Classwork on The Merchant of Venice

Name: Shamira Tabassum Alam

Roll: 2015931019

Portia is the romantic heroine in William Shakespeare’s tragicomedy – ‘The

Merchant of Venice’. Despite proving herself as quick-witted and one of the most
remarkable female characters, Portia is rather portrayed as a rare combination – a
free spirit who abides cautiously by the rules. No less than a prisoner, Portia
expresses her inner feelings to Nerissa, her close confidante, yet her stoicism and
sharpness never subsides while she faces a stream of suitors asking for her hand.

On the opening of The Merchant of Venice, we see the young, wealthy and
beautiful heiress Portia who has recently lost her father. Sought after by many
gentlemen from both home and abroad, Portia is bound to watch all her suitors
go through the test her father had planned out on his will. The test required the
suitor to pick up the correct casket in exchange for Portia’s hand, which obviously
curbed Portia’s chances of making a choice of her own when it came to choosing
a suitor for herself. We can see the dilemma she was put in while fighting her own
impulses to choose someone she loved. Her strong sense of duty compels her to
stand strong even after knowing that the suitor who shall pass the test may not
be someone she can truly love.

Portia’s conflicts are clearly stated on her monologue to Nerissa in which she
describes that it is easier said than done when it comes abiding by someone’s
instructions, that teaching a number of people is easier than to be tutored herself
in her own teaching. She explains how the madness of youth deafens a person to
good counsel, how emotions can easily take over reasoning. Portia sorrowfully
expresses her inability to make a choice on her own, rather live by the will of a
dead father as the nature of the wish demands so. Her question to Nerissa further
depicts her helplessness in the beginning in which she mentions her inability to
deny the winner whom she may never come to love or accept the loser of the test
whom she would have loved genuinely.

Portia retains her composure while meeting her suitors, but expresses her actual
opinions on them to Nerissa after they leave. Her negative remarks are rather
just, in my opinion, considering the character flaws and incompetence of the
suitors. When the Prince of Morocco requests her to not slight him for his skin
color, Portia politely replies that there is more to than appearance that takes to
impress her.

Considering her nature and character arc, Portia is highly unlikely a racist. Despite
her personal dilemma, she does not behave impolitely or reject her suitors just
because none of them is able to win her heart. Rather, it was her anger and
frustration against the fashion that made her overly skeptic, even when some of
the suitors proved more advantageous than the others. Her heart belonged to
Bassanio, whom she awaited to be sought by. Which is why in the end, her
ingenuity ensured that the will actually works on her favor while maintaining her
father’s instructions till the end.