chances of making a favourable impression on Portia.

Question 3.
What is the result of this speech? Why is Gratiano requested to be merry at dinner?
Answer:
Gratiano promises to behave modestly, talk with politeness, swear rarely, carry a prayer book in his pocket and look sober in his outlook. He will show all the manners of a civilized society, observing all manners that would please his grandmother. Bassanio requests Gratiano to be in his happiest mood and enjoy with all the friends.

Question 4.
Gratiano appears in a different mood in Belmont. Describe that mood.
Answer:
Gratiano’s behavior in Belmont was entirely different. He did not utter anything that would have shocked Portia. Being such a vivacious and witty person, he proved that, he could be quiet and grave when required.

Question 5.
What does Gratiano mean by ‘sober habit’ and ‘sad ostent’?
Answer:
‘Sober habit’ means decent manners and etiquettes. ‘Sad ostent’ means serious appearance.

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The Merchant of Venice Act 3 Scene 1 Summary Workbook Answers

The Merchant of Venice Act 3 Scene 1 Summary

Salerio and Solanio inform the audience about the recent developments. We learn that Antonio has suffered heavy losses and it is doubtful that he would be able to pay his creditors. One of his ships has been wrecked on the south coast of England. The friends are worried about the loss. As they talk about the matter, Shylock approaches and accuses them of helping Jessica escape.

Shylock expresses his anger by talking about Antonio; ‘Let him look to his bond’. He is determined to take Antonio’s flesh. His anger stems from the fact Antonio has disgraced him, taken business away from him. Laughed at his losses, mocked at his gains, scorned his nation, cooled his friends and heated up his enemies, just because he is a Jew. ‘In his anguish he asks, ‘Hath not a Jew eyes, hands, organs, dimensions sense and passions like Christians.

If they poison Jews, don’t they die? Since a Christian takes revenge against a Jew, he will take revenge against Christians. Just then, a servant enters and informs Antonio would like to see Salerio and Solanio in his house.Tubal, a friend of Shylock makes his appearance. He has heard about Jessica being in Genoa, but couldn’t meet her in person. Shylock begins to rate his fortune. He calls his daughter a traitor to her father and religion.

She has escaped with a fortune another fortune is spent in trying to trace her. Tubal tries to comfort him by saying that other men also suffer from bad fortune. He has heard that another ship of Antonio has been lost. Shylock feels happy. He asks his friend to engage a lawyer, a fortnight before the bond is ripe for extraction.

The Merchant of Venice Act 3 Scene 1 Summary Word Meanings

1. yet it lives there – there is still a rumour
2. unchecked – undenied
3. narrow seas – English Channel
4. flat – sandbank
5. carcasses – ruined parts or wrecks
6. tall – majestic
7. knapped – chewed
8. slips of prolixity – lapses into boring speeches
9. flight – escape
10. fledged – ready to fly
11. complexion – nature
12. dam – mother
13. red wine- cheap wine
14. Rhenish wine – expensive white wine
15. match – bargain
16. prodigal – waster
17. smug – self-satisfied
18. mart – Rialto, stock exchange
19. wont – accustomed
20. usurer – one who lends money for high interest
21. forfeit – fails to pay in time
22. feed – satisfy
23. disgraced – humiliated
24. scorned – despised
25. heated – incited
26. dimensions – limbs
27. sufferance – punishment
28. hearsed – laid in her coffin
29. lights on my shoulders – falls on his self
30. Tripoli’s – a port at Lebanon
31. four score – eighty
32. divers – several
33. plague – trouble
34. Leah – Shylock’s wife
35. fee me – engage a lawyer for me
36. bespeak – speak before
37. synagogue – place of worship of Jews.

The Merchant of Venice Act 3 Scene 1 Summary Questions and Answers

1. Salerio :
Why, yet it lives there unchecked that Antonio hath a ship of rich
lading wrecked on the narrow seas the Goodwins, I think they
call the place, a very dangerous flat, and fatal, where the
carcasses of many a tall ship lie buried, as they say, if my gossip Report
be an honest woman of her word.

Question 1.
What is referred to as ‘it’ in the first line? What’s the meaning of unchecked? Where has the speaker heard ‘it’?
Answer:
‘It’ is referred to the rumour that is going on in Venice about the wreckage of Antonio’s ship in the English Channel. ‘Unchecked’ means ‘without being denied’. The speaker has heard about it in Rialto, the stock market of Venice.

Question 2.
What do you know about Goodwins?
Answer:
Goodwins refers to the Goodwin Sands, near the mouth of the Thames, the scene of many shipwrecks. The area is shadlow and dangerous and the remains of many a ship lie buried there.

Question 3.
Explain ‘carcasses of many a tall ship’.
Answer:
Carcasses are the remains or wreckage of ships. Many fine or majestic ships have been ruined at the Goodwin Sands and their wreckage lie buried there.

Question 4.
‘If my gossip Report’ explain the figure of speech used here? What is gossip Report?
Answer:
The figure of speech used here is Personification. Report or news has been personified in the form of ‘Old mother Rumour’, who spreads stories without proof

Question 5.
What does Solanio wish soon after this? Who meets them just after this extract?
Answer:
Solanio wishes that Old Mother Rumour were a lying wench that ever chewed ginger to make her neighbours believe that she mourned sincerely for the death of her third husband. He wishes that the rumour regarding the loss of Antonio’s ship were untrue. Shylock meets them just after this extract.

2. Shylock :
You knew, none so well, none so well as you, of my daughter’s flight
Salerio :  That’s certain : I, for my part, knew the tailor that made the wings she flew withal.

Question 1.
Who are the ‘you’? What were they talking about?
Answer:
‘You’ are Salerio and Solanio, friends of Antonio, who were talking about the rumour at Rialto about the wreckage of Antonio’s ship in the English Channel.

Question 2.
What is Shylock accusing them of? Explain ‘the tailor that made the wings’.
Answer:
Shylock is accusing them that they knew about the elopement of Jessica and did nothing about it. Salerio agrees by saying that he knew the tailor who made the boy’s clothes, which she wore to disguise herself, and flew away from home.

Question 3.
Explain the figure of speech used in the extract.
Answer:
The figure of speech used is a metaphor. Jessica is compared to a bird that flew away from Shylock.

Question 4.
According to Solanio what should have been Shylock aware of?
Answer:
According to Solanio, Shylock should be aware that his daughter was no longer a fledgling; she is grown up and is able to fly away according to her will.

Question 5.
Just a little later Salerio makes a comparison between Shylock and his daughter. What is it?
Answer:
Salerio says that Shylock is jet black whereas his daughter is like ivory. He is like cheap wine when compared to Jessica who is like the expensive Rhenish wine.

3. Shylock :
There I have another bad match : a bankrupt, a prodigal, who dare
scarce show his head on the Rialto; a beggar, that was used to
come so smug upon the mart. Let him look to his bond ! he was
want to call me usurer. Let him look to his bond he was wont to
lend money fora Christian courtesy. Let him look to his bond !
Salerio :
Why, I am sure, if he forfeit thou wilt not take his flesh : what’s that good for ?

Question 1.
What is Shylock calling another ‘bad match’? Why is it a bad match?
Answer:
The news that Antonio has lost a ship is the bad match. Shylock has already lost his daughter and incurred much expense and now he has made another bad bargain as Antonio has lost his ship and won’t be able to pay back the debt.

Question 2.
Who is the ‘bankrupt prodigal’? What difference has come into his life?
Answer:
Antonio is the bankrupt prodigal. According to Shylock, Antonio like other Christians is wastrels who do not know how to save money. Earlier Antonio used to visit the stock market with a self-satisfied expression but now he is like a beggar who won’t like to show his face in shame.

Question 3.
Explain, ‘Let him look to his bond! He was wont to lend money for a Christian courtesy’.
Answer:
Shylock says that Antonio should take care to redeem his bond and pay back the borrowed money in time; otherwise, he will have to pay with his life. He used to lend money to people without charging any interest from them because of his Christian sympathy for them but now it’s time for him to pay attention to the bond.

Question 4.
What is Salerio asking at the moment and what’s the reply of Shyiock?
Answer:
Salerio asks Shylock whether he is serious about taking the flesh of Antonio as per the stipulation in the bond; it’ll be of no use to Shylock. The Jew replies that he’ll bait fish with the flesh. It’ll gratify his revenge. This way he’ll be able to avenge all the insults against him, his nation and loss in business.

4. Shylock :
If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility ? Revenge ! If a
Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian
example ? Why, revenge ! The villainy you teach me I will execute,
and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.

Question 1.
In what way does Shylock justify his desire for revenge a little before this extract?
Answer:
Shylock says that he wants to take revenge against Antonio as Antonio disgraced him publicly. Antonio has scorned him calling him a usurer, caused losses equal to half a million ducats by interfering in his deals and above all insulted his race. He had cooled his friends and incited his enemies.

Question 2.
Give the meaning of the extract.
Answer:
Shylock says, a Christian does not forgive a Jew if he wrongs him. He doesn’t show any patience but takes revenge. So, how should a Jew take insult from a Christian? He will do the same thing to a Christian.

Question 3.
Mention the ways in which Antonio had insulted Shylock.
Answer:
Antonio had called Shylock a cut-throat dog in the Rialto and spat on his gabardine. He had laughed at his money and the interest. He had insulted his race.

Question 4.
What does Shylock mean by ‘I’ll better the instruction’?
Answer:
Shylock means that he will certainly follow the example set by Christians of cruelty and wickedness. In fact, he’ll improve upon the example of the villainy taught by Christians.

Question 5.
What injustice does Shakespeare wants to highlight in the passage?
Answer:
Shakespeare wants to highlight the prejudice of Christians against Jews. This is a classic case of anti-Semitism that has existed for ages. Jews were considered as non-believers and inferior to the Christian race. Antonio represents the Christian attitude and is intolerant towards Shylock’s ways.

5. Solanio : Here comes another of the tribe : a third cannot be matched, unless the devil himself turn Jew.
Shylock : How now, Tubal ! what news from Genoa ? Hast thou found my daughter ?

Question 1.
Who is referred to as another of the tribe? What does it mean?
Answer:
Tubal, a friend of Shylock is referred to in this manner. It states that Tubal is also a Jew, another one belonging to Shylock’s race.

Question 2.
Explain the meaning of ‘a third cannot be matched’.
Answer:
Solanio considers Shylock as well as Tubal as an incarnation of the Devil. The two are the worst Jews and a third cannot be found unless the Devil himself turns into a Jew.

Question 3.
What news has the person brought? Where had he been?
Answer:
The person has brought the news that he often went to several places where he heard of Jessica to be but could not meet her. He had been to Genoa.

Question 4.
How does Shylock lament his losses as a response to the news?
Answer:
Shylock laments about the diamond his daughter has taken away from him and other precious jewels. He wishes his daughter was dead with the jewels adorning her ears and the ducats in her coffin. So much money is being spent in searching for her. It’s been loss upon loss.

Question 5.
What does Shylock say in self-pity at this time?
Answer:
Shylock says that he keeps suffering from losses. His daughter has gone away and so much has been spent to find her and her lover. He doesn’t get any satisfaction even in taking revenge. No sighs are heard except his and no tears shed by anyone else except him. He considered himself as the only victim of bad luck.

Question 6.
What comforting news does he hear from the newcomer? How does Shylock react to this?
Answer:
Tubal, the newcomer gives Shylock the comforting news that other people also have their share of problems. Antonio has lost a ship coming from Tripolis. Shylock is elated to hear this. He thanks god for bringing misfortune to Antonio.

6. Shylock :
Out upon her ! Thou torturest me, Tubal : it was my turqoise; I
had It: of Leah when I was a bachelor : I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys.
Tubal : But Antonio is certainly undone.

Question 1.
Who is the ‘her’? Why does Shylock say ‘Out upon her’?
Answer:
Shylock is talking about his daughter Jessica by referring to ‘her’. Tubal has just given him the heart-breaking news that Jessica has given a ring in exchange of a monkey. It was the turquoise, which she had taken when she eloped.

Question 2.
Who is Leah? Why is Shylock so possessive about the turquoise?
Answer:
Leah is Shylock’s dead wife. The stone is important, as his wife had given it to Shylock before their marriage.

Question 3.
What’s the meaning of ‘Antonio is undone’? Why does Tubal say this at this point of time?
Answer:
It means Antonio is a ruined man now. He has lost a couple of ships richly laid with cargo. Tubal wants to divert the mind of Shylock from his daughter and cheer him up by doting on Antonio’s loss.

Question 4.
What does Shylock tell Tubal to do at the end of the scene? Why?
Answer:
Shylock tells Tubal to hire a legal officer for him. He has to be booked for a fortnight, in advance so that Shylock can be ready to cut off Antonio’s heart. Once he is gone, Shylock can make as much profit as he can.

We have decided to create the most comprehensive English Summary that will help students with learning and understanding.

Animals Summary in English by Walt Whitman

Animals by Walt Whitman About the Poet

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) is a major figure in early American poetry. He broke the tradition of rhymed and metrical poetry. He was famous for writing a revolutionary new kind of poetry which was in free verse. The poem ‘animals’ is from his work ‘Song of Myself’ in Leaves of grass.

Poet Name	Walt Whitman
Born	31 May 1819, West Hills, New York, United States
Died	26 March 1892, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Poems	Song of Myself, Leaves of Grass, Song of the Open Road
Awards	Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration

Animals Summary in English

Having fed up in the company of human beings, the poet wants to turn his way and live with animals. He finds the animals peaceful and satisfied. They don’t have any feeling of repentance. They don’t have any lust or greed. They have nothing to do with material things.

There is complete equality among animals. They do not have any hierachy. Animals don’t need to bow down before others. Poet feels that the traits of human being like truthfulness, honesty, commitment, loyalty, purity, innocence etc. have now passed on to the animals. He wonders how these qualities have passed on to the animals. Did he negligently drop all these qualities and animals acquired them?

Animals Summary Questions and Answers

1. I stand and look at them long and long.
They do not sweat and whine about their condition

a. ‘They’ in the above lines are ……………….
(i) human beings
(ii) animals
(iii) the poets
(iv) the audience
Answer:
(ii) animals.

b. The author keeps looking at them for long because he ………………..
(i) never finds them unhappy or dissatisfied
(ii) finds them calm and peaceful
(iii) feels more at home with them
(iv) all of the above
Answer:
(iv) all of the above.

c. They are unlike human beings who are ………………..
(i) always complaining
(ii) calm and quiet
(iii) contented
(iv) not prone to anger
Answer:
(i) always complaining.

2. So they show their relations to me and I accept them.
They bring me tokens of myself, they evince
them plainly in their possession.

a. In the above lines ‘they’ stand for …………………..
(i) listeners
(ii) audience
(iii) animals
(iv) viewers
Answer:
(iii) animals.

b. The author feels related to them as they remind him of ……………………
(i) his ego.
(ii) the basic qualities of his nature.
(iii) inhuman characteristics.
(iv) his greed.
Answer:
(ii) the basic qualities of his nature.

c. They seem to possess those qualities which man has chosen to ………………..
(i) ignore
(ii) deny
(iii) drop
(iv) All of the above
Answer:
(iv) All of the above.

3. So they show their relations to me and I accept them,
They bring me tokens of myself they evince
them plainly in their possession.

a. The speaker accepts that
(i) animals are better than men.
(ii) animals are his best friends.
(iii) there is a close relation between man and animal.
(iv) all of the above.
Answer:
(iv) all of the above.

b. By ‘tokens of myself the speaker means
(i) animals are like men.
(ii) coins dropped by the speaker.
(iii) they remind him of the basic values of the human beings.
(iv) the marks of animal’s goodness.
Answer:
(iii) they remind him of the basic values of the human beings.

c. Animals have the ‘tokens’ dropped by man.
(i) retained and preserved
(ii) searched
(iii) robbed
(iv) lost
Answer:
(i) retained and preserved.

4. I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain’d,
I stand and look at them long and long.

a. The poet wants to live with the animals because they are …………….
(i) calm
(ii) self-contained
(iii) satisfied
(iv) all of the above
Answer:
(iv) all of the above.

b. The poet feels more at home with animals than
(i) birds and insects
(ii) human beings
(iii) natural things
(iv) all of the above
Answer:
(ii) human beings

c. The word which means ‘calm and quiet’ is
(i) placid
(ii) complex
(iii) groan
(iv) contented
Answer:
(i) placid

5. They do not lie awake in the dark and
Weep for their sin ……………

Question 1.
Who are ‘they’? How are they different from human beings?
Answer:
They’ here refers to the animals. They are different from human beings as they do not sweat and whine about their pathetic condition. Animals do not feel guilty for their actions so they need not awake in the dark and weep for their sins.

Question 2.
‘Not one is respectable or unhappy Over the whole earth.’
Who is the poet talking about? What is their state of mind?
Answer:
The poet is talking about the animals. They are placid and self contained. They are not worried about getting respect or disrespect as they have no ego.

Question 3.
‘They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God’
Who are ‘they’? What makes him sick?
Answer:
They’ are here the animals. The discussions about subjects of philosophy or religion which the animals do not indulge in make him sick.