"I am not a Prize to be Won"
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 predicament her father put her in. Portia is well spoken, and certainly has the vocabulary of the upper class, even complimenting Nerissa on her choice of words with "Good sentences, and well pronounced" (pg. 471, line 9). Additionally, she states about Falconbridge, a young baron from England, "You know I say nothing to him, for he understands not me nor I him: he hath neither Latin, French, nor Italian, and you will come into the court and swear that I have a poor pennyworth in English. He is a proper man's picture, but alas! Who can converse with a dumb show?" (pg. 472, lines 58-62). This comment proves Portia is not shallow in that she just wants a handsome face. She wants a man of substance, of a certain intelligence and personality. Similarly, Jasmine is not content with her callous, self-absorbed royal suitors who come to visit her. If she is forced to marry, she wants someone of substance and the common Disney mantra of "inner beauty." However, both women are restricted by their fathers in regards to their courtship.
Portia is a victim of a peculiar variety, as her father set up a test to decide who she marries, taking her choice out of the decision completely. To me, Portia seems to be a woman who knows what she wants (as shown by her praise of some guy she met only once or a few times before (page 473, lines 96-103) but is held back by rules set by her deceased father and his weird test. Similarly, as pointed out by fellow student James who wrote on the similarities among Portia and other Disney princesses, Jasmine is held back by rules set upon her by her father as well as the societal rules of Agrabah. Her position as royalty, as well as a woman requires her to be married "by her next birthday." Additionally, she has to choose another person of royal blood, narrowing her options dramatically, just like Portia can only marry the person who picks the correct casket set up by her father. One of my favorite lines said by Jasmine to her father, Prince Ali, and Jafar was "I am not a prize to be won!" I think this phrase applies to both Jasmine and Portia. Both of these women are restricted, but they do their best to change their chances. Jasmine repeatedly rejected her suitors, and eventually married a commoner (not only that, but a thief), and Portia phrases her words to manipulate men into choosing the wrong caskets. The people around them may see them as helpless women who need guidance, but they (specifically Portia) know how to use their feminine ways to manipulate and bring back some control to their restrictive roles in their respective societies. They believe they are "not prizes to be won," and they use that belief in addition to their limited influence to go against the rules set against them.
In addition to their manipulations of their restrictive positions, both Jasmine and Portia have a need to see the outside world. Jasmine disguises herself and explores the city of Agrabah. Portia traveled to Venice from her home in Belmont in order to help her husband and his friend. However, this is as far as their similarities go in this regard. Portia, under the guise of a man, became the primary judge in the trial involving Shylock and her husband's friend Antonio (4.1). Portia held her position of power, even if it changed from an heiress to a supposed male judge/doctor, and maintained her influence over men. Contrarily, Jasmine held no power outside the palace under her disguise as a commoner and got into big trouble for stealing, from which Aladdin had to rescue her.
So, how do we see Portia in The Merchant of Venice? For me, I did not like her at all. She seemed vain and manipulative, and she married a guy who admitted he would sacrifice her in order to save his friend. I mean, red flags everywhere. Seriously, that was when I decided I did not like any character in the play, but that is a rabbit hole I am not going to get into. However, while I still do not like Portia, she is not the vain, typical shallow high-class person I thought she was before I started this post. By the end of this analysis, I have decided that Portia has more to her than racist and superficial tendencies. She takes control of her situation, and even under the disguise of a male gives judgment during a trial she really knows nothing about except that her husband's friend is involved. She kind of reminds me of Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt who disguised herself as a man because people were reluctant to be ruled by a woman (seriously, if you don't know about her look her up, she is so cool). At her time, Portia must have been a kind of feminist icon who manipulated the control her father tried to place on her and bucked the traditional views of a proper woman. In the end, while yes, she is flamingly racist, there is a lot more to Portia that I did not notice the first few times around, a conclusion I think many of us have concluded when I look at other posts.
Shakespeare, William, et al. The Norton Shakespeare: Comedies. Third ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.
Clements, Ron C and Jon Musker, directors. Aladdin. Youtube, Disney, 1992, www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTWRvADCixs.
Portia is a victim of a peculiar variety, as her father set up a test to decide who she marries, taking her choice out of the decision completely. To me, Portia seems to be a woman who knows what she wants (as shown by her praise of some guy she met only once or a few times before (page 473, lines 96-103) but is held back by rules set by her deceased father and his weird test. Similarly, as pointed out by fellow student James who wrote on the similarities among Portia and other Disney princesses, Jasmine is held back by rules set upon her by her father as well as the societal rules of Agrabah. Her position as royalty, as well as a woman requires her to be married "by her next birthday." Additionally, she has to choose another person of royal blood, narrowing her options dramatically, just like Portia can only marry the person who picks the correct casket set up by her father. One of my favorite lines said by Jasmine to her father, Prince Ali, and Jafar was "I am not a prize to be won!" I think this phrase applies to both Jasmine and Portia. Both of these women are restricted, but they do their best to change their chances. Jasmine repeatedly rejected her suitors, and eventually married a commoner (not only that, but a thief), and Portia phrases her words to manipulate men into choosing the wrong caskets. The people around them may see them as helpless women who need guidance, but they (specifically Portia) know how to use their feminine ways to manipulate and bring back some control to their restrictive roles in their respective societies. They believe they are "not prizes to be won," and they use that belief in addition to their limited influence to go against the rules set against them.
In addition to their manipulations of their restrictive positions, both Jasmine and Portia have a need to see the outside world. Jasmine disguises herself and explores the city of Agrabah. Portia traveled to Venice from her home in Belmont in order to help her husband and his friend. However, this is as far as their similarities go in this regard. Portia, under the guise of a man, became the primary judge in the trial involving Shylock and her husband's friend Antonio (4.1). Portia held her position of power, even if it changed from an heiress to a supposed male judge/doctor, and maintained her influence over men. Contrarily, Jasmine held no power outside the palace under her disguise as a commoner and got into big trouble for stealing, from which Aladdin had to rescue her.
So, how do we see Portia in The Merchant of Venice? For me, I did not like her at all. She seemed vain and manipulative, and she married a guy who admitted he would sacrifice her in order to save his friend. I mean, red flags everywhere. Seriously, that was when I decided I did not like any character in the play, but that is a rabbit hole I am not going to get into. However, while I still do not like Portia, she is not the vain, typical shallow high-class person I thought she was before I started this post. By the end of this analysis, I have decided that Portia has more to her than racist and superficial tendencies. She takes control of her situation, and even under the disguise of a male gives judgment during a trial she really knows nothing about except that her husband's friend is involved. She kind of reminds me of Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt who disguised herself as a man because people were reluctant to be ruled by a woman (seriously, if you don't know about her look her up, she is so cool). At her time, Portia must have been a kind of feminist icon who manipulated the control her father tried to place on her and bucked the traditional views of a proper woman. In the end, while yes, she is flamingly racist, there is a lot more to Portia that I did not notice the first few times around, a conclusion I think many of us have concluded when I look at other posts.
Shakespeare, William, et al. The Norton Shakespeare: Comedies. Third ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.
Clements, Ron C and Jon Musker, directors. Aladdin. Youtube, Disney, 1992, www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTWRvADCixs.
Jasmine gif found on Giphy (https://giphy.com/gifs/disney-boys-aladdin-7Lj04i5jHkELe)
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