Compare and contrast the two characters Portia and Bassanio

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“The Merchant of Venice”

Compare and contrast the two characters Portia and Bassanio

        “The Merchant of Venice” is a Shakespearean play based on the themes of friendship, racial prejudice, deceptive appearances and love, of which the most romantic is the love between Portia and Bassanio. In contrast, the other two couples - Lorenzo and Jessica, Gratiano and Nerissa – exhibit playful or down-to-earth love.

        

Portia is as faultless as one could imagine. She is blessed with beauty, heavenly qualities surpassing all other women on Earth and moreover “richly left”. Portia’s image is consistent as a goddess, an angel. However, she is by no means the “unlessoned girl, unschooled, unpractised” which she claims to be, but is on the contrary “sophisticated, educated and intelligent”. Throughout the play, she exhibits wit, resourcefulness, complete love for Bassanio and generosity towards friends. Her prejudice towards Jews and foreigners is probably one of the only blemish to her otherwise perfect character.

 

        Compared to Portia, Bassanio is only a normal citizen in Venice who has “disabled mine estate/by something showing a more swelling port”. However, his dashing and daring character complements his romantic role as a chivalrous suitor to the fair Portia. He is a spendthrift that as soon as he gets the money he needs, he immediately organises expensive evening’s entertainment for himself and his friends. His lavishness and carefree personality is also evident from the way he agrees to help Gratiano (“You have obtained it”), without knowing what the favour is. However, to view him as shallow is probably harsh, unfair and also inappropriate as it was not uncommon for young gentlemen during Elizabethan’s times to be too free with money with their main “occupation” being to seek pleasure, fortune and the fairest lady available. Although Bassanio is not wealthy, it does not diminish his social aspiration.

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To marry Portia, Bassanio must first challenge the casket test and choose one out of three caskets correctly. Portia’s love for Bassanio is obvious and she makes little attempt at neutrality. She intelligently commands that music be played whilst Bassanio makes his choice. Fortunately, Bassanio is smart enough to interpret the message of the song -- not to look on the surface, but what lie beneath, and chooses the correct casket containing Portia’s picture. His choice is not based on ego or self-delusion but a combination of intuition and practical wisdom. His reaction to his success is not arrogant ...

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