In this version it is Munday's Jessica analogue, Brisana, who pleads the case first in the courtroom scene, followed by Cornelia, the Portia analogue. The use of Jessica as the character's given name in The Merchant of Venice is the oldest written record of the name with its current spelling. First performed in 1598, Shakespeare’s study of religious difference remains controversial. The play ‘The Merchant of Venice’, by William Shakespeare, shows two different father-daughter relationships. Those who dislike her would argue that she represents greed, selfishness and disloyalty. 41 likes. What, Jessica !—thou shalt not gormandize As thou hast done with me–What, Jessica ! I am aware that, in a subsequent scene, he says to Jessica, 'Marry, you may partly hope your father got you not;' but he is now on another subject. The character of Jessica, in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice serves an important function in respect to her father, Shylock. J ESSICA HAS NOT FARED WELL in the criticism of The Merchant of Venice. Your IP: 51.254.49.255 The scene opens with a humorous dialogue of Launcelot for the amusement of the groundlings. Enter JESSICA and LAUNCELOT JESSICA I am sorry thou wilt leave my father so: Our house is hell, and thou, a merry devil, Didst rob it of some taste of tediousness. 1590). I have a father, you a daughter, lost. O girl, O gold, O beauty, O my bliss! In addition, the play contains subplots regarding Bassanio's courtship of Portia;[a] Launcelot Gobbo's humorous interactions with his father, and his change of allegiance from Shylock to Portia and Bassanio; and Jessica and Lorenzo's elopement, with Shylock's savings, his casket of ducats. These conventions would be familiar for both Shakespeare and an Elizabethan theatre audience, and, indeed, modern audiences tend to accept Jessica's actions as natural within the context of the plot. A wedding ring is literally a symbol of devotion, not only a “literary” symbol. Shylock catches the interaction and asks Jessica what Gobbo said, but Jessica deceives him and claims he was simply saying goodbye. I am glad 'tis night, you do not look on me, "[16] Portia dispatches Bassanio to Venice to assist his friend, pausing only long enough for them to be married. Similarly, in Salernitano's 14th novella, the daughter makes off with her father's money, to the same effect. Alack, what heinous sin is it in me On the street in Venice, Gratiano, Lorenzo, Salerio and Solanio discuss Lorenzo's plan to elope with Jessica that night, before the dinner at Bassanio's. Launcelot says that Jessica will be damned for her father’s sins. The Merchant Of Venice Jessica And Shylock. Merchant of Venice What is written on the letter to Lorenzo from Jessica? The editor of the Second Folio (1632) had emended the line "If a Christian do not / play the knave and get thee, I am much deceived",[37] substituting did for do. In the play, she elopes with Lorenzo, a penniless Christian, and a chest of her father's money, eventually ending up in Portia and Bassanio's household. Jessica hates Shylock because she feels caged inside her home. His presence has been a source of fun and joviality. His absence from there will leave the house a dull place. Slights highlights comedies where children rebel against a miserly father, or romances where daughters defy a repressive father for love. "[30] Shakespeare's plays usually extend and deepen existing dramatic conventions, and Jessica must be seen in a context of classical and Elizabethan conventions for such characters. He is telling Launcelot that when he goes to serve Bassanio, he will find the difference between his old master and the new master. Launcelot comes to take his leave from Shylock, but finds his master’s daughter, Jessica, sitting alone in the house. Though she recognizes and feels guilt for her hatred of Skylock, which is a great sin, she plots to escape her father's house with Lorenzo who she loves and later she converts herself to christian. Merchant of Venice Workbook Answers Act 2, Scene 3 – ICSE Class 10 & 9 English. Merchant of Venice Workbook Answers Act 2, Scene 3. There was no question of filial duty or filial love; one was either a Saracen or a Christian, and that was all there was to it. Fled with a Christian! Jessica is the daughter of Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (c. 1598). Act 5, Scene 1—the final scene of the play, and following on from the courtroom scene in Act 4—opens with Jessica and Lorenzo strolling in the gardens of Belmont. Jessica is identified as the daughter of a Jewish Merchant but the audience learns she is much more than that. She concludes the soliloquy determined to marry Lorenzo and convert to Christianity. The delicate subject of love is further complicated by the demanding, unwavering standards set by the respective fathers of Jessica and Portia. Shylock's daughter, Jessica, has eloped with Bassanio's friend Lorenzo, taking her father’s money with her. She reveals how she feels ashamed to be her father’s daughter because of his behavior. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jessica_(The_Merchant_of_Venice)&oldid=992007166, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 3 December 2020, at 00:10. The Merchant of Venice pearsonenglishreaders.com Pearson Education Limited 2015 The Merchant of Venice - Teacher’s notes 1 of 3 LEV Teachers notes Teacher Support Programme About the author William Shakespeare is the most famous writer of the English language. In the play, she elopes with Lorenzo, a penniless Christian, and a chest of her father's money, eventually ending up in Portia and Bassanio's household. [20], For the Jessica–Shylock relationship, John Drakakis, the editor of The Arden Shakespeare's third series edition, highlights the verbal connection between The Merchant of Venice and The Jew of Malta with Barabas's words when Abigail rescues his gold and Shylock's at Jessica's theft of his Ducats. Answer to: Who does Jessica marry in The Merchant of Venice? "[36] The lines in question are usually assigned Lorenzo.[35]. OPTIONS: Show cue speeches • Show full speeches # Act, Scene, Line (Click to see in context) Speech text: 1. Read the full text of The Merchant of Venice Act 3 Scene 5 with a side-by-side translation HERE.. At Portia's garden in Belmont, Lancelot (Shylock's deserting clown) talks with Jessica (Shylock's deserting daughter). … Jessica is bad and disloyal, unfilial, a thief; frivolous, greedy, without any more conscience than a cat and without even a cat's redeeming love of home. Fathers and children/ Love and relationship, Malone died in 1812, so his revised edition was published posthumously by, Mason was an Irish politician and literary scholar, and on friendly terms with Steevens who had used many of Mason's notes in his editions. In such a night Did young Lorenzo swear he loved her well, Stealing her soul with many vows of faith And ne'er a true one. Merchant of Venice Act 1 Scene 5 Summary Merchant of Venice Act 2 Scene 5 Summary. Asked by fred t #755670 on 2/12/2018 8:39 PM Last updated by jill d #170087 on 2/12/2018 9:40 PM Answers 1 Add Yours. Always a riot, Lancelot says that Jessica is damned to hell because she's the daughter of a … Having no other option, Gobbo whispers to Jessica to "look out at window for all this. Jessica is Shylock’s daughter in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. Unfortunately, the overarching ideals of the world at this time are able to recapture their stranglehold on Jessica, Portia, and Nerissa. Please enable Cookies and reload the page. She runs away with Lorenzo and takes a large sum of her father’s goods. Answer Shylock is talking to Launcelot, the clown who used to be with him, till recently. [citation needed]. Here Laban—the Sultan of Babylon, a Saracen ruler—captures the Christian knights Oliver and Roland and intends to execute them. She finds the atmosphere of her father’s home to … He is pleased by the letter and its contents, and bids Gobbo return to let her know that he has received the letter and will not fail her. Jessica speaks to the audience after saying goodbye to Launcelot as she plans her escape. Shylock : Well, thou shalt see, thy eyes shall be thy judge The difference of old Shylock and Bassanlo— What, Jessica l -thou shalt not gormandize As thou hast done with me—What, Jessica !— And sleep and snore, and rend apparel out— Why, Jessica, I say ! For if they could, Cupid himself would blush. She speaks a grand total of 660 words over the play's five acts. Question 1. Jessica. While talking to Gobbo, her father's servant who she feels comfortable sharing her thoughts with, tells that Shylock is evil and cruel, and refers to her house as a hell. Speeches (Lines) for Jessica in "Merchant of Venice" Total: 26. print/save view. By deserting him for a Christian husband, Shylock loses the last person with whom he has any kind of tie. She was still viewed as inhabiting primarily negative values, in contrast with the positive values associated with Portia, Bassanio, and Antonio. Lorenzo persuades her, and she goes inside to bring more of Shylock's ducats. Here is a ducat for you. She does not have the happiest of home-lives with her father, finding it only relieved by Lancelot’s jesting. The back and forth continued in notes on Jessica's line in Act 5, Scene 1: "I am never merry when I hear sweet music. J Those who see the play primarily as an exposure of Christian hypocrisy re- spond sympathetically to Shylock and judge harshly the daughter who deserts him for his Christian enemies. Performance & security by Cloudflare, Please complete the security check to access. Slights sees this as a consequence of sympathetic readings of Shylock, where the play is seen primarily as exposing Christian hypocrisy, and his actions merely natural responses to ostracism and prejudice. The letter informs him that all Antonio's business ventures have failed, such that he has defaulted on the bond to Shylock, and that Shylock intends to collect on the "pound of flesh". Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, The Christian in love with a Jewess appears frequently in exemplum from the 13th to the 15th century. En la estructura dramática de la obra , Jessica es un papel menor pero fundamental. Writing two decades later, James L. Wilson finds a better parallel in The Sultan of Babylon, an English story rooted in The Matter of France and the chanson de geste The Song of Roland. Her donning of a young page’s outfit in order to elope with Lorenzo is the first instance of cross-dressing within Merchant of Venice. Lorenzo joins them and Jessica recounts their conversation, leading to further banter between Lorenzo and Gobbo, until Gobbo leaves to prepare for dinner. 2.3. "[12] before leaving. 2.3. [26] All this is justified to the audience simply because Floripas converts to Christianity and Laban is a Saracene: The reason for the cruelty of the Sultan's two children is quite obvious. Answered by jill d #170087 on 2/12/2018 9:40 PM Charles Frederick Lowcock Die Schlüsselübergabe.jpg 2,345 × 3,179; 1.72 MB / And therefore, like herself, wise, fair, and true,". No sooner has Stephano informed them that Portia and Nerissa will soon arrive than Gobbo comes with the same news for Bassanio and Gratiano. As a common theme in the works of William Shakespeare, suffering in the name of love also applies to the two heroines of The Merchant of Venice. The Character Of Jessica And Jessica In The Merchant Of Venice ' large contribution to the play, that character is Jessica. He was born in 1564 and died in 1616 in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. My gold, my fortune, my felicity, … Launcelot does not mean to foretell the fate of Jessica, but judges, from her lovely disposition, that she must have been begotten by a christian, not by such a brute as Shylock: a christian might marry her without playing the knave, though he could not beget her. 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