Cross-Dressing in The Merchant of Venice

By -
Cross dressing has been done in many of Shakespeare's plays. This method allowed to give women more of a voice, letting them show their intelligence or even their cunning wit. In The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare gives this voice to Portia, in which she creates a plan to save Antonio.

If we briefly go over the case, Shylock is wanting to take a pound of flesh as the debt he was owed was not paid on time. Portia (disguised as the judge) awarded him this, causing annoyance in the court until she caught Shylock on a technicality. Let's look at this quote:

"Just a moment; there is something else.
This contract gives you not a not of blood;
The words expressly are "a pound of flesh:"
Take then your bond, receive your pound of flesh;
But, in the cutting of it, if you shed
One drop of Christian blood, your lands and goods
Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscated."
                                                     -Act IV Scene 1 line 304-309

Because Portia spotted this technicality (and made taking the flesh an impossible deed) it allowed not only Antonio to live, but for Portia to show her clever plan (no one even noticed the judge was female and she tricked Bassanio as well) this shows that although women weren't heard from often or even allowed to speak, they still possessed thorough thoughts and ideas.

What do you think?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"I am not a Prize to be Won"

By -
Image
When we are introduced to Portia in The Merchant of Venice , it is a strikingly similar scene to one in Disney's Aladdin , in which hopeful young royal suitors try to win the hand of the Princess Jasmine of Agrabah.  Honestly, when I reached this scene in the reading I stopped reading a quarter of the way through.  It did not seem relevant, and when I noticed the similarity between this scene and the one in Aladdin , I just did not see any reason to continue reading it.  However, for this post I will be analyzing this scene and others relating to Portia in an attempt to find its similarities with the movie  Aladdin ,  what it adds (if anything) to the play and the character of Portia, and how these two women prove they are "not prizes to be won." First I will begin my analysis with Act 1 Scene 2 where our first encounter with Portia occurs.  She is conversing with her waiting woman Nerissa, gossiping about who has come as a potential suitor as well as the predicamen
Read more

A Winter's Tale of Conflict and Contrast

By -
There is no denying A Winter's Tale is full of contrasting ideas. As weird as this play was, I thought it was kind of poetic that all of these different tones, emotions, and symbols were woven in together to create this tragedy/romance.  The Winter's Tale is a coin, with two sides of the same settings, tones, and characters. The following are some of my observations on these apparent opposites: The first half of the play is set in a cold, harsh, and condemning tone.  Sicilia is depicted as being not a happy place, and its king is paranoid to the max.  All we see of Sicilia in the play is the castle/stronghold that is home to the royals, and a court room.  Castles are traditionally cold and dark due to being created out of stone, and of course the court room in the play is the site of the condemnation of an apparently innocent woman (Hermione) and the sentencing of a little baby to exile.  If that isn't cold, I don't know what is.  On the other hand, the second half
Read more

Celebrity Deathmatch: Early Modern Edition

By James -
Do we all remember the Claymation spectacle "Celebrity Deathmatch" from the turn of the last century? The irreverent show featured clay models of celebrities engaging in ridiculous battles to the death. I’m going to consider some match-ups from each play we discussed this semester, and how they might proceed… Henry v. Catherine: Henry bears an awkward display of limp swords and a moderate understanding of French. Catherine wears a billowing, layered white gown that allows her to hover, and, when cornered, spouts a waterfall of French insults. Catherine is insulted by Henry’s limp attacks and reaches her final Limit Break, “Je Ne Sais Pas Ca” (“I don’t know that”), which puts Henry in a state of Confusion. Then, Catherine floats away and the judges awkwardly declare Henry the de facto winner. Antonio v. Portia: Bassanio enters the ring after the bell and both Antonio and Portia seem to be competing to protect Bassanio. Jeers from the crowd toward Antonio get louder
Read more