1

The Merchant of Venice ACT I

The opening
Task: Fill in the missing information from the opening act with a line, a scene or an event.
Act I
Scene 1: Antonio, a Christian, is a merchant who has invested most of his money in ships. Salarino
thinks he is worried about his ships, which are at sea. (line _____)

Scene 1: Bassanio confides to Antonio that he wants to marry Portia but he does not have the money
to equal Portias other suitors. Antonio is ready to help at any cost, so
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________ (line 172)

Scene 2: Portia is a wealthy heiress who is unhappy about _____________________

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________ (line 20)

Scene 3: Shylock is a rich money-lending Jew who agrees to

__________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

The Merchant of Venice ACT I

The rising action
The following scenes in Act II form the rising action stage of the play.
Task: Fill in the missing information with a line, a scene or an event from Act II.
Act I
Scene 1: Antonio, a Christian, is a
merchant who has invested most of his
money in ships. Salarino thinks he is
worried about his ships, which are at
sea. (line 8)

Act II
Scene _____: Salarino hears about a shipwreck and hopes it is
not one of Antonios ships. (lines _____)

Scene 1: Bassanio confides to Antonio

that he wants to marry Portia but he
does not have the money to equal
Portias other suitors. Antonio is willing
to help at any cost, so he offers to act as
guarantor for Bassanios loan. (line 172)

Scene _____: Bassanio arrives in Belmont to choose a casket.

Scene 2: Portia is to choose a husband

but she is unhappy about the conditions
set out in her fathers will. (line 20)

Scenes 1 and 7:
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
Scene 9: _________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
Scene 9: _________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
(line 85)

Scene 3: Shylock is a rich moneylending Jew who agrees to loan

Bassanio 3000 ducats. He accepts
Antonio as guarantor but if he defaults,
he will have to pay Shylock with his
own pound of flesh.

The Merchant of Venice ACT I

Ten things I hate about you
Task: Complete the following exercises:
Exercise 1: Fill in the table by referring to lines in Scene 3. Copy the lines and write the meaning in modern language if
needed. An example has been given for you.
Ten things I (Shylock) hate about you (Antonio)
No

Line
reference

Line 34

Line

He lends out money gratis

Modern version

He lends money without charging interest

10

Exercise 2: In line 165, Shylock instructs Antonio to go to the notary (solicitor) and prepare the
bond (contract) which Antonio must sign.

Imagine you are the notary. What are the questions you need to ask Antonio?

Write out the contract, making sure you have all the details just as Antonio and Shylock agreed.

What can you infer about Antonios and Shylocks character from this agreement?

The Merchant of Venice ACT I

Structural terms in dramatic texts
Task: Use the meanings in the box below to complete sentences about the following terms used in
dramatic texts.
The opening ___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
The rising action
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
The complication
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
The climax ___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
The falling action
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
The denouement
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
The ending ___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Meaning
is the unraveling where the audience learns how and why things happened as they did. It
occurs within the falling action.
takes the plot forward and builds up the events to the climax.
is the conclusion of the play. Sometimes it has a moral or message about life.
is the beginning of the play. This is where the playwright introduces the characters, the setting
and other information the audience needs to know so they can follow the plot. It is sometimes
called the exposition.
occurs after the climax and leads to the end.
is the event in the plot that causes other events to occur and leads to the climax. It starts the
chain reaction within the play.
is the high point in the play. It is the point to which the rising action has been leading.