though, that he is not a wealthy man like Shylock, but is instead rather poor. The happy Lancelot, however, responds with the following:
The old proverb is very well parted between my master Shylock and you, sir: you have the grace of God, sir, and he hathenough.
(134-36)
Lancelot is referring to the proverb, “The grace of God is gear enough.” The wordgearmeans wealth.Inother words, God’s grace or blessing is more important than wealth or material goods. Although Shylock is wealthy, although he has “enough” of everything, he is without God’s grace. Lancelot knows from hard experience that Shylock’s wealth does not benefit those who serve the miserlymoney-lender.
Lancelot is rather proud of himself because he thinks he earned the position with Bassanio because of his own clever manner of speech (lines 141-42). Lancelot then looks down at the palm of his hand and begins to read his own fortune. He claims that the lines on his hand indicate that he will escape dangers and have many sexual encounters. Lancelot claims to be a lucky man and concludes that “if Fortune be a woman, she’s a good wench for this gear” (149-50). The words “for this gear” mean in this case – in Lancelot’s case. Although Fate was frequently referred to asDame Fortuneduring the Renaissance, most men at that time would not have agreed with Lancelot.Lancelot