“Two Gentlemen of Verona: Question and Answers pdf“, Proteus and Valentine, are best friends who are inseparable. However, their friendship is tested when they both fall in love with the same woman, Silvia. Proteus betrays his friend and Valentine by pursuing Silvia, even though he knows that she is in love with Valentine. This leads to a series of conflicts and complications, but in the end, Proteus is forgiven and the two gentlemen are reunited. Read More Plus One English Question and Answers.
Two Gentlemen of Verona Question and Answers
Question 1.
How did Nicola and Jacopo make money?
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How did Nicola and Jacopo earn their living and save money?
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What types of errands did the boys perform?
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What were the different ways in which the two boys earned money?
Answer:
Nicola and Jacopo seem to be jacks of all trades. In addition to selling strawberry, the boys sold newspaper, shined shoes, ran errands such as procuring American cigarettes and opera tickets for the foreigners and acted as their tourist guides in not only taking them around the beautiful place but also giving them useful information as to which restaurants served good pasta. It looks as if they were prepared to take up any and every avenue of making money. But, what is remarkable is that none of these tasks has even an element of dishonesty or underhand dealing and the boys are honourable in all that they do.
Question 2.
Why didn’t Luigi, the driver, approve of the two boys?
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How did Luigi show his disapproval on seeing the two boys and why?
Answer:
Luigi, the driver, tries to dissuade the narrator from buying strawberries from the two boys saying that the fruit would be of better quality in Verona. He doesn’t approve of the shabby appearance of the boys and is critical of them. It’s clear that he has absolutely no concern for the little boys who are performing the honourable task of selling strawberries instead of begging or stealing. However, the narrator is a sensitive man and hence Luigi doesn’t succeed at dissuading the narrator from buying fruit from the boys. The narrator, in fact, is attracted by the earnest look in the eyes of the boys and respects them for their honest work.
Question 3.
Describe the appropriateness of the title ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’.
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What made the author call the boys ‘two gentlemen of Verona’?
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What makes Nicola and Jacopo two gentlemen of Verona?
Answer:
A gentleman, as defined in the dictionary, is a courteous and honourable man ora man of good social position. When we take this meaning, we have no problems in declaring that the two boys are courteous and honourable men. It is their courteousness, cheerfulness, earnestness and quiet dignity that appeal to the speaker. It is significant that the boys do not raise their voice in the complaint even once. Their honourable behaviour is evident in the fact that though they have to work very hard, sacrificing sleep, food and pleasure, they never contemplate dishonourable ways of earning money. They are honourable in their love for their sister. Their single goal in life is to get her cured and to see her again as a singer. They are honourable in the brave work they carry out as messengers for the Resistance Movement at the time of war. They are truly the two gentlemen of Verona. Thus the title is justified.
Question 4.
What qualities of Nicola and Jacopo impressed the narrator?
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What aspects of Nicola and Jacopo’s character impressed the narrator?
Answer:
Right from the beginning, we see that the narrator is impressed by the quiet dignity and earnestness of the boys. The narrator instinctively knows that these boys, though shabby in their appearance, have grace. The boys come out as admirable brothers who work selflessly and tirelessly for the treatment of their dear sister. They work day in and day out, but live on black bread and figs. They are shabby in their dress, but keep their sister in an expensive hospital so that she gets the best of care. Though Nicola is only twelve and Jacopo eleven, the hardship in life has made the boys very mature for their age.
When the boys work till midnight, trying to sell the last bundle of newspaper to the travellers of the last bus, we see Jacopo leaning against the shoulder of his brother and sleeping, whereas Nicola is very alert. Nicola has a stronger sense of self-reliance and pride. He is not happy to take unnecessary favours from the narrator and is unhappy that Jacopo has requested the narrator to take them to Poleta in his car. It is this dignity, honesty, self-reliance, selflessness and unremitting willingness to work at such a young age, in such difficult circumstances that appeal to the narrator.
Question 5.
How did Nicola and Jacopo help the resistance movement against the German Elite Guards?
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Describe the role played by Nicola and Jacopo during the war.
Answer:
War is a harrowing experience to not only the soldiers who fight on the battleground but also other civilians who are adversely affected by war in different ways. In the case of the boys, we see that they suffer all kinds of loss. They lose their father, though he is not a soldier; they lose their home and are thrown into the streets; their sister becomes the victim of tuberculosis of the spine. But even these compounded problems do not break the heart of the brave boys.
They put up their resistance to war and fate in their own way. By working for the Resistance Movement, they oppose the atrocities committed by their enemies in the war. They perform the dangerous task of carrying messages to the force’s of liberation in their shoes, and they ferret out information on the German troops. Their knowledge of the hills, young age and small stature help them in their work. Thus we see that at the time of the war and after the war, the boys act with conviction.
Question 6.
How does the story ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’ give promise of greater hope for society?
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Nicola and Jacopo bring nobility to human life. Explain.
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Why does the author feel that the two boys brought new nobility to mankind?
Answer:
It is the depiction of characters like Nicola and Jacopo that makes literature a body of optimistic thoughts. The two brothers, who never lose their focus, who never take recourse to easy or wrong ways of earning money, who never expect anything in return for their hard work, who never lose their optimism and cheerfulness, who epitomise selfless love, are fine examples of nobility, and are a promise of greater hope for humanity. They should be emulated by youngsters who are not satisfied with what they have, want to make quick money, have a lust for luxury, take to addiction, and commit suicide at the drop of a hat. The brothers who bond with each other to look after their ailing sister bring nobility to human life in a society wherein family ties are growing weaker and weaker. A.J. Cronin seems to tell us that even when life is not a bed of roses, it is up to us to ensure that the thorns are removed carefully, avoiding unnecessary hurt and pain.
Question 7.
What facts did the nurse reveal about Nicola and Jacopo to the narrator?
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What does the narrator come to know from the nurse about the boys?
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What did the narrator learn about Lucia from the nurse, in ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’?
Answer:
The boys are a mystery to the narrator. He finds them working very hard at a tender age without spending money on themselves. His attempts to get an answer from the boys fail. However, when he accompanies the boys to Poleta, he comes to know the truth from a trained nurse whom he meets in the villa which the boys enter. From the nurse, he comes to know that the boys had lost their father, a widower and a well-known singer, in the early part of the war, and soon after that a bomb had destroyed their home. They had lived in a shelter that they had built with their own hands from the rubble and were exposed to many difficulties including cold weather.
They had hated the German Elite Guard that ruled over Verona for three years and had worked as secret agents against the Germans, in support of the resistance movement. Their small size, young age and knowledge of the surroundings helped them in their dangerous work of carrying letters in their shoes, about the movements of the German troops. When the war was over, they returned to their sister, an. an aspiring singer, only to find out that she was suffering from tuberculosis of the spine. But they didn’t give up. They kept her in an expensive hospital and for twelve months went back to the hospital every week to make the payment. She had shown good progress and the nurse adds that she might, one day, be fully cured, and start singing again. The narrator is deeply touched by the nobility of the boys and marvels at their invincible spirit. Thus we see that the two little boys are the two gentlemen of Verona.
Question 8.
Describe the boys’ sacrifice to save their sister, Lucia.
Answer:
Nicola, Jacopo and their sister Lucia had lost their mother and were living a comfortable life under the care of their father, who was a well-known singer at La Scala. With the onset of war, tragedy struck their family. Their father was killed in the early part of the war and a bomb destroyed their home throwing the three children onto the streets.
The three children managed to survive, staying in a makeshift shelter amidst the rubble. All the three suffered from near-starvation and cold. The boys moved incognito and earned their living doing odd jobs.
However, after peace returned to Verona, the boys came back to their beloved sister and found that she was suffering from tuberculosis of the spine contracted during the miseries of the war.
The two boys admitted their sister in a hospital promising to pay the charges for her treatment.
The boys realized that to save their sister they needed a lot of money. They worked relentlessly day and night doing several jobs. They shined shoes, sold fruits, hawked newspapers, conducted tourists round the town, ran errands and made use of every opportunity available for earning money. This way, they earned quite a lot of money but never spent it on their clothes, and food. Thus they saved all the money they could and made a regular payment to the hospital which was nursing their sister back to health. By their selfless service, they had managed to pay for her treatment for a year.
Question 9.
How did the two boys help the narrator during his stay at Verona?
Answer:
Despite their skinny frame, brown skin and tangled hair, the boys had earnest eyes which strangely attracted the narrator and his companion. The narrator and his companion stayed in Verona for a week. During this period, the boys took them to all the places of visit in Verona and also ran errands for them. They got them American cigarettes; seats for them for the opera and a good restaurant that could provide good ravioli, whenever they wanted. Thus, they proved themselves to be extremely useful to the narrator.
Question 10.
What did the narrator learn about Lucia from the nurse in ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’?
Answer:
On Sunday afternoon, the narrator brought the two boys in his car to a large red-roofed villa in a tiny village set upon the hillside. After the boys had disappeared beyond the corner of a stone wall, the narrator followed them closely and reached a grilled side-entrance. When he rang the bell, the door was opened by a trained nurse. When she learnt that the narrator had brought the two boys there, she let him in and took him to a ward upstairs, and showed him the two boys seated at the bedside of a girl, aged about twenty.
Later, when the narrator begged her to tell him all she knew about the two boys, she told him that the girl was Lucia, and the boys had no one else in the world except for that sister. The boys had lost their father in the war. Shortly afterwards, a bomb had destroyed their home and thrown the three children into the sheets. For months, they had barely kept themselves alive in a sort of shelter they had built with their own hands amidst the rubble.
During this time they suffered horribly from near-starvation and exposure to the cold Veronese winter. Consequently, their sister contracted tuberculosis of the spine. The two boys admitted their sister in that hospital and worked hard, earned enough money and paid for her treatment regularly.
Two Gentlemen of Verona is also a beautifully written play with memorable characters and dialogue. The play is a joy to read and watch, and it continues to be performed around the world today.