man and that the curse was passed down on his children whether they were innocent or guilty of committing any sins themselves.
In the fifth scene the clown Lancelot displays his wit. The scene is humorous, and the reader should note how the play now shifts intoprose. Since the lowly clown dominates the dialogue, the use of prose distinguishes it from the elevated language of those with higher social rank. However, the dialogue is also rich with word play andcleverness.
Lancelot, who interprets the lines about the sins of the father as a curse, tells Jessica that she is damned because her father Shylock is a most grievous sinner. Lancelot then sets up his joke: he tells Jessica that she has once chance or hope of going to Heaven, but that chance is a “bastard hope” (6). What that expression actually means is false hope. Jessica falls for the joke and asks Lancelot to explain. The clown then tells her that her only hope is that Shylock is not really her true father: in other words, Lancelot is suggesting that if her mother had sexual relations with another man, then she will not be cursedbyShylock’s sins. Jessica is clever herself, and sees a fallacy with Lancelot’s explanation. If her own mother had sexual relations with another man, she would then be guilty of adultery, which is also a serious sin. Thus, the sin of the mother would be passed down toJessica. She would be damned eitherway.
Lancelot then suggests that Jessica’s parents are like two mythological sea monsters,Scylla and