4. Does Jessica love her father? Why does she take and then spend so much money when she runs away? Do you think she'll live "happily ever after" in Belmont, with Lorenzo as her husband (and with Portia and Nerissa as friends)?
I like to believe that Jessica loved her, but I do not think that love is extremely prevalent in this play. Between a father and daughter, especially considering Shylock is a single father and the sole remaining parent, I think that there is an innate love present. However, I think Jessica harbors so much hate and resent for her father that the love is nearly nonexistent. For her entire life, Jessica has most likely been isolated due to her religion and her father's business practices (charging interest), and that would be difficult on any teenage girl. Jessica thus resents her father for, in her mind, essentially forcing Judaism upon her and separating her from Lorenzo and most other people. When Jessica runs away from her father, she converts to Christianity almost immediately, in an attempt to separate herself from her father and his religion, which she probably feels has restricted her for most of her life since most Christians discriminate against Jews.
I think Jessica takes and spends so much money when she runs away with Lorenzo in order to get back at and separate herself from her father. Jessica knows that Shylock loves his money almost as much as her, if not more than he loves her. Thus, in order to reach him and anger him for confining her to Judaism and this life of hatred, Jessica chooses to steal and spend this thing that is extremely precious to him. Jessica also probably resents her father for loving his money possibly more than he loves her, so she decided to steal and assert control and dominance over this thing that has captured her father's love, which ends up betraying him through Jessica stealing it. Based upon Shylock's reaction to Jessica running away with his money, and his cries for both his money and his daughter in equal measure, Jessica was probably correct in her assumption of his response when stealing his money.
I do not think that Jessica will get a perfect "happily ever after" living in Belmont. At the beginning of Act 5, Lorenzo and Jessica mention and relate their own love to other love stories, like Medea and Dido, that all ended poorly. These references could be foreshadowing for Lorenzo and Jessica's own relationship, especially since the Jessica is so young and the two rushed into the relationship. Jessica also will not likely get along entirely with Portia and Nerissa. Jessica already experienced some conflict with Lancelet in act 3, which will probably be typical of the other people in Belmont. Even though Jessica converted to Christianity, Lancelet disliked her and believed she was going to hell for being a Jew in the first place, which I think will be a similar response from Portia and Nerissa. Even if Portia and Nerissa do not outright hate Jessica, I do not think she will ever be entirely accepted in Belmont.
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