Page 46 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

ACT TWO - Scene Two 2.2.0 xxx

Venice. Enter Launcelet Gobbo, the clown, alone. 1

—Launcelet
2
Certainly my conscience will not permit me to run from this Jew, my master. The fiend at mine
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elbow tempts me, saying, ‘Gobbo, Launcelet Gobbo, good Launcelet,’ or ‘good Gobbo,’ or
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‘good Launcelet Gobbo’—‘use your legs, take the start, run away.’ My conscience says, ‘No,
take heed, honorable° Launcelet; take heed honest Gobbo,’—or as aforesaid, ‘honorable
Launcelet Gobbo’—‘do not run; scorn running° with thy heels.’ Well the most courageous fiend
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bids me pack° my things. ‘Get going!’ says the fiend. ‘Away!’ says the fiend. ‘For the sake of
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heaven,°’ says the fiend, ‘rouse up a brave mind —and run.’ Well, my conscience, hanging
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about the neck of my heart, says very wisely to me, ‘My honest friend Launcelet’— being an
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honest man’s son, or rather, an honest woman’s son—for indeed my father did something lewd,
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something sticky, he had a kind of taste +for women who would . . . , —well, my conscience

1. Launcelet’s soliloquy, which provides a comic interlude, may have more significance than immediately realized.
This is the only time a character appears alone on stage (apart from the two exiting lines delivered by Jessica in
2.6.55-6). This is not significant in itself but may echo the larger issue of Shylock’s internal battle with his own
conscience (and his own fiend) with respect to his actions against Antonio. Shylock, tries to resolve his inner turmoil
by making an oath to God that he will have his bond even though his conscience and Jewish sense of righteousness
bids him to do otherwise. Ironically, Shylock makes his oath to God so that he may have the resolver to support the
fiend and go against his conscience. Thus, in the end, both Shylock and Launcelet give into their fiendish side.
Clearly this soliloquy can be seen as a parody on the grand confrontations of the human soul—perhaps
suggesting that no matter what we plan on doing, no matter what we decide, God’s plans are ultimately actuated.
Here we see Launcelet musing over what appears to be a minor decision in the scheme of things and more than likely
moot: no matter what Launcelet decides, he can only ‘go’ if Shylock allows him to go. The moment Launcelet
decides to run (and give into the fiend) he collides with his father, his higher sense of conscience. [See Additional
Notes: 2.2.1]
2. {Certainly my conscience will serve me to run from this Jew my master}
/ will not allow me to run / will serve me jif it allows mek to run / will try an prevent my running
certainly: Launcelet opens the scene with the word, certainly, which tells us that he is certain about his own
uncertainty. Such an ironic certainty is also had by Shylock.
serve: a) permit, allow, b) prevent, not permit, not allow, ‘say nothing against’ In the context of the following
monologue—where Launcelet’s conscience is bidding him to stay while the fiend at his elbow is telling him to
go—the term serve would more likely mean prevent than serve (or allow). (It could also be a error for sever—an
odd form meaning prevent or keep me from—but this is unlikely). Various explanations have been offered as to
what this line might mean, such as: ‘I’m sure I’ll feel guilty if I run from this Jew,’(Crowther); ‘I can run away from
my master the Jew with a clear conscience,’ (Durband); ‘although conscience speaks against it, he will show good
reason why he should go,’ (Brown).
3. / by my good side
4. / get them going
5. {Via!} / Get ye gone!
via: Italian for ‘away’
6. / let bravery enter your mind
7. my conscience, hanging about the neck of my heart: an anatomical mix-up, signifying timidity, ‘a clinging,
affectionate attitude,’ or perhaps a reference to ‘being all chocked up.’
8. honest: in the sense one who is faithful, one who keeps his marriage vows of fidelity.
9. {for indeed my father did something smack, something grow to, he had a kind of taste—well . . . }
/ did something which smacked of the lewd, something gross / did something smack, something gross, it left a bad
taste (in the mouth)—well . . .
smack: pertaining to vice, lecherous, lewd. It also means a) to kiss noisily (verb); b) flavor or trait (noun);
inclination.
grow to: an expression that generally referred to burnt milk which gets stuck to the bottom of a pan or to that
which has the taste of burnt milk—and by extension it could mean something which has been ruined and/or which
has a bad taste; also something sticky (like milk sticking to the bottom of a pot)—which might carry a lewd reference
to semen. The term could be rendered as: something sticky; something gross (which sounds like grow to);