project on comparison of female characters of merchant of Venice and woman of twentieth century
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Shakespeare did not create these three unique women merely to amuse an audience but to challenge his audience’s perceptions about women’s capabilities. While the play ends in marriage, I believe you would find it difficult to find any scholar who would argue that the marriages the play presents at the end are supposed to return to patriarchal order. Anyone who attempts to argue that Portia, Nerissa and Jessica will suddenly shift to compliant, obedient wives has a huge task in front of them, a task that in my belief is all but impossible. Shakespeare’s three female characters seem completely unlikely to be tamed into the meek and manipulated wives or daughters admired in manuals and guide books of the day. The fact that they are so difficult to relegate to the sphere of traditional wives is why they are still so fascinating after so many years.