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

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?

   • Olivia pictures Cesario’s future wife, but the audience knows Cesario is Viola, a young woman who will not have one.
   • 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.

5. 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.

6. 3.

   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 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.
   • Benedick asks Claudio whether love has changed the way Claudio sees the world and the people in it.
7. 4.

   Kira is filling in two margins for part 11, “This can be no trick.” What gap between Benedick and the audience makes the line ironic?

   • Benedick and the audience both know the talk was planned, so the line is a private joke that Benedick shares with them in the garden.
   • Benedick knows that the talk was a trick, but the audience is not told about the plan until a later scene.
   • The audience knows the talk was planned, so the line fills the scene with sadness for poor Benedick.
   • Benedick is sure the talk was no trick, while the audience knows his friends planned every word for him to hear.

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?

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

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

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.

    Pia is marking wordplay in part 10, “till all graces be in one woman, one woman shall not come in my grace.” How does Benedick play on grace?

    • The play is on the word well: Benedick repeats “yet I am well” to show that he feels healthy.
    • Grace means good qualities in this line, so Benedick will admire a woman when she has all of them.
    • “Graces” means good qualities and “my grace” means his favor: no woman wins it without every good quality.
    • “Graces” means good qualities and “my grace” means his way of dancing: no woman will dance well enough with him.

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

    • Olivia hears that no woman owns Cesario’s heart; the audience hears that Viola has promised to marry the duke.
    • There is no double meaning; Viola is plainly telling Olivia about a heart that has not loved anyone yet.
    • 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 Viola, a woman, keeping her own heart.