[Enter Shylock and Lancelet]
SHYLOCK
“Well, thou shalt see, thy eyes shall be thy judge,
The difference of old Shylock and Bassanio.—”
Shylock tells Lancelet that he will soon realize for himself how different Shylock is from Bassanio. He implies Lancelet will regret leaving him for a new master.
Technique: Contrast, foreshadowing.
Theme: Servant-master relationships, pride.
“What, Jessica!—Thou shalt not gormandize
As thou hast done with me—what, Jessica!—
And sleep, and snore, and rend apparel out.—
Why, Jessica, I say!”
He calls for his daughter repeatedly, growing irritated. He complains about Lancelet’s bad habits like overeating, sleeping too much, and ruining clothes.
Technique: Repetition (emphasizes irritation), harsh sounds (shows frustration).
Theme: Authority, discipline, household tension.
LANCELET
“Why, Jessica!”
Lancelet mocks Shylock by copying him. He’s being playful and disrespectful now that he’s no longer Shylock’s servant.
Technique: Mockery, comic relief.
Theme: Power shift, rebellion.
SHYLOCK
“Who bids thee call? I do not bid thee call.”
Shylock snaps at Lancelet for calling Jessica without being told. He wants to remain in control.
Technique: Sharp dialogue.
Theme: Control, pride.
LANCELET
“Your Worship was wont to tell me I could do nothing without bidding.”
Lancelet sarcastically reminds Shylock that he was always criticized for not doing anything unless ordered, so now he took initiative.
Technique: Sarcasm.
Theme: Servant’s freedom, tension.
[Enter Jessica]
JESSICA
“Call you? What is your will?”
Jessica enters, politely asking her father what he wants. Her tone is distant and formal, not affectionate.
Theme: Obedience, strained family bond.
SHYLOCK
“I am bid forth to supper, Jessica.
There are my keys.—But wherefore should I go?”
Shylock says he’s invited to dinner and hands her the house keys. Then he questions why he should go at all. He feels unsure.
Technique: Internal conflict.
Theme: Distrust, suspicion.
“I am not bid for love. They flatter me.
But yet I’ll go in hate, to feed upon
The prodigal Christian.”
He knows the invitation isn’t sincere. They flatter him, but he’ll still go to eat with the wasteful Christian (Bassanio), out of spite.
Technique: Irony, metaphor (“feed upon”).
Theme: Hatred, religious divide, false friendships.
“Jessica, my girl,
Look to my house.—I am right loath to go.”
He tells Jessica to watch over the house. He repeats that he doesn’t really want to go, showing inner conflict and worry.
Theme: Lack of trust, unease.
“There is some ill a-brewing towards my rest,
For I did dream of money bags tonight.”
He senses something bad will happen while he’s away. He says he dreamt of money bags, which he takes as a warning.
Technique: Foreshadowing, symbolism (money = danger).
Theme: Greed, superstition, anxiety.
LANCELET
“I beseech you, sir, go. My young master
doth expect your reproach.”
Lancelet encourages Shylock to attend the dinner, saying Bassanio expects Shylock to criticize the event.
Theme: Deception, manipulation.
SHYLOCK
“So do I his.”
Shylock replies that he also expects to mock Bassanio. The dinner is clearly not based on goodwill.
Theme: Hypocrisy, bitterness.
LANCELET
“And they have conspired together—I will
not say you shall see a masque, but if you do, then it
was not for nothing that my nose fell a-bleeding on
Black Monday last, at six o’clock i’ th’ morning,
falling out that year on Ash Wednesday was four
year in th’ afternoon.”
Lancelet hints that something big is about to happen (like a masquerade), possibly Jessica’s elopement with Lorenzo. He jokingly refers to a past nosebleed as a strange sign.
Technique: Double meaning (message to Jessica), comic confusion.
Theme: Love and secrecy, escape, disguise.
SHYLOCK
“What, are there masques? Hear you me, Jessica,”
Shylock hears there might be a masquerade happening and immediately gives Jessica serious instructions.
Theme: Distrust, control.
Technique: Rhetorical question, commanding tone.
“Lock up my doors, and when you hear the drum
And the vile squealing of the wry-necked fife,”
He tells her to lock the house and stay inside, especially when the music starts. He refers to the instruments in a negative way.
Technique: Harsh imagery (“vile squealing”), sound symbolism.
Theme: Separation between Jews and Christians, disdain for festivities.
“Clamber not you up to the casements then,
Nor thrust your head into the public street
To gaze on Christian fools with varnished faces,”
He warns her not to climb to the windows or look outside. He mocks the Christians wearing masks (varnished = fake).
Technique: Mockery, irony.
Theme: Hypocrisy, prejudice.
“But stop my house’s ears (I mean my casements).
Let not the sound of shallow fopp’ry enter
My sober house.”
He tells her to metaphorically “block the ears” of the house—meaning shut the windows—so no noise or foolishness from the masquerade enters their home.
Technique: Personification (house having ears), metaphor.
Theme: Purity vs. corruption, separation.
“By Jacob’s staff I swear
I have no mind of feasting forth tonight.
But I will go.—Go you before me, sirrah.
Say I will come.”
He swears by a Jewish symbol (Jacob’s staff) that he doesn’t want to go out, but he’ll still go. He tells Lancelet to go ahead and say he’s coming.
Technique: Religious reference, contradiction.
Theme: Distrust, tension between public and private actions.
LANCELET
“I will go before, sir. Aside to Jessica. Mistress,
look out at window for all this.
There will come a Christian by
Will be worth a Jewess’ eye.”
Lancelet agrees but secretly tells Jessica to watch the window, hinting Lorenzo (her Christian lover) will come. The phrase “worth a Jewess’ eye” means “worth looking out for.”
Technique: Dramatic irony, wordplay.
Theme: Love, deception, secrecy.
SHYLOCK
“What says that fool of Hagar’s offspring, ha?”
He asks what that fool (Lancelet) just said. “Hagar’s offspring” refers to someone of lesser birth—possibly a racial or religious insult.
Technique: Biblical allusion.
Theme: Prejudice, hierarchy.
JESSICA
“His words were ‘Farewell, mistress,’ nothing else.”
Jessica lies to protect the secret message. She says Lancelet only said goodbye.
Technique: Deception, understatement.
Theme: Rebellion, loyalty to love over family.
SHYLOCK
“The patch is kind enough, but a huge feeder,
Snail-slow in profit, and he sleeps by day
More than the wildcat.”
Shylock insults Lancelet, calling him lazy and greedy. “Patch” means fool.
Technique: Metaphor, animal imagery.
Theme: Work ethic, wastefulness.
“Drones hive not with me,
Therefore I part with him,”
He says idle people (like male bees or “drones”) don’t belong with him. That’s why he let Lancelet go.
Technique: Metaphor (bees).
Theme: Frugality, pride.
“and part with him
To one that I would have him help to waste
His borrowed purse.”
He adds that he gave Lancelet to Bassanio (who’s borrowed money from him) hoping Lancelet will help waste his money.
Technique: Irony.
Theme: Revenge, financial caution.
“Well, Jessica, go in.
Perhaps I will return immediately.
Do as I bid you. Shut doors after you.”
He orders Jessica again, pretending he might come back soon—possibly to make her stay alert.
Theme: Control, suspicion.
“Fast bind, fast find—
A proverb never stale in thrifty mind.”
He uses a proverb meaning “lock things up tightly, and you’ll keep them safe.” He takes pride in being careful with money and possessions.
Technique: Proverb, alliteration (“fast bind, fast find”).
Theme: Thrift, distrust.
[Shylock exits]
JESSICA
“Farewell, and if my fortune be not crossed,
I have a father, you a daughter, lost.”
Jessica says goodbye, hinting she will run away with Lorenzo. If all goes well, her father will lose her and Lorenzo will gain her.
Technique: Rhymed couplet, contrast.
Theme: Love vs. loyalty, freedom, betrayal.
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