1. What have you learnt about Launcelot's character from the scene? Point out at least three traits and accompany your answer with examples from the text.
Answers
Launcelot Gobbo is Shylock’s servant. An inner struggle is going on in his mind between his conscience advising him to be a faithful servant and the devil tempting him to leave Shylock’s service and take up service with Bassanio. Launcelot’s inner struggle shows the contemporary Christian practice of struggling with the temptation to yield to it or not.
22. Why does Launcelot want to run away from the Jew? What does his conscience advise him to do?
Launcelot want to run away from the Jew because his master, Shylock is the 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. Initially, his conscience tells him not to run away from Shylock’s household and to be careful. However, when the devil persuades him to flee, his conscience tells him that as he is the child of a good father or at least a good mother and so, he should stay where he is and not move.
33. Launcelot’s speech provides some comic relief in the play? Why was such a relief need in the context of the play?
In this scene Launcelot provides some comic relief in the play. In the context of the play such a relief was needed because the previous scene related to the bond story, depicted a serious mood where Antonio agrees to sign a treacherous bond that stipulates a pound his flesh in case he forfeits the agreement.
44. Enumerate the reasons given by Launcelot’s conscience to stay on with the master.
Launcelot’s conscience advises him not to run away as such an act of fleeing is a matter of contempt. It adds that he is the child of a good father or at least a good mother and hence he should stay on with the master.
55. Finally, whom does Launcelot obey-the devil or his conscience? How is the theme of racial discrimination brought out in Launcelot’s decision to run away?
Finally, Launcelot obeys the devil. The theme of racial discrimination is brought out in Launcelot’s decision to run away because he runs away from his master, Shylock, who was a Jew and takes up service with Bassanio, a Christian.
66. How is the theme of conflict between the good and the evil shown in this scene?
The theme of conflict between the good and the evil is shown in this scene. Launcelot’s conscience advises him to stay on with his master while the devil advises him to flee. He feels the devil’s advice as good and that of the conscience as rigid. He follows the good advice of the devil.
Answer:
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). Although Launcelot has no specific complaints, he seems troubled by the fact that his master is Jewish, or, as Launcelot puts it, “a kind of devil” (II.ii.19). Just when Launcelot determines to run away, his father, Old Gobbo, enters.