Summary (lines 41-79)

• Antonio declares that he is not upset for his merchandise. His merchandise is not trusted in one bottom i.e. not carried in a single ship nor is it confined to one direction. His fortunes are also not dependent on the present year’s income.

• Salerio fails to understand the reasons for Antonio’s melancholic state of mind. He guesses that Antonio must be in love. Antonio rejects that reason too.

• Salerio elaborates on the different personalities and temperaments of human beings. He says Nature has shaped contrasting types of people. He compares them to the two-headed Janus (Roman God). There are some people who laugh at anything, even at the sound of the bag-piper similar to a parrot which laughs at anything without reason. Whereas, there are other people who appear so serious that they refuse to show their teeth in way of smile even when the joke is funny enough to make Nestor (old and solemn Greek General) laugh.

• Salerio leaves the stage and Bassanio, Lorenzo and Gratiano enter the scene.

• Gratiano also realizes that Antonio looks troubled and anxious. He remarks that Antonio has changed a lot. He tells that Antonio thinks a lot about the worldly matter. He also adds that those who spend a lot of time worrying about worldly matters are never really happy.

• Antonio gives a philosophical justification of his state of mind while conversing to Gratiano. He says that the entire World is a stage where humans play their designated parts and roles and that his role is a sad one.

Answer the following questions and UNDERLINE OR HIGHLIGHT the key points.

Q1. What are the three reasons Antonio gives to justify that his merchandise is not responsible for his state of mind? [3]

Q2. How does Salerio describe the contrasting types of men that nature has created? [3]

Q3. What reason does Antonio give for Salerio’s departure? Who entered the scene right after this conversation? [3]

Q4. What metaphor does Antonio use to justify his state of mind while in conversation with Gratiano? [3]

CLASS IX LITERATURE ASSIGNMENT (To be submitted by 19.04.2020)

Based on The Merchant of Venice (Act1 sc i 1-40)

Answer the following questions:

Q1. How has the sadness affected Antonio? (2)

Q2. How do the smaller ships show/ behave on seeing Antonio’s argosies? What is meant by the ‘woven wings’ of the ships? (2)

Q3. What would Solanio do had his ventures been sailing across the sea? (2)

Q4. Explain the line, “My wind, cooling my broth, would blow me to an ague..”(2)

Q5. What would happen if the dangerous rocks touch the sides of Salerio’s vessel? (2)

Q6. What is meant by ‘the holy edifice of stone’? What does Salerio conclude to be the reason for Antonio’s sadness? (2)

Stanza 1

The poem begins with a vivid scene of a summer evening. It is the time when most people return from work. An elderly farmer named Kaspar sits before his cottage watching his grandchildren Wilhelmine and Peterkin at play on the lush green field.

Stanza 2

As Wilhelmine was playing, she saw her brother Peterkin rolling something ‘large, smooth and round’ which he had found beside the river.Out of curiosity, Peterkin takes that ‘something’ to his grandfather, wanting to know about it.

Stanza 3

Old Kaspar took that round thing from the boy, who was left in anticipation. After a brief look at it, the old man shook his head with a sigh and found it to be a skull of some ‘poor fellow’ which refers to a soldier who had died in the war – in the Battle of Blenheim – ‘in the great victory’.

Stanza 4

The Battle of Blenheim led to the death of thousands of soldiers whose corpses lie deep scattered in the field. Further, Kaspar relates how he had found many such objects while ploughing the fields and in his garden. The ‘great victory’ refers to the triumph in the battle. Kaspar believed that the soldiers sacrificed their life for the country and did not die in vain. Their death served the purpose of victory in the battle.

Stanza 5

Hearing about the battle, the children were restless to know more about it. The children were so curious to know about the war and the reason behind it that it reflected in her eyes gleaming for a wonder to unfold. The poet reflects upon the zeal and enthusiasm associated with young age.

Stanza 6

History books tell us that the English defeated the France in the Battle of Blenheim. Kaspar tries to answer the questions posed by his grandchildren by telling them this piece of information. The interesting point to note here is – he doesn’t know the reason behind the war. In fact, he doesn’t try to find it! He remembers what everybody told him – the victory was famous, and he repeated it to himself and put some belief in the words.

Stanza 7

Kaspar recollects from the past, some of the scenarios of the war. He begins by remembering his father who lived in a small village of Blenheim near a river. During the war, along with several other innocent people, Kaspar’s dwelling (house) was burnt to the ground, his father was forced to fly with his wife and child. Young Kaspar, along with his parents fled to a different place but could not find a home or a shelter to rest his head because of the impending war.

Stanza 8

The poet describes the severity of battle. ‘Fire’ and ‘sword’ are symbols of man’s cruelty for man. They represent destruction, death and horror. It shows both the futility of war and its power to destroy. The image of childing (pregnant) mothers and new born babies killed in war here makes the readers aware of the destruction caused by war.

Whether he believes it or not, Kaspar has resigned to the inevitability of death. That’s why he takes those killings casually and thinks it ‘must be’ there at every such victory. ‘Famous victory’ is intentionally repeated by the poet (Robert Southey) to create a sense of irony.

Stanza 9

The poet goes on to depict the terror of war. When the battle was over, thousands of dead bodies of soldiers lay rotting in the field.

Stanza 10

“The Duke of Marlbro’ & Prince Eugene representing England won the battle which lasted for days. Here Kaspar praises the Duke and the Prince for having defeated the French and bringing glories to the nation.

A confused Wilhelmine exclaimed that it (war) was a ‘wicked’ thing and wondered how her grandfather could sing praises of such a war. Again, Kaspar quotes that it was a ‘famous victory’. As a common man, the old man is ignorant about the reason and outcome of war.

Stanza 11

Many people praised the Duke for having won the war and Kaspar recalls this with some delight. Peterkin then anticipated on the very purpose of war and what it led to. She asked, “But what good came of it at last? The old man did not have any answers to such questions. All he knew was that it was a famous victory.The poet again repeats the line (refrain) “It was a famous victory”. This line is an epitome of irony. The war was fought over a trivial dispute but costed lives of thousands and thousands of soldiers.

KEY POINTS

As you begin your first reading of the text of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, it would interest you to know that---

• The play was published in 1596.

• Shakespeare wrote during the Elizabethan and Jacobean Ages.

• The language that the play uses is the Elizabethan language that might seem very absurd when read today. We must remember here that the English language has undergone many changes in the course of years and has become less cumbersome than what it used to be.

• There are many instances given in the play reading which the reader gets a peep

BRIEF OUTLINE (The Merchant of Venice)

• The Merchant of Venice tells the story of Shylock, a Jew, who lends money to Antonio on the condition that he get to cut off a pound of Antonio’s flesh if he defaults on the loan.

• Antonio borrows the money for his friend Bassanio, who needs it to court the wealthy Portia.

• When Antonio defaults, Portia, disguised as a man, defends him in court, and ultimately beats Shylock with a unique logic: his oath entitles him to a pound of the Antonio’s flesh, she notes, but not his blood.

• When Shylock realizes that he has lost all grounds and stands defeated, he pleads for mercy.

• He is charged with conspiring against a Venetian citizen, and therefore his fortune is seized.

Read Act I scene (i) closely and go through the pointers given below for your reference. Also, go through the annotations given in your text books.

• The scene takes place in a street of Venice.

• The characters present are Antonio, Salarino, Salanio, Bassanio, Gratiano, Lorenzo.

• Salarino and Salanio, two Venetian merchants notice that their friend Antonio had been looking very gloomy and upset lately.

• Antonio, a Venetian merchant, complains to his friends, Salarino and Salanio, that a sadness has overtaken him and dulled his faculties. He is at a loss to explain why and is unaware of the reason.

• Antonio has sent several ships abroad to trade goods in many ports, so his friends speculate that he is anxious of his fortunes and investments.

• They describe how anxious they themselves would have been, if their money was similarly invested in the unpredictable ventures abroad.

• Salarino and Salanio would have watched and observed even the slightest of change in the winds and weather until their fortunes returned to port.

• Salarino says that it is impossible for Antonio not to feel sad at the thought of the perilous ocean sinking his entire investment but Antonio assures his friends that his business ventures do not depend on the safe passage of any one ship. Salarino then declares that Antonio must be in love, but Antonio dismisses the suggestion.

• Salarino and Salanio briefly attempt to raise Antonio’s spirits, but they are soon interrupted by the arrival of three other friends—Bassanio, Gratiano and Lorenzo. Salarino and Salanio take leave to attend to their own business.

• Gratiano also observes Antonio’s sad disposition and takes it upon himself to "play the fool" and cheer him up.

• When Gratiano notices Antonio’s unhappiness, he suggests that the merchant worries too much about business when Antonio responds that he is but a player on a stage, destined to play a sad part. Gratiano warns Antonio against becoming the type of man who puts a solemn demeanour in order to gain a wise reputation, then he takes his leave with Lorenzo.

• When Bassanio is left alone with Antonio, Antonio asks Bassanio to share his feelings regarding the woman he loves in Belmont.

• In reply, Bassanio admits that he already owes Antonio a substantial sum of money and that he has fallen in love with Portia, a rich heiress from Belmont and hopes to win her heart by competing with her other wealthy and powerful suitors.

• In order to woo Portia, however, Bassanio says he needs to borrow more money from Antonio.

• Antonio tells Bassanio that his money is occupied in his ships at sea but gives Bassanio permission to borrow the sum elsewhere on his credit.

About the author (O. Henry)

About the author (Robert Southey)