Write character sketch of Falconbridge, the young baron of England.
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1. The Neapolitan Prince: Portia, who calls him a "colt" [meaning a stallion] describes this man as obsessed with his horse and its sterling qualities. He boasts of his skills in shoeing his horse himself. Drolly, Portia says that she suspects that the prince's mother must have "played wrong [had an affair] with a [black] smith”, implying that she was a mare.
2. The Count Palatine: Portia describes this man of royalty as perpetually frowning. His gloomy nature permits him no joy. For instance, "He hears merry tales and smiles not." Portia adds that if she marries such a melancholy man, it will be like living with "the weeping philosopher".
3. Monsieur Le Bon: Portia cannot identify any real personality in this man: "he is every man in no man."
4. Falconbridge: Portia says that this young baron from England speaks none of the languages that she knows. She describes the Englishman as having no real identity, either, since his manner of dress indicates nothing about him. He wears a doublet from Italy, his round hose [a lower garment that functions both as stockings and breeches] from France, and his "bonnet" from Germany. Portia adds that his behaviour also comes from everywhere.
5. The Scottish lord: With Portia's description, Shakespeare satirizes the Scots. Portia tells Nerissa that when the Scotsman was boxed on the ear by the Englishman, he promised to pay the Englishman back with the aid of the Frenchman. (This is a sarcastic remark directed toward the French who failed on several occasions to provide promised assistance to the Scots against the English.)
6. The young German, a nephew of the Duke of Saxony: Portia indicates the German's inclination for drinking as she finds him to be inebriated all day long. She says that she hopes to find a way to live without him.