The Merchant of Venice
by William Shakespeare
(Character of PORTIA)
Among the
heroines of Shakespeare, Portia occupies a high position. She makes a powerful
impression on our mind, and her role in the play is distinctive and memorable.
When the play, The Merchant of Venice, is mentioned anywhere, people think of
two individuals, namely Shylock and Portia; and these two individuals are
inseparable from each other, in our minds, because we remember Shylock
primarily as a villain, who wants to take the life of his enemy Antonio, and we
think of Portia, as the person who Defeats Shylock's evil design.
Portia is a
cheerful and optimistic woman. She has a strong humor and brilliant wit that
she shows at the beginning and then continues to show them, until the end. It
is, only on one occasion throughout the play, that she feels sadness, and even
the sick of the world. When she appears before us, for the first time, she
tells Nerissa, that she is feeling tired of the world. But this melancholy mood
lasts for a few minutes only, and as Nerissa begins talking about the various
suitors, Portia has something very amusing to say about each of these suitors.
Her commentary on her English suitor is perhaps the most entertaining. Then she shows her sense of humour in setting
the Rings story and bringing it to an end which gives rise to plenty of mirth
and laughter. Portia’s comments on her various suitors show her powers of
minute observation and her penetrating judgment of human character.
Portia is truly
devoted to the memory of her father, who, while dying, designed a kind of
lottery for the purpose of husband's choice. She is determined to fulfill the terms
of his late father's will. It is possible for her to defy her father's will and
marry a man of her choice, but she trusts her father's intelligence, and is
convinced that her father's ‘will’ will prove to be a mean to find the right
man, as her husband. Portia could easily marry Bassanio, but she did not follow
this course. Even the man, with whom she has fallen in love, must prove his worth
by passing the test, before getting married.
Portia shows her
knowledge in other ways also. There are some valuable comments, in her
conversation with Nerissa at the beginning of the play, which are well worded maxims. For instance, she says that it
is a good divine, who follows his own instructions. She also says, that it is easier
to 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. Her wisdom appears in a most striking
manner in the Trial Scene, in the course of which, she is able to turn the
table 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 blesses him that gives, and him that takes. Mercy, she says,
is a characteristic of God. It is unfortunate that the Jew pays no heed to the
petition of Portia. 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 logic, she
remains a woman with great humility and compassion. When she disguises herself
as a man, she succeeds in playing the masculine role. But on all other
occasions she shows that humility lends a woman, the grace, that makes her, a
loving person. When Bassanio puts his hand on the casket, she is overwhelmed by
the feeling of ecstasy, and does not stop 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, unseasoned,
and unpracticed 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
big-hearted and generous woman. Not every rich person is generous. Some rich
people are also the biggest miser. Shylock is, of course, the most striking
example of such a thing. But Portia combined her vast material wealth with an
internal treasure of generosity. Knowing the plight of Bassanio’s best friend,
he offered Bassanio any amount he needed to free him from the clutches of the
Jew. And then she dresses herself as a lawyer to act as a judge in the case, as
she has a plan to save Antonio's life.
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