Blog #1: Portia's Virtue

Portia is a very complex character in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. Throughout the play, she demonsrates various positive atributes which both compliment and challenge the qualities of the characters around her. Her virtue makes her unique as she does not let the royal lifestyle consume her; being a wealthy heiress grants her the power to marry anyone she wants.

She ultimately brings everything together where she uses everyone's weaknesses against them. Bassanio who is a gambler and a con-artist, ends up being conned by Portia when she is disguised and asks him for the ring which represents their love. In another instance, as she tries to protect Antonio, she uses Shylock's obsession with money against him, saying that if any terms of the contract were violated, he would lose his property and money: "Tarry a little, there is something else. This bond doth doth give thee here no jot of blood. The words expressly are 'a pound of flesh'. Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh, but in the cutting it, if thou dost shed One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods Are by the laws of Venice confiscate Unto the state of Venice" 4.1.301-308. Portia is willing to take great risks to help others, in this case her love's best friend. This shows a lot about her character because she has everything she needs to be well off, yet she decides to be generous and helpful.

Her character is insightful; she sees into each character thoroughly. During the casket challenge she can decipher the suitor's characteristics by analyzing which casket he wants to choose. Portia's virtue is also shown as she talks to Nerissa about her father's marriage arrangements. She says,“but this reasoning is not in the fashion to choose me a husband. O me, the word 'choose'! I may neither choose who I would, nor refuse who I dislike, so is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father” 1.2.18-20. Although she does not agree with what her father is doing, she is respectful of his wishes and does not argue with it.