McKenzie Raber
HNL-380WX
Col. Miller
3 May 2017
An Incognito Control of Power: Portia’s Use of Rhetoric to Gain Superiority in
The Merchant of Venice
Women during 16th century were regarded as inferior to men. They were controlled by their parents’ will up until marriage, after which, their husbands ruled their lives. Regardless of such perspectives, a cultural shift began from which the foundation for the feminist movement that would occur centuries later was laid. Most notably, Queen Elizabeth I gained England’s throne during this time and successfully ruled for many decades. Such power under the control of a woman was unprecedented and expectedly there were many conflicting views towards her position and a woman’s role in general. 16th century authors fueling such conversations in England included Juan Luis Vives, Thomas Becon, Philip Stubbes, and Cornelius Agrippa. While Vives advocated for the education of women, his attitude towards the rights and roles of woman remained very traditional, to include the belief that woman should stay under the complete control of their parents and spouses. His conservative views of how a woman should conduct herself were more reflective of the Mediterranean than England, but his writings still impacted the English opinion (Kaplan 319). The protestant Becon was slightly more liberal than the catholic Vives, but he published very similar opinions to Vives concerning a woman’s role in the home, and her behavior towards her parents, and husband (Kaplan 328). Stubbes’ writings represent the Puritan position on how a virtuous woman should act. His use of scripture to support his arguments gained much popularity in an England that was predominantly Protestant (Kaplan 335). Unlike many Elizabethan writers, Agrippa, a German humanist, promotes a very liberal stance towards women’s roles. He argues that women should take on more active, power-possessing roles in society as they are equally capable as men (Kaplan 333).
In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, the character, Portia exemplifies the changing ideals of a woman. She uses rhetoric as the means to gain control of her situation and those around her, without outstepping her boundaries as a woman. In this way, her actions throughout the play defy the duties of a 16th century woman, but her intent is hidden behind her obscure, yet intricate use of language.
Portia establishes her dominant disposition in the early scenes of The Merchant of Venice. While she recognizes that she must marry by the means outlined in her father’s will, she does not accept her fate as a subservient woman must. Women were expected to neither be seen or heard (Vives 320-321) except in extenuating, urgent circumstances (Becon 330). A woman’s tongue was regarded as her greatest, most “vile” weapon and if she was not speaking of virtuous matters, she was expected to remain silent (Becon 329). Portia goes against such expectations as she freely shares her opinion of her suitors with her maid, Nerissa. While she speaks such insulting and vile words in private, an ideal virtuous women would neither have, or share such thoughts. When referring to her French suitor, Monsieur Le Bon, she ridicules his lack of individuality and masculinity saying, “God made him, and therefore let him pass for a man. In truth, I know it is a sin to be a mocker, but he! Why, he hath a horse better than the Neapolitan’s, a better bad habit of frowning that the Count Palatine; he is every man in no man. If a throstle sing, he falls straight a-capering. He will fence with his own shadow” (I.ii.42-46). Portia understands her own value and is not willing to accept a man so lacking in character, complexity and strength as her future husband. In regards to the German suitor, she comments that “When he is best he is a little worse than a man, and when he is worst he is little better than a beast” (I.ii.64-65) and that she would rather marry a sponge than the German. In Portia’s mind, the German is no different than a wild animal roaming the land, acting rashly upon the whims of his immediate desires. She would rather marry an inanimate object then forever deal with beast in a man’s body. Portia is fully aware of her superiority over men of small intellect,
stating that the English suitor “hath neither Latin, French, nor Italian (I.ii.52-54). While she has poor English, she can speak all three of those languages well, proving that she is more well-studied. She concludes that she can’t “converse with a dumb show” such as the English suitor (I.ii.54). The expectations of an “honest and godly” woman when dealing with her husband’s shortcomings was to, “patiently and quietly bear the incommodities of her husband; to dissemble, cloak, hide and cover the (his) faults and vices” (Becon 329). Portia does the exact opposite when speaking of her potential suitors, she brings forth every apparent shortcoming she perceives. Because Portia is such a positive character throughout the play, the audience sympathizes with her and her opinions towards the suitors and her actions do not seem as repulsive as they might if the portrayal of her character was negative.
It seems that Portia consents to the expectations of an obedient daughter by following her father’s will for her marriage, saying, “If I live to be as old as Sibylla, I will die as chaste as Diana, unless I be obtained by the manner of my father’s will” (I.ii.78-79). Arranged marriages were illegal in 16th century England, (Kaplan 311) but children were expected to obey the choice of their parents. Adults were regarded as wiser and more experienced with such dealings (Vives 323), and children were expected to accept their parents’ decision of whom they would marry as best (Becon 311). Portia is frustrated that she “may neither choose who I (she) would nor refuse who I (she) dislike: so is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father” (I.ii.17-19). While Portia consents to obeying her father’s will in that whichever suitor chooses the correct casket will receive her hand in marriage, she uses the ambiguity of his will to manipulate it in her favor. For all of the suitors but Bassanio, she brings them in giving little welcoming or introductory speech, shows them the caskets and stands close by, as do her servants and the suitor’s party, increasing the pressure felt by the suitor as he makes his decision. The inscription on the gold casket reads, “Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire” (II.vii.4). The silver reads “Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves,” (II.vii.6) and the lead reads, “Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath” (II.vii.8). In her few words to the Prince of Aragon, Portia says, “Behold, there stand the casket, noble Prince/ If you choose that wherin I am contained,/ Straight shall our nuptial rites be solemnized” (II.ix.4-6). Portia scrutinizes the suitors’ lack of judgement and wit saying to Nerissa, “Thus hath the candle signed the moth./ O, these deliberate fools! When thy do choose,/ They have the wisdom by their wit to lose” (II.ix.79-81). Unlike the other suitors, when Bassanio come, she welcomes him warmly, and hints at which casket is correct saying, “The issue of th’ exploit. Go, Hercules!/ Live thou, I live. With much, much more dismay/ I view the fight than thou that mak’st the fray.” (III.ii.60-63). By calling Bassanio Hercules, she implies that there is a fight involved to receive her hand in marriage and that he must risk or hazard all to do so. Furthermore, she instructs “Nerissa and the rest, stand all aloof./ Let music sound while he doth make his choice” (III.ii.42-43). The music she chooses contains words such as “bred,” “head,” and “fed,” all of which rhyme with lead, the correct casket (III.ii.64-69). Portia gives Bassanio a clear advantage, but only if he picks up on the cues she lays down for him. One may argue that she is not following her father’s will by giving such hints to Bassanio, but her intentions when she made such remarks were not entirely clear and she could have made such statements to any one of the suitors and the outcome may or may not have changed. Portia obeys her father’s will, remaining within the cultural confines of an obedient daughter, but uses rhetoric to shift the outcome towards her favor thus gaining control of the situation. As Portia’s constraints shift from her father to her husband, she recognizes that she must subtly re-secure her authority. She does this through the device of gift giving.
In early modern England, gift giving was almost entirely driven by motives other than generosity and affection. It established social bonds and was often gender specific. Gift giving was often performed as a show of power and assertion of authority. By accepting a gift, one implied they were able to reciprocate the gift with equal magnitude. If the individual accepted the gift and was not able to reciprocate, the gift-giver essentially held an unspoken authority over the other individual. Gift giving was nearly always “exercised by men and women are (were) the means of exchange.” Marriage was often treated as a business deal in which men sought to receive the best deal possible in regards to a woman’s dowry, and forming familial alliances. Although men wished to gain a great deal of wealth by marrying woman of higher social status, they were warned against it because such marriages often resulted in the female possessing control over her moneyless husband (Newman 24-25). In The Merchant of Venice, Bassanio comes from a considerably lower social class than Portia such that he enters the relationship at a disadvantage. When Bassanio chooses the correct casket it seems that Portia is completely submits herself to him as virtuous wife must saying,
Happiest of all is that her gentle spirit
Commits itself to your to be directed
As for her lord, her governor, her king.
Myself and what is mine to you and yours
Is now converted. But now I was the lord
Of this fair mansion, master of my servants,
Queen o’er myself; and even now, but now,
This house, these servants, and this same myself
Are yours, my lord’s. (III.ii.163-171)
She specifies that what once was hers and under her complete control, is now his, under his authority and rule. While she seems to submit herself to Bassanio in the statement above, her next comment suggests otherwise saying,
I give them with this ring,
Which when you part from, lose, or give away,
Let it presage the ruin of your love
And be my vantage to exclaim on you. (III.ii.171-174)
She gifts Bassanio with a ring and in doing so their marriage becomes a formal bond in which Bassanio is bound by the power and extreme value of the ring. It is worth more than he can reciprocate, thus establishing Portia’s dominance (Newman 25). The value of the ring is additionally precious as it is not just a gift, but the first gift given to Bassanio by his wife.
Portia likely viewed her dowry as loan to Bassanio, rather than a complete bestowal given the precedent that women were often granted a portion of their funds for their sole and independent use from their husbands. This prevented women from being subject to their husbands’ financial misdealing’s and debts, especially if the husband divorced them or was deceased (Korda 138).
Portia further establishes her dominance over Bassanio by exacting how much money he is allowed to use to pay Shylock for Antonio’s bond. He does not tell Portia that he is going to pay as much as it takes to persuade Shylock to relent, rather Portia dictates the extent to which he may use. She says,
Pay him six thousand, and deface the bond;
Double six thousand, and then treble that,
Before a friend of this description
Shall lose a hair through Bassanio’s fault. (III.iii.298-301)
Portia implies that Bassanio may use as much money as he needs to free his friend, but that she remains in control of his permission to do so. Furthermore, she implies that she is the sole reason for his well-being and without her, his lack of monetary wealth would cause discontent within his soul. She declares, “For never shall you lie by Portia’s side/With an unquiet soul. You shall have gold/To pay the petty debt twenty times over” (III.iii.304-306).
Her comment of “For never shall you lie by Portia’s side/ With an unquiet soul,” suggests that without Portia, Bassanio’s life may or may not be filled with turmoil and unrest. With Portia, Bassanio is assured a peaceful life in which she takes care of all his financial worries, very opposite of what was expected between a married man and woman.
Portia understands the gravity of what is at stake as she sends Bassanio to Venice. Either her husband will lose his greatest friend and likely forever be distraught or she will lose a great portion of her fortune. She lacks faith that her husband will negotiate wisely and feels that she must intervene. She understands that women are prohibited from exercising law, acting as an advocate or magistrate, but she “dismisses gender as a legitimate ground for exclusion from acting as an advocate” (Finin 33). She decides that she and Nerissa will dress as men and she will act as a doctor of law in the court in which Antonio is prosecuted. Not only does Portia disregard societal views towards cross-dressing, but she disregards the expectation that women should remain in the home and not speak among men. In his, Education of Women, Vives states that “For it neither becometh a woman to rule a school, nor to live amongst men, or speak abroad,” for they are “frail things and of weak discretion,” unable to discern between true and false teaching (Vives 321). Portia knows that she is smarter than most men, and will not conform to the accepted perception of a woman. By cross-dressing, she intervenes without disrupting societal expectations of her as woman because no one knows that a woman acted as a lawyer in court. At the same time, by cross-dressing, she violates biblical law, which was very concerning is a society that emphasized Christian values in women, and she undermines the authority of men by assuming their power with their dress (Stubbes 335).
Portia’s greatest use of rhetoric is seen in the court scene. She opens her argument by asking Shylock to show mercy on Antonio. She states, “The quality of mercy is not strained./It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven/ Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest/ It blesseth him that gives and him that takes” (IV.i.189-182). She does this, expecting him to refuse as he does, making him looking merciless, thus priming the court audience’s temperament for her argument (Majeske 158). Portia acknowledges that Bassanio can pay the bond ten times the sum, but that it was not on time. She also recognizes if she allows the bond to be broken she could set a precedent of which futures cases might follow. Portia acts as if she is going to allow the enforcement of the bond (Majeske 162) saying, “It must not be. There is no power in Venice/ Can alter a decree established./ ‘Twill be recorded for a precedent” (IV.i.213-215). Shylock praises her for her judgement calling her the second Daniel and she tells Antonio to bare his bosom. Just when Shylock thinks that he going to get what he wants, Portia asks him if he has a surgeon ready to stop the wounds from bleeding. Shylock replies that it is not in the bond for a surgeon to be present. With his same literal interpretation of the bond Portia reasons, “The words expressly are “a pound of flesh.”/ Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh,/ But in the cutting if it thou doest shed/ One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods/ Are by the laws of Venice confiscate” (IV.i. 302-306). In this statement, she introduces that Shylock’s intent may not be justice, but that he seeks to take Antonio’s life, in which case, she can prosecute him by ‘criminal intent’ without setting a precedent (Majeske 166). When Shylocks understands the gravity of his situation he quickly accepts the offer of three times the value of the bond and to let Antonio go unharmed. Bassanio believes that the conflict has ended and says, “Here is the money” (IV.i. 314) Realizing that her assets are at stake, Portia must prevent Shylock from accepting the money because if he does it would indicate that he has no ‘criminal intent’ and cannot be charged with such, and she also must prevent Bassanio from offering away her dowry (Majeske 160). Portia halts Shylocks’s acceptance of the money, ordering that he shall have nothing but punishment for attempting to take the life of a Christian. Again Shylock attempts to take the money saying, “Give me my principal, and let me go.” (IV.i.331) and Bassanio replies, “I have it ready for thee. Here it is.” (IV.i.332), and Portia must again intervene. She will not readily allow the loss of so much of her wealth saying, “He hath refused it in the open court. /He shall have merely justice and his bond” (IV.i.333-334). She prosecutes Shylock according to the laws of Venice which merit,
That by direct or indirect attempts
He seek the life of any citizen,
The party ‘gainst the which he doth contrive
Shall seize one half his goods; the other half
Comes to the privy coffer of the state,
And the offender’s life lies in the mercy
Of the Duke only, ‘gainst all other voice. (IV.i. 345-351)
Her evidence of Shylock’s criminal intent gives her basis for prosecuting according to the letter of the law just as Shylock wished to uphold Antonio’s bond without mercy. Portia’s expert command of rhetoric “reduces the wealth of her husband’s enemy to zero, increases the wealth of her husband’s friends and places her husband’s enemy’s life in jeopardy (Majeske 167).
Portia continues to assert her dominance through the final scene of the play. She tests Bassanio by asking for his ring as a tribute for essentially saving Antonio’s life Bassanio is reluctant to give it up saying, “Good sir, this ring was given to me by my wife,/ And when she put it on she made me vow/ That I should neither sell nor give nor lose it” (IV.i.436-438). Though he initially refuses to give it to her, he eventually does with Antonio’s persuasion.
When Bassanio returns, Portia rebukes him for giving the ring away:
You were to blame – I must be plain with you –
To part so slightly with your wife’s first gift,
A thing stuck on with oaths upon your finger,
And so riveted with faith unto your flesh.
I gave my love a ring and made him swear
Never to part with it; and here he stands. (V.i.164-69)
He asks for her to pardon her, but she continues rebuking him, going as far as to say ”By heaven, I will ne’er come in your bed/Until I see the ring” (V.i.188-189). This is a very bold statement considering the general opinion during the 16th century that a woman lacked ownership over her own body when she married (Vives 321). From this context, Portia withholds something from Bassanio of which is not hers to withold. Furthermore, she insults Bassanio’s intelligence saying,
If you had known the virtue of the ring,
Or half her worthiness that gave the ring,
Or your own honor to contain the ring,
You would not then have parted with the ring (V.i.197-200).
She reasons that if Bassanio had understood the value and significance of the ring, he would not have acted so frivolously with it. She does not blame his intent, but rather his lack of comprehension of the gravity of the situation. Bassanio is left with no other option than to continue to plead for forgiveness for he knows he is nothing without Portia and her dowry. He begs, “Portia, forgive me this enforced wrong,” (V.i.238) “Pardon this fault, and by my soul I swear/ I never more will break an oath with thee” (V.i.245-246). Portia tells Bassanio that she slept with the doctor in order to get the ring back, but before he can comprehend that he was cuckolded, Nerissa exclaims that Portia was doctor. Bassanio is shocked, but quickly forgives Portia for her trickerly without her request he do so and responds to her lovingly, saying, “Sweet doctor, you shall be my bedfellow./ When I am absent then lie with my wife” (V.i.282-283) The play ends with Lorenzo praising Portia and Nerissa for saving Antonio’s life saying, “Fair ladies, you drop manna in the way/ Of starved people” (V.i.292-293). Lorenzo’s comment illustrates that to the end of the play, the perception of Portia remains as a virtuous woman and that the male figures surrounding her do not realize her position of authority over them.
Portia defies expectations of a 16th century woman. She represents the conflict between the societal belief that women are incapable and inferior to men and the rising power of women such as embodied by Queen Elizabeth the first. Portia’s actions and attitudes prove her to be equally if not more capable than men. She masterfully uses language as a means to achieve her desires throughout the play and gain dominance over male figures. She does not allow her gender determine how the men around her will treat her. She is an icon of a strong, confident woman who gracefully uses rhetoric to gain what men have while remaining within the accepted societal confines of a woman.
Works Cited
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Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice: Texts and Contexts. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002.
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