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THIS section is intended to offer more help to those candidates who are studying The Merchant of Venice for the June Ordinary Level examinations. Examples of questions that may be found on most examinations will be used in this discussion.
Students need to know the story of the play in some detail. Secondly, students must give themselves practice in reading the questions carefully and answering exactly what is asked. They should train themselves to write quickly enough to finish the work in the time allowed. At times it is a waste of time to copy out the question. Students should also know beforehand which kinds of question they must do and what they may do.
For some examinations students must do one context question and may also do an essay question on the set play; for others they may have some choice between context and essay questions. I would like to believe that when students get to the examination room they would be aware of these requirements having practised them in the past two years.
The same applies on which questions to answer; practice makes perfect, goes the adage. Students should know where their strengths lie when they come to examinations. Do they usually score higher marks on essay or contextual questions?
Please allow for some digression, this also goes with schools said to have done wrong syllabi. I believe teachers and students liaise and discuss with colleagues from other schools to detect any anomalies in the texts studied. The earlier errors are detected the quicker they can be rectified. Here is a typical examination context question and a sample answer. Note that I am not saying this is the best and only correct answer but a suggestion.
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow it:
“O that estates, degrees, and offices,/ Were not derived corruptly, and that clear honour/Were purchased by the merit of the wearer,/ How many then should cover that stand bare?/ How many be commanded that command?/ How much low peasantry would then be gleaned/ From the true seed of honour?/ And how much honour/ Picked from the chaff and ruin of the times,/ To be new-varnished? Well but to my choice, Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves.”
Who speaks these lines and on what occasion?
Where does the speaker read the last line of the passage; what has he said previously to show that this line makes an especial appeal to him?
What is meant by “gleaned from the true seed of honour” and “O that estates, degrees, and offices, were not derived corruptly?”
What does the speaker choose when it comes to his “choice?” What does his choice tell us about his character?
Mention two consequences which follow the speaker’s choice.
Here are some notes on possible answers:
(a)The Prince of Arragon; at Portia’s house in Belmont when he is about to make his choice of the caskets.
(b) On the silver casket; that he believes he genuinely deserves the best, and there is no point in pretending otherwise.
(c) “picked out, like chaff from corn, from those who are truly the children of noble parents” “I wish that places of high rank and social standing and important positions in the government were not obtained unworthily.”
(d) The silver casket. In assuming that he deserves Portia he shows himself too proud.
(e) He finds inside this casket the portrait of an idiot, but keeps his oath to leave at once without saying anything further.
Please note that this was a sample question from London University G C E, Ordinary Level examination.
Context questions should be tackled in this manner with improvements where possible. Dealing with answering different types of questions, I feel it is pertinent to also discuss the suitors, that is Morocco, Arragon and Bassanio.
Our focus is on why they choose caskets as they do. In answering the above questions we have briefly shown Arragon’s character. Before Arragon decides on which casket to choose, he promises Portia that he will abide by her father’s rules, he will never reveal which casket he chose.
Secondly, he promises never to court another woman, and lastly he will leave Belmont immediately. As stated in the context question answers, Arragon is a proud man. We read that often Shakespeare makes his characters’ names suggest their primary qualities. Arragon could probably have been chosen for its resemblance to arrogant. Arragon appears arrogant.
On the other hand, the Prince of Morocco’s choice was straightforward and simple. Many people could have made the same choice. He chose the gold casket. It seemed the most obvious, most desirable choice. More could be added here. Wise students will pick it up from here and produce a very good answer. These are the last stages of our discussion of The Merchant of Venice as we endeavour to tackle other texts.
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