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Launcelot Gobbo is a servant who works first for Shylock and then for Bassanio. Launcelot is a fool or clown character (an archetype found in many of Shakespeare’s works), a witty member of the lower class who provides moments of levity throughout the play. However, like many of Shakespeare’s clowns, Launcelot’s role is not limited to one of merely comic relief. When the audience first meets Launcelot, he is debating whether he should leave Shylock’s service or not. He does not wish to work for his master anymore, who he describes as the “devil himself.” Through Launcelot, we learn more about Shylock—namely, that Launcelot’s foremost complaint about Shylock appears to be not that he is a cruel master or terrible person, but that he is Jewish. Though Launcelot’s prejudicial desire to leave Shylock wins out, he wrestles inwardly with the decision—he may believe Shylock to be a devil, but he also believes wanting to leave Shylock’s service is just as wicked, a temptation born of “the fiend.”
Launcelot also introduces the play’s emphasis on appearance vs. reality. In 2.2, Launcelot plays a trick on his blind father, who he has not seen in a long time, and pretends to be a stranger. He tells Old Gobbo that his son is dead before quickly revealing that it was all a prank and that he is, in fact, his son. This interaction between the Gobbos is comical in design but it also anticipates the many moments throughout the text in which something or someone masks their true nature. Some examples include the unobtrusive lead casket containing Portia’s portrait and the moments in which Portia, Nerissa, and Jessica dress as men to conceal their identities.
