LITERATURE PROJECT

SECTION A

1)

Bassanio is known for being a spendthrift in the beginning of

the story.

Bassanio was in debt from Shylock and had to take out loan to
go to Belmont.

Because Bassanio had love for Patricia he knew on the inside

to go towards the beauty side.

For when time came of deliberation his maturity level guided

him.

That's why instead of going towards what showcases wealth

he goes for the one which depicted beauty.

As planned by Portia’s deceased father, she could only marry

the man who would pass the casket test and choose the right
casket. The test has three caskets and there is an inscription
on each of them. The inscriptions are meant to guide the
suitors.

Explanation:

Three suitors show up in Belmont and take the casket test,

namely the Prince of Morocco, the Prince of Arragon and
lastly, Bassanio. All the three men hope to win Portia’s hand in
marriage and read the inscriptions written on the three
different caskets, but their thought processes are completely
dissimilar. Shakespeare has skillfully used the inscriptions to
evoke reactions from the suitors. Their reactions in turn
portray important traits of their personality.  

The Prince of Morocco is the first suitor. He begins with the

leaden casket and rejects it right away because he thinks that
lead is worthless and his ‘golden mind’ cannot possibly ‘stoop’
so low.  As for the silver casket, he feels that he deserves
her, showing his sense of pride in his royal background, yet he
feels that Portia’s picture can only be contained in nothing less
than the golden casket. He chooses the golden casket which
says, ‘Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire’ .
He takes things on face value rather than deliberating on
them and is definitely not a risk taker, for he is threatened
by the leaden casket.  Despite his confidence in the golden
casket, he fails to identify the right casket and leaves
immediately.  

The second suitor is the Prince of Arragon, who is full of

arrogance. He feels that he is not one of the ‘fool multitude’
or the commoners that consider only the face value of things.
Yet, ironically this is exactly what he himself does with the
leaden casket.  He clearly states that the leaden casket will
need to be more ‘fair’ or beautiful before he could even
consider it. He assumes that he definitely deserves Portia and
hence selects the silver casket which says, ‘Who chooseth me
shall get as much as he deserves.’
Bassanio is the third and the last suitor. When he arrives,
Portia begins to chatter away. With the other two suitors, she
was quiet and they did most of the talking. Bassanio has to in
fact ask her to stop talking and let him choose the casket.
While the princes focus on the test, Bassanio is distracted by
his desire to be with Portia. He is worried about not being
able to enjoy his ‘love’ in case he selects the wrong casket.
This scene also has music playing in the background, for
heightened suspense. The previous casket scenes were music-
less.  Bassanio’s speech is not focused on himself. Instead he
talks about people from various professions- lawyers, the
clergymen and even heroes like Hercules and Mars. He does
not believe in the ‘outward shows’. His seems to be a balanced
outlook, since he plays with contrasting ideas like gracious/evil
and religion/unreligious outcomes (d*mn). He thus chooses the
leaden casket which threateningly states, “Who chooseth me
must give and hazard all he hath”, willing to put everything
at risk for Portia.  

When Bassanio finds Portia’s picture in the casket, he is in

disbelief and ‘in a doubt’. The previous suitors were in
disbelief too, but Bassanio is in happy disbelief while the
others were disappointed. While the others make a quick exit,
Bassanio stays on to receive the ring from Portia. He humbly
states that he is speechless, unlike the other suitors who are
full of themselves.