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| Character | Portia | |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | Female | |
| Age Range(s) | Young Adult (20-35) | |
| Type of monologue / Character is | In love, Persuasive, Insecure, Afraid | |
| Type | Dramatic | |
| Period | Renaissance | |
| Genre | Comedy | |
| Description | Portia urges Bassanio to delay choosing between the chests | |
| Location | ACT II, Scene 2 | |
Summary
Bassanio, a gentleman from Venice, asks his kinsman and friend Antonio, a Venitian merchant, for a loan so that he can court Portia, a woman from Belmont he has fallen in love with. Having all his money locked in investments, Antonio suggests to visit Shylock, a Jewish moneylender he is not in best terms with. Antonio hates Jews and always criticizes them for their usury. As a revenge, Shylock agrees to lend Bassanio some money with the condition that if he fails to pay him back then he will be entitled to a pound of Antonio's flesh. In the meanwhile Portia has to deal with several suitors she is not interested in. Her father has decided to give his daughter's hand in marriage to the first suitor that manages to pick a chest containing her portrait out of three chests.
Lancelot Gobbo, Shylock's servant, decides to leave his master and work for Bassanio, who accepts him as his servant. Bassanio and his friend Graziano leave for Belmont after having helped their friend Lorenzo to escape with Jessica, Shylock's daughter. Shylock is infuriated at first but then rejoices for the fact that the ships Antonio has invested in have capsized and therefore he won't be able to repay his debt. Shylock plans to request a pound of his flesh.
After two suitors, the Prince of Morocco and the Prince of Aragon, fail to choose the right casket, Bassanio arrives in Belmont ready to try to win her hand. In this monologue, in ACT II, Scene 2, Portia urges Bassanio not to rush into it since if he chooses the wrong one then they will never be together.
Lancelot Gobbo, Shylock's servant, decides to leave his master and work for Bassanio, who accepts him as his servant. Bassanio and his friend Graziano leave for Belmont after having helped their friend Lorenzo to escape with Jessica, Shylock's daughter. Shylock is infuriated at first but then rejoices for the fact that the ships Antonio has invested in have capsized and therefore he won't be able to repay his debt. Shylock plans to request a pound of his flesh.
After two suitors, the Prince of Morocco and the Prince of Aragon, fail to choose the right casket, Bassanio arrives in Belmont ready to try to win her hand. In this monologue, in ACT II, Scene 2, Portia urges Bassanio not to rush into it since if he chooses the wrong one then they will never be together.
Written by Administrator
| Excerpt |
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| PORTIA I pray you, tarry: pause a day or two Before you hazard; for, in choosing wrong, I lose your company: therefore forbear awhile. There's something tells me, but it is not love, I would not lose you; and you know yourself, Hate counsels not in such a quality. But lest you should not understand me well,-- And yet a maiden hath no tongue but thought,-- I would detain you here some month or two Before you venture for me. I could teach you How to choose right, but I am then forsworn; So will I never be: so may you miss me; But if you do, you'll make me wish a sin, That I had been forsworn. Beshrew your eyes, They have o'erlook'd me and divided me; One half of me is yours, the other half yours, Mine own, I would say; but if mine, then yours, And so all yours. O, these naughty times Put bars between the owners and their rights! And so, though yours, not yours. Prove it so, Let fortune go to hell for it, not I. I speak too long; but 'tis to peize the time, To eke it and to draw it out in length, To stay you from election. |
