Skip to content

Ask an Academic

  • Home
  • Ask a Question
  • Contact Us
Art gallery

Portia in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice: a woman ahead of her time?

September 23, 2019 by AskanAcademic.com

Question

Portia: a woman ahead of her time?

(The Merchant of Venice)

Answer

Portia is undoubtedly one of Shakespeare’s most intelligent and interesting heroines. She is certainly beautiful and obedient (as evidenced in the numerous suitors she has and her adherence to her father’s marriage terms), but equal to this is her power and ability to overcome obstacles: this has led to feminist readings of the play. She finds loopholes in the rigid rules of her father’s provision for her marriage, enabling her to marry Bassanio as she wishes. She later disguises herself as a male lawyer’s apprentice to save her husband’s friend’s life, which she achieves by outwitting Shylock through a technicality after he rebuffs her impassioned speech advocating mercy. It is through her cleverness that Antonio is reprieved. After the dramatic courtroom scenes, Portia (in disguise) playfully taunts her husband by forcing him to give her a ring that she had demanded he never part with. Her clever manipulation of her husband results in her ultimately gaining power over him, through both saving Antonio and tricking Bassanio into breaking his promise. As a result, she is in the ‘power’ position in the relationship, which was rare in Elizabethan England’s aggressively patriarchal society.
However, some contemporary readings paint a less favourable picture of Portia, particularly in relation to perceived racism she displays towards the Prince of Morocco’s ‘complexion’ and towards Shylock, calling him ‘Jew’ rather than his name. While this would have been acceptable to contemporary audiences (TMoV was published between 1596-1599), modern viewers would find this objectionable. In this sense, the values she displays are outmoded, although this argument could be applied to any text published outside of our own time. Overall, Portia could be described as ‘ahead of her time’ because of her quick-witted cunning and intelligence, through which she proves her equivalence with the male characters.

References

Shakespeare, W. (2000) The Merchant of Venice. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions.

Post navigation

Previous Post:

Advantages and disadvantages of team learning.

Next Post:

HR Management Skills

Search Q&As

Categories

  • Art Media and Literature (74)
  • Business and Management (256)
  • Computing and ICT (14)
  • Construction and Engineering (35)
  • Education (90)
  • Environmental Sciences (2)
  • Finance and Economics (91)
  • Health (64)
  • Languages (12)
  • Law (88)
  • Mathematics and Statistics (2)
  • Medical Sciences (19)
  • Politics and International Relations (83)
  • Research Methodology (1)
  • Science (49)
  • Social Sciences (101)

Archives

Who We Are

Askanacademic.com is owned and operated by All Answers Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales. Company Registration No: 4964706. VAT Registration No: 842417633. Data Controller No: Z1821391.

Registered office:
Venture House
Cross Street
Arnold
Nottingham
NG5 7PJ

Main Navigation

  • Home
  • Ask a Question
  • Contact Us

Legals

  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Popular Categories

  • Business and Management
  • Law
  • Finance and Economics
  • Health
An an Academic Logo
© 2023 Ask an Academic | WordPress Theme by Superb Themes
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Reject
Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT