Saturday, April 4, 2009

In Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, how does Lorenzo plan to disguise Jessica in order for her to escape from her father?

In Act 2, Scene 4, Lorenzo receives a note from Jessica saying that she has the clothes of a page ready for their escape. (A page is a young servant boy.) In this same scene, Lorenzo asks his friends if they are all going to the masque that night because he has a torchbearer ready to go with them. When they all tell him they will go, he advises everyone to meet at Grazanio's place before heading to the masque that night. In Act 2, Scene 6, Lorenzo meets Jessica at her window and helps her down with gold and jewels stolen from her father. As she is descending, Lorenzo tells Jessica that since she is clothed as a boy, she must act as the torchbearer for him and his friends as they go to the masque that night. Therefore, Lorenzo has Jessica disguised as a young servant boy and torchbearer to help her to escape her father's house.

No comments:

Post a Comment