Portia in The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is a comedy play written by William Shakespeare that has antisemitism that presents questions like whether should we consider justice first or mercy. Antisemitism was a common thing in England during Shakespeare's time, but I will be focusing on a woman Shakespeare portrayed in his play, on my writing.

Women in Shakespeare's time were subject to a patriarchal system which means that men held the power in society and women were excluded from any kind of power. Women were not the ones to choose something or someone, but they were meant to be chosen only by others. They did not have the free will to choose or do something they would like to, but these were decided by someone else.

Shakespeare's Portia in The Merchant of Venice seems contradictory because of the era she lives in as she has the power and knowledge to control the court and change everyone's thoughts about a critical issue. She is more competent than the men around her, she was not educated to be an attorney, but she has the knowledge to change the course of the court and clears someone's name. She had to do it undercover, by diguising as a man. She not only disguises so well that no one understand, but she also thinks so wisely that she saves a life.

Portia is a woman beyond of her time. She is portrayed as an independent woman who is able to make better defences than men at court. Thanks to her clever mind and wisdom, she saves Antonio's life. Even the judge did not think of the issue of bleeding but she had thought of it, as a woman who did not have any education unlike men and that judge. Even though she is clever enough to plead someone innocent, she does it undercover, by disguising as a man since it was not the thing of women to do such pleads at the courtroom. Women were clever enough to save a life, but not clever enough to have education.

She is aware of her limitations and what limits her, but instead of fighting and rebelling against them, she finds ways to get over them and make her own path in which she performs actions to make what is in her mind come true. Portia does think dependently on things but somehow things work out in favour of her accordingly she gets victory as the end of the day. She marrys the person she wants, loves and she becomes an attorney to defend a man whom she sees as innocent since he is a friend of her lover. A creative mind with creative actions.

She makes everyone realise the actual point of Antonio's case and saves her. Even though men were literate, they could not understand what they read, but Portia did and so that she saved Antonio's life. Women were deprived of everything and were limited, but men could not achieve to silence and stop women's mind.