'my little body is aweary of this great world' Act 1 Scene 2, line 1.
She becomes human and feminist. Her nature delights us throughout the play. She is a young woman, who describes herself openly, too many people, whether it is the bad side of her or the good.
Portia has no involvement in the choosing of her husband.
‘I may neither choose who I would nor refuse who I dislike’ Act 1 Scene 2, lines 16-17
Still this does not hold her back from what she wants as She twists things round so they fit her needs and situation. She does this in such a way; it helps the person or thing she is aiming at, but without giving a clue to any of the people around her. She also shows her love and emotion at a time when these positions are concerned. An example of this can be seen when a song is sung to Bassanio, in which the answer lies, whilst he is choosing the casket. Whereas to other suitors she tricks them into the wrong one. As she puts a glass of wine on top of the silver casket, knowing that, a man would go after it.
This leads us to our next key points, which are her words and her reactions to people. Portia is relieved when the Prince of Morocco makes the wrong choice of casket.
‘A gentle riddance, Draw the curtains, go/Let all of his complexion choose me so.’ Act 2 Scene 8, lines 77-78
Portia disapproves of Morocco due to the fact of his dark skin color, showing us the ‘prejudice’ Portia. No woman at the time would have gathered wits to say such a thing, due to the fact of restrictions to women an the limits in their say.
She is a woman who can chuckle with Nerissa, her maid, over the disguises they will wear. A woman with enough courage to give the men in the courtroom, a knock on the head with a hammer. This makes her feel confident that she can prove and make her point in front of a whole courtroom.
‘I'll prove the prettier fellow of the two, / And wear my dagger with the braver grace.’ Act 3 Scene 1, lines 64-65
In short, she could only enter the courtroom by wearing the clothes of the opposite, and in those times, the stronger sex, Portia lets her confidence run on and sees power and high status given to her as a woman.
We feel admiration for Portia as she had the courage to become a lawyer for the trial, and played it well. At the same time, she is a woman who takes Antonio's fate in her hands and rescues him. Not one other character suspected she was a fake, which makes us feel as if she is somebody to be proud of, or to look up to. She is a clever woman, she had to pretend to be a man in front of a whole courtroom, and she managed to do it, and do it well. What is even more amazing is that Portia does win the case.
Her tactics in the trial lead Shylock to believe he can win his case and building his hopes,
‘Why this bond is forfeit, /And lawfully by this the Jew may claim/A pound of flesh.’ Act 4 Scene 1, lines 223-225
She stirs Shylock up, from going along with him as he praises her, taking it in that she is with him. She uses her advantage over Shylock with her womanly quality by giving mercy to him who needs and has earned it. Portia kicks Shylock to the curb without him knowing her plan. Then throws him straight down to the bottom, with a great thump
It is a success for her to dress as a man to do this, which not many could do without needing some sort of education about the situation. Instead of studying and reading books for years, she used her intelligence and her honesty, and pulled her wits together. It worked, and she won the case honestly.
Through the trial, Portia used her womanly attribute of mercy in an incredible way.
‘It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.’ Act 4 Scene 1, line 180
She explains to Shylock what mercy is and what it does. Trying to make Shylock realize that if he does what she is saying, the outcome will benefit him greatly.
The other reason for them to dress as men was to play some games with their husbands. We know this because Portia used the chance of being offered a gift, which was the ring she had given Bassanio, back from him. She can be seen as a strong character too, she manages to keep calm when her husband gives the ring away. When she gave him the ring, she told him,
‘you part from, lose, or give away’
Act 3 Scene 2, line 173
She however pressures him for it and then plays a game with it. The entire ring plot is Portia's idea, and she and Nerissa enjoy the view of taking the micky out of their husbands. Bassanio swears repeatedly that he never gave his ring away to another woman. (He is more than a little embarrassed to admit that he gave it to another man). With an incredible sense of humor and dramatic strategy, Portia plays the role of the "angry wife" just as well as she played the role of the "learned young lawyer" at Antonio's trial.
She could be seen as a role model in a way, she has an aim, and she works until she gets it. That shows true determination. She is an independent woman, which is nowhere near the characteristic of a woman of that era.
However, if Portia was a ‘modern’ woman, then why didn’t she say ‘NO’, to her fathers’ will? She should have decided to forget about the casket game, gone out, and got a job to earn her money. This would have shown people that women had the ability to do jobs and should be given the right to do so. In addition, she never says she ‘won’t marry’. Why? The reason being for this is because she can’t. She loses out on everything of she does so.
When men come around her, she goes down to a ‘lower’ status, showing them and giving them power over her. We can see this when Bassanio chooses the right casket,
This house, these servants, and this same myself/Are yours, my lords.’ Act 3 Scene 2, lines 171-172
As soon as Bassanio has chosen the right casket, she gives everything she owns over to him. Even without him asking which shows a true ‘renaissance’ woman. A typical thing that a woman of that time would have done.
Portia went into court dressed as a man. If she were a ‘modern’ woman, she’d want to prove to the world how she wants the reality of women to be. Then why did she dress as a man? Here she doesn’t have enough courage to prove her point, like many other women.
In conclusion, we can say that Portia is a woman who has seemingly good intentions and tries to play by the rules. However, she looks for ways to bend the rules and make them go in her favor so that she benefits from the situation's result. Three main examples of this are when she is picking a suitor, when she disguises herself as the lawyer, and when she takes back Bassanio's ring. She is a woman of charming wit and superb intelligence. On the other hand, she can also be sitting back with the rest of the women of that era, watching life go by and not bothering to do anything about it. Therefore, I believe that Portia is a ‘modern’ woman in many aspects and up to the limits of the restrictions of her society and can be a product of her society at the same time.