Hi Everyone!! This article will share The Court of Justice Questions & Answers.
In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of Count That Day Lost and The Missing Ring so, you can check these posts as well.
The Court of Justice Questions & Answers
Question 1: Whose letter praised the young lawyer? Where was the lawyer waiting?
Answer: Bellario’s letter praised the young lawyer. The lawyer was waiting outside the court.
Question 2: How did the Duke treat the lawyer?
Answer: The Duke received the lawyer with warm words of welcome. He respectfully asked the lawyer if he knew about the case before the court.
Question 3: What was the lawyer’s opinion about the law suit? How did Shylock react to it?
Answer: The lawyer found the lawsuit strange. He however was motivated to deliver justice. When Antonio confessed that he had broken the terms of the agreement, the lawyer requested Shylock to be merciful. Shylock was unwilling to follow the lawyer’s advice and replied by enquiring why he should be merciful to Antonio.
Question 4: How did Bassanio attempt to save Antonio? Did the law permit it?
Answer: Bassanio tried to repay Antonio’s debt to Shylock. He was even willing to pay twice or ten times the principal amount in order to save his friend. As Shylock firmly refused to accept the payment from Bassanio, he was anguished and requested the lawyer to make an exception in Antonio’s case to prevent Shylock for harming him. He pointed out that Shylock was malicious and intended to harm Antonio deliberately.
The law however did not permit Bassanio to repay Antonio’s debt. The lawyer Balthasar said that if he made an exception in Antonio’s case, it would be recorded as a precedent and would be open to misuse in future.
The Court of Justice Questions & Answers
Question 5: What were the terms laid down in the bond between Shylock and Antonio?
Answer: The terms laid down in the bond stated that if Antonio was unable to repay the entire amount that he had borrowed from Shylock within a period of time, Shylock would carve out a pound of flesh from Antonio’s chest.
Question 6: Why did the lawyer request Shylock to call a doctor? What did Shylock say?
Answer: The lawyer requested Shylock to call a doctor to treat Antonio and prevent him from bleeding to death. Shylock in turn asked Balthasar if that was written in the bond, indicating that he would not do anything that was not directly mentioned there.
Question 7: How did Antonio bid goodbye to Bassanio?
Answer: Antonio bade farewell to Bassanio by telling him to convey his good wishes to his wife Portia and remember him as a true friend who did not regret borrowing money from Shylock to help Bassanio out. He assured Bassanio that he was well-prepared to meet his fate and thought on the advantages of dying when youthful and strong instead of dying of sickness, pain and suffering in old age. He also requested Bassanio to tell the tale of his friendship with Antonio and remember him fondly after his death. He is not worried by Shylock’s attempts to harm him and declared that he was not afraid to die in order to repay Bassanio’s debt.
Question 8: In what way did Shylock want Antonio to repay his debts? Was he successful in doing so?
Answer: Shylock wanted Antonio to repay his debt with his own life. No, he was not successful.
Question 9: Read and answer the questions:
1. The quality of mercy is not strain’d
It droppeth as gentle rain from heaven
a. Who said this to whom?
Answer: Portia, disguised as Balthasar, said this to Shylock.
b. What, according to the speaker, are the qualities of mercy?
Answer: Portia compares mercy to gentle rain. It benefits both the person who receives it and the person who delivers it. She points out that mercy and forgiveness are godly characteristics and make the earthly King more powerful and well-loved than his crown and scepter would ever do. When justice is accompanied with mercy and compassion, the souls of both the giver and the receiver are redeemed.
c. What did the listener do?
Answer: Shylock rudely refused to be compassionate and declared that he would ensure that Antonio’s debt was repaid according to the terms laid out in the contract.
2. An oath, an oath! I have an oath in heaven.
Shall I lay perjury upon my soul?
a. What was the oath?
Answer: The ‘oath’ refers to Shylock’s promise to make Antonio repay his debt by hook or by crook.
b. Who was the speaker responding to?
Answer: Shylock was responding to Balthasar’s advice to accept Bassanio’s payment of three times the money he had lent to Antonio.
c. How would the speaker lay perjury on his soul?
Answer: Shylock would be violating his oath if he failed to execute the terms of the contract that he had laid down and that Antonio had knowingly signed.
3. A second Daniel, a Daniel! Shylock
Now are you truly trapped.
a. Who is the speaker of this sentence?
Answer: Gratiano said this.
b. Who is the second Daniel? Why is he/ she called so?
Answer: Balthasar is the ‘second Daniel’. As Shylock had used this term to praise Balthasar’s superior skills of judgment when he granted that Shylock’s demand to cut off a pound of flesh from Antonio’s chest was legally permitted, Gratiano uses the term to mock Shylock when Balthasar ruled that Shylock would lose his life and all his property if he shed a single drop of Antonio’s blood while carving the pound of flesh mentioned in the bond.
c. How did Shylock get trapped? Why is the speaker so gleeful about it?
Answer: Shylock got trapped as he hadn’t mentioned that he would not be responsible for the blood which will flow when he cut a pound of flesh from Antonio’s chest and now, he had to take the penalty but at his own risk. The speaker was gleeful because his friend Antonio’s life was being saved and Shylock who tried to harm Antonio, he himself was in trouble.
So, these were The Court of Justice Questions & Answers.