Portia is introduced by Bassanio who is talking to his dear
friend: Antonio:
And she is fair, and fairer than the word,
Of wondrous virtues- sometimes from her eyes
I did receive fair speechless messages.
Her name is Portia, nothing undervalued.
He describes her as a beautiful, rich, and just lady. He also
knows that she has inherited great riches. She offers the means to clear
Bassanio’s debts if he is able to choose the right casket.
Not much is revealed about Portia in the first Act itself,
besides the fact that she is polite, like mocking others, and a prisoner of her
own house. Her father said that she must marry a man who chooses one of three
caskets which carries gold, silver, and lead. This in return is hard for Portia
in which she has no say in whom she can marry.
Portia and Nerissa have a conversation about the suitors who
came to pick a casket. Portia thinks that the Neapolitan Prince is a colt; he
is too obsessed with horses. The County Palatine is too sad and melancholy. The
French lord has no distinct original character of his own; and is every man in
no man. She thinks that the Falconbridge (Englishman) is uneducated, dressed
oddly, and behaves badly. Her opinion of the Scotsman is a fighter, and the
Duke of Saxony’s nephew is a sponge, as he is a drunkard.
In my opinion, Portia is a very just a fair character who is
very judgmental and has a dual personality at times; and that is what I dislike
about Portia at times.