MERCHANT OF VENICE "William Shakespeare" Summary Chapter 2

3. CHARACTERS
 Portia
 Nerissa
 Portia’s father
 The Naples prince
 The Count
 The French lord
 The English baron
 The Scottish lord
 The German duke
 Bassanio

4. PREVIEW QUESTIONS
 Do you think it will be easy for Bassanio to marry
Portia?
 A: No. Maybe Bassanio has to do something a little
hard to marry Portia.
 What do you think Bassanio will do to convince
Portia to marry him?
 A: Bassanio could say Portia he loves her, and he
would do everything to be able to marry her.
 Do you think Portia might like any of the men who
come to visit her?
 A: No. Portia only likes Bassanio, so it’s very hard
that she will love another man.

5. PORTIA
 She was young, beautiful, and rich. She was
also unhappy and tired. She wanted to marry
with the perfect man.
Nerissa
 She was Portia’s maid.
Apparently, she was always besides
Portia to give her an advice.

6. PORTIA’S FATHER
 He’s dead. He was the creator of
guessing game, just a game to
marry Portia.
THE NAPLES PRINCE
 He talked too much about cats, all time.
Nothing else was interested for him,
 only cats.

7. SUITORS
 Portia did not like any suitor, each one had
a problem. As follows:
 Naples prince – Just talked about cats.
 The Count – He never was happy or joyful.
 French lord – He was a ‘silly man’.
 English baron – He did not study anything.
 Scottish lord – He seemed a ‘butch’.
 German duke – He was a drunk man.

8. THE COUNT
 He always looked sad or angry.
He never looked happy.
THE FRENCH LORD
 He wanted to imitate people,
he did not have his own way of thinking.
THE ENGLISH BARON
 The baron had never studied anything.
He did not understand Latin, French or
Italian – languages which Portia spoke.

9. THE SCOTTISH LORD
 He argued with the English baron, so
Portia told them both to leave.
The German Duke
 He was a drunk man, all time. So Portia
thought, he was just a little better than an
animal.

10. BASSANIO
 In this chapter, Portia described him as a
brave, interesting and handsome man. He
loved Portia, and Portia loved him.

11. CHAPTER DESCRIPTION
 Site: Belmont, France.
 Place: Portia’s father palace.

12. MIND MAP
Next suitor.
NERISSA’S
Prince of
ADVICE
Morocco
BEGINNING
GUESSING
SUITORS
GAME

13. NERISSA’S ADVICE
 As Portia was unhappy, her
maid, Nerissa, told Portia that ‘people can
get sick from having too much as easily
as they get sick from not having enough’.

14. GUESSING GAME
Portia’s father created a kind of
guessing game for men who want to
marry his daughter. The game is to
choose one of the boxes which had
something written on it. There are two
ways, the first one is to select the right
box and marry Portia. And the other
one is to select the wrong box and
never be able to marry with any woman.

15. NEXT SUITOR. PRINCE OF MOROCCO
 Portia received some news about a new
suitor, The Prince of Morocco would visit
her.
Is it a joke? Another suitor? Oh, my God! Said

16. REVIEW QUESTIONS
 Who was Nerissa?
 A: Nerissa was Portia´s maid.
She always advice Portia.
 Why did not Portia like the man who came
from England?
 A: Because that man did not study
anything, and he could not speak the
languages that Portia speaks.
 What condition did Portia’s father make
about men who wanted to marry Portia?
 A: They had to select the right box which
makes a man able to marry Portia.