character sketch of Portia in the play the merchant of Venice in 700 words..
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it's not 700 words.
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Answer:
Portia is a protagonist of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. A rich, beautiful, intelligent heiress of Belmont, she is bound by the lottery set forth in her father's will, which gives potential suitors the chance to choose among three caskets. If he chooses the right casket, he wins Portia's hand in marriage. If he chooses the incorrect casket, he must leave and never seek another woman in marriage. She is shown to think little of various foreign noblemen of similar rank who are most likely to seek her hand in marriage and still less of two suitors who seem to attempt her father's assigned task. Instead she favours a young but impoverished Venetian noble, Bassanio, who is also a soldier and a scholar. Bassanio goes on to choose the right casket.
The original Portia Shakespeare drew from was Porcia Catonis, the wife of the Roman statesman Brutus, as well as several biblical allusions. She was also compared to the wife of Brutus within the play in Act 1 scene 1 when Bassanio talks to Antonio.
Portia is a self -confident, resourceful and creative. She can take decisions at the spur of moment and implement them with intelligent plans of actions. It is she who immediately after her marriage directs her husband to go to Venice to help Antonio.
Portia is a lady with a cheerful and optimistic disposition. She has a strong sense of humour and a sparkling, scintillating wit which she shows in the very beginning and then continues to show till the very end. It is only on one occasion in the whole play that she feels melancholy, and even sick of the world. When she is first introduced to us, she tells Nerissa that she is feeling weary of the world. But this melancholy mood lasts only for a few minutes, and is dispelled as soon as Nerissa begins to talk to her about the various suitors who have arrived at Belmont to try their luck at the caskets. Portia has something very amusing to say about each of these four suitors. Her comment on her English suitor is perhaps the most amusing. This comment ends with her saying that the Englishman perhaps bought his doublet in Italy, his round hose in France, his bonnet in Germany, and his behaviour everywhere. Subsequently she shows her sense of humour in setting the Rings story afoot and bringing it to an end which gives rise to plenty of mirth and laughter. Portia’s comments on her various suitors show also her powers of minute observation and her penetrating judgment of human character.
Apart from the trial scene where she shows the masculine self-confidence . Portia is essentially feminine in nature she is loving and dutiful daughter who obeys her dead father will and acts accordingly. She loves Bassanio deeply but is modest and self-restrained . As a dutiful wife , she goes to Venice to rescue Antonio . She displays her essential feminine nature , in the quality of mercy which she makes in the trial scene and pleased Shylock to have mercy to Antonio. Thus, Portia becomes centre of story.
it is of 700 words