THE QUALITY OF MERCY
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Comprehension Questions
Answer the following questions
1) What is mercy compared to?
Ans: Mercy is compared to the gentle rain from the sky to the earth.
2) Why
mercy is twice blessed?
Ans: Mercy is twice blessed because it blesses the one
showing mercy and the one receiving mercy.
3) What does mercy stand for?
Ans: Mercy is divine quality and it stands for Divine power.
4) Why does mercy drop like rain from heaven,
according to Portia?
Ans: Mercy is never forced or compelled and so it drops
freely like rain from heaven.
5) What does the crown stand for?
Ans: “The Crown” refers to the functions of government and the civil
service.
6) How is mercy above the sceptred sway?
Ans: Mercy is a nobler quality in
a ruler better compared to the crown he wears. Mercy is far over this world
administered by men with a sceptre. The nature of Mercy is more impressive than
the king's power which represents his force and glory on earth and a ruler who
is lenient has the nature of God.
7) What is the earthly power referred to?
Ans: The sceptre stands for both earthly power and the symbol of royal authority.
8) What is an attribute to God Himself?
Ans: Being merciful is an attribute to God himself.
9) What kind of justice does the poet
recommend?
Ans: The poet recommends justice that is seasoned with mercy.
10) Why does the speaker compare mercy with gentle rain
from heaven?
Ans: The
speaker compares mercy with gentle rain from heaven because these two have a
pleasant and soothing effect and are not slave to any compulsion.
Answer the following questions.
1) Explain the central idea of the poem.
Ans: The sonnet highlights the significance of mercy in
human conduct. Mercy is a glorious quality and it springs in the heart as
normally as the delicate downpour tumbles from the paradise. It doesn't work
under any impulse. Mercy is a double blessing. It favors both the supplier and
the taker. The taker is mitigated of his pain and misery and the provider wins
over God. Mercy is an uncommon nature of God Himself. God is just and merciful
even in rebuffing the sinners. He is guided by mercy. In this way, if a king
seasons his equity with mercy, he can become like God himself. Mercy decorates
a king better compared to his crown. The bar of expert in his grasp can just
make dread in the hearts of men however the nature of mercy can win for him
willing slaves. In this way, mercy is more remarkable than the king's staff.
2) Critically appreciate the poem “The
Quality of Mercy.”
Ans: This sonnet is composed viably by the poet and he has
suitably utilized many saying to pass on the possibility that although the rich
among the men are not forgiving yet God is, and the people who are merciful are
honored. It shows that each man shows a drop of mercy from the great mercy,
God. Mercy is given to man since it is man's right. It is equity to him that he
is merciful. When man disregards liking the worth and nature of merciful, man
looses his humankind and become encircled by fear, narrow-mindedness and
artificial joy and force. The poet has viably and innovatively liked the nature
of mercy in this sonnet.
3) “Mercy is the mightiest of the mightiest.”
How does the poet justify this?
Ans: Mercy is the mightiest of the mightiest in light of
the fact that its force is mightier than the wide range of various forces that
a ruler can flaunt. The seat, the crown and the staff are altogether images of
force of the lord. In any case, every one of these indications of force loses
their significance as they discuss just natural force. The natural force is
fleeting. Mercy ought to have its place of unmistakable quality in the core of
the lord as it makes the ruler God-like.
4) What are the qualities of mercy?
Ans: In the sonnet 'Quality of Mercy'. Shakespeare appears
to maintain the idea that assuming man is the genuine picture of God; he ought
to be Godlike in his conduct. One of the characteristics that would make man
divine is the quality of mercy cherished in his heart. The quality of mercy
comes to everybody normally like the delicate rain from paradise. Its
significance is elevated on account of a ruler since he needs to temper equity
with mercy.
5) What does qualify a monarch more mercy or
throne? Why?
Ans: In the event that the staff shows the
power of fleeting force, mercy shows the lasting worth of a king since it
streams from his heart and makes him Godlike. It is just when the king shows
the quality of mercy that he can do equity to the idea of the king being
heavenly. It glances preferable in a king above than own crown looks on him.
The staff is an image of wonderment and greatness where lies the wellspring of
the fear and dread that rulers order. In any case, mercy is over that sceptred
force. It is enthroned in the hearts of lords. Henceforth mercy qualifies a
ruler more than his throne.
6) How does Portia describe the quality of
mercy?
Ans: Portia portrays the quality of mercy utilizing various analogies. To
show that mercy is normal for a person, she contrasts it and the common and
gentle rain that drops from paradise. To show that mercy is heavenly, she
differentiates it against the throne, the crown and the staff which are largely
images of a king's earthly power. She says that mercy is twice blessed. It
favors both the supplier and the beneficiary. Mercy turns into a quality of God
Himself if mercy kindness seasons equity.
