Reading a Shakespeare scene

Grade 9 Reading Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 3 (two excerpts) (Shakespeare, a comedy)

   Excerpt 1, at the start of the scene. Benedick, who loves to mock lovers, is alone in a garden. His friend Claudio has just fallen in love.
   [1] BENEDICK: I do much wonder that one man, seeing how much another man is a fool when he dedicates his behaviours to love, will, after he hath laughed at such shallow follies in others, become the argument of his own scorn by falling in love:
   [2] and such a man is Claudio.
   [3] I have known, when there was no music with him but the drum and the fife; and now had he rather hear the tabor and the pipe:
   [4] I have known when he would have walked ten mile afoot to see a good armour; and now will he lie ten nights awake, carving the fashion of a new doublet.
   [5] He was wont to speak plain and to the purpose, like an honest man and a soldier;
   [6] and now is he turned orthography; his words are a very fantastical banquet, just so many strange dishes.
   [7] May I be so converted, and see with these eyes?
   [8] I cannot tell; I think not:
   [9] I will not be sworn but love may transform me to an oyster; but I’ll take my oath on it, till he have made an oyster of me, he shall never make me such a fool.
   [10] One woman is fair, yet I am well; another is wise, yet I am well; another virtuous, yet I am well; but till all graces be in one woman, one woman shall not come in my grace.

   Excerpt 2, later in the same scene. Benedick hid and overheard his friends say that Beatrice secretly loves him. The friends knew he was listening and planned every word. Now they have left, and Benedick comes out alone.
   [11] BENEDICK: This can be no trick: the conference was sadly borne.
   [12] They have the truth of this from Hero. They seem to pity the lady: it seems her affections have their full bent.
   [13] Love me? why, it must be requited.
   (One sentence is left out here.)
   [14] I did never think to marry: I must not seem proud: happy are they that hear their detractions, and can put them to mending.
   [15] They say the lady is fair: ’tis a truth, I can bear them witness; and virtuous: ’tis so, I cannot reprove it;
   [16] and wise, but for loving me: by my troth, it is no addition to her wit, nor no great argument of her folly, for I will be horribly in love with her.

   Word help: argument of his own scorn = the target of his own jokes; drum and fife = soldiers’ music; tabor and pipe = dance music; armour = a suit of armor; doublet = jacket; was wont = used to; turned orthography = become a fussy, fancy talker; converted = changed; graces = good qualities; come in my grace = win my favor; conference = conversation; sadly borne = carried on seriously; Hero = Beatrice’s cousin; full bent = full strength, like a bow pulled all the way back; requited = returned; detractions = faults others point out; reprove = deny; by my troth = honestly.

2. 1.

   Ari is reading Benedick’s soliloquy in Excerpt 1. What does it tell the audience about Benedick that sets up the rest of the scene?

   • Benedick mocks Claudio for being changed by love and swears that love will never make such a fool of him.
   • Benedick notices that Claudio now likes the tabor and the pipe better than the drum and the fife.
   • Benedick envies Claudio for falling in love and wishes that some woman would choose him very soon.
   • Benedick tells his friends to their faces that he will never fall in love, so they decide to test his promise.

3. Twelfth Night, Act 3, Scene 1 (Shakespeare, a comedy)

   Countess Olivia has fallen in love with “Cesario,” the duke’s messenger. The audience knows that Cesario is really Viola, a young woman in disguise.
   [1] OLIVIA: The clock upbraids me with the waste of time. / Be not afraid, good youth, I will not have you. / And yet, when wit and youth is come to harvest, / Your wife is like to reap a proper man. / There lies your way, due west.
   [2] VIOLA: Then westward ho! / Grace and good disposition attend your ladyship! / You’ll nothing, madam, to my lord by me?
   [3] OLIVIA: Stay: / I prithee tell me what thou think’st of me.
   [4] VIOLA: That you do think you are not what you are.
   [5] OLIVIA: If I think so, I think the same of you.
   [6] VIOLA: Then think you right; I am not what I am.
   [7] OLIVIA: I would you were as I would have you be.
   [8] VIOLA: Would it be better, madam, than I am? / I wish it might, for now I am your fool.
   (Four lines of Olivia’s next speech are left out here.)
   [9] OLIVIA: Cesario, by the roses of the spring, / By maidhood, honour, truth, and everything, / I love thee so, that maugre all thy pride, / Nor wit nor reason can my passion hide.
   (Four more lines of Olivia’s speech are left out here.)
   [10] VIOLA: By innocence I swear, and by my youth, / I have one heart, one bosom, and one truth, / And that no woman has; nor never none / Shall mistress be of it, save I alone.
   [11] And so adieu, good madam; never more / Will I my master’s tears to you deplore.

   Word help: upbraids = scolds; have = marry; come to harvest = grown up; like to reap a proper man = likely to get a fine husband; westward ho = off I go to the west (a boatman’s call); disposition = peace of mind; You’ll nothing = you send no message; maidhood = being a young unmarried woman; maugre = in spite of; bosom = heart; nor never none = and no one ever; save = except; deplore = tell sadly.

4. 2.

   Bo is filling in two margins for part 1, where Olivia says, “Your wife is like to reap a proper man.” What makes this line ironic for the audience?

   • The audience knows the truth, so the line makes them fear that Olivia will find out and punish Viola.
   • Viola does not yet know that Olivia loves Cesario, though the audience has known it since the scene began.
   • Olivia knows that Cesario is really Viola in disguise, and the line is a joke she makes about it.
   • Olivia pictures Cesario’s future wife, but the audience knows Cesario is Viola, a young woman who will not have one.
5. 3.

   Esme is marking wordplay in part 6, where Viola says, “I am not what I am.” What two things does this line say at once?

   • It answers Olivia’s riddle about seeming, and it also means that Viola is in a bad mood today.
   • It answers Olivia’s riddle about seeming, and it is also the plain truth: Viola is not the young man she seems.
   • It is a clever answer to Olivia’s riddle about seeming, and it carries no other meaning than that.
   • It is a plain statement that Viola is tired of carrying messages and wants to go home to the duke.

6. Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 3 (two excerpts) (Shakespeare, a comedy)

   Excerpt 1, at the start of the scene. Benedick, who loves to mock lovers, is alone in a garden. His friend Claudio has just fallen in love.
   [1] BENEDICK: I do much wonder that one man, seeing how much another man is a fool when he dedicates his behaviours to love, will, after he hath laughed at such shallow follies in others, become the argument of his own scorn by falling in love:
   [2] and such a man is Claudio.
   [3] I have known, when there was no music with him but the drum and the fife; and now had he rather hear the tabor and the pipe:
   [4] I have known when he would have walked ten mile afoot to see a good armour; and now will he lie ten nights awake, carving the fashion of a new doublet.
   [5] He was wont to speak plain and to the purpose, like an honest man and a soldier;
   [6] and now is he turned orthography; his words are a very fantastical banquet, just so many strange dishes.
   [7] May I be so converted, and see with these eyes?
   [8] I cannot tell; I think not:
   [9] I will not be sworn but love may transform me to an oyster; but I’ll take my oath on it, till he have made an oyster of me, he shall never make me such a fool.
   [10] One woman is fair, yet I am well; another is wise, yet I am well; another virtuous, yet I am well; but till all graces be in one woman, one woman shall not come in my grace.

   Excerpt 2, later in the same scene. Benedick hid and overheard his friends say that Beatrice secretly loves him. The friends knew he was listening and planned every word. Now they have left, and Benedick comes out alone.
   [11] BENEDICK: This can be no trick: the conference was sadly borne.
   [12] They have the truth of this from Hero. They seem to pity the lady: it seems her affections have their full bent.
   [13] Love me? why, it must be requited.
   (One sentence is left out here.)
   [14] I did never think to marry: I must not seem proud: happy are they that hear their detractions, and can put them to mending.
   [15] They say the lady is fair: ’tis a truth, I can bear them witness; and virtuous: ’tis so, I cannot reprove it;
   [16] and wise, but for loving me: by my troth, it is no addition to her wit, nor no great argument of her folly, for I will be horribly in love with her.

   Word help: argument of his own scorn = the target of his own jokes; drum and fife = soldiers’ music; tabor and pipe = dance music; armour = a suit of armor; doublet = jacket; was wont = used to; turned orthography = become a fussy, fancy talker; converted = changed; graces = good qualities; come in my grace = win my favor; conference = conversation; sadly borne = carried on seriously; Hero = Beatrice’s cousin; full bent = full strength, like a bow pulled all the way back; requited = returned; detractions = faults others point out; reprove = deny; by my troth = honestly.

7. 4.

   Jun is reading part 7, “May I be so converted, and see with these eyes?” What does this question, asked alone, show the audience about Benedick?

   • Benedick asks Claudio whether love has changed the way Claudio sees the world and the people in it.
   • Benedick finishes his list of the ways Claudio has changed and then moves on to the women he knows, naming them one by one.
   • For a moment Benedick wonders whether love could change him too, before he decides in part 8 that it will not.
   • Benedick is eager to be changed by love and hopes that it will happen to him very soon.

8. Twelfth Night, Act 3, Scene 1 (Shakespeare, a comedy)

   Countess Olivia has fallen in love with “Cesario,” the duke’s messenger. The audience knows that Cesario is really Viola, a young woman in disguise.
   [1] OLIVIA: The clock upbraids me with the waste of time. / Be not afraid, good youth, I will not have you. / And yet, when wit and youth is come to harvest, / Your wife is like to reap a proper man. / There lies your way, due west.
   [2] VIOLA: Then westward ho! / Grace and good disposition attend your ladyship! / You’ll nothing, madam, to my lord by me?
   [3] OLIVIA: Stay: / I prithee tell me what thou think’st of me.
   [4] VIOLA: That you do think you are not what you are.
   [5] OLIVIA: If I think so, I think the same of you.
   [6] VIOLA: Then think you right; I am not what I am.
   [7] OLIVIA: I would you were as I would have you be.
   [8] VIOLA: Would it be better, madam, than I am? / I wish it might, for now I am your fool.
   (Four lines of Olivia’s next speech are left out here.)
   [9] OLIVIA: Cesario, by the roses of the spring, / By maidhood, honour, truth, and everything, / I love thee so, that maugre all thy pride, / Nor wit nor reason can my passion hide.
   (Four more lines of Olivia’s speech are left out here.)
   [10] VIOLA: By innocence I swear, and by my youth, / I have one heart, one bosom, and one truth, / And that no woman has; nor never none / Shall mistress be of it, save I alone.
   [11] And so adieu, good madam; never more / Will I my master’s tears to you deplore.

   Word help: upbraids = scolds; have = marry; come to harvest = grown up; like to reap a proper man = likely to get a fine husband; westward ho = off I go to the west (a boatman’s call); disposition = peace of mind; You’ll nothing = you send no message; maidhood = being a young unmarried woman; maugre = in spite of; bosom = heart; nor never none = and no one ever; save = except; deplore = tell sadly.

9. 5.

   Luz is marking wordplay in part 8, where Viola says, “now I am your fool.” What two meanings does the word fool carry here?

   • There is no play on words; Viola simply admits to being Olivia’s servant from now on.
   • A jester who trades clever words with a lady, and a person Olivia makes a fool of with riddles.
   • Fool means a silly person here, so Viola is admitting to being foolish and wrong about love.
   • The play is on the word better, which means both healthier and more skillful at answering riddles.

10. Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 3 (two excerpts) (Shakespeare, a comedy)

    Excerpt 1, at the start of the scene. Benedick, who loves to mock lovers, is alone in a garden. His friend Claudio has just fallen in love.
    [1] BENEDICK: I do much wonder that one man, seeing how much another man is a fool when he dedicates his behaviours to love, will, after he hath laughed at such shallow follies in others, become the argument of his own scorn by falling in love:
    [2] and such a man is Claudio.
    [3] I have known, when there was no music with him but the drum and the fife; and now had he rather hear the tabor and the pipe:
    [4] I have known when he would have walked ten mile afoot to see a good armour; and now will he lie ten nights awake, carving the fashion of a new doublet.
    [5] He was wont to speak plain and to the purpose, like an honest man and a soldier;
    [6] and now is he turned orthography; his words are a very fantastical banquet, just so many strange dishes.
    [7] May I be so converted, and see with these eyes?
    [8] I cannot tell; I think not:
    [9] I will not be sworn but love may transform me to an oyster; but I’ll take my oath on it, till he have made an oyster of me, he shall never make me such a fool.
    [10] One woman is fair, yet I am well; another is wise, yet I am well; another virtuous, yet I am well; but till all graces be in one woman, one woman shall not come in my grace.

    Excerpt 2, later in the same scene. Benedick hid and overheard his friends say that Beatrice secretly loves him. The friends knew he was listening and planned every word. Now they have left, and Benedick comes out alone.
    [11] BENEDICK: This can be no trick: the conference was sadly borne.
    [12] They have the truth of this from Hero. They seem to pity the lady: it seems her affections have their full bent.
    [13] Love me? why, it must be requited.
    (One sentence is left out here.)
    [14] I did never think to marry: I must not seem proud: happy are they that hear their detractions, and can put them to mending.
    [15] They say the lady is fair: ’tis a truth, I can bear them witness; and virtuous: ’tis so, I cannot reprove it;
    [16] and wise, but for loving me: by my troth, it is no addition to her wit, nor no great argument of her folly, for I will be horribly in love with her.

    Word help: argument of his own scorn = the target of his own jokes; drum and fife = soldiers’ music; tabor and pipe = dance music; armour = a suit of armor; doublet = jacket; was wont = used to; turned orthography = become a fussy, fancy talker; converted = changed; graces = good qualities; come in my grace = win my favor; conference = conversation; sadly borne = carried on seriously; Hero = Beatrice’s cousin; full bent = full strength, like a bow pulled all the way back; requited = returned; detractions = faults others point out; reprove = deny; by my troth = honestly.

11. 6.

    Milo is comparing the two excerpts. What change in Benedick does the soliloquy in Excerpt 2 reveal to the audience?

    • Benedick believes the story about Beatrice because his friends say they heard it from Hero.
    • Benedick comes out of hiding after his friends leave the garden and speaks for a while on his own.
    • Benedick grows angry at his friends for gossiping about Beatrice and plans to stay away from her.
    • Benedick decides to love Beatrice back and talks himself out of his old vow that love would never fool him.

12. Twelfth Night, Act 3, Scene 1 (Shakespeare, a comedy)

    Countess Olivia has fallen in love with “Cesario,” the duke’s messenger. The audience knows that Cesario is really Viola, a young woman in disguise.
    [1] OLIVIA: The clock upbraids me with the waste of time. / Be not afraid, good youth, I will not have you. / And yet, when wit and youth is come to harvest, / Your wife is like to reap a proper man. / There lies your way, due west.
    [2] VIOLA: Then westward ho! / Grace and good disposition attend your ladyship! / You’ll nothing, madam, to my lord by me?
    [3] OLIVIA: Stay: / I prithee tell me what thou think’st of me.
    [4] VIOLA: That you do think you are not what you are.
    [5] OLIVIA: If I think so, I think the same of you.
    [6] VIOLA: Then think you right; I am not what I am.
    [7] OLIVIA: I would you were as I would have you be.
    [8] VIOLA: Would it be better, madam, than I am? / I wish it might, for now I am your fool.
    (Four lines of Olivia’s next speech are left out here.)
    [9] OLIVIA: Cesario, by the roses of the spring, / By maidhood, honour, truth, and everything, / I love thee so, that maugre all thy pride, / Nor wit nor reason can my passion hide.
    (Four more lines of Olivia’s speech are left out here.)
    [10] VIOLA: By innocence I swear, and by my youth, / I have one heart, one bosom, and one truth, / And that no woman has; nor never none / Shall mistress be of it, save I alone.
    [11] And so adieu, good madam; never more / Will I my master’s tears to you deplore.

    Word help: upbraids = scolds; have = marry; come to harvest = grown up; like to reap a proper man = likely to get a fine husband; westward ho = off I go to the west (a boatman’s call); disposition = peace of mind; You’ll nothing = you send no message; maidhood = being a young unmarried woman; maugre = in spite of; bosom = heart; nor never none = and no one ever; save = except; deplore = tell sadly.

13. 7.

    Noah is filling in two margins for part 9, where Olivia swears love to Cesario. What does the audience know that makes the speech both funny and sad?

    • Olivia pours out her love to a young man, but the audience knows Cesario is Viola, who cannot return it.
    • Viola does not know that Olivia is in love with Cesario, but the audience learned it in the first part of the scene.
    • The audience knows the truth, so the speech makes them angry with Viola for being cruel to Olivia.
    • Olivia understands that Cesario is a young woman, but the audience still believes Cesario is a man.

14. Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 3 (two excerpts) (Shakespeare, a comedy)

    Excerpt 1, at the start of the scene. Benedick, who loves to mock lovers, is alone in a garden. His friend Claudio has just fallen in love.
    [1] BENEDICK: I do much wonder that one man, seeing how much another man is a fool when he dedicates his behaviours to love, will, after he hath laughed at such shallow follies in others, become the argument of his own scorn by falling in love:
    [2] and such a man is Claudio.
    [3] I have known, when there was no music with him but the drum and the fife; and now had he rather hear the tabor and the pipe:
    [4] I have known when he would have walked ten mile afoot to see a good armour; and now will he lie ten nights awake, carving the fashion of a new doublet.
    [5] He was wont to speak plain and to the purpose, like an honest man and a soldier;
    [6] and now is he turned orthography; his words are a very fantastical banquet, just so many strange dishes.
    [7] May I be so converted, and see with these eyes?
    [8] I cannot tell; I think not:
    [9] I will not be sworn but love may transform me to an oyster; but I’ll take my oath on it, till he have made an oyster of me, he shall never make me such a fool.
    [10] One woman is fair, yet I am well; another is wise, yet I am well; another virtuous, yet I am well; but till all graces be in one woman, one woman shall not come in my grace.

    Excerpt 2, later in the same scene. Benedick hid and overheard his friends say that Beatrice secretly loves him. The friends knew he was listening and planned every word. Now they have left, and Benedick comes out alone.
    [11] BENEDICK: This can be no trick: the conference was sadly borne.
    [12] They have the truth of this from Hero. They seem to pity the lady: it seems her affections have their full bent.
    [13] Love me? why, it must be requited.
    (One sentence is left out here.)
    [14] I did never think to marry: I must not seem proud: happy are they that hear their detractions, and can put them to mending.
    [15] They say the lady is fair: ’tis a truth, I can bear them witness; and virtuous: ’tis so, I cannot reprove it;
    [16] and wise, but for loving me: by my troth, it is no addition to her wit, nor no great argument of her folly, for I will be horribly in love with her.

    Word help: argument of his own scorn = the target of his own jokes; drum and fife = soldiers’ music; tabor and pipe = dance music; armour = a suit of armor; doublet = jacket; was wont = used to; turned orthography = become a fussy, fancy talker; converted = changed; graces = good qualities; come in my grace = win my favor; conference = conversation; sadly borne = carried on seriously; Hero = Beatrice’s cousin; full bent = full strength, like a bow pulled all the way back; requited = returned; detractions = faults others point out; reprove = deny; by my troth = honestly.

15. 8.

    Ren is reading parts 15 and 16. What do they show the audience about how Benedick makes up his mind?

    • Benedick lists three things that his friends said about Beatrice: that she is fair, virtuous and wise.
    • Benedick repeats his friends’ praise of Beatrice as his own judgment and lets it decide for him.
    • Benedick tells Beatrice’s cousin, Hero, that he agrees the lady is fair, virtuous and wise.
    • Benedick is still unsure about Beatrice and decides to wait a long while before saying how he feels.

16. Twelfth Night, Act 3, Scene 1 (Shakespeare, a comedy)

    Countess Olivia has fallen in love with “Cesario,” the duke’s messenger. The audience knows that Cesario is really Viola, a young woman in disguise.
    [1] OLIVIA: The clock upbraids me with the waste of time. / Be not afraid, good youth, I will not have you. / And yet, when wit and youth is come to harvest, / Your wife is like to reap a proper man. / There lies your way, due west.
    [2] VIOLA: Then westward ho! / Grace and good disposition attend your ladyship! / You’ll nothing, madam, to my lord by me?
    [3] OLIVIA: Stay: / I prithee tell me what thou think’st of me.
    [4] VIOLA: That you do think you are not what you are.
    [5] OLIVIA: If I think so, I think the same of you.
    [6] VIOLA: Then think you right; I am not what I am.
    [7] OLIVIA: I would you were as I would have you be.
    [8] VIOLA: Would it be better, madam, than I am? / I wish it might, for now I am your fool.
    (Four lines of Olivia’s next speech are left out here.)
    [9] OLIVIA: Cesario, by the roses of the spring, / By maidhood, honour, truth, and everything, / I love thee so, that maugre all thy pride, / Nor wit nor reason can my passion hide.
    (Four more lines of Olivia’s speech are left out here.)
    [10] VIOLA: By innocence I swear, and by my youth, / I have one heart, one bosom, and one truth, / And that no woman has; nor never none / Shall mistress be of it, save I alone.
    [11] And so adieu, good madam; never more / Will I my master’s tears to you deplore.

    Word help: upbraids = scolds; have = marry; come to harvest = grown up; like to reap a proper man = likely to get a fine husband; westward ho = off I go to the west (a boatman’s call); disposition = peace of mind; You’ll nothing = you send no message; maidhood = being a young unmarried woman; maugre = in spite of; bosom = heart; nor never none = and no one ever; save = except; deplore = tell sadly.

17. 9.

    Tala is filling in two margins for part 7, where Olivia says, “I would you were as I would have you be.” What gap makes this wish ironic?

    • Olivia wishes Cesario would love her back, while the audience knows Cesario is a woman who cannot be Olivia’s husband.
    • Olivia knows Cesario’s secret and wishes it were different, but the audience does not yet know the secret.
    • Viola does not understand what Olivia wants from Cesario, but the audience can tell that Olivia is in love.
    • Olivia and the audience both know that Cesario is Viola, so the wish is a sad joke about the disguise.
18. 10.

    Zee is marking wordplay in part 10, where Viola swears that “no woman has” Viola’s heart, “save I alone.” What two meanings does the audience hear?

    • There is no double meaning; Viola is plainly telling Olivia about a heart that has not loved anyone yet.
    • Olivia hears that no woman owns Cesario’s heart; the audience hears Viola, a woman, keeping her own heart.
    • The play is on the word truth: Viola means both honesty and a love token kept close to the heart.
    • Olivia hears that no woman owns Cesario’s heart; the audience hears that Viola has promised to marry the duke.