We have decided to create the most comprehensive English Summary that will help students with learning and understanding.
The Merchant of Venice Act 2 Scene 8 Summary Workbook Answers
The Merchant of Venice Act 2 Scene 8 Summary
This scene takes place in a street of Venice. Salerio and Solanio reveal the recent developments to the audience. We learn from their conversation that Bassanio had set sail for Belmont on the very same night of Jessica-Lorenzo elopement. They are sure that eloped couples had not set sail with him. Shylock suspects that Jessica is aboard on the ship and complains to the Duke of Venice and insists that the ship should be searched.
Antonio, who was at the dock, assured that they were not in the ship. It was reported, that someone had seen them in a gondola. Salerio informs how agitated Shylock was, at the loss of his money and jewels along with his daughter. Frantic with rage and misery he had been shouting on the streets of Venice ‘My daughter, my ducats’. All the boys in Venice are mocking him, his daughter and his ducats. This incident strengthens the.resolve of Shylock to take revenge on Antonio, the English man.
Salerio comes to know from a Frenchman that a Venetian ship, richly laid with cargo, has sunk in the English channel. Solanio tells him to report the matter to Antonio in a gentle way. The two discuss the loving nature of Antonio. They recall how he had parted from Bassanio, ensuring him not to think about the bond. He also told his friend not to rush up with the courtship in order to get back to him in a hurry. Salerio along with Solanio leaves the stage to meet Antonio and cheer up his spirits.
The Merchant of Venice Act 2 Scene 8 Summary Word Meanings
- outcries – complaints
- gondola – a flat bottomed boat used on the canals of Venice
- amorous – loving
- certified – assured
- passion – intense feeling
- outrageous – excessive
- two stones – one of diamond and one turquoise
- stones up her – stones with her
- look he keep his day – be careful to pay his debt on the stipulated day
- reason’d – talked to
- miscarried – lost or wrecked
- vessel – ship
- fraught – laden with
- treads – lives
- slubber not business – do not hurry your business carelessly
- riping of time – till the right time comes
- hath – has
- ostents – demonstrations
- wrung – clasped tightly
- quicken – cheer up
- has embraced heaviness – is under depression or melancholy
- delight – amusement
- do we so – let us do so.
The Merchant of Venice Act 2 Scene 8 Summary Questions and Answers
1. Salerio :
He came too late, the ship was under sail,
But there the duke was given to understand
That in a gondola were seen together
Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica.
Besides, Antonio certified the duke
They were not with Bassanio in his ship.
Question 1.
Who is referred to as ‘he’? Which ship was under sail? Why is ‘he’ said to be late?
Answer:
He is Shylock. The ship in which Bassanio and others travelled has already set sail. Shylock thinks that his daughter has boarded the ship along with Lorenzo but by the time he comes to search for them, the ship had already left.
Question 2.
What was suspected earlier?
Answer:
Earlier it was suspected that Jessica and Lorenzo had gone with Bassanio, in his ship.
Question 3.
Give the meaning of ‘amorous’ and ‘certified’. What did Antonio certify?
Answer:
‘Amorous’ means loving and ‘certified’ means assured. Antonio certified that Jessica and Lorenzo have not gone in Bassanio’s ship.
Question 4.
What does Solanio says about Shylock, just after this?
Answer:
Solanio describes Shylock’s behavior after finding out that his daughter has run away with a Christian, taking with her all his money and jewels. He has never heard or seen such an outburst of feelings, so strange, intense and frequently changing. Shylock went along the streets shouting, ‘My daughter, O my ducats!’ lamenting the loss of the two alternatives. He wants justice and also needs to find the girl as she has taken the ducats along with her.
Question 5.
Why did all the boys in Venice follow Shylock? What else did they do?
Answer:
All the boys were following Shylock mocking him as they feel that he has gone mad. They also repeat his cries ‘his stones, his daughter and his ducats’.
Question 6.
What does Solanio say that Antonio should do now?
Answer:
Solanio says that Shylock is mad with his loss and will certainly take revenge from Antonio by extracting his flesh, if he doesn’t pay back the borrowed money in time. So he feels Antonio should pay his debt on the appointed day; otherwise, he may have to pay for it with his life.
2. Salerio :
Marry, well remember’d.
I reason’d with, a Frenchman yesterday,
Who told me, in the narrow seas that part
The French and English, there miscarried
A vessel of our country richly fraught.
I thought upon Antonio when he told me,
And wish’d in silence that it were not his.
Question 1.
What does he mean by ‘well remembered’? What did he reason with a Frenchman and what did he come to know?
Answer:
When Solanio says that Antonio should better pay back the debt to Shylock on the stipulated day, Salerio remembers his talk with the Frenchman. He takes this opportunity to share the information with his friend, that he came to know about a ship with rich cargo had been wrecked in the English Channel.
Question 2.
Give the meaning of ‘reasoned’, ‘miscarried’ and ‘richly fraught’?
Answer:
The word ‘reasoned’ means talked, ‘miscarried’ means lost or wrecked and ‘richly fraught’ means laid with expensive goods.
Question 3.
What does Soianio tells his friend to do. How should he do it and why?
Answer:
Soianio tells his friend to give a hint about the wreckage to Antonio, but not abruptly. He should do it gently and with tact as Antonio is a tender-hearted person, very loving and sensitive.
Question 4.
What does Salerio says about Antonio at this time? How did ‘he’ part from Bassanio?
Answer:
Salerio says about Antonio that ‘a kinder gentleman treads not this earth’ He parted from Antonio with great love, saying that he need not return from Belmont in a hurry but give proper time for courtship. He need not worry about the bond rather focus his mind on courtship and show of love. Then with his eyes full of tears, he clasped Bassanio’s hand and they parted.
Question 5.
What does Soianio say towards the end of the scene and what do the two friends plan to do?
Answer:
Soianio says that Antonio loves the world only because of Bassanio. The two friends plans to visit Antonio, amuse him and cheer up his spirit as he is lately gripped with melancholy.