The Merchant of Venice - Essay Example

The Merchant of Venice In Shakespearean tragedy, the hero reigns supreme, so much so, that some of the most memorable heroic characters in English literature have been the “tragic heroes” like Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth and so on. But when it came to comedies, Shakespeare created quite a few strong and witty characters for his heroines, in keeping with an age and country ruled by the extremely intelligent and powerful Queen Elizabeth. “The Merchant of Venice” is one of his most famous comedies, with one of the wittiest heroines of her time and ever since, Portia; and the play can rightly be said to revolve around her. It is to win her that Bassanio needs the money for which Antonio pledges a pound of flesh, and is Portia that controls the outcome of the play by preventing Antonio's death at the hands of Shylock. Portia is not only wealthy and beautiful, she has a razor -sharp wit, which tells the audience at the very outset that she is not meant for a merely decorative role. Though Bassnio only as “In Belmont is a lady richly left,/And she is fair and, fairer than that word,/ Of wondrous virtues, (I,1) we see her ready wit and her scorn for lack of learning when she comments on her various suitors, Falconbridge for instance, remarking: “He is a proper man's picture, but alas, who can converse with a dumb-show?”. This shows that not only is she herself intelligent, she is also looking for a savvy life partner, who could meaningfully engage her in proper conversation. Her sarcastic remarks about her suitors and others stem from her confidence in herself, she is secure in the knowledge of her own superiority. This confidence usually marks the hero of a story or play, and overtaking Bassanio and Antonio in shrewdness, wisdom and initiative, Portia almost becomes the hero of the play. Once she hears of Antonio's plight, she is brisk and matter-of-fact and knows exactly what is to be done, and in what order: “First go with me to church and call me wife, And then away to Venice to your friend; For never shall you lie by Portia's side With an unquiet soul. You shall have gold To pay the petty debt twenty times over”(III, 2). She is more like an action-hero in her manner, than a delicately feminine heroine. She decides to go to Antonio's aid of her own volition, not only showing initiative, but also a large heart, another requirement for the character of a hero. Her supreme confidence never leaves her as she dresses the part of a man, and she knows she will be taken at a face value despite her constructed masculinity: “...they shall think we are accomplished/ With that we lack”. Once in male garb, Portia comes into her own, because people take her more seriously in this guise than they had when she appeared in her true nature as a woman. She is heroic indeed in stepping into the court at Venice, posing as a learned lawyer, in front of the Duke and her husband in the guise of a man, risking discovery and its possible attendant consequences. In a patriarchal set up, Portia goes against the norm by pretending to be a man; and the fact that she is able to pass of as a learned lawyer goes to show that the accepted limitations on a Renaissance woman were not all necessarily true. Given the right kind of education and opportunity a woman like Portia could well become the main protagonist. A hero is an example to all, and Portia makes a worthy example for all the women of her age. Not only does she step in, she is able to argue the case very well indeed, and Shakespeare gives her importance by giving her one of the best-known speeches of all his body of work. She appeals to Shylock to be more considerate: “The quality of mercy is not strained./ It dropeth as the gentle rain from heaven/ Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:/It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes/ The throned monarch better than his crown”. But then she comes up with the clause of not shedding blood while carving out the pound of flesh. And here, she does not show the sort of mercy to Shylock that she had begged of him for Antonio. Portia is nothing if not a realist, and ruthlessly pushes her advantage over the Jew, who is shown a degree of mercy only by the Duke. “Her role in the main section of the play resembles that of the angel of the Lord who saved Isaac in the nick of time when he was bound on the altar of sacrifice. She comes mysteriously from Belmont to help Antonio, she meets the devil Shylock on his own ground and discomfits him”.( ) So it is Portia, and not Antonio or Bassanio that saves the day, and it is Portia who accomplishes the almost impossible. She does not rely on emotions but on logic while handling the situation, another trait usually possessed by male protagonists. Shakespeare makes Portia, the heroine, in essence the hero. But though Portia is an exceptional specimen of womanhood, she is still a woman of the renaissance times. Vis-a-vis a man, a woman of Shakespearean times was supposed to have the following qualities: obedience, silence, sexual chastity, piety, humility, constancy, and patience. And in some ways Portia fits this description. She obeys her father, following his wishes even after his death. With her intellect, beauty and prospects, she could have married a suitor of her own choosing, but still abides by her father's injunctions and puts all of them to a test, just as he required of her. She obviously resents the binding upon her, but shows obedience to her deceased father nevertheless. “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”(I, 2) Portia is also very discreet about her movements, especially when traveling in disguise, so the Renaissance womanly virtue of keeping secrets is respected. Being in a man's attire could be interpreted as having loose morals for a woman at the time this play was written, and it was imperative that her adventure remained a secret for the sake of her reputation and that of her husband. Portia also does put a lot of store by sexual chastity , and the ring she gives Bassanio is supposed to be a token of true, loyal love. She tricks it out of her husband, and later forgives him for parting with it, putting herself in a superior position; but this does not alter the fact that she believes in marital loyalty and sexual chastity, and values them immensely. As she chides her husband on 'losing' the ring: “If you had known the virtue of the ring, Or half her worthiness that gave the ring” Portia loves Bassanio, and hands over her fortune to him, in the tradition of the man being the head of the household, even though she was so fabulously wealthy herself. Portia may have dressed up as a man and saved Antonio's life on the strength of her wit and wisdom, yet she was still willing to be subservient to her husband. Despite amply proving her capability, wisdom and good judgment while saving Antonio's life, she is willing enough to play second fiddle to Bassanio. Shakespeare's Portia is a complex brew of many traits, she is as strong as she is unpredictable. She listens to her own inner voice, is able to make sound judgments and set a worthy example for all her peers. Through her Shakespeare questions the mores of a patriarchal society where a woman is supposed to be decorative. At a time when a woman usually did not speak unless spoken to, the vocal eloquence of Portia comes as a refreshing contrast. She also had a large heart and a pleasant disposition, something that endeared her character to the audiences, giving her another attribute, popularity as a fictional character that has been equalled by few others. At par with other Shakespearean comic heroines like Beatrice and Rosalind, Portia overshadows the men in the play Antonio and Bassanio, and comes across as a protagonist who is actually the hero of the play. Understanding Shakespeare. Contributors: E. F. C. Ludowyk - author. Publisher: Cambridge University Press. Place of Publication: Cambridge, England. Publication Year: 1962. Page Number: 126. A Norton Critical Edition. The Merchant of Venice Edited by Leah S. Marcus Read More