In The Merchant of Venice, what does Shylock think of Launcelot Gobbo as an employee?

When we are first introduced to Launcelot in Act II scene
2, he is still the servant of Shylock, but in his soliloquy he resolves to leave his
master and look for better employment, and therefore becomes the servant of Bassanio
later on in the play. This soliloquy is revealing because in it Launcelot discusses the
pros and cons of leaving his master's employment. In spite of his conscience, which
tells him to stay with the Jew, he considers that his employer, Shylock, is "the very
devil incarnation" which prompts him to ignore his conscience and leave his master's
employment.

Interestingly though we have little direct
evidence from the text that Shylock mistreated Launcelot badly. Launcelot does protest
that he was mistreated under Shylock:

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I am famished in his service; you may tell every
finger I have with my
ribs.

And yet, it appears
that Launcelot is a character prone to exaggeration. In Act II scene 5, we can say that
Shylock is rude to Launcelot, but not insulting, and certainly we can explain his
asperity with Launcelot by the fact that Launcelot has just left his
employment.

Thus, depending on how the director plays
Launcelot, you can portray Shylock as a tyrannical master who starves his servant, or as
a "normal" master whom Launcelot abandons because of his anti-semitism, which would make
Shylock a figure of sympathy for the audience.