Assignment #1
The Merchant of Venice
After reading that Bassanio chose the right casket, we were able to witness the purity between the thought process of both him and Portia. Portia was telling him that he will end up relying on the Lady of luck to help and mentioned she’d prefer the “Lady of Luck” go to hell for cursing Bassanio and not letting him choose the right casket, then herself by breaking her vows and telling him which one was correct. Shortly after, I found it heartwarming how supportive Portia was to save Antonio from the hands of Shylock for the debt that could not be repaid as a result of failed ventures. She went even as far as saying any friend of Bessanio has to be as pure as him, so they are worth helping which is a great ideology to abide by. At this point Antonio is almost not expecting Bassanio to help as expressed by his helpless tone in the letter because he knows how ruthless Shylock is. At this point I am wondering whether anyone will have the jurisdiction to go against Shylock and prevent the pound of flesh from being cut off from Antonio.
I certainly agree the exchange between Portia and Bassanio comes across as wholesome, and I was personally a bit surprised that Portia was so supportive so quickly. She goes as far as to offer to pay off the debt many times over.
We also get another glimpse into Bassanio’s close personal connection with Antionio, though to be fair he is the direct cause of the now impending forfeiture of the pound of flesh.