Much of the imagery in this scene is, as we would expect, is associated with the metals of each casket. Gold is linked with riches and royalty and the prince of Morocco refers to his mind as ‘golden’:
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“A golden mind stoops not to shows of dross,”
This tells us how the prince is quite conceited with his royal role and is quite arrogant. Therefore, he dismisses the lead casket and says that he will not choose it.
The prince then turns to the silver casket:
“What says the the silver with her virgin hue?”
Silver suggests purity like the silver light of the moon. The prince reads the inscription and then thinks out aloud:
“And yet to be afeared of my deserving
Were but a weak disabling of myself.
As much as I deserve! -Why, that’s the lady!”
Morocco’s comment of him deserving the lady shows us how he sees himself as worthy of having Portia’s hand in marriage. Also, Morocco’s brave image is shown here again as he talks of not thinking himself worthy of Portia as a ‘disabling’ upon himself and his self esteem. However, he does not choose the silver casket after looking at the golden one.
The prince of Morocco chooses the golden casket as his final choice. The prince immediately jumps to a conclusion about the golden caskets inscription:
“ ‘Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire.’;
Why, that’s the lady – all the world desires her.”
The prince immediately assumes that the casket is referring to the 'lady' and so Morocco jumps to conclusions and chooses the golden casket. This shows us that the prince of Morocco does not think things through very carefully and is quick to judge things without a lot of thought.
Inside the casket, the prince finds a scroll, which is embedded in the eye socket of a skull. The scroll’s message also tells us of Morocco’s character with the line:
“Had you been as wise as bold…”
This tells us how the prince was not very wise in making his decision and did not look beyond the beauty of each casket. He did not think about the true meaning of the inscription on the caskets and made his decision on the appearance of each instead.
Overall, the comments that the prince of Morocco makes about each casket help us to conclude that he is very proud, thinks of himself very highly, is confident and arrogant.
The second suitor to visit Portia is the prince of Arragon. He too reads each inscription on the caskets and makes his decision after pondering over them.
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The prince firstly refers to the leaden casket:
“You should look fairer, ere I give or hazard”
The prince takes one look at the casket and discards it without another thought. This implies how the prince of Arragon, just like the prince of Morocco, passes judgments on things, especially the lead casket, by their looks and appearance.
The prince then looks at the golden casket and comments after reading the inscription:
“I will not choose what many men desire,
Because I will not jump with common spirits,
And rank me with the barbarous multitudes.”
The prince’s comments made here tell us how he does not associate himself with other men and sees himself as ‘different’. He does not want to be a part of the ‘ordinary crowd’ and refers to people who choose the golden casket as the ‘fool multitude’.
The prince of Arragon next turns to the silver casket and after reading the inscription over again, makes some comments:
“…For who shall go about
To cozen fortune, and be honourable
Without the stamp of merit? Let none presume
To wear an undeserved dignity;”
From this we can see how the prince sees himself as a honourable man. Arragon says he will no try to cheat fortune by pretending to have great honour without submitting a proper claim to it. This shows us how he thinks himself to be honest and honourable.
The prince of Arragon thinks that he deserves Portia’s hand in marriage:
“I will assume dessert…”
The prince says that he will take what he deserves. This shows us how the prince thinks he is deserving and is quite arrogant like the prince of Morocco.
The prince sees the inscription on the silver casket as equitable as he thinks he does deserve Portia and so he chooses the silver casket. In the casket, the prince finds a scroll and a picture of a fool. The choice of the silver casket tells us how the prince of Arragon tried to use his brain to make his choice but was a fool in the choice he made. He tried not to be like ‘the common crowd’, and so did not choose the golden casket. However, the prince ironically stated:
“By the fool multitude that choose by show,
Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach…”
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The prince says how many men would choose the golden casket because of its appearance and that he did not want to do that. However, the prince contradicts himself as he disregarded the lead casket saying:
“You should look fairer…”
So, the prince is actually influenced by outward show.
Overall, the comments that the prince of Arragon makes give us the impression about his character that he thinks he is quite honourable, superior to other people and that he feels he deserves Portia.
The third and final suitor that visits Portia is Bassanio. Unlike the other two suitors, he is not a prince and does not possess many riches.
Bassanio’s first comment on the caskets is:
“So may the outward shows be least themselves…”
Bassanio is thinking that outward show must not be trusted and that the eyes must not deceive the heart. This comment shows us how Bassanio actually believes in love and knows that his heart will tell the truth.
Bassanio’s approach to the caskets is very different to that of the two princes. Bassanio does not read the inscriptions on each casket but instead looks at each and makes a speech. Bassanio’s speech covers four main themes: Law, religion, bravery/cowardice and beauty:
“In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt,
But being seasoned with gracious voice,
Obscures the show of evil?”
Bassanio speaks of how in law, evils and crimes can be disguised and sweetened with clever words.
“…In religion,
What damned error but some sober brow
Will bless it and approve it with text?”
In religion, faults can be blessed with readings from the bible to make them acceptable again.
“How many cowards whose hearts are all as false
As stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins
The beards of Hercules and frowning mars?”
Using brave looking characteristics can cover up cowardice. Bassanio refers to one of these as ‘the beards of Hercules’ as Hercules was a brave mythical character.
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“…Look on beauty,
And you shall see it is purchased by the weight,
Which therein works the miracle of nature.”
Bassanio then talks of how ugliness can be covered up by using make – up which is referred to as ‘weight’. Bassanio is trying to get the message across that the truth is not always evident at first glance – beautiful exteriors can hide ugly things. Lawyers can get the guilty off, an evil person can appear to be religious, cowards make themselves look brave and ugly women cover themselves in beautiful make – up. Bassanios clever speech gives us the impression that he does not believe in judging things by their appearance. His reference to different things tells us that Bassanio is quite a knowledgeable man who thinks things through carefully.
After Bassanio makes his speech, he decides to choose the lead casket:
“Thy plainness moves me more than eloquence,
And here choose I; joy be the consequence!”
Bassanio makes his choice and inside, he finds the picture of Portia, winning her hand in marriage. Bassanio’s choice was wise and so he won Portia’s hand in marriage.
In the scenes of the caskets, it is evident that Shakespeare is trying to convey a message to the audience. The lesson that Shakespeare is trying to teach us is that beautiful things are not always the same on the inside. Shakespeare has used the scrolled messages in each scene to express the moral of each suitor’s choice:
“All that glisters is not gold…”
The golden casket’s scroll uses this simple phrase, which is a well-known proverb, to say how beautiful things are not always the best. The skull, which is also contained in the casket, is a sign of death for the prince because it symbolises that his reasoning with the casket was too bold and he risked too much
“Some there be that shadows kiss…”
The silver casket’s scroll uses the word ‘shadow’ to continue the theme on appearances, which is the theme of the silver casket; a shadow is only an appearance, not a reality. The picture of the fool is used to show how Arragon was a fool to choose the silver casket when he tried to be clever.
“You that choose not by the view,
Chance as fair, and choose as true!”
The leaden casket’s scroll gives the final message of how if you do not judge by outward appearance then you are sure to succeed and triumph.
