LANCELOT AND SHYLOCK: CONSCIENCE AND ANXIETYREGARDING THE PATERNAL FIGURE

Abstract

This article analyzes Lancelot's comic deliberation about leaving his master Shylock, in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. Lancelot's relationship with his father Gobbo and Shylock is ambiguous, as he feels anxiety about leaving Shylock's home, but feels no anxiety about deceiving his father. Analysis suggests that he reverses the role of the father figure, taking Shylock rather than Gobbo as the father figure representation. Likewise, there are other characters in the play who project onto Shylock the representation of the father figure, mirroring anger, resentment, fear and anxiety.

Keywords

• interioridade
• consciência
• ansiedade
• o mercador de veneza