THE TEMPEST Q-Ans Shakespearean Drama English Play

 

TEMPEST

Passage-I

None that I more love than myself.

You are a councillor. Ifpou can comnand these

elements to silence, and work the peace of the

present, we will not hund a rope more. Use your

authority. lfyou cannot, give thanks you have lived

so long, and make yourself ready in your cabin for

the mischance of the hour, if it so hap.- Cheerly

good hearts!-Out of our way

1. Who speaks these lines ? To whom are these addressed?

2. What is the context? Is the spcaker annoyed?

3. What is the speaker's challenge to the other person?

4. How can the other person use his authority?

5. What should he do if he cannot ?

6. The speaker advises, "...make yourself reacdy in your cabin...". What for?

Passage-2 

I have suffered

With those that I saw suffer !A brave vessel,

Who had, no doubt, some noble ereature in her,

Dashed all to pieees. O, the cry did knock

Against my very eart! Poor souls, they perished

Had I been any god of power, I would

Have sunk the sea within the earth, of ere

It should the good ship so have swallowed and

The fraughting souls within her.

1. Name the speaker and identily the source of these lines.

2. Whose suffering has moved the heart of the speaker?

3. What, according to the speaker, has been dashed to pieces ? Is it true?

4. What whould the person have done if he/she has been any god of power

5. Whatimpression do you form of the speaker's character?

Passage-3

The maage of my state, as at that time

Through all the signories it was the Jirst, And Prospero the prime duke, being so reputed

In dignity, andfor the liberal arts

Without a parallel;

1. Who is Antonio ? Who is telling this? 

2. What is expected of a brother? How has Antonio becn? 

3. I ne specaker loved two persons most in 

4. How life. Who were they ? did the speaker treat Antonio? What did it show? 

5. Who was Prospero ? What was his reputation once?

Passage-4

Now the condition.

This King ofNaples,being an enemy To ine inveterate, hearkens my brother's suit,

Which vas, that he, in lieu o'th'premises ofhomage andI know not how much tribute, Shouid presently extirpate me and mine

Out of the dukedom, and conferfair Milan, With all the honours, on my brother. Whereon, A treacherous army levied, one midnight Fated to th'purpose,

1. Who is is the speaker of these lines? To whom are these addressed? What is he talking about?

2. Why did the king of Naples listen to the speaker's brother's suit ?

3. What was the suit? What were the promises of homage?

4. Cxtirpate me and mine." Who are referred to as 'me' and mine?

5. Why was an army gathered? How was this army treacherous?

6. What happened one midnight?

Passage-5

My tale provokes that questions. Dear, they durst

nol,

So dear the love my people bore me ; nor set

A mark so bloody on the business, but

With colours fairer painted their foul ends.

In few, they hurried us aboard a bark,

Bore us some leagues to sea, where they prepared

A rottem carcas ofa butt, not rigged

Nor tackle, sail, nor mast. The very rats

Instincitively have quit it. There they hoist us,

To cry to th's sea that roared to us, to sigh

To th'winds, whose pity sighing back again.

"My tale provokes that question."

1. Whose tale is referred to? What was the tale?

2. Which question? Who had posed the question? 3. Who loved him? How did it help him?

Who were put into the boat? What was the condition of the boat? Why was that

condition maintained?

5. Why would have rats left it?

6. How did the sea respond to their pitiable condition?

Passage-6

By Providence divine.

Some food we had, and some Fresh water, that

A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo,

Out of his charity, who being then appointed

Master of this design, did Rich give us, with garments linens, stud, and necessaries

Which since have steaded much.

So, of his gentleness Knowing I loved my books, hefiumished me

From mine own library with volumes that

I prize above my dukedom.

1. Who is the speaker of these words? What is he talking about? 2. What happened by "providence divine"?

3. Who was noble Gonzalo? Explain the reason why the speaker has 80od words for that old man?

4. What were the things provided by Gonzalo? How did they prove to be of great use?

5. What did the speaker prize above his dukedom? Did he have to suffer for this reason ?

ANSWERS 

Passage 1

1. These lines are spoken by the Boatswain Tempest. in the William Shakespeare' s play, These are addressed to Gonzalo, the old counselor.

2.  A ship carrying King Alonso and his party is caught in a Tempest. All the royal passengers in the ship fear that it might sink. Sebastian, Antonio and Alonso come out of their cabins. They start shouting orders at the Boatswain who is trying his best to keep the ship away from the sinking. The boatswain is annoyed at this interference in his work. He loses his temper and rebukes Gonzalo.

3. The Boatswain challenges Gonzalo, the king's counsellor, to bring the storm and the waves under control.

4. Gonzalo may exercise his authority in controlling those elements of Nature. If he cannot do so. He should be thankful to the sailors that he is still alive and not already drowned.. The Boatswain advises Gonzalo to go to his cabin and prepare himself for death. If the ship sinks, he will lose his life. He further says that if Gonzalo goes on interfering with the efforts of the sailors, they will stop handling the ship's ropes and leave the ship to the mercy of the waves.

Passage 2

1. These words have been spoken by the young daughter of Prospero, Miranda in Shakespeare's play, "The tempest'.

2. Miranda has seen a ship caught in á storm. She has heard the cries of passengers on board this ship. Miranda's heart has been moved at the sight of this suffering. The hopeless passengers are crying for help.

3. According to Miranda, the ship has been dashed into pieces. It was a beautiful ship. "The passengers were unlucky. They must have all been drowned in the sea. Miranda has expressed the worst of her fears. But she does not know that no harm has come to the ship. The passengers are safe.

4. The innocent girl says that if she has been some powerful god, she would have driven the sea into the bowels of the earth before it could destroy such a fine-looking ship. She would not have allowed those poor passengers to lose their lives.

5.Miranda is a naïve young girl whose heart cries at the peril of the innocent. She is delicate and soft hearted.

Passage-3

1. Antonio is Prospero's brother. Prospero himself is referring to his brother while telling his daughter, Miranda, the story of his past before coming to the island.

2 Antonio has been unlike a brother. A brother is expected to be loving and helpful. Bul Antonio proved to be wicked person when he turned against his own elder brother, Prospero.

3. Prospero tells Miranda that once he was the Duke of Milan. He loved two personsmost. The first was his daughter, Miranda and the next to her was his brother, Antonio.

4. Prospero completely trusted his brother. He entrusted the administration of his state to Antonio. At that time his state was the foremost among all principalities. Prospero's action showed that he was a simple-minded person who did not suspect that his own brother could do him any harm.

5. Prospero, the duke of Milan, had the reputation of being superior among all other dukes. He was known for his dignity and was without equal in the study of liberal arts. He was known to be a great scholar.

Passage-4 

1. Prospero is telling his daughter the story of his past. This is the story of how he was removed from his dukedom by his brother by entering into a conspiracy with King Alonso, prospero's enemy.

2 The king of Milan was interested in removing Propero from his dukedom. Thus the king was an enemy to Prospero who had maintained independence of the dukedom so far. Now when Prospero's brother, Antonio, sought the king's help to dislodge Prospero, the king was ready to help him.

3.The suit was that the king of Milan should help Antonio in usurping Prospero from the dukedom. He would also accept Antonio as the new duke of Milan. In return, Antonio promised to pay a high tribute and loyalty to the king of Naples.

4. Prospero is referring to himself and his daughter, Miranda.

5. An army was assigned to force the existing duke of Milan Prospero to leave Milan. This would free his dukedom and make way for his brother, Antonio.

6. It was a treacherous army because a noble duke was being overthrown in conspiration with the enemy. At midnight, Antonio carried out his evil plan. In the stillness of midnight, his men carried Antonio and his daughter out of Milan.Mianda then was a little child and she was crying when they were being driven out of their place in a dilapidated board.

Passage-5

1. Prospero is telling the tale of his past when he was expelled from his own dukedom. This was done by no other person than his own Brother who himself wanted to become the duke.

2.When Prospero is telling his tale, his daughter asks why his treacherous uncle did nol prefer to kill his brother and niece instead of sending them out of Milan in a boat.

3. The people of Milan loved their duke, Prospero. This helped his and his daughter's life though his brother, Antonio did everything to expel him from Milan, he dared not kill him and his daughter. He feared that the people of Milan would raise a revolt against him.

4. Prospero and Miranda were put into a boat and left in the sea at the mercy of their fate. The boat was in a bad condition. It had no ropes, no sails, no mast. The purpose was that Prospero and his child should be drowned in the sea. The boat should not help them to reach the shore safely.

5. Rats have the sense of the boat's drowning beforehand. The rats tled froin that boat, knowing that it was bound to sink.

6. When Prospero and Miranda were left in such a boat at midnight, they could do nothing except to cry to the ocean around them. The ocean too responded with its roar. When they sighed, the winds returned their sighs out of sympathy for then.

Passage-6

1. Prospero is the speaker in Shakespeare's play The Tempest'. He is narrating the story of his past to this young daughter, Miranda.

2. Prospero tells Miranda that twelve years ago, they were expelled from his dukedom. Then they were put into an ill- equipped boat and left in the sea to perish. Miranda asks curiously how they came ashore in those circumstances. Prospero says that it was by the grace of God that they came ashore in those adverse circumstances. Someone unexpectedly helped them in his own way.

3. Gonzalo was the old counselor who had all sympathy for Prospero when he was being expelled from his own dukedom. Luckily, he was entrusted with the task of sending Prospero and his daughter out into the sea. He secretly helped Prospero with food, water, his magic books and other necessary utensils to set a safe sail into the sea on that poor boat.

4. Gonzalo helped Prospero with food, water, his magic books and other necessary utensils. Food, water, sailing utensils helped Prospero keep afloat in mid sea under adverse condition and arrive at the shore safely to start a new life.

5. The magic books helped Prospero wield control over the island and use the Supernatural beings help themselves survive. He saved Ariel from the clutches of tle dead witch, Sycorax and obtained his loyalty. Her evil and deformed son, Caliban 100 came under the control of Prospero. Presently, he has been able to take his Sweet revenge by raising a mock Tempest on sea only with the help of his powerful magic that he has learnt with the help of those Magic books.

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MERCHANT OF VENICE, ACT 2 SCENE 6 & 7, SHAKESPEAREAN DRAMA, SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS

 Act II: Scene 6

Summary

Gratiano and Salarino, masked and costumed for Bassanio's party, wait for Lorenzo under the overhanging roof (the "penthouse") of Shylock's house. Gratiano and Salario have been waiting for about an hour now. But, the lover of Jessica, Lorenzo has not yet arrived. Gratiano is puzzled why Lorenzo is late for his rendezvous with Jessica; he knows that lovers usually "run before the dock." Lorenzo's delay is certainly unbecoming of most young lovers.

Suddenly, Lorenzo rushes on stage, apologizes for his being late. Hearing Lorenzo’s call, Jessica appears above, dressed as a boy, and tosses down a casket of money and jewels to Lorenzo. Shyly, she says that she is ashamed to be eloping with her beloved while she is so unbecomingly dressed ugly as a page boy servant. "Cupid himself," she tells Lorenzo, "would blush."

Lorenzo tells her that she must play her part well. She needs to convincingly act as a boy. Lorenzo reveals his plan to Jessica that tonight she will be his torchbearer at Bassanio's party. She does not quite welcome this idea. The idea of "hold[ing] a candle to [her] shames" is awful. She feels that she "should be obscured." 

Lorenzo praises Jessica before Gratiano that he will love her in his "constant soul," for she is "wise, fair, and true." Jessica then enters below, and the lovers and Salarino exit.

Antonio enters and, finding Gratiano, tells him that there will be "no masque tonight." The wind has changed, and Bassanio and his men must sail for Belmont. Gratiano admits that he is relieved that there will be no feasting and no masque. He is anxious to be "under sail and gone tonight."

Analysis

There is no real break between this scene and the preceding one. As Shylock exits, and Jessica exits only moments later, Gratiano and Salarino enter, costumed for the masque and carrying torches. Gratiano, as we might expect, does most of the talking as the two chaps wait beneath the overhanging roof of Shylock's house.

When Lorenzo arrives onstage and Jessica appears above him. Thus the romantic mood is immediately set — except that this romantic heroine is dressed in "the lovely garnish of a boy." On the Elizabethan stage, boys played the role of girls. Shakespeare uses this disguise later in this same play with Portia and Nerissa disguised as a lawyer and his clerk.

Jessica’s role is seen in contrast with Portia's. Portia honours her father’s will and sacrifices her own choice. Jessica, on the contrary, betrays her father. She not only secretly desserts her father but also robs him. Girls are seen off by the father when the latter hands her over to the groom with lots of gifts. The bride before leaving her father’s house wears the best dress. Here is Jessica leaving her father’s house in her ugly disguise. She is ashamed to hold the torch on her own face. 

Act II: Scene 7

Summary

At Belmont, in a room in Portia's house, the Prince of Morocco surveys the three caskets — one of gold, one of silver, and one of lead. He must choose one, and if he chooses the correct one, his reward will be the "fair Portia." As he reads the words engraved on the top of each casket, he ponders each of the symbolic inscriptions. On the leaden casket, he reads, "Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath"; on the silver casket, he reads, "Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves"; and on the golden casket, he reads, "Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire." Portia informs him that the correct casket contains her picture.

There is a caveat. Should he fail, as per the oath taken in the temple, he would not ask any bride’s hand for marriage.

Morocco reviews the inscriptions again and rejects the lead casket as being not worth the high stakes for which he gambles. He ponders a long time over the silver casket. The words "get as much as he deserves" intrigue him. He is quite sure that he deserves Portia; he deserves her "in birth," "in fortune," "in grace," "in qualities of breeding," and most of all, "in love." 

But he rejects the silver casket because he refuses to believe that Portia's father would "immure" a portrait of his treasured daughter in a metal "ten times undervalued [as] tried gold." The prince reasons that a portrait of Portia — a "mortal, breathing saint," a woman whom "all the world desires" — could be only within the golden casket. He chooses, therefore, the golden casket, hoping to find "an angel in a golden bed."

When he unlocks the casket and looks inside, he discovers only a skull ("carrion Death") and a scroll rolled up and inserted within the skull's "empty eye." He takes it out and reads the message: "All that glitters is not gold; . . . Gilded tombs do worms infold." He makes a hasty exit with his entourage. "A gentle riddance," comments Portia.

Analysis

Morocco agrees to take the test of casket opening. He takes the oath and proceeds. Portia directs him to open the casket, where there is her portrait, in one chance.

As Morocco inspects the caskets, he finds inscriptions upon them, which he reads for us. These inscriptions are important. They contain hints. Each succeeding suitor will reflect upon them. As they do so, their analysis will reveal the truth about their own character. The inscriptions are, of course, intentionally ambiguous; they can be interpreted in more than one way. Remembering that this is a romantic comedy, we expect that Morocco will misinterpret them, as will Arragon later, and that finally Bassanio will read the inscriptions and interpret them correctly.

Morocco's long speech, beginning at line 13, was no doubt inserted by Shakespeare to allow the actor plenty of time to move back and forth with much hesitation between the caskets. Talking to himself, he says, "Pause there, Morocco. . . . What if I strayed no further, but chose here?" He is postponing the moment of choice and prolonging the suspense of this dramatic moment. 

 

We have already seen Morocco and know that he is a proud and powerful prince. He has, he says, "a golden mind." Thus he makes the most straightforward and obvious choice — for him: the golden casket, for "Never so rich a gem / Was set in worse than gold." Morocco provides two arguments each for each of the caskets.

Disclaimer: The images have been taken from Google sites.