Act II - Scene II
[Venice] |
Enter the clown [Launcelot] alone. |
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Enter old Gobbo with a Basket. |
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Enter Bassanio with a follower or two [one of them Leonardo.] |
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Exit Clown. |
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Exit Leonardo. |
Enter Gratiano. |
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Exeunt. |
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— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
A "boldest suit of mirth" are elaborate or ornamented party clothes. Unlike the "sober habit" that Gratiano proposes he wear, Bassanio ask him to dress extravagantly, to show off their wealth. Notice how religion and imagery of money are mixed within this scene.
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— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
The proverb to which Launcelot refers says, "the grace of God is possession enough." Launcelot references the Bible, but he uses it to flatter his lord instead of using it to worship God. Notice the implicit parallel drawn between Shylock and the Christians: Shylock seems to be a true man of his faith, while the Christians use faith for their own ends.
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— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
"Defect" means falling short of or lacking. Gobbo means "effect." Notice that there is an element of truth to these malapropisms that the characters did not intend.
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— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
"Impertinent" means irrelevant. This is another malapropism since Launcelot actually means pertinent.
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— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
Notice that both Gobbo and Launcelot do not give each other room to speak. Gobbo is long winded and attempts to fill his speech with flowery language and metaphors. Launcelot cuts him off to get to the point. In other words, Launcelot believes he can do it better than his father. This picks up the themes present in Portia's storyline in a comedic and low space: like Launcelot, Portia is subject to her father's intervention in her affairs. Like Launcelot, Portia believes that she could do better than her father.
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— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
Like his son, Gobbo uses malapropisms that twist the meaning of his lines. Instead of "infection," Gobbo means "affection."
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— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
This line can be interpreted either as a sign that Gobbo is senile, or that Gobbo cannot believe that someone who acts like Launcelot could be his son.
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— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
Launcelot mistakes Gobbo's meaning in his previous line and takes the opportunity to tease his father about being cuckolded. In other words, you may not be my father but your wife is certainly my mother. Launcelot defies filial duty to his parent and shows himself to be a dishonorable character.
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— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
Launcelot takes his father's comment literally and becomes angry at being called a staff. Notice that Launcelot faults his father for not being able to "look" at him, though Launcelot himself has already acknowledged that his father is blind.
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— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
Here, Gobbo uses a metaphor that compares his son to a "staff." By this metaphor, Gobbo means that Launcelot supports him in his old age, and laments the loss of this support.
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— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
Launcelot refers to the three fates from Greek and Roman mythology called the Moirai. The Moirai were incarnations of destiny that metaphorically controlled the thread of each life on earth. Clotho spun the thread, Lachesis measured the thread, and Atropos cut the thread to end someone's life.
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— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
"Try confusions" is a malapropism for "try conclusions," which means to experiment. However, "confusions" ends up being a more apt description of Launcelot's game because his jokes make little sense. Unlike other clowns, who mock the high born characters by cleverly twisting their logic and rhetoric, Launcelot is a bad clown who makes the audience laugh with his dim witted attempt to be clever.
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— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
"Ergo" was a fancy way to say "therefore." Though he has showed himself to be dim witted, Launcelot uses this word to sound different, or more educated than he is.
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— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
Launcelot's father Gobbo is blind and does not immediately recognize his son. Launcelot decides to play a prank on him. While Shakespeare's audience might have found this scene funny, we can also read Launcelot as a despicable character for his lack of honor. This undermines his characterization of Shylock as a "devil" and lends sympathy to the persecuted Jewish characters.
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— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
Notice that serious negative descriptions of Shylock are put into the mouths of unreliable characters, such as Launcelot the low comedic clown.
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— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
This is a malapropism, mistaking a word for another word that sounds like it. Launcelot mistakes the phrase "the devil incarnate," literally the devil embodied in the flesh, for "the devil incarnation," which at this time referred to the birth of Jesus. The malapropism throughout Launcelot's speech demonstrates his lack of eduction and position as a comedic low character.
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— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
Here, Launcelot performs a parody of a psychomachia, a conflict of the soul generally shown by a devil and an angel sitting on opposite shoulders and fighting it out for the subject's soul. Launcelot cannot decide whether or not to stay with his master. But unlike most psychomachia monologues, this one does not reach below surface level; Launcelot does not offer any real reasons to run or to stay.