In the fifth scene Shylock meets Lancelot in front of his house. Lancelot is bringing a message to Shylock fromBassanio:
LANCELOT: My young master doth expect your
reproach.
SHYLOCK: So doIhis. (19-20)
In another example of mangled English, Lancelot means to sayapproach. That is, Lancelot’s new master Bassanio expects Shylock to approach or come to the dinner at his house that night. The wordreproachmeans to express disapproval or criticism against someone. Although Shylock knows what Lancelot intended to say, the money- lender also knows that Bassanio and his friends do disapprove and criticize him as well. He fully expects theirdisapproval.
Lancelot also jokes about Shylock’s superstitious nature. Shylock expresses the view that his dream about bags of money last night is a bad omen, a sign that something bad will happen to him or his money (line 18). Lancelot then proceeds to say that a bloody nose that he experienced a long time ago was an omen that Shylock will see a masque on that night. Of course, the bloody nose has nothing at all to do with the performance of the masques that night. They would be performed that night whether Lancelot had a bloody nose or not. In a joking manner, Lancelot is thus expressingthe