Analysis

• 1 "Our house is hell and thou, a merry devil" 


  • Noun "hell" shows that it's her personal hell.
  • She hates living at home.
  • Living with Shylock is like torture, because of how controlling and miserable he is.
• 2 "To be ashamed to be my father's child but though I am a daughter to his blood, I am not to his manners"


  • Noun "manners" shows that she is nothing like him, personality wise.
  • She doesn't want to be associated with her father.
  • Feels ashamed for not wanting to be his daughter, could show that she still somewhat cares for him.
• 3 "Become Christian and thy loving wife"


  • Shows how naive and gullible she is.
  • She thinks that she can just easily become Christian and be accepted by them.
  • However, in reality she will be judged, mocked and not accepted by the Christians.
• 4 "Nor thrust your head into the public street to gaze on Christian fools with varnished faces"


  • Noun "fools" that they are viewed as foolish and stupid by Shylock, which shows discrimination.
  • Verb "varnished" implies that he views Christians as liars and not being truthful, and that they hide their faces to commit sins"
  • Also shows that Shylock doesn't want Jessica to be influenced by them.
  • Jessica isn't allowed to do most things.
• 5 "Cupid himself would blush to see thus transformed to a boy"


  • Noun "cupid" shows that she holds a romantic view, and thinks that you can fall in love easily, and shows she believes in love at first sight.
  • She doesn't want to be seen, is insecure.
  • Is acting shy and innocent.
• 6 "gild myself with some more ducats, and be straight with you" 


  • Verb "gild" (means to cover in gold) shows that she is greedy, could be because of Shylock's influence.
  • She wants to go back for more money, she only cares about money.
• 7 "I would rather my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear"


  • Adjective "dead" implies that he no longer cares for her.
  • Shylock would rather lose his daughter and have the money, shows that they don't have a good relationship.
  • Don't care for each other.
• 8 "I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor: I would not have given it for the wilderness of monkeys"


  • Verb "given" shows that he would have never given it away due to the sentimental value, but she didn't care about that and gave it away anyway.
  • Noun "wilderness" shows that she gave it away for the first thing she saw and that the ring didn't have any real value to her.
  • Also indicates that her mother wasn't around so she was raised by a single parent, so may have had a harder time when growing up.
  • Also lack of a mother figure could be why she acts like this.
• 9 "In such a night did Thisbe fearfully o'ertip the dew and saw the lion's shadow ere himself and ran dismissed away"


  • Noun "Thisbe" was a mythological women who was meant to meet her lover but saw a lion and ran away, later her lover arrived he assumed that she was killed by the lions so he killed himself.
  • Jessica and Lorenzo are discussing tragic love stories.
  • These could foreshadow how they will end up.
• 10 "Here will we sit and let the sound of music ... become touches of sweet harmony" 



  • Jessica and Lorenzo are enjoying themselves and finaly spending time together.
  • The audience finally get a glimpse of Jessica and Lorenzo's relationship.
  • Could imply that they do actually like and care for each other and aren't just together out of convenience.
  • Shakespear may have wanted the audience to 'like' the couple by doing this.
• 11 "Fair ladies, you drop manna in the way of starved people"

  • Noun "manna" was food which was given to starved people in the desert.
  • Shows that the money they have received is like manna. This is not true as Jessica has stole lots of money before escaping.
  • Shows that Lorenzo and Jessica are greedy for money and that they are never fulfilled with the amount that they have.