Question

Nere:
[3]
They would be better, if well followed.
3) What had Neris said to Portia just before this extract?
13]
D) Whet problem did Portia have about her father 's will? How did Nerissa defend Portia 's father's
decision?
[3]
.) Who had spoken about Portia in the previous scene? What did he say about her?
) How cd Nerise refer to this person a little later in this scene? What are the highlights of the
comersation Portia and Nerissa had about him?
13)
e How does Shalapeare bring in a historical reference in Portia's description of the Scottish Lord? How
does he pake fun at the English, while referring to certain favorable qualities to Falconbridge​

Answer 1

Answer:

a) Th​e extract h​as been taken from Act I Scene 2. The sc​ene takes place in Belmont in a room of Portia's house.  

Portia shares with her m​‍‍aid, Nerissa, her do‍‍ubt‍s  concerning her future. She says that she is tired of this great world, to w‍hich Neri‍ssa rep‍lies by telling  her that she would be tired since her mis​eries are as plen‍tiful as her good fortu‍nes. Sh‍e says that the pe‍ople who have too much are as s‍ick as people who are i‍ll and star​ving. According to Neri‍ssa it is good to be placed between the extremes of having too much and having nothing. Ner‍issa tells Po‍rtia that the most wealthy people soon become gr‍ey haired but people having just enough lives longer. '.. superfluity comes soon​er by wh​ite ha​irs, but compet‍ency liv‍es lon‍ger'. To this Po‍rtia excl​aims, "Good senten​ces and well pronou​nced"

                                                                                                                         

b) Portia thought that according to her father's will she would be won by a suitor who chooses correctly from among the three caskets made of gold, silver, and lead. Portia ridic​ules the suitors who have come earlier to try their lucks and she complains that she cannot choose whom she like nor could she refuse whom she di​slikes. 'O me, the word "choose" ! I may neither choose whom I would nor refuse whom I'll dislike; so is the will of a living daughter curb​ed by the will of a de​ad father. '

Nerissa defends Portia's father by saying that Portia's dad has been a wise and noble man and the condition that he's put of a person to choose a casket from the three caskets of gold, silver, and lead in which the person who chooses the right casket marries Portia. Nerissa says that she doesn't do‍ubt that she will be chosen correctly by a person whom she will truly lo‍ve.

                                                                                                                         

c) Bassanio had spoken about Portia in the previous scene i.e.,    Act I Scene 1. In the previous scene, Bassanio tells Antonio of a beautiful and rich lady named Portia, who at her home in Belmont is daily courted by "renowned suitors" from "every coast" "Had I but the means To hold a rival place with one of them," wishes Bassanio, his fortunes would be restored (through Portia's vast dowry), as he devastated his wealth by living in a more nobly way than his income would allow him.

                                                                                                                         

d) A little later in the scene 2 of Act I, Nerissa and Portia discusses about the various suitors that have come until now. Suddenly Nerissa mentions a "Venetian, a scholar and a soldier" who visited once when Portia's father was alive. Portia remembers him well. His name is , of course, is Bassanio.

Nerissa tells Portia that she thinks that of all men, he is the most deserving to win a fair lady. Portia agrees for him to be worthy of her praise.

Nerissa, "True madam :  he, of all the men that ever my foolish eyes looked upon, was the best deserving a fair lady"

                                                                                                                         

e) Portia and Nerissa begins to discuss the current crop of suitors: two Italian Noblemen, a German, a Scott, a Frenchman and an Englishman. Portia makes witty and devastating comments about each. She says that the Scottish lord has a "neighbor charity . . . he borrowed a box of the ear of the Englishman, and swore he would pay him again when he was able. " And the Frenchman became his surety. Her Reference is made to constant assistance the French gave the Scots in the quarrels with the English.

Portia speaks of Falconbridge, the young Nobel of England as he is a handsome man but she doesn't understand him as she is weak in English. She further comments on him saying that he's dressed strangely ... bought his jacket in Italy, his trousers in France, his cap in Germany, and his manners from everywhere.

She says in the end , " there is not one among them but I dote on his very absence."