Discuss How Portia Is a Admirable

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Portia In “The Merchant of Venice,” we first meet Portia when Bassanio speaks to Antonio about her., “Nor is the wide world ignorant of her wealth; / For the four winds blow in from every coast / Renowned suitors, and her sunny locks / Hang on her temples like a golden fleece.” Bassanio uses flamboyant images and comparisons to illuminate her beauty and her worth. Bassanio refers to “sunny locks,” by using this metaphor he is highlighting light imagery which highlights her purity. He also compares her with a “golden fleece” which again is a metaphor and underlines Portia’s desirable qualities and reinforces that men are prepared to do anything for her because of her virtues. In the Venetian and Elizabethan society, husbands and fathers were in strict control of the lives of their wives and daughters. In “The Merchant of Venice,” Portia is a victim of the subordinate position of women. Portia, like many other women, had limited freedom and her status and role was subject to the tyranny of patriarchy. Her rights were restricted legally, socially and economically. In Elizabethan society the power that woman had outside the family was limited by rules of inheritance. This is what limited Portia. Even though her father is dead, he still controls her destiny, “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.” This quote displays filial piety showing Portia is still doing as her father wanted, highlighting her heroism, in contrast to Jessica who betrays her father. However, when Bassano picked the lead casket, she escapes from her father’s will. Nevertheless Portia immediately subjects herself to her new husband’s authority, “This house, these servants, and this same myself / Are yours, my lord’s” This highlights how little influence women have in Venice. By doing as her father

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