ACT-2 SCENE-4
MCQs ANSWERS - (ACT-2/ SCENE-4) -
CONTEXTUAL QUESTIONS
Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow:
1. PORTIA:
I prithee, boy, run to the Senate house;
Stay not to answer me, but get thee gone:
Why dost thou stay?
LUCIUS:
To know my errand, madam.
i) Where does this scene take place? Give two examples to show that Portia is agitated?
Ans: This scene takes place in the street in front of Brutus's house. Portia urges Lucius to run to the Senate house. "Stay not to answer me', "why dost thou stay' all said at the same time by Portia that shows that she is in great agitation.
ii) What is the errand on which Portia is sending Lucius? what has motivated her to send Lucius urgently on the errand?
Ans: Portia urges Lucius to run to the capitol/ senate house and report back what he witnesses there. Portia sends an errand to him to see how his master is and observe what suitors are pressing about Caesar. Portia is struggling with the dangerous information.
iii) Whom does she meet a little later, which increases her tension? what does that person indicate that there is a possibility of an impeding danger?
Ans: She meets a little later with a soothsayer who tells her that Caesar has not yet gone to the Senate House. He is waiting for Caesar with a petition that 'shall beseech him to befriend himself'.
iv) Give two arguments put forward earlier to Brutus by Portia to indicate why she should know his secrets?
Ans: Portia is a loving and devoted wife of Brutus. She is the daughter of Cato, renowned for high ideals, patriotism and stoicism. She claims her right to share the secrets of her husband.
v) What noise does Portia said to have heard a little later? Does Lucius hear the noise? what can you conclude about this situation?
Ans: Portia cries out in terror as she seems to hear a great noise coming from the capitol but Lucius assures her that he hears nothing. This builds up tension so that we note that how time is passing and the moment of the assassination is approaching.
2. PORTIA:
I would have had thee there, and here again,
Ere I can tell thee what thou shouldst do there
----------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
Art thou here yet?
i) where is Portia sending Lucius? what does she tell Lucius to find out about Brutus and Caesar?
Ans: Portia is sending Lucius to the capitol and report back what he witnesses there. Portia invites an errand is to see how his master is and observe what suitors are pressing about Caesar. Portia is struggling with the dangerous information she now has assumed that Brutus has confided in her or else that she has concluded that her husband is a part of a conspiracy to kill Caesar. She is bursting to make this news public but she is sworn to silence.
ii) Why is Portia extremely distracted and internally anxious according to the extract?
Ans: Portia is extremely distracted and internally anxious because she knows details of the plot. She follows stoic principles. She is unable to sustain the stress of suspense. She has faith in her husband's nobility and has immense love for him.
iii) Give the meaning of: "Set a huge mountain tween my heart and tongue!" What is the conflict from which Portia suffers as indicated in this statement?
Ans: The line 'set a huge mountain tween my heart and tongue means that Portia is shaken under the strain of the knowledge she begged for, feeling her weakness. She is nervous and her own death is foreshadowed indicated in this statement.
iv) State in your own woes what Portia mans by 'a man's mind but a woman's might'. what does she feel is her weakness? why?
Ans: Portia is skillfully devoted into a splendid example of heroic qualities usually associated with woman hood. High courage, spotless virtue, powerful will, great endurance were Roman ideals of a woman. She feels nervous and thinks of her own death is foreshadowed in this nervous crisis.
v) In what way is a sense of urgency indicated in the first two lines of the extract? Where else, in the extract, does she show the same attitude?
Ans: A sense of urgency indicated in the first two lines of the extract is that she wants to know what is happening at the capitol. She is worried about so she feels like sending Lucius up and down to the capitol and bringing her the news. This same attitude is seen in the next line itself. She knows that she is displaying her anxiety so she prays for patience.
3. SOOTHSAYER:
None that I know will be, much that i fear may chance.
Good morrow to you. here the street is narrow;
----------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------
Speak to great Caesar as he comes along. (Exit)
i) Omens and soothsayers play a big role in Julius Caesar. What role does the soothsayer play here? What effect does his presence have on Portia and on the audience?
Ans: The soothsayer wants to warn Caesar of some harm. The soothsayer reminds him of his life that something will happen to him on March 15th. Portia's fear increases as she hears of the soothsayer's warning and intention. So she almost loses her self- control.
ii) To whom does the soothsayer address these words? explain the first sentence in the extract in the light of what has already been said to him.
Ans: The soothsayer addresses these words to Portia. Portia asks if there is any harm planned against Caesar. But soothsayer says that he does not know of any specific harm but fears that harm may be done to Caesar.
iii) What is meant by 'The throng'? what would the throng witness in a short time?
Ans: The throng means a throng of Senators, praetors and common suitors are at Caesar's heels as he passes through the narrow streets to the Senate's House. The throng witness Caesar's Murder in a short time.
iv) What does the soothsayer want to tell Caesar? why does he wish to get for himself a 'place more void'?
Ans: The soothsayer wants to warn Caesar to take care of himself. Since, he is a feeble man who might get crushed by the crowd. So he was looking for some empty place or space to speak to Caesar.
v) Besides the soothsayer, there is another person waiting to communicate on the road with Caesar. Who is he? what does he want to tell Caesar and why?
Ans: Besides the soothsayer, Artemidorus intends to give a letter to Caesar naming his murderers and warning Caesar. He reasons out that Caesar may survive if the fate does not ally itself with the conspirators. Artemidorus represents honest common citizens, voicing his concern for the safety of Caesar.
No comments:
Post a Comment