Friends and Flatterers Questions & Answers

Hi Everyone!! This article will share Friends and Flatterers Questions & Answers.

This poem is written by William Shakespeare where he has very beautifully crafted and depicted the qualities of a true friend. In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of The Fight, Wandering Singers, A Sea of Foliage, Homesickness, The Master Artist, Uncomfortable Bed and Maps Poem so, you can check these posts as well.

Friends and Flatterers Questions & Answers

Word Galaxy

  • Crowns – old British coins
  • Flatters – says nice things about somebody, often in a way that is not sincere.
  • Bountiful – willing to give freely
  • Pity – a feeling of sympathy
  • Misery – great suffering
  • Do frown – (here) is not favourable
  • Thy want – something you need but do not have
  • Prodigal – one who spends money too freely
  • Renown – fame and respect

Question 1: ‘Words are easy, like the wind; whose words are being referred to? In what sense are they ‘easy’?

Answer: The words of flatterers are being referred to here. These words are easy in the sense that they are spoken easily and freely, without attaching too much meaning or sincerity to them. They can change as easily as the wind, or disappear when the flatterer does not need the person anymore.

(b) If words are easy, what is hard?

Answer: Words are easy, but staying true to words of affection and friendship are harder. Praising someone is easy, but showing loyalty to that person and supporting that person when he or she needs it is difficult.

Question 2: Complete the sentences:
According to the poet,

(a) Everyone is your friend when you have money to spend.
(b) No one will come forward to take care of you when you don’t have wealth or money to spend.

Question 3: How could a flatterer be a foe?

Answer: A flatterer is, in a sense, a foe or an enemy because a flatterer cheats us with false words of friendship and praise. A flatterer makes use of our resources when we have them, but does not help us when we face a loss. This way, a flatterer betrays our trust and can set us up for shocks or disappointments.

Friends and Flatterers Questions & Answers

Question 4: How can we distinguish between a true friend and a false friend?

Answer: True friends help us when we need them. They share our problems, worries and sorrows – they cry with us and stay awake with us in hard times. False friends, on the other hand, may flatter us with easy words. They act as friends only as long as we have enough money to spend; they do not help us in times of need. When we spend a lot, they flatter us by calling us generous and worthy of being a king, but if we fall upon hard times, they no longer remain with us.

Question 5: The phrase ‘faithful friend’ occurs twice in the poem. Can you find a similar phrase which stands for its opposite?

Answer: ‘flattering foe’

Question 6: Which two of these words have meanings similar to ‘flatter’ and which two refer to the opposite of it?

Answer: The words ‘charm’ and ‘fawn’ have similar meanings to ‘flatter’. The words ‘condemn’ and ‘criticise’ mean the opposite.

Question 7: ‘Inversion’ refers to changing the order of words in a sentence. Poets use inversion to make words rhyme and to create special effects. ‘Bountiful they will him call’ is one example of inversion in this poem. Find others.

Answer: Other examples of inversion in this poem are ‘But if fortune once do frown’, ‘Use his company no more.’ and ‘He with thee doth bear a part’.

Question 8: ‘Faithful friends are hard to find’. The line is an example of alliteration – quick repetition of a particular sound in a line of a poem. Find other examples of alliteration in the poem.

Answer: Other examples of alliteration in this poem are ‘Whilst thou hast wherewith to spend’, ‘But if fortune once do frown’ and ‘Faithful friend from flattering foe.

So, these were Friends and Flatterers Questions & Answers.

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