Shakespeare Case

“Thyself shall see the act: For, as thou urgest justice, be assured thou shalt have justice more than shall desir’st.”(4.1.320-21.). Portia, in The Merchant of Venice, is talking to Shylock (the Jew) in this scene (disguised as a lawyer), telling him that he has no choice but to seek his bond of a pound of flesh or he will have to give his things and property to the duke and be converted to Christian. In this scene it looks as that the minority, women, are making the grave decisions in the way of as if they are the most important. In Shakespeare’s plays, the female roles are shorter, but still have a greater effect on the outcome of the play by the way women contributed in the 16th century, the roles of Nerissa and Portia, and the way Shakespeare integrated women in his plays.

In the 16th century women had great roles such as raising the children, doing all the housework and working in the factories. A lot of the women in this time actually disguised themselves as men to join the army and fight along sides their husbands. Sometimes women didn’t have husbands or families so they became surgeons or traveled with the pilgrims for new life. In the first ship to Roanoke out of the 70 passengers aboard about 43 to 48 were women. In history women have been playing a huge role in shaping our society sense the beginning of time. In Shakespeare’s time one of his most famous plays, The Merchant of Venice, showed how the roles of two women changed the outcome for all the characters.

The Merchant of Venice has two women who change the play by deceiving the men and taking the smart action to save Antonio’s life. Portia, in the play, is the lover of the character Bassanio, who is Antonio’s best friend. She has the more dominate female role as the maiden who is distant to marry by her past father. In the play, Portia helps the main characters a lot for example in Act 4 scene 1 she disguises herself as a lawyer to save the life of the main character