Portia’s father
devised a lottery for his daughter’s fortune. Eight suitors she dislikes failed
before the one she adores wins. It’s no luck but a trick devised by her “virtuous
and holy” father.
In The
Merchant of Venice, Portia’s suitors must choose the right one from the
gold, silver, and lead casket to marry her and get her inherited wealth. Each
casket has an inscription of its nature. An intelligent suitor may find the
answer by comparing the three inscriptions, which is the intention of Portia’s
father.
To
protect her daughter, the father designed a lottery that will fail any one even
with the right choice. Eight pursuers had failed until Bassanio, the one Portia
adores, comes. A smart maid like Portia will not let her future bet on a
lottery she cannot control.
In
this play, Portia cheats lottery players, the court,
Bassanio’s ring. Shylock cheats Anthonio. Jessica cheats her father Shylock.
Theme of this play is cheat.
Artful Inscriptions
Prince
of Morocco reads the inscription on the gold, silver, and lead casket. The
audience can hardly notice the difference, but readers have the privilege to
compare them.
[Enter Portia with Morocco, and both their
trains.]
Portia.
Go,
draw aside the curtains, and discover
The
several Caskets to this noble Prince:
Now
make your choice.
Prince of Morocco.
The
first of gold, who this inscription bears,
“Who
chooses me, shall gain what men desire.”
The
second silver, which this promise carries,
“Who
chooses me, shall get as much as he deserves.”
This
third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt,
“Who
chooses me, must give and hazard all he hath.”
How
shall I know if I do choose the right?
How
shall I know if I do choose the right.
1st Hint: Shall, Shall, Must
Inscription
of gold and silver casket use the auxiliary verb shall. The lead uses must.
The answer should be lead’s must in a shall-shall-must lottery.
gold . . . Who chooses me, shall
gain . . .
silver . . . Who chooses me, shall
get . . .
dull lead . . . Who chooses me, must
give . . .
Repetition
of the last line twice seems like an error, but if we complete that with must,
then the shall-shall-must design will appear. Prince of Morocco misses a line
and loses the game.
How
shall I know if I do choose the right?
How
shall I know if I do choose the right.
How
must I know if I do choose the right.
2nd Hint: Gold, Silver, Dull Lead
Prince
of Morocco counts the first and second casket with one word as gold and silver,
but two words dull lead for the third. It’s a choice of 1-1-2 game.
Besides that, the term dull lead says, in a dull situation, lead casket
can lead (guide) to the right answer.
The
first of gold, . . .
The
second silver, . . .
This
third, dull lead, . . .
3rd Hint: Gain, Get, Give
“It
is more blessed to give than to receive” (KJV, Acts 20:35). Like the
shall-shall-must, the lottery is a choice of receive-receive-give. Both gain
and get in the inscriptions are to receive.
Who
chooses me, shall gain what men desire.
Who
chooses me, shall get as much as he deserves.
Who
chooses me, must give and hazard all he hath.
Adding
the name Portia at the end of each line above will show the right answer. Both desire
and deserves are wishes; “he hath Portia” says one who selects the lead
casket has Portia.
.
. . men desire Portia.
.
. . he deserves Portia.
.
. . he hath Portia.
One of Two
Bassanio
the lottery winner gives a seemingly tedious speech, but also confirms
Shakespeare’s design, that inscriptions indeed seal the right answer for an
intelligent player.
Bassanio.
I
come by note to give, and to receive, like one of two
contending in a prize that thinks he hath done well in people’s
eyes.
Come by has the usage of to get hold of something hard
to obtain; note of a brief record for reminding important things. Bassanio
gets hold of the reminding in the inscriptions. His “to give, and to receive” says
that he catches the hint based on Bible, “It is more blessed to give than to
receive.”
Portia’s
lottery contains three caskets. It should be one of three instead of “one of
two” contending in a prize. However, shall-shall-must is a choice between shall
and must, and gain-get-give between receive and give.
Portia’s lottery is one of two in spirit, covered by one of three visually by “people’s
eyes.”
Keys to Unlock Caskets
Mechanism
to let Portia reject suitors she dislikes is the keys to unlock the three
caskets. Gold and silver casket will always show failure after being unlocked. Lead
casket has a key to win, and a key to lose. Portia just needs to give the wrong
key to fail suitors.
In
the play suitors do not open and check all caskets. However, by arranging keys
properly, Portia still can defend in case some suitors want to check.
This
design can be seen from the difference of how three suitors open the caskets.
Prince of Morocco asks for the key to open his choice of gold.
Prince of Morocco.
Deliver
me the key:
Here
do I choose, and thrive I as I may.
Prince
of Aragon asks for the key of silver casket. Both Morocco and Aragon do not
request to open and check other two caskets.
Prince of Aragon.
I
will assume desert; give me a key for this,
And
instantly unlock my fortunes here.
Bassanio
the winner doesn’t ask for a key to open his choice of lead casket. This
omission can be treated as a hint to notice the difference of the three
choices.
Bassanio.
What
find I here?
Fair
Portia’s counterfeit. What demi God
Hath
come so near creation?
Portia Can Choose, and Refuse
Portia’s
father is said to be “virtuous and holy.” Such father won’t risk his daughter’s
fate on a lottery. Portia can select and reject suitors by her own will via her
father’s device. This can be seen from the dialogue of Portia and her serving woman
Nerrissa.
Portia.
O
me, the word choose, I may neither
choose whom I would,
nor refuse whom I dislike, so is the will of a living daughter
curbed by the will of a dead father: it is not hard, Nerrissa, that I cannot choose one, nor refuse none.
Nerrissa.
Your
father was ever virtuous, and holy men at their death have good inspirations,
therefore the lottery that he hath devised in these three chests of gold, silver,
and lead, whereof who chooses his meaning, chooses you, will no doubt never be
chosen by any rightly, but one who you shall rightly love.
*I may neither choose whom I would: The one
Portia favors must choose the lead casket. Her father’s design does not allow
Portia to reveal the right answer, so Portia cannot choose whom she would
unless she cheats. She does that by her gazing.
*nor refuse whom I dislike: Portia
sighs for a fair lottery will not allow her to refuse whom she dislikes. She
adds later “it is not hard” for her to control her fate.
*it is not hard, Nerrissa,
that I cannot choose one, nor refuse none: This line
ends with a period. Some editions change “it is” to “is it” and period to
question mark. Original lines of the 1600, 1623, and 1632 version:
(1600)
is it not harde Nerrissa, that I cannot choose
one, nor refuse none.
(1623)
it is not hard Nerrissa, that I cannot choose
one, nor refuse none.
(1632)
is it not hard Nerrissa, that I cannot choose
one, nor refuse none?
Line
of the 1623 folio can be interpreted as “it’s easy to solve the problem that I
cannot choose one, and the problem that I cannot refuse none.”
Portia
solves the problem of “cannot choose one” by providing hints in her speech and
direction of her gazing. She solves the problem of “cannot refuse none” by her
father’s design of various keys to open the three caskets.
*virtuous, and holy men: a hint that
Portia’s father isn’t foolish. A virtuous and holy father will not risk his
daughter’s marriage on a lottery.
*good inspirations: A lottery
by chance cannot be called a good inspiration. The lottery controlled by Portia
is good for her, although she still needs to cheat.
*devised in these three chests:
a hint that the lottery is a well-designed to cheat her suitors.
Pause a Day or Two
Portia
knew her father’s design, so she doesn’t worry who will come to play the
lottery; however, the one she likes must choose the lead casket. Bassanio comes
to Portia and asks to make the choice right away. He fails to catch her
proposal to “pause a day or two.” In this case Portia has no chance to meet
Bassanio in private to give him the right answer. She needs to find ways to
pass the answer to Bassanio in front of bystanders.
Portia.
I
pray you tarry, pause a day or two
Before
you hazard, for in choosing wrong
I
lose your company; therefore forbear a while,
There’s
something tells me (but it is not love)
I
would not lose you, . . .
Teach Me Answers
Bassanio
asks Portia to teach him how to select the right casket. She gives two hints,
“let music sound” and “my eye shall be the stream.” The right choice is sealed
in the music and her gazing.
Bassanio.
O,
happy torment, when my torturer
Does
teach me answers for deliverance:
But
let me to my fortune and the caskets.
Portia.
Away
then, I am locked in one of them,
If
you do love me, you will find me out.
Nerrissa
and the rest, stand all aloof,
Let
music sound while he does make his choice,
Then
if he lose, he makes a Swan-like end,
Fading
in music. That the comparison
May
stand more proper, my eye shall be the stream
And
watery death-bed for him: he may win,
And
what is music then? Then music is
Even
as the flourish, when true subjects bow
To
a new crowned Monarch:
*my torturer Does teach me answers:
Bassanio asks Portia, his torturer, to teach him how to make the right choice.
*Nerrissa and the rest, stand all aloof: Portia asks
bystanders to stand far away, so that Bassanio can focus on Portia’s eyes, and
others will not notice that Portia cheats.
*That the comparison May stand more proper:
Comparison here indicates to compare the song’s “ding, dong, bell” with “gold,
silver, lead”; and to compare directions of the stream of Portia’s eye on the
three caskets.
*my eye shall be the stream: Beam of
Portia’s eye will flow to the right casket. Bassanio can do the comparison
better when others “stand all aloof.”
A
song on the background tells Bassanio how to resolve the fancy of the three
caskets.
[A Song the whilst Bassanio
comments on the Caskets to himself.]
Or
in the heart, or in the head:
With
gazing fed, and Fancy dies,
In
the cradle where it lies:
Let
us all ring Fancy’s knell.
I’ll
begin it.
*Tell me where is fancy bred: “Tell me” says
that right answer is hidden in this song. Fancy has the usage of capricious
or delusive view; breed of to grow, engender, or develop.
*how begot, how nourished: Beget
has the usage of to produce; nourish of to feed or enhance. Fancy of the
lottery is produce and enhance by the eyes and will die by gazing fed.
*Reply, reply: To
alert Bassanio the reply of “tell me” can be found in following lines.
*engendered in the eyes:
Engender has the usage of to arise, cause, or create. The fancy of gold,
silver, and lead casket is created in people’s eyes.
*With gazing fed, and Fancy dies: a hint for
Bassanio to notice Portia’s eyes. The elusion will disappear (die) if Bassanio
follows Portia’s gazing.
*Ding, dong, bell:
Ding-dong-bell sounds like din-dung-belle to match gold-silver-lead. The lead maps
to belle, a fair handsome woman, will be the right answer. This is confirmed later
in Bassanio’s speech.
Bassanio.
So
may the outward shows be least themselves
The
world is still deceived with ornament.
In
Law, what Plea so tainted and corrupt,
But
being seasoned with a gracious voice,
Obscures
the show of evil? . . .
How
many cowards, whose hearts are all as false
As
stayers of sand, wear yet upon their chins
The
beards of Hercules and frowning Mars,
Who
inward searched, have livers white as milk,
And
these assume but valor’s excrement,
To
render them redoubted.
*seasoned with a gracious voice: Ding sounds
like din; din has the usage of a loud noise or clamor. These lines
describe nature of gold in the mapping of ding-dong-bell
to gold-silver-lead.
*livers white as milk, And these assume but valor’s excrement: Dong sounds like dung, which matches to silver in the mapping of ding-dong-bell to gold-silver-lead. Valor’s excrement or dung alludes to cowardice, a mock at persons who select the silver casket are cowards. Silver’s color is white as livers; livers and silver are connected by perfect anagram.