Keyword Summary Answer Key
The prince of Morocco arrives to attempt to win Portia's
hand in marriage. He asks Portia not to judge him by his
dark complexion, assuring her that he is as
brave/courageous as any European man. Portia reminds
the prince that her own feelings do not matter, since her
marriage will be determined by the selection from the
caskets. She reminds him that the penalty for choosing
incorrectly is that he must remain single forever. The
prince agrees with this rule.
Lancelet Gobbo, a servant of Shylock, is in the middle of a
dilemma between staying to serve his master and leaving.
Part of him fears that Shylock is a devil and wishes to leave, but
another part reminds Lancelet of his own honest ways. Finally,
Lancelet decides to leave. While he is debating himself, his
father passes by, who is half blind. Lancelet decides to trick his
father, and pretends to be a master who gives his father bad
directions and tells him his son is dead. Finally, Lancelet
reveals the truth and asks his father to help him become the
servant of Bassanio. Together, father and son convince
Bassanio to hire Lancelet. Next, Bassanio encounters Gratiano
and tells him of his intent to travel to Belmont to win Portia.
Gratiano asks to come with him, and Bassanio agrees, but only
if Gratiano can control his unruly/crazy behavior.
Shylock's daughter Jessica bids goodbye to Lancelet,
telling him that he is a merry devil who robbed the
house of some of its taste of tediousness. She gives
him a letter to give to Lorenzo. In private, Jessica
worries that it is a sin for her to hate her father, but
admits that although she is his daughter, she is not
like him in manners. She pledges to marry Lorenzo
and become a Christian.
Lorenzo, Gratiano, Salarino, and Solanio are attempting
to plan a masque for the evening. Gratiano worries that
they are not prepared, but Lorenzo assures him that it is
only four o’clock and they have two hours to get ready.
Lancelet enters and gives his letter to Lorenzo, who
instantly recognizes the handwriting. He gives Lancelet
some money and tells him to tell Jessica that he will not
fail her. Lorenzo reveals that the letter explains how
Jessica will disguise herself as a page (boy servant) and
steal her father's gold and jewels so that they might get
married.
While he is continuously calling for Jessica, Shylock tells
Lancelet that he will find that Bassanio will not be as
lenient a master as Shylock, and will not put up with
Lancelet eating and sleeping all day. Shylock prepares
to leave for dinner with Lancelet, although he reveals to
Jessica that he does not wish to leave after he had a
foreboding dream about money. He tells Jessica to
guard their house. Lancelet tells Jessica to keep her eye
out the window for Lorenzo, although Jessica tells a
suspicious Shylock that Lancelet merely said “farewell,
mistress." Shylock snorts that Lancelet sleeps more than
a wildcat, then leaves. Jessica says farewell, saying that
he has lost his daughter.
Salarino and Gratiano are part of the masquers partying
through the streets of Venice. They stop and wait for Lorenzo,
who has asked them to meet him at a certain spot. He arrives
and thanks them for their patience. He then calls out to
Jessica, who appears in the window of Shylock's house dressed
as a page/boy, making use of the Shakespearean convention of
disguises. She throws out a casket to Lorenzo filled with
money/jewels. She then goes back inside and steals even more
ducats/gold coins before joining them. Everyone leaves
except for Gratiano, who unexpectedly meets Antonio, who
tells him to get to the ship heading for Belmont, because the
wind has started blowing the right way and the ship is ready to
depart.
The Prince of Morocco is brought into a room containing three
caskets made of gold, silver, and lead. Portia tells him to make his
choice. The Prince reads the inscriptions on all the caskets. The first
reads: “Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire.” The
second casket reads “Who chooseth me shall get as much as he
deserves.” Finally, the dull casket bears the inscription, “Who
chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath”. She tells the
Prince that the correct casket, or the one that will allow him to marry
her, contains her picture. The Prince looks over all the inscriptions a
second time, and decides that the dull one is too threatening and
not worth risking anything for. He also rejects the second, which he
feels is too beneath his standards. The Prince therefore chooses
the first. Portia hands him the key, and he opens the casket to reveal
a skull. It holds a scroll that poetically indicates that he chose
superficially. The Prince departs after a hasty farewell.
.
Salarino and Solanio meet in the street and discuss Bassanio’s
departure. They further tell the audience that Shylock returned
home and discovered Jesscia’s crime. Shylock then woke up
the Duke and tried to stop Bassanio’s ship, which had already
set sail for Belmont. Antonio assured Shylock that Jessica was
not on board the ship, but rather had been seen in a gondola.
However, Shylock continues to blame Christians for the loss of
his daughter and, maybe more importantly, his money and
jewels. Solanio is worried about Antonio, whom he says had
better repay his bond with Shylock on time, because Shylock is
furious about his losses and blames him for them. Salarino
indicates that a Frenchman mentioned a Venetian vessel had
sunk in the English Channel (narrow seas) the day before. Both
men hope that it is not Antonio's ship.
The prince of Arragon arrives to take his chances with
the lottery. Portia and the prince summarize the three
rules every suitor must swear to before they play the
lottery. The prince does not choose the gold casket
because he believes that the word “many” in the riddle
could refer to all men being fools. He thinks about the
riddles long and hard and chooses the silver casket,
hoping he gets what he deserves. The prince opens the
casket only to find it contains a portrait of a blinking
idiot. Following the suitor’s exit, Portia compares all men
to moths and Nerissa reminds her that fate/destiny
decides when men marry and die.