Question

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Duke: What, is Antonio here?
Antonio: Ready, so please your grace.
Duke: I am sorry for thee: thou art come to answer
A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch
Incapable of pity, void and empty
From any dram of mercy. 

(i) What are the terms of the bond that Antonio has signed? 
(ii) Why does the Duke call Shylock ‘inhuman’? What does the Duke expect Shylock to do? 
(iii) What reason does Shylock give for choosing rotten flesh over money? What are the things hated by some people? 
(iv) State three examples Antonio gives to illustrate Shylock’s stubborn attitude. 
(v) How is Shylock’s property distributed at the end by Antonio? Do you think Shylock deserves the punishment given to him? Give a reason to justify your answer. 

Answer 1

(i) The term of the bond is if Antonio is unable to pay the three thousand ducats specified on the paper on a certain date, in an agreed place, the forfeit to be paid, will be an exact pound of Antonio’s flesh which Shylock will be at liberty to take from any part of his body which pleases him.

(ii) Shylock is called inhuman by Duke because he demanded the pound of flesh from Antonio’s body and did not have a single grain to pity in his heart.
The Duke expects Shylock to show mercy on Antonio as Antonio has suffered heavy losses. Shylock will forgive him a part of the principal amount to be paid by Antonio along with forgiving their penalty.

(iii) Shylock says he will not give any particular reason except that it is his fancy and whim. He gives the example that if his house is infested with rats it is fancy to spend ten thousand ducats To have them poisoned. Further, he says that there are some people who cannot tolerate the sight of an open-mouthed roasted pig, others the sight of a cat and some get angry to hear the scream of the bagpipe. It is just a matter of personal taste. What we like or dislike is determined by our whim or mood.

(iv) Antonio tells that if Bassanio is hoping to soften Shylock’s heart he might as well stand on the seashore and ask the tide not to rise so high as usual. Secondly, he may as well ask the wolf why he has made the mother sheep mourn for the lamb he has devoured. Thirdly he may as well expect the tall pines on the hillside not to wave their f high tops and not to make a noise when they are disturbed by the strong winds. He may soften anything which is hard rather than softens the hard heart of Shylock.

(v) One half of Shylock’s property will go to the person against whom Shylock plotted to take his life and the rest will be handed over to the private treasury of the state.
Shylock’s life depended on the Duke’s mercy. Yes, Shylock deserves the punishment, as you sow so shall you reap. He had dug a ditch for Antonio but it seems he himself fell into it.