This is a great question - I don't think many women today
would like to be in the same situation as Portia! However, as Bassanio mentions to
Antonio in Act I scene 1 about the lady "richly left", it is clear that the inheritance
that Portia has received can be viewed as much as a curse as a blessing. Portia herself
in Act I scene 2 certainly bemoans her situation to Nerissa, complaining that by her
father's will she is not able to choose her husband - only if they successfully pick the
right casket with her picture in it will they gain her hand in marriage. Note what she
says about her longing to be able to choose:
O, me, the word "choose"! 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. Is it not hard, Nerissa, that I cannot choose one nor refuse
none?
Portia here points to
the irony of her situation - her will is curtailed by the will of her "dead" father,
although he is long gone and she is still alive. She also points out the lack of freedom
she has - for not being able to choose also means she is not able to
refuse.
However, in response to her grumblings, it is
Nerissa who actually answers your question by explaining the wisdom of Portia's father's
conditions:
Your father was ever virtuous, and holy men at
their death have good inspirations; therefore the lottery that he hath devised in these
three chests of gold, silver, and lead, whereof who chooses his meaning chooses you,
will no doubt never be chosen by any rightly but one who you shall rightly
love.
Nerissa sums up the
wisdom of Portia's father's actions. As a "virtuous" man, he can be trusted so that the
"lottery" that he created will only allow somebody who is suitable and worthy for his
daughter's hand to succeed. Herein lies the wisdom - Portia's father has designed a test
to weed out the suitable from the unsuitable, ensuring that the person who triumphs is
of a suitable moral character for his daughter.
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