PORTIA

Among the heroines created by Shakespeare, Portia occupies a high position. She produces a
powerful impression on our minds; and her role in the play is most conspicuous and memorable.
When the play the Merchant of Venice is mentioned anywhere, people think of two persons,
namely Shylock and Portia; and these two persons are inseparable from each other in our minds
because we remember Shylock chiefly as a villain wanting to take the life of his enemy Antonio,
and we think of Portia as the person who defeats Shylock’s evil design. And, of course, Portia
has other qualities also to impart a measure of greatness to her.

Portia is a lady with a cheerful and optimistic disposition. She has a strong sense of humour and
a sparkling, scintillating wit which she shows in the very beginning and then continues to show
till the very end. It is only on one occasion in the whole play that she feels melancholy, and even
sick of the world. When she is first introduced to us, she tells Nerissa that she is feeling weary of
the world. But this melancholy mood lasts only for a few minutes, and is dispelled as soon as
Nerissa begins to talk to her about the various suitors who have arrived at Belmont to try their
luck at the caskets. Portia has something very amusing to say about each of these four suitors.
Her comment on her English suitor is perhaps the most amusing. This comment ends with her
saying that the Englishman perhaps bought his doublet in Italy, his round hose in France, his
bonnet in Germany, and his behaviour everywhere. Subsequently she shows her sense of humour
in setting the Rings story afoot and bringing it to an end which gives rise to plenty of mirth and
laughter. Portia’s comments on her various suitors show also her powers of minute observation
and her penetrating judgment of human character.

Portia is genuinely devoted to the memory of her father who, while dying, had devised a kind of
lottery for the purpose of her choice of a husband. She is determined to carry out the terms of her
late father’s will. Of course, it is possible for her to disregard her father’s will and to marry a
man on the basis of her own judgment. But she has implicit faith in her father’s wisdom, and she
is convinced that her father’s will would prove to be the means of her getting the right man as
her husband. In this belief she is greatly encouraged by Nerissa who tells her that good men are
sometimes divinely inspired when they are dying and that they then take sound decisions.
Having fallen in love with Bassanio, Portia could easily have married him without subjecting
him to the test laid down by her father in his will, but she does not follow such a course. Even
the man, with whom she has fallen in love, must prove his worth by passing the test before she
would marry him; nor does she give him any hint as to the casket which he should choose.

Portia shows her wisdom in other ways as well. Her conversation with Nerissa at the very outset
of the play contains some valuable remarks which are well-worded maxims. For instance, she
says that it is a good divine who follows his own instructions. She also says that she can easier
teach twenty what were good to be done than be one of the twenty to follow her own teaching. In
fact, her speech to Nerissa on this occasion is a series of aphoristic statements containing gems
of wisdom. Later in the play, she again makes similar remarks which show her wisdom and her
vast knowledge of the world and of human nature. For instance, she says that a good deed shines
in a naughty world just as a candle shines in the darkness of the night. She also says that nothing
is good if it is not seen in its proper context. She makes a similar remark when she says that
many things appear to be praiseworthy and perfect when they are looked at in the right
perspective. But her wisdom appears in a most striking manner in the Trial Scene in the course of
which she is able to turn the tables upon Shylock and defeat him with the same weapon with
which he wanted to take Antonio’s life.

Portia has essentially a compassionate nature. Her famous “Quality of Mercy” speech is a proof
of that. This speech depicts mercy as a sublime quality which is twice blest: it blesseth him that
gives, and him that takes. Mercy, she says, is an attribute to God Himself. It is unfortunate that
the Jew pays no heed to Portia’s plea. At the same time, we must acknowledge the fact that, in
pronouncing the punishment to which Shylock has rendered himself liable, she tends to forget
her own ardent plea for mercy. She allows the Christians to have their own way with him. She
allows them to force him not only to part with all his wealth but also to be converted to
Christianity. However, in this connection we should not forget that in the Elizabethan times such
punishment to a Jew was not thought to be inhuman or brutal.

Although Portia is a woman with a powerful intellect and extraordinary powers of reasoning, she
yet remains a woman at heart with a lot of modesty, humility, and compassion. When she
disguises herself as a man, she succeeds eminently in playing a masculine role. But on all other
occasions she shows that modesty lends to a woman the grace and the chain which make her a
lovable person. When Bassanio puts his hand on the lead casket, she feels overwhelmed by a
feeling of ecstasy, and is hardly able to restrain her feelings on this occasion. When he actually
opens the lead casket and, finding her picture in it, claims her with a kiss, she makes a speech
which embodies the very spirit of humility. She describes herself as an unschooled, unlessoned,
and unpractised woman, and then goes on to make a complete surrender of herself to the man
who has won her as his wife.

Portia is a very large-hearted and generous woman. Every wealthy person is not generous. Some
wealthy persons are also the greatest misers. Shylock is, of course, the most striking example of
this sort of thing. But Portia combines her vast material wealth with an inner treasure of
generosity. On learning the plight of Bassanio’s dearest friend, she offers to Bassanio any
amount of money that he may need for the resuce of Antonio from the clutches of the Jew. And
then she herself dons a lawyer’s clothes to function as a judge in the case because she has hit
upon a plan to save Antonio’s life.

For all these reasons, one of the critics describes Portia as the Queen of this play, and as the
Muse of wisdom and love. This critic also says that Portia is as natural as Eve in Paradise.
 BASSANIO
Bassanio in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice is the central instigator of
all the follows and he not the most steady young man in Venice. He has
considerable bad qualities but he also has considerable good qualities,
although the good ones may not be of a nature that they can counterbalance
the bad.
First, Bassanio is a reckless youth with no wisdom or thought for the future.
He has spent whatever fortune he had instead of living within the scope of his
financial means. He hasn't learned from anything that has transpired before
the play opens that may have contributed to the loss of all his financial
resources. We know this because he is staking his chance of recouping his
lost fortune on a gamble that he will be the one to choose the right casket (a
small chest or box for valuables) that will win the hand of the heiress Portia in
a strange matrimonial test set up by her late father.
In these dire straits--no money; in love with a rich girl who is guarded in
marriage by a casket-selecting contest--he pleads with his devoted friend
Antonio to loan him money with which he can put on a show, a pretense, of
wealth to impress the fair Portia. There is nothing reckless in turning to ask a
friend for help, but when the friend is in tight financial straits himself it does
appear reckless to press the point of a loan. To cap the picture of
recklessness with an added image of arrogant audacity or blind impetuosity,
Bassanio stands by while Antonio unrealistically agrees to impossible terms
on a loan that is secured on a wish and a prayer instead of on material reality-
-as far he knows, Antonio's ship has a 50/50 percent chance of getting safely
back into harbor.
What about Bassanio's good qualities? He has the energy and enthusiasm of
youth. He is devoted in his admiration for Portia. He is a staunch and loyal
friend. His friendship for Antonio goes beyond loyalty when he offers to take
Antonio's place in the court hearing over the unfulfilled repayment of the loan
taken from Shylock. Bassanio offers his own hand, head or heart in place of
the pound of flesh that is due to Shylock to be cut from Antonio.
So in opposition to his bad qualities, Bassanio offers true friendship; true
loyalty; true love; true devotion. It is debatable as to whether these highly
laudable qualities counterbalance impetuosity, imprudence, immoderation;
extravagance of idea and living; and frivolity. If these bad traits are nothing
more than the scourge of youth, Bassanio has the makings of an admirable
man. If, on the other hand, these qualities are character and personality traits,
then pity Portia and Antonio (who isn't all that wise himself).

Bassanio's character is more fully drawn than Antonio's, but it does not possess
the powerful individuality that Shakespeare gives to his portraits of Portia and
Shylock. First off, when one begins considering Bassanio, one should dismiss all
the critics who condemn him for his financial habits. Bassanio's request to
Antonio for more money is perfectly natural for him. He is young; he is in love;
and he is, by nature, impulsive and romantic. Young men in love have often gone
into debt; thus Bassanio has always borrowed money and, furthermore, no moral
stigma should be involved. Shakespeare needs just such a character in this play
for his plot.
If Bassanio is not a powerful hero, he is certainly a sympathetic one. First, he has
some of the most memorable verse in the play — language which has music,
richness, and dignity. Second, he shows us his immediate, uncalculated
generosity and love; this is especially obvious when Bassanio, who has just won
Portia, receives the letter telling him of Antonio's danger. Bassanio is immediately
and extremely concerned over the fate of Antonio and is anxious to do whatever
is possible for his friend. Here, the situation is melodramatic and calls for a
romantic, seemingly impossible, rescue mission.

When at last Bassanio and Portia are reunited, he speaks forthrightly and
truthfully to her. He refuses to implicate Antonio, even though it was at Antonio's
urging that he gave away his wedding ring to the judge who cleverly saved
Antonio's life: "If you did know," he tells Portia, "for what I gave the ring / And how
unwillingly I left the ring . . . You would abate the strength of your displeasure."
No matter how powerful the circumstances, he admits that he was wrong to part
with the ring because he had given his oath to Portia to keep it. As the play ends,
Bassanio's impetuous nature is once more stage-center. Speaking to his wife, he
vows: "Portia, forgive me this enforced wrong; . . . and by my soul I swear / I
never more will break an oath with thee." Of course, he will; this, however, is part
of Bassanio's charm. He means it with all his heart when he swears to Portia, but
when the next opportunity arises and he is called on to rashly undertake some
adventure full of dash and daring, he'll be off. Portia knows this also and loves
him deeply, despite this minor flaw.

If Antonio is the hero of the Bond story, Bassanio is the hero of the Caskets story.
Of course, he is not a hero in the absolute sense of the word. But he is certainly a
romantic hero who is able to win the heroine Portia as his wife.

When we meet Bassanio first, we find him in need of money.’ He already owes
some money to his friend Antonio; and now he approaches that friend of his with
a request for another loan. He admits that he has always been spending more
money than he could afford. He also acknowledges the fact that he is already
under a debt to Antonio. But he also expresses his sincere desire to repay the
first loan while asking for a second. And then, to prove his point he argues that, if
Antonio gives him a second loan, he (Antonio) would stand a much greater
chance of getting back the amount of the first loan in addition to getting back the
amount of this second loan. And he supports this argument by citing his own
experience as a schoolboy when, by shooting as arrow in the same directiofi in
which he had shot the first arrow and lost it, he used to recover both the arrows.
This is a very plausible way of arguing a case; and we must give due credit to him
in this context. Of course, we can also here interpret his argument differently and
say that he is using only, a trick to be able to extract a second loan from a gullible
man. But Antonio’s deep love for him is a proof of the fact that Bassanio was not
a trickster.

Bassanio is certainly a romantic lover, having something of the poet in him. In

describing Portia to Antonio, he says that she is fair and fairer than that word. He
compares her to Cato’s daughter, Brutus’s Portia. Then he suitors to the many
Jasons who went to Colchos to win the golden fleece. Later, he speaks in a
poetic manner about the beauty of Portia’s picture. Thus we can have no doubt at
all about his imaginative, romantic, and poetical qualities.

Bassanio has a dual nature. On one hand he is devoted to Antonio who is a

reserved and melancholy kind of man, the silent type speaking very little. On the
other hand, he is fond of the company of men like Gratiano, Salerio, and Solanio,
all of whom are jovial, talkative, and boisterous fellows. On the whole, he may be
regarded as a man with a healthy and optimistic outlook upon life. It is because
of his handsome appearance and excellent manners, combined with his sense of
humour and witty manner of speaking that Portia falls in love with him even
before he makes his choice of a casket. Even Nerissa is greatly impressed by his
personality and his behaviour, and she sincerely and ardently desires his success
in his choice of a casket. His prodigality is a small fault which by no means
disqualifies him as a suitor whose success in the test of the caskets is desired by
all those who are interested in Portia’s welfare and by us as well. He actually
comes out of the test with flying colours; and his success is, of course, the result
of his understanding of this world and his knowledge of human nature.

He is not a shallow kind of man. The speeches which he makes before choosing
a casket show his essential wisdom. When he comes to Belmont, his chief
motive in trying to win Portia is to marry an heiress who owns a vast estate and
is also exceptionally beautiful, However, the comments which he makes on the
various caskets show that he is not at all a greedy man. He knows that
appearances are deceptive and that the world is always deceived with ornament.
He then gives several examples from the spheres of law and religion to prove
that every vice in this world puts on an outward appearance of virtue. He speaks
of cowards who wear the beards of Hercules and the frowns of Mars; and he
speaks of women using paint, powder, and false hair to look beautiful and
alluring.
 ANTONIO
Antonio is a wealthy merchant in the city of Venice. He is a leading citizen,
commanding great respect. When he is first introduced to us in the play, he is in a
melancholy mood. His friends ask him if he is feeling melancholy because all his
ships are at sea, facing all sorts of dangers from storms and from rocks, but he
tells them that he is not at all feeling worried about the safety of his ships. He
then tells them that his melancholy is something natural to him, something
temperamental or inborn. He says that he looks upon this world as the stage of a
theater on which every man has to play a part, his own part being that of a sad
man. Thus melancholy may be regarded as one of the principal traits of his
Character.

Another major trait of Antonio’s character is his capacity for friendship and his
profound affection for Bassanio. Indeed, the friendship of Antonio and Bassanio
is one of the romantic elements in the play because this friendship has been
idealized and glorified by Shakespeare. Bassanio had once before taken a loan
from Antonio but had not repaid it; and now again he needs money badly. This
time he again asks Antonio for a loan. Antonio has no cash in hand at the
moment, and yet he would not like to disappoint his friend. He therefore bids
Bassanio approach some money-lender in the city and take a loan on his
(Antonio’s) behalf. Bassanio approaches Shylock who is a Jew and a
professional money lender, and asks for a loan of three thousand ducats in
Antonio’s name. Antonio then signs a bond which seems to be potentially
dangerous but which Antonio signs, regardless of the danger which it implies.
There is in it a clause according to which Shylock would be entitled to cut off a
pound of Antonio’s flesh from nearest his heart in case Antonio fails to repay the
loan within a period of three months. Antonio willingly signs this bond to meet
the needs of this friend Bassanio; and this act on his part shows how much he
loves Bassanio. He is really a friend in need. He is willing to risk his life for the
sake of his friend.

Antonio is a kind-hearted man who lends money to needy people without

charging any interest from them. In this respect he offers a striking contrast to
Shylock who is a usurer. (A usurer is a money lender who charges excessive
rates of interest on the loans which he gives). It is true that Shylock is a
professional money-lender and he must, therefore, charge interest on the loans
which he gives.

Antonio, on the other hand, is not a money-lender by profession. But the point to
note is that Shylock charges unreasonably high rates of interest; and Antonio
lends money to people even though he is not a money-lender, and he lends
money gratis (that is, without charging any interest). While Shylock is a greedy
man, Antonio is not at all greedy. In fact, Antonio is almost indifferent to wealth.

Although Antonio is a man who wins our respect and admiration because of his
fine qualities, yet he also suffers from a serious defect. As a Christian he shows
an intolerance towards the Jews. He hates Shylock because Shylock is a usurer
but even more because Shylock is a Jew. This religious or racial intolerance on
his part somewhat lowers him in our estimation. In fact, Antonio goes out of his
way to insult and degrade Shylock. On many occasions he has abused Shylock,
and even spat on his clothes. His reason for thus treating Shylock is that Shylock
is a usurer and a Jew. And even when he is asking Shylock for a loan, he says
that in future also he would abuse him and spit on him. He tells Shylock that he
wants a loan from him not as a friend but as an enemy. There was certainly in
those days a general prejudice against the Jews; but we would expect a nice man
like Antonio to be free from a prejudice of that kind. Antonio is a perfect
gentleman but his religious fanaticism is undoubtedly a flaw in his character.

Antonio also suffers from a deficiency. He does not have much of a sense of
humour. As he is constitutionally a melancholy man, he is unable to laugh much.
He cannot enjoy a joke; and he is certainly incapable of making a joke. He does
not approve of Gratiano’s flippant and light-hearted talk. Himself a man of few
words, he does not approve of Gratiano’s glibness or garrulity (that is, excessive
talkativeness). Being a serious-minded man, he is also unable to enjoy such
merry-making as torch light, masked processions in which Lorenzo and others
take great pleasure. And it also seems that he is incapable of falling in love.
When at the outset it is suggested that he may be feeling melancholy because he
is in love, he promptly rejects the suggestion, saying; “Fie, fie!”

Although the plot turns on Antonio's predicament, his character is not sharply
drawn. He is a rich man, and a comfortable man, and a popular man, but still he
suffers from an inner sadness. One obvious, dramatic reason for Antonio's quiet
melancholy is simply that Shakespeare cannot give Antonio too much to do or
say without taking away valuable dialogue time from his major characters.
Therefore, Shakespeare makes Antonio a quiet, dignified figure.

One of Antonio's most distinguishing characteristics is his generosity. He is more

than happy to offer his good credit standing so that Bassanio can go to Belmont
in the latest fashions in order to court Portia. And one of the reasons why
Shylock hates Antonio so intensely is that Antonio has received Shylock's
borrowers by lending them money at the last minute to pay off Shylock; and
Antonio never charges interest. He is only too happy to help his friends, but he
would never stoop to accepting more than the original amount in return. Antonio's
generosity is boundless, and for Bassanio, he is willing to go to the full length of
friendship, even if it means that he himself may suffer for it.

Antonio is an honorable man. When he realizes that Shylock is within his lawful
rights, Antonio is ready to fulfill the bargain he entered into to help Bassanio.
"The Duke cannot deny the course of the law," he says. And later, he adds that
he is "arm'd / To suffer, with a quietness of spirit . . . For if the Jew do cut but
deep enough, / I'll pay it presently with all my heart."

Antonio's courage and goodness are finally rewarded; at the end of the play,
when the three pairs of lovers are reunited and happiness abounds at Belmont,
Portia delivers a letter to Antonio in which he learns that the remainder of his
ships has returned home safely to port.