Question

Merchant of Venice
Q) How was Bassanio's choice connected to the theme of the play?

Answer 1

In The Merchant of Venice, characters have to choose between lovers, friends, family, personal comfort, and societal norms. Um, what else is there? They basically have to choose between, well, everything.

The explicit choices, like Portia's casket lottery, provide a frame for the entire play: a blinking neon sign that lets the audience know "Choices are important in this play, folks!" The game to win Portia's hand is explicitly built on the choice of her suitors. Bassanio is faced with choosing correctly or foregoing his chance to ever have a wife again.