The Merchant of Venice Quiz Challenge - How Much Do You Know? | Shakespeare

Answer: To finance his quest to marry Portia

Portia is an heiress, and beautiful too, so Bassanio is very anxious to marry her, especially as he is in debt. However, she has many suitors, and he needs money to appear an equally good prospect as the others. Antonio is a wealthy middle aged man who readily agrees to help Bassanio, but unfortunately his fortune is founded on overseas trade, and is not as secure as he thinks.

Answer: Belmonte

Belmonte Calabria is a hilltop town in the province of Cosenza. It is on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Before the unification of Italy it was simply known as Belmonte. Venice is in the north of Italy whereas Belmonte is in the south, and this explains the delay in the news of Antonio's plight reaching Bassanio.

Answer: Passions

Antonio has treated Shylock very badly just because he is prejudiced against Jews. 'He has laughed at Shylock's losses, mocked at his gains, scorned his nation, thwarted his bargains, cooled his friends and heated his enemies'. In this very moving and famous speech Shylock is showing that we are all human beings whatever our race or creed.

At that time Antonio's behaviour was considered to be normal behaviour towards Jews, and proof that Antonio was a good Christian.

Answer: Never to court or marry another woman

The gold casket represents greed and too much preoccupation with outside appearances. The silver is also greed but in a less overt form. The lead is plain, and at the moment Portia is beautiful, but as she grows older she may lose her beauty but she will still be beautiful inside.

The suitor who chooses the lead casket recognises that it is inner worth and not outward show that matters. Portia confides to Nerissa that she resents the arrangements her father has put in place, and wishes that she could chose for herself.

However she is pleased with the result and that Bassanio will be her husband.

Answer: Lorenzo

Lorenzo, who is a Christian, runs away with Jessica. With them they take a large amount of Shylock's gold, and other treasures including a ring given to him by his late wife. In Elizabethan times, when this play was written, it would have been considered very funny that the Jew Shylock loses his money and his daughter.

Answer: Leah

Shylock hears that Jessica has exchanged the ring for a monkey. He is very upset and says that he would not have given it for a hundred monkeys because it was given to him by Leah, his late wife. It is a moment in the play that shows a softer side to Shylock and that he is a person capable of love.

Answer: All that glisters is not gold

'All that glitters is not gold' has become a popular saying and is a misquote of this line in 'The Merchant of Venice'. There are many every day sayings which have come from Shakespeare's work. In fact, wanting 'a pound of flesh' is used to mean exacting as much revenge as possible.

Answer: She follows him

Portia and Nerissa her maid follow Bassanio disguised as men of the law. They go to the court and pretend that they have a letter from Bellario of Padua, who the Duke has sent for to give judgment, recommending Portia {or Balthasar as she calls herself} as a learned young doctor of law he has sent in his place because he is ill.

Answer: He may not spill any blood

At first it seems that the case is going Shylock's way, and despite Portia's eloquent plea for mercy, he will not budge from wanting the flesh of Antonio. However, it is then revealed that it is illegal to shed the blood of a Christian, and so it was impossible to carry out the forfeit.

Answer: It is divided equally between Antonio and the state

Shylock's money was divided equally between the state and Antonio. Antonio gives his share back on condition that it is settled on Shylock's daughter Jessica. Shylock was also forced to convert to Christianity, which to our modern minds seems inhuman.