Portia's Suitors
explain the line
I shall probably have to die an old maid unless someone can win me over by choosing the right casket.
Answers
i) Where are Portia and Nerissa? Why are they there?
Answer : Portia and Nerissa were in a room in Portia’s house in Belmont. They were present there to discuss the initial terms of Portia’s dead father’s will which had made Portia weary of the world around her. Many suitors came to Portia but she couldn’t choose any of them by herself as it would not fulfill the condition given in her father’s will.
ii) State in your own words what Portia means by “the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father.’
Answer : Shakespeare has used a pun on ‘will’ very aptly in these lines. Portia says that the will of a living daughter (which means her wishes) are controlled by the legal will of a dead father, which means her father’s testaments. She cannot choose her husband according to her wishes but must follow her father’s will to inherit the fortune left behind by him.
iii) Immediately after this extract, what reasons does Nerrisa give to Portia to justify “the will of a dead father”? Do you think that the justification proved correct? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer : Portia’s father had made a will that Portia could not choose her own husband but her husband must win her by choosing the right casket out of three. Nerissa defended Portia’s father by saying that he was a virtuous man and such people got odd ideas on their deathbeads. She also assured her that her father devised the will so that Portia would get a man who deserved her and no one else. It proved correct as Portia got married to Bassanio, the man she loved.
iv) Towards the end of the scene, Portia affirms that she must abide by “the will of a dead father”. What does she say? From what she says, what opinion do you form of her?
Answer: Portia says that even if she lived like Sibylla, a mythological woman with a very long life, she would die a virgin like Diana, the goddess of virginity, unless someone won her according to her father’s will. Her words and determination to follow her father’s will show that she respected her father’s wishes very much. She was a caring daughter who did not want to go against her father even after his death.
v) Earlier, in what way did Nerissa try to cheer Portia? What was Portia’s reaction to what Nerissa had said?
Answer : Portia says that she has grown tired of the world. Nerissa tells Portia that she would surely be miserly if her problems were as abundant as her fortunes but that was not so. Nerissa further claims that she has seen people that have too much suffering like all others who have nothing. To be happy, one must try to live comfortably between the two extremes i.e. riches and poverty, meaning that having moderate means is preferable. Portia says that the words were nice and very aptly said. However, she feels that one is not able to apply them to life in reality.