Launcelot informs Shylock that he is leaving him and joining Bassanio as his servant. Shylock tells Launcelot that he will not be as well treated with Bassanio as he is with him. “Thou shall not gormandize, /As thou hast done with me.”
Shylock calls Jessica and tells her that he is going to dinner with Bassanio. He questions whether or not he should go, but decides he will go and eat at Bassanio’s expense. “But yet I’ll go in hate, to feed upon / the Prodigal Christian.”
We see that Shylock has a bad feeling about tonight’s events and thinks that some ill fortune is coming his way. “There is some ill-a brewing towards me rest, / For I did dream of money-bags tonight.” This is another example of dramatic irony from Shakespeare as we, the audience, are aware that Jessica is planning to leave with his money, thus his premonition is correct, but he is still unaware of what is about to happen. We again see the religious hatred he has for Bassanio.
Shylock orders Jessica to lock all the doors and when she hears the drums as they pass, to climb upstairs and not dare look upon the “Christian fools with varnished faces.” He does not want “the sound of shallow fopp’ry enter my sober house.” Jessica agrees to this, although we are aware that she is clearly lying. Launcelot, in an aside to Jessica, tells her that Lorenzo will be passing to collect her on the way to the masque.
Shylock interrupts and asks Jessica what Launcelot is saying to her, but she tells him that he is just saying goodbye. Shylock goes on a rant, criticising Launcelot for all his faults and then tells Jessica, “Do as I bid you. Shut doors after you.”
Jessica bids her father goodbye and tells the audience, ” If my fortune not be crossed, I have a father, you a daughter, lost.”
Questions:
- How does Shylock treat Jessica in this scene? Give an example.
- How does Shakespeare use dramatic irony in this scene? Explain with reference to the text.
- Imagine you are Jessica. Write the note you would leave your father, explaining your decision to run away.
Key Quotes
“Thou shall not gormandize, /As thou hast done with me.” Shylock
“But yet I’ll go in hate, to feed upon / the Prodigal Christian.” Shylock
“There is some ill-a brewing towards me rest, / For I did dream of money-bags tonight.” Shylock
If my fortune not be crossed, I have a father, you a daughter, lost.” Jessica