Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Duke: You hear the team’d Bellario, what he writes:
And here, I take it, is the doctor come.
[Enter Portia, dressed like a Doctor of Laws]
Give me your hand. Come you from old Bellario”?
Portia: I did, my lord.
Duke: You are welcome : take your place.
Are you acquainted with the difference
That holds this present question in the court?
(i) Where is this scene set? Why was Portia there?
(ii) What reason had Bellario given for his absence? Whom had he sent in this stead?
(iii) Bellario's letter stated that he had taken some measures to prepare the 'young and learned doctor' to deal with the case. What were they?
(iv) What was the 'difference' between Shylock the Jew and Antonio the merchant that the Duke was unable to resolve?
(v) How does Portia succeed in saving Antonio? What does this reveal of her character?
Advertisements
Solution
(i) This scene is set in a court of justice. Portia was there, dressed as a learned doctor of laws, in the guise of Balthazar, to appear on behalf of Antonio and defend him against the lapse of the bond that he had signed with Shylock.
(ii) Bellario stated in his letter to the Duke that he could not be present at the court due to his illness. He sent a learned a doctor of law, Balthazar, in his stead. He was confident of the ability of Balthazar to prove his capability in such a crucial case between Shylock and Antonio.
(iii) Bellario’s letter stated that he had thoroughly discussed the case with the learned doctor of laws, Balthazar, who was fully acquainted with the case in question. Balthazar was a young man with mature judgement and rich experience to handle the case.
(iv) The ‘difference’, that is a dispute between Shylock the Jew and Antonio that the Duke was unable to resolve was the clause in the bond according to which Shylock could have his pound of flesh from Antonio’s heart if the latter failed to fulfill the terms of the bond.
(v) Portia succeeded in saving Antonio by interpreting the bond in the letter, and not the spirit, of the law, as Shylock himself insisted on it. She warned Shylock that the bond did not allow him to shed even a single drop of blood while taking the pound of flesh. Thus defeating Shylock with his own weapon, she could save Antonio from the clutches of Shylock. Portia’s shrewd interpretation of law really saved Antonio.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
How does Bill Bryson end up in a “crash position” in the aircraft?
What does he plant who plants a tree?
He plants, in sap and leaf and wood,
In love of home and loyalty
And far-cast thought of civic good____
His blessing on the neighbourhood,
Who in the hollow of his hand
Holds all the growth of all our land____
A nation's growth from sea to sea
Stirs in his heart who plants a tree.
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow:
Does the man plant a tree because of his love of society and his nation?
Bangle sellers are we who bear
Our shining loads to the temple fair...
Who will buy these delicate, bright
Rainbow-tinted circles of light?
Lustrous tokens of radiant lives,
For happy daughters and happy wives.
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow.
Explain the line’ lustrous tokens of radiant lives’.
Old Kaspar took it from the boy,
Who stood expectant by;
And then the old man shook his head,
And,with a natural sigh,
"Tis some poor fellow's skull," said he,
"Who fell in the great victory.
"I find them in the garden,
For there's many here about;
And often when I go to plough,
The ploughshare turns them out!
For many thousand men,"said he,
"Were slain in that great victory."
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow.
Explain with reference to context.
But even as he approached the boy, Mr. Oliver sensed that something was wrong. The boy appeared to be crying. His head hung down, he held his face in his hands, and his body shook convulsively. It was a strange, soundless weeping, and Mr. Oliver felt distinctly uneasy.
Well, what’s the matter, he asked, his anger giving way to concern. What are you crying for? The boy would not answer or look up. His body continued to be wracked with silent sobbing.
Oh, come on, boy. You shouldn’t be out here at this hour. Tell me the trouble. Look up.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
Describe the posture of the boy.
Who is Canynge? What scandal is being referred to? Why will it be a scandal?
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
The breaking down of discipline likewise affected the dogs in their relations with one another. They quarreled and bickered more than ever among themselves, till at times the camp was a howling bedlam: 'Dave and Sol-leks alone were unaltered, though they were made irritable by the unending squabbling.
(i) What led to the break-down of discipline in the dog team?
How did it affect the relationship in the dogs?
(ii) What other acts of indiscipline did Buck's encouragement lead to?
(iii) What started the dogs off on a chase after supper one night at the mouth of the river Tahkeena?
(iv) Who led the dogs in the chase? What primitive urge did Buck experience during the chase?
(v) How did Spitz use the chase to try and outwit Buck? What does this reveal of Spitz's nature?
Who is Mridu and with whom Mridu went to Rukku Manni’s place?
Make noun from the word given below by adding –ness, ity, ty or y
Sensitive ___________.
How does the child compare his own daily activities with that of his teacher?
