What happened in The Merchant of Venice Act 2 Scene 2?
Summary: Act II, scene ii Launcelot Gobbo, a servant of Shylock’s, struggles to decide whether or not he should run away from his master. Part of him, which he calls “[t]he fiend . . . at mine elbow,” wants to leave, while his conscience reminds him of his honest nature and urges him to stay (II. ii. 2 ).
What decision is Launcelot trying to make in Act 2 Scene 2?
Launcelot has just resolved to leave Shylock for good when his father, the blind Old Gobbo, appears. Gobbo asks Launcelot whether he knows the way to Shylock’s house. Amused that his father has not recognized him, Launcelot decides to play a prank on him by giving him bad directions.
What happens in Act 2 Scene 3 Merchant of Venice?
In this scene, set in Shylock’s house, we are introduced to Jessica, Shylock’s daughter. She is speaking with Launcelot, and she expresses her sorrow that he decided to leave his position as her father’s servant.
How does Shylock treat Launcelot?
Evidently, Shylock has not been feeding Launcelot well or paying him well enough to provide him with adequate sustenance, for he has grown very thin, almost skeletal, as suggested in the above extract. Launcelot has made up his mind to get as far away from Shylock as he possibly can.
Who is Launcelot Gobbo?
Launcelot Gobbo is a quick-witted young fellow who is originally Shylock’s servant. Badly-fed in that household, he switches his allegiance to Bassanio. He is friendly with Jessica, whom he teases remorselessly about her Jewishness.
Why did Jessica leave Shylock?
Jessica abandons her father, Shylock, and her Jewish identity in order to marry Lorenzo and convert to Christianity. She makes it clear that she is unhappy living with Shylock, saying things like “our house is hell” and “though I am daughter to his blood / I am not to his manners” (II. iii).
How does Launcelot confuse his father?
Launcelot gives a lot of wrong directions for Shylock’s house. He directs his father to turn right at the next corner, but at the very next corner he tells him to turn left. Then at the last corner he tells him not turn any way but toturn down indirectly to the Jew’s house. In thisw way he confuses his father.
Why did Launcelot leave Shylock?
Launcelot wants to leave the service of the Jew because his master Shylock is a very devil in human form. According to Launcelot, Shylock is a miserly man under whose service he remains famished. Besides, he fears that he would become a Jew if he served Shylock any longer.
Is Shylock a villain or victim?
He is a victim of his religion, and a victim of his greed and overwhelming need for revenge. Shylock is definitely the most villainous character in the play, and only a few elements can show him as a victim overall, even then, his victimisation only seems to be a consequence of his own actions.
Who is called a merry devil?
Launcelot is called a ‘merry devil’. He is a poor person with a cheerful, jovial disposition and a devil-may-care attitude. Jessica is sorry that Launcelot is leaving Shylock’s house. His presence has been a source of fun and joviality.
Who called Launcelot a merry devil?
Jessica called LAUNCELOT merry devil. LAUNCELOT was called merry devil by Jessica because he rob the some taste of tediousness from his house and devil because his father didn’t like Shylock and that’s why she was sad when LAUNCELOT was leaving Jessica house.
Who was Lorenzo’s torch bearer?
Jessica, daughter of the Jewish moneylender Shylock, is the torchbearer being referred to in this scene. This scene specifically relates to her preparations to elope with her Christian lover, Lorenzo, which occurs in Act 2, Scene 6.
Who is Salarino?
Salarino. A Venetian gentleman, and friend to Antonio, Bassanio, and Lorenzo. Salarino escorts the newlyweds Jessica and Lorenzo to Belmont, and returns with Bassanio and Gratiano for Antonio’s trial. He is often almost indistinguishable from his companion Solanio.
What is the relationship between Gobbo and Launcelot?
The relationship between Launcelot Gobbo and his father is neither as tempestuous as that of Jessica and Shylock nor as caring as that of Portia and her father. Launcelot shows a lack of respect for his father when he jests, “Well, my conscience . . .
What was the name of Shylock’s wife?
Leah
Perhaps an overlooked “missing mother” in Shakespeare’s work is Leah, the deceased wife of Shylock and mother of Jessica in Merchant of Venice. The only mention of her in the text comes when Jessica sells a ring given from Leah to Shylock, an act that helps cement Jessica’s abandonment of her father’s Jewish culture.
Is Portia a princess?
Portia is one of the princesses picked for the 144th annual Princess Procession to attend Princess Charm School.
Where is Launcelot going?
Launcelot intends to visit his old master to intimate him that Launcelot will no longer work for him. He is going to join the service of Bassanio, the noble Christian.
Who is Gobbo?
Launcelot Gobbo, a clown, servant to Shylock. The Merchant of Venice, dramatis personae. In Italian, the word gobbo means “hunchbacked,” and some scholars have squeezed this term to suggest that the Launcelot Gobbo of The Merchant of Venice is, like Richard III and Caliban, physically deformed.