The Merchant of Venice Act 2 scenes 8 & 9

This PowerPoint lesson guides the class through two important scenes, Act 2 scenes 8 and 9, recounting the distress of Shylock and his likely vengeance and then observing the attempt of Arragon to choose the correct casket. Both figures are made to look fools. Time is spent considering the dramatic impact of reporting Shylock’s distress (as opposed to observing it on stage) and the possible bias as well as linking the probable vengeance against Antonio to Shylock’s earlier animosity. Context is key to understanding the mockery in the characterisation of Arragon. The discussion of characters ends with some consideration of Bassanio: romantic ‘ambassador of love’ or ambitious man on the make? The lesson closes with a series of exam-style questions (one in each of the styles suitable for GCSE with AQA, OCR and Edexcel) on the presentation of Shylock so far. Ideal for students of GCSE using the following exam boards: AQA, Edexcel, OCR or for able KS3 classes.