who is Balthazar? what was the work assigned to him by portia
Answers
At Belmont, Lorenzo is practicing his flattery on the ladies as usual, except this time it's with Bassanio's new wife—in front of Jessica! He compliments her for bearing the absence of her new husband so graciously and nobly. Still, he says, if Portia knew what a great guy Antonio is, and how good he is to her husband Bassanio, then she'd be even happier to do her wifely duty.
Portia says, "Shucks, it's nothing." Basically, if Antonio is such a great friend to her lord Bassanio, then Antonio might as well be her lord, too. Bassanio's absence is a small price to pay to get Antonio (and by proxy, herself) out of hellish cruelty.
Portia cuts to the chase and tells Lorenzo that she's going to go off to a nearby monastery with Nerissa to pray and contemplate for two days while the men are gone. In the meantime, Portia asks Lorenzo, "Will you house-sit my sweet mansion with all its servants and stuff, and basically be the lord of the house while Bassanio and I are out?"
Lorenzo generously says yes, and well wishes are made to Nerissa and Portia all-around from Jessica and Lorenzo. As Jessica and Lorenzo leave, Portia is left alone with her attendant Balthazar and Nerissa. She sends Balthazar on his way with some instructions: he's to take these letters to Padua and deliver them to Portia's cousin, a Doctor Bellario. The Doctor will likely give Balthazar some letters and clothes in return, and he is to take them and rush over to the ferry that goes to trade with Venice. She promises she'll be there waiting to meet him and then promptly rushes him off.
None of this has actually sounded like a plan to go to a monastery, and Portia announces cryptically to Nerissa that the two women will see their husbands sooner than they think.
Portia explains further: their husbands will indeed see them, but they won't recognize them. The women will be dressed convincingly as men. The other men (including their husbands) will think the disguised girls are accomplished men.
Portia is clearly going to have some fun with this one—she promises to be a prettier, daintier-looking boy than Nerissa.
Bassanio and Gratiano leave for Venice, with money from Portia, to save Antonio's life by offering the money to Shylock. Unknown to Bassanio and Gratiano, Portia sent her servant, Balthazar, to seek the counsel of Portia's cousin, Bellario, a lawyer, at Padua.