Cole Elliott

ERH-321

4 October 2017

Help Received: None

 

The Merchant of Venice Short Response Paper

 

Part 1

The concepts of marriage and love in early modern England were not necessarily linked. Because marriage was seen as a method to begin “consider[ing] the economics of setting up a household together” (Kaplan, 311), love was not considered to be an important cornerstone of the marriage. Furthermore, the concept of marriage solely for the economic benefits was thought of as wrong—but it was thought of as practical as well. Kaplan writes, “While author’s on the subject disapproved of people’s marrying for financial benefit alone, in practice economic concerns played a central role in the nuptials of the propertied classes” (Kaplan, 311). Indeed the early modern English tradition didn’t proactively prevent marriage through the motive of money—Bassanio’s love for Portia comes partly comes from her significant wealth. There is also the question of a man marrying a woman solely for financial gain—but not vice versa. Kaplan states, “The laws and customs governing early modern marriage served the interests of the husband and circumscribed the wife’s rights by largely subsuming her legal identity to that of her spouse” (Kaplan, 311)—making it easier for a man of unsubstantial worth to gain such through the method of marriage.

Marriage then, in early modern England, was a completely one-sided affair in that the woman becomes powerless in her choosing. It was already accepted that those wishing to wed would consult the advice of surrounding elders and parents—primarily the man. Therefore a woman is demoted to how much her family is worth and the physical attraction she provides. In speaking about women’s disposition in this societal occurrence, Kaplan states, “To [Juan Luis] Vives, women’s inferiority necessitates their subordination to fathers and husbands. A wife does not even own her body, according to Vives, and a maid should resist her own desires in choosing a husband and instead be ruled by the advice of her parents” (Kaplan, 312). The notion of a reduction of the woman’s role and complete submission to her husband provides the view that women are both incapable and unworthy of making a choice of who they would want to marry. In this light, Portia—and all other women of the time—were, unknowingly, restricted. Portia’s wealth and power attract Bassanio, but beyond that she is not a person capable of making the decision on marriage, according to this frame of mind.

Part 2

In The Merchant of Venice, Portia’s immediate attraction from several suitors speaks to man’s infatuation with women of her prowess at the time. And while she does make these suitors prove they are worthy of her hand in marriage through an obstacle course of choosing the correct item identifying her, her wealth is what principally attracts them. Bassanio is a man that sees the wealth in her and wants her because of that—and later wants to use her wealth to save someone that she has not even met. Bassanio’s character here is no more better or worse than the other suitors as they likely would have used her wealth for their own needs, but it brings an important cultural point of early modern England to fruition. Kaplan writes, “In act 3, scene 2, when Portia describes herself as an ‘unlessoned girl’ and commits herself to be directed by Bassanio, ‘as from her lord, her governor, her king’ (159, 165), she appears to follow the views of Vives and [Thomas] Becon in taking an appropriately subordinate position to her husband” (Kaplan, 313)—here Kaplan acknowledges that Portia is enamored by Bassanio’s persistent pursuit as a suitor and by natural pressure implied through societal norms, she is willing to submit to him as her husband. This effectively removes love from the relationship of a husband and wife in supporting and helping each other. It also important to consider that this not only hinders the role of Portia in her ability to an independent, free citizen, but it also hinders Bassanio from benefiting from a fair, equal partnership with his significant other. Because the role of money and societal pressure of matrimony, these two cannot pursue the development of a loving, embracing, and supportive marriage.

In addition, Kaplan comments on the idea of women taking the roles of men (i.e. cross-dressing Portia in The Merchant of Venice) and becoming independent and self-reliant, “Anxiety about female autonomy and self-assertion was often articulated in terms of women taking on what were defined as masculine roles or behaviors” (Kaplan, 313). Simply the notion of women pursuing what were considered “male roles” was frightening to the early modern English, and Portia cross-dressing—albeit to come to the aid of her new found husband and his friend—would have been considered grotesque and obscene. This further advances the early modern English view that women were both incapable of performing traditional male roles and irresponsible to the point where they should be entirely restricted in what they could do. And only a marriage can grant them permission to pursue what they “ought” to do.

 

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice: Texts and Contexts. Ed. M. Lindsay Kaplan.

Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002.