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60 free The Merchant of Venice trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Merchant of Venice trivia for anyone who studied the play at school, saw the Pacino film, or just wants to know why a 'comedy' ends with a forced conversion. The quiz opens with the plot: who the merchant actually is, the 3,000 ducats, the interest-free bond, the ships at Tripolis and Mexico, the gold, silver and lead caskets, the Prince of Morocco's mistake, Jessica's elopement with Leah's turquoise ring, and the courtroom in which Portia, disguised as Balthazar, turns Shylock's own contract against him. The ring trick and the three ships that come home close the plot section. The second half is about where the play came from and what people have done with it since: Il Pecorone and the Gesta Romanorum, the 1598 Stationers' entry as 'the Jew of Venice', the ship Andrew and Cádiz, Marlowe's Jew of Malta, the 1605 court performance, Granville's rewrite, Macklin, Kean, Edwin Booth, Irving and Ellen Terry, Jacob Adler in Yiddish, the Nazi productions, Auden's essay, Harold Bloom's verdict, Wesker's The Merchant and the 2004 film with its one-take kiss. A few questions on Portia herself, from Cato's daughter to a moon of Uranus, round it out. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the play, Shylock, Portia and the 2004 film, with the supporting sentence attached to each question. Easy questions cover the plot; the expert tier reaches Thomas Heyes, Foerster's opera Jessika and Deuteronomy 32.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is Shylock's trade in the play?
Moneylender
The title character is actually Antonio, the merchant who defaults on the loan; Shylock is simply the more memorable part.
Q 02Between which years is The Merchant of Venice believed to have been written?
1596 and 1598
Francis Meres mentioned it in 1598, so it must already have been familiar on stage by then.
Q 03How is The Merchant of Venice classified in the First Folio of 1623?
A comedy
Despite that label it is remembered chiefly for its dramatic scenes and Shylock's demand for a pound of flesh.
Q 04How many ducats does Bassanio need to borrow so he can woo Portia in style?
3,000
He has squandered his own estate, and Antonio has bailed him out repeatedly before.
Q 05Why does Antonio have no ready cash to lend Bassanio himself?
His ships and goods are all at sea
His vessels are bound for Tripolis, the Indies, Mexico and England, so he guarantees a loan instead.
Q 06Besides insulting him, how has Antonio hurt Shylock's business before the play begins?
By lending money without interest
Antonio's interest-free loans force Shylock to charge lower rates, and Shylock cites past abuse before agreeing to lend.
Q 07What interest does Shylock charge on the loan to Bassanio?
None
The only condition is the bond: a pound of Antonio's flesh if the money is not repaid on the day.
Q 08Which talkative, tactless friend accompanies Bassanio on his wooing trip?
Gratiano
Bassanio warns him to exercise self-control; he ends up marrying Portia's handmaid.
Q 09Where does the heiress Portia live?
Belmont
It is a fictional estate near Venice where suitors face her late father's casket test.
Q 10Portia's suitors must choose between three caskets made of which materials?
Gold, silver and lead
Her father's will set the test; the winner finds Portia's portrait and a scroll inside the right one.
Q 11Which suitor picks the gold casket, reading 'what many men desire' as meaning Portia?
The Prince of Morocco
The Prince of Aragon then chooses silver, believing himself full of merit, and also leaves empty-handed.
Q 12Which casket contains Portia's portrait?
Lead
Its uninviting motto is 'Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath'; Bassanio chooses it and wins her.
Q 13In the 2004 film's telling, what must a suitor agree to if he chooses the wrong casket?
To remain a bachelor for life
Both princes go home unmarried after rejecting the base-looking third box.
Q 21Under the law Portia then cites, what has Shylock forfeited for attempting a citizen's life?
Half his property to the state, half to Antonio
His life is left to the mercy of the Duke, who spares it.
Q 22What does Antonio demand of Shylock 'for this favour' of sparing him the state's half?
That he convert to Christianity
He must also bequeath his whole estate to his daughter and her husband; Shylock accepts with the words 'I am content'.
Q 23What gift does the disguised Portia finally ask of Bassanio for saving Antonio?
His ring
Q 14Shylock's daughter Jessica elopes with which Christian?
Lorenzo
She converts and takes a large part of her father's wealth with her, hardening his desire for revenge.
Q 15What keepsake from his late wife Leah does Jessica take when she flees?
A turquoise ring
Hearing that she has sold it gives the audience a rare glimpse of Shylock's private grief.
Q 16Who accompanies the disguised Portia to court, posing as her law clerk?
Nerissa
She later talks her own new husband out of his wedding ring, as he fails to recognise her.
Q 17Under what male name does Portia appear in the Venetian court?
Balthazar
She presents a letter from her cousin Bellario, a learned lawyer, and is introduced as a young doctor of the law.
Q 18In which city does Portia's lawyer cousin Bellario live?
Padua
Portia sends her servant to consult him before setting off for Venice in disguise.
Q 19How many ducats does Bassanio offer Shylock in court, which he refuses?
6,000
It is twice the loan; Shylock still insists on the pound of flesh.
Q 20What legal quibble does Portia use to stop Shylock collecting on his bond?
It allows flesh but not a drop of blood
She adds that he must cut exactly one pound, no more or less by 'the estimation of a hair', or forfeit his life and goods.
He had vowed never to part with it; Antonio hands over his gloves without hesitation.
Q 24What good news does Portia give Antonio at the end of the play?
Three of his ships have safely returned
After the ring pranks are resolved, the play closes with the merchant's fortunes restored.
Q 25Which 14th-century tale by Giovanni Fiorentino supplied the casket test, the pound of flesh and the ring trick?
Il Pecorone
It was published in Milan in 1558; elements of the trial scene also appear in Alexandre Sylvane's The Orator.
Q 26The story of the three caskets can be found in which medieval collection of tales?
Gesta Romanorum
The collection was probably compiled at the end of the 13th century.
Q 27Under what alternative title was the play entered in the Stationers' Register in July 1598?
The Jew of Venice
That title suggested comparison with an early-1590s hit by Christopher Marlowe.
Q 28Which stationer published the first quarto of the play in 1600?
Thomas Heyes
Roberts had transferred his rights to him that October; the 1600 text is regarded as accurate and became the basis of the First Folio version.
Q 29Salerino's ship the Andrew is thought to allude to a Spanish vessel captured by the English where in 1596?
Cádiz
The allusion helps date the play to 1596–97.
Q 30Which Marlowe play was The Merchant of Venice seen as similar to in its own day?
The Jew of Malta
Elizabethan society has been described as judeophobic; Jews had been expelled from England in 1290 and were not readmitted until Cromwell's era.