Merchant of Venice Mini Casket Essay

Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is a fast-paced, eventful play, but despite that, there are many deep-rooted issues and meanings embedded within. Portia, for one, is a truly intelligent and beautiful woman. No matter how much she hates her father’s casket test for her future husband, she is still a woman of virtue and honor. She will hold up to part of the agreement and go through with the tests. 

The reason why Portia’s father devised this test for all of Portia’s suitors was that he didn’t want any man with money or any impoverished man to marry Portia – he wanted someone who truly wanted and loved Portia for herself, not for her money. The casket test was designed to root out any men who were shallow gold-diggers, who only liked things for their appearances and perhaps only wanted Portia so they could share half her enormous wealth. Now, the test worked. The gold casket was chosen by the Prince of Morocco because he was fooled by outer appearances. The silver casket was chosen by the Prince of Arragon, who mistakenly thought that he deserved Portia because of his own greatness. However, it was not the test itself that weeded out the undeserving men. The vow that the suitors had to take right before choosing from the caskets was a big part in itself. Only those who were prepared to either gain a great reward or vow to never marry would take the test. There is a risk, and only those who are prepared will take the vow. 

The pure risk and thought that went into the test obviously allowed for the man perfect for Portia to win. Firstly, Bassanio was eager to make his vow in order to undergo the choosing of the caskets. Then, after looking at the caskets, he was not fooled by the outward appearances of gold, for “Therefore then, thou gaudy gold, Hard food for Midas, I will none of thee.” Neither was he fooled by the silver, for, “Nor none of thee, thou pale and common drudge ‘Tween man and man.” The lead casket stood out to him because although it threatened him, it stood out to him. The elaborate design of the test, from the vows that had to be made to the significance behind the caskets, proved to be effective in weeding out money-hungry, arrogant men, and give Portia the perfect husband that she needed.

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Writing Process (click to open)

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Reflection:

The Merchant of Venice was a pleasant surprise. I didn’t expect it to be as interesting as it ended up being. The element of the caskets was really well thought out on Shakespeare’s part. This essay was surprisingly easy to write. As soon as I sat down and started typing, the words just came flowing out of me. Even though I had a lot to say, I was able to be concise and narrow it down to the main ideas. I would say this unit was a positive experience with Shakespeare for me.