Act Two -- Merchant of Venice

Scene 1: The Prince of Morocco arrives at Belmont to take the casket test. The Prince speaks with Portia, telling her to not judge him by his skin, and Portia basically says she does not have a choice in her marriage so he has as good of a choice as anyone.

Scene 2: Lancelet Gabbo is introduced, and he is lower class servant and a comic relief in the play. He pranks his father into believing he is dead and does not seem to treat him well. Lancelet also chooses to be Bassanio's servant because he does not wish to serve Shylock who is Jewish.

Scene 3: Jessica and Lancelet say good-bye since he is leaving to serve Bassanio, and Jessica gives him a letter to take to Lorenzo.

Scene 4: Lancelet delivers Jessica's letter to Lorenzo, and Lorenzo sends Lancelet back to Jessica to deliver money and a message.

Scene 5: Shylock is leaving to got to dinner at Bassanio's house, and instructs Jessica to remain safe inside the house while he is away, although she plots to run away.

Scene 6:  Jessica sneaks out, dressed as a male page, and finds Lorenzo, while also stealing money from her father. Antonio also arrives and delivers the news that Bassanio is going to leave for Belmont.

Scene 7: The Prince of Morocco attempts the casket test, choosing the gold chest, which had the riddle, "Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire." The Prince of Morocco fails, finding a skull with a scroll in its mouth, which basically read that it is unwise to judge a book by its cover, instead of a picture of Portia. 

Scene 8: Salarino and Salanio recount Shylock's reaction to discovering Jessica had fled with Lorenzo, which basically consisted of him yelling about his ducats and his daughter. The two also reveal that Lorenzo and Jessica fled on a ship separate from Bassanio. They also discuss the parting of Antonio and Bassanio, where Antonio basically says to not worry about him and just win Portia's hand in marriage.

Scene 9: The Prince of Arragon arrives to attempt the casket test. The Prince of Arragon chose the silver casket, which read, "Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves." This chest contained either a mirror or a clown's head (it is unclear which), since he was too arrogant and believed himself to be too deserving. Portia and Nerissa also receive a message that Bassanio has arrived to attempt the casket test, and Nerissa is hoping that he wins. 

Characters that are Introduced

Prince of Moroccco: black and a moor, wishes to be judged not solely on his appearance, fails the casket test by choosing the gold chest

Lancelet Gobbo: lower class, comic relief, dumb but tries to act smart, kind of a jerk to his dad, works for Shylock but wants to work for Bassanio since he is Christian

Old Gobbo: father of Lancelet, blind, tricked by his son and treated fairly poorly by him

Jessica: rebel, doesn't like being Jewish, supposed to be admirable because she wants to convert to Christianity, resents her father, eloping with Lorenzo and stole her father's money

Prince of Arragon: attempts and fails the casket test by choosing the gold chest, arrogant, thinks highly of himself

Emerging Themes and Issues

-Anti-Semitism: Shylock is seen and portrayed as a villain/main antagonist due to his religion, and is often treated like an animal ("cur"/ "dog") due to his religion. However, Jessica is supposed to be viewed as admirable because she wishes to convert to Christianity.

-Father-Child Relationships: Jessica and Lancelet both seem to disrespect and treat their fathers poorly, while also resenting them. Porita also resents her father due to the casket test and her lack of a choice in who she gets to marry.

-Cross-Dressing: In this act, Jessica must cross-dress as a man in order to escape her father and elope with Lorenzo. This theme also appears again later in the play when Portia cross-dresses during the trial to save Antonio and Bassanio.