The masque, which the characters discuss, never occurs; perhaps the play has been cut, or perhaps Shakespeare felt that there was simply not enough time for a masque. In any event, however, the anticipation of the masque causes the audience to envision it, and thus it suggests a youthful and romantic background to the Jessica-Lorenzo development ("Fair Jessica shall be my torchbearer"), a mood which is clearly antithetical to the self-denying and puritanical life of Shylock's household.
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