McKenzie Raber
Colonel Miller
HNL 380WX
The Merchant of Venice
24 February 2017
Part 1
During the 15th and 16th centuries, women were regarded as subservient to men and had essentially no control over their own lives. Their parents chose whom they married, their education was minimal and their everyday dealings revolved around domestic life. Furthermore, women were expected to behave as examples of great virtue, speak little and show obedience to their husbands.
While arranged- marriages were technically illegal by law, (Kaplan 311) few daughters gained their grooms by merely their own choosing. If a girl’s parents did not consent to her proposed marriage, then the marriage would likely not occur (Becon 331). Adults were regarded as wiser and more experienced in such dealings (Vives 323), and children were expected to accept their parents’ decisions as best (Becon 331). While money and other ulterior motives played a great role in the arrangement of marriages, how compatible the couple seemed was also considered (Kaplan 311).
The education of most women during the 15th and 16th centuries was very minimal compared to their male counterparts. Women were taught to read and write with texts that emphasized virtue and good manners, and their education usually did not extend towards more advanced studies such as rhetoric, law, or science. A woman did not need eloquent speech, for she was expected to rarely be seen or heard (Vives 320-21). In conjunction with the suppression of women speaking, it was also looked down upon for a woman to teach or travel beyond the home. In Juan Luis Vives’ book, Of Learning of Maids, he writes, “For it neither becometh a woman to rule a school, nor to live amoungst men, or speak abroad.” Female teachers were not permitted because men believed that they lacked the ability to discern the false information from true and would consequently spread false information to their students. (Vives 321). Women were expected to stay home at all times dealing with household business, leaving only in absolutely dire situations. A woman who stayed home and avoided contact with male dealings was seen as virtuous (Becon 329).
When a woman married she essentially lost all power over herself. She was to follow, not lead her husband, and give him, “great worship, reverence, great obedience and service” (Vives 326). She was to subdue his anger, but hold her tongue in her own anger for a woman’s tongue was like “no worm so vile” (Becon 329). The two greatest virtues of a married woman consisted of chastity and love towards her husband. If she were to break either of these two, she would shame her family, husband and the church. An unchaste woman made a fool out her husband (Vives 324).
Cross-dressing to appear as a man was very much looked down upon. Not only did it suggest the desire to change gender, but it also undermined the separation of authority between men and women through dress. Since men were regarded as superior to women, the potential of a man being out-witted by a woman dressed as a man was alarming (Stubbes 335). Additionally, cross-dressing violated biblical law, which was very concerning in a society that stressed Christian values in women (Stubbes 335).
Portia, in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, defied many of the 15th, 16th century cultural expectations of women. In the beginning of the play she makes fun of her suitors, calling them names and insulting their intelligence. She comments on the German suitor’s drinking habits saying, “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). Portia even goes as far as saying that she would rather marry a sponge than marry the German. She insults the English suitor’s education saying, “He hath neither Latin, French, nor Italian and you (he) will come into the court and swear that I have a poor pennyworth in English” (I.II.52-53). She feels that she cannot “converse with a dumb show” that the Englishman is (I.II.54). Portia’s comments are very un-ladylike for the time even though they are said in private. A woman was expected to forgive and compensate for husband’s shortcomings and if Portia married any of these men it is clear she would have difficulty doing so (Vives 326).
While Portia violated many of the expectations of women at the time, she did follow her dead father’s wishes for finding a husband. She could have easily gone against his wishes and married whomever she pleased, but instead she accepted that she would marry the suitor that chose the correct casket containing her picture. She was not happy about her lack of marital choice saying, “I may neither choose who I would nor refuse who I dislike; so is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father” (I.II.17-19). Portia’s respect for her father wishes upholds the custom of allowing parents to essentially choose their daughter’s husbands.
Portia not only outwits Shylock in the court scene and uses his own logic of staying true to the law against him, but she is the only one to find a loophole in the bond. Shylock declares,
My deeds upon my head! I crave the law,
The penalty and forfeit of my bond (IV.I. 201-202).
Portia responds to him with the severity of the law he asks for but against his favor saying,
This bond doth give thee here non jot of blood;
The words expressly are “a pound of flesh.”
Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh,
But in the cutting it if thou dost shed
One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods
Are by the laws of Venice confiscate
Unto the state of Venice (IV.I.301-307).
She uses her intelligence of the law, master of language, and wit to figure out a way she can save Antonio, of which no other man in the room could. She is able to do so by cross-dressing to appear as a man. Her ability to gain control of the situation with her words and through her disguise as man is one of the main reasons why cross-dressing was frowned upon. Men were weary that a woman might gain superiority over them disguised as a man, and that is exactly what Portia did (Stubbes 335).
When Portia claimed that she lay with the Doctor in order to get her ring back, she broke one of the two greatest virtues of a married woman (V.I.256-257). If she had actually gone through with such an act, she would have brought shame to her family and her husband, making him look like a “cuckold” (V.I.263). Portia did not care about the perception of her chastity when making such claims, rather she sought to teach her husband a lesson regarding valuing her through the possessions she gives him over all else. Furthermore, this ‘lesson’ Portia teaches Bassanio suggests that she has greater control over him than he has over her (Vives 326).
Portia does not emulate the traditional woman of the 16th century. She is educated beyond simple virtue-teaching books, she cross-dresses and gains dominance in a rhetorical battle, she is not afraid of being perceived as promiscuous for what she views as the right reasons and she has more control over her husband than he has over her. She is a woman unconcerned with gaining virtue and she allows her spirit to guide her.
Works Cited
Becon, Thomas. The Catechism. The Merchant of Venice: Texts and Contexts. By William Shakespeare. Ed. M. Lindsay Kaplan. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002. 327-32. Print.
Kaplan, M. Lindsay, ed. The Merchant of Venice: Texts and Contexts. By William Shakespeare. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002. Print.
Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Ed. M. Lindsay Kaplan. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002. Print.
Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice: Texts and Contexts. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002. Print.
Stubbes, Philip. The Anatomy of Abuses. The Merchant of Venice: Texts and Contexts. By William Shakespeare. Ed. M. Lindsay Kaplan. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002. 335- 36. Print.
Vives, Juan Luis. The Instruction of Women. The Merchant of Venice: Texts and Contexts. By William Shakespeare. Ed. M. Lindsay Kaplan. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002. 319- 27. Print.