Of the many and varied plots woven throughout Shakespeare's comedy The Merchant of Venice, the story of Bassanio's rival affections for his friend Antonio and for his eventual wife Portia is one of the most significant. Bassanio begins the story firmly in the affection and influence of his friend Antonio, the Venetian merchant who seems to overshadow all the action of the play. His courtship of Portia is nothing more than an attempt to gain her wealth and he has no intention or desire to fall in love with her. This makes the story all the more fascinating as Shakespeare shows the subtle change in Bassanio's affections from Antonio to his wife and the competition between the two as they attempt to gain, maintain, or reestablish his love. Antonio firmly controls Bassanio at the beginning of the play, but Portia triumphs in the end and wins her husband's devotion. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay Antonio is the first main character to be introduced. He is depicted as more serious and morose than his companions: “He seems older than the friends around him and detached from their thoughtless extravagance” (Muir 36). He only seems to cheer up when Bassanio appears. Antonio emerges as the most important character in the play: “the play is aptly named after the merchant, who is its center” (Evans 56). Everything moves around him. Bassanio's potential marriage depends on Antonio's approval and assistance. The villain is determined to take revenge on this particular merchant and no other. From the start, Portia has formidable competition in Antonio. When Bassanio first enters the room, he presents Antonio with his dilemma, establishing the fact that Antonio is both his friend and his mentor. Antonio has Bassanio's trust as a confidant, despite an apparent age disparity. Bassanio has already told him about his financial situation: “You do not know, Antonio, / How much I have disabled the mining estate” (Merchant of Venice, 1.1.121-122). He willingly tells Antonio his whole plan to win the hand of the beautiful Portia in order to secure his wealth. He wants Antonio's approval as much as his help. He already owes Antonio money, but as a friend and not as a business partner. Antonio obviously appreciates Bassanio's friendship and dependence: "My purse, my person, my most extreme means / Lies all unlocked for your occasions" (MV 1.1.138-139). He does not fear Bassanio's shift in loyalties from friend to wife. Bassanio's initial opinion of Portia when he describes her to Antonio is far from affectionate. He outwardly admires her a lot, but sees her more as a conquest and a means to financial security than as a woman whose love can be won. He describes her as “like a golden fleece / Which makes her the seat of strength of Belmont Colchos, / And many Jasons come for her” (MV 1.1.170-172). She is a prize to be won. The scene shifts to this golden fleece up for grabs and Portia is the first introduced. She is represented in this scene as a woman with intelligence and opinions, but without freedom. She is trapped by her late father's decree to be married to the man who will guess the correct coffin containing her portrait. She has no choice in the matter and must comply with her father's wishes in a world governed by men: "she can neither choose who she wants – her choice has already been mentioned – nor refuse who she does not don’t like” (Parrott 141). She shows that she has her own mind and desires. She and Nerissa humorously make fun of some of her potential suitors. She ends with amemory of Bassanio: “He, of all the men whom my foolish eyes ever looked upon, was the most deserving” (MV 1.2.108-110). But despite her attraction to him, she cannot choose him and is forced to watch other men compete for her hand. Both scenes establish the fact that Bassanio is much loved and that two main characters greatly desire his affection. Antonio has the certainty of controlling Bassanio's love as both a friend and a benefactor. Portia's situation is less secure. She cannot act on her attraction to him because her father's will requires that she wait for suitors. At this point early in the play, Bassanio's loyalties are firmly in the hands of Antonio and not Portia. But it won't be long before things start to change. Antonio has an easy chance to gain further favor with Bassanio when Bassanio asks him for a loan of three thousand dutas to equip himself for his court expedition. Antonio is forced to borrow money from the unscrupulous Jew Shylock, the payment being the forfeiture of his own life. Bassanio does not like this situation: “You will not seal such a bond for me! / I prefer to dwell on my necessity” (MV 1.3.150-151). But Antonio makes a deal, agreeing to give a pound of his own flesh if he cannot repay his loan at the agreed time. Bassanio is now even more indebted to his friend. If he wins Portia, he will have to thank Antonio. And if he doesn't succeed, he risks endangering Antonio, whose debt to Shylock could cost him his life: "we must also hope that [Bassanio] wins her and her gold for the sake of 'Antonio' ​​(Evans 57). Even Portia's courtship is overshadowed by Antonio's situation. Bassanio leaves for Belmont to woo the lady. He is now far from Venice and has left Antonio behind. Portia has her chance to win her lord. Despite Bassanio's intentions, he actually seems to fall in love with the lady. His money definitely helps the situation, but he really seems to love it. Portia is also completely in love. Now is his chance to take matters into his own hands and earn Bassanio's complete loyalty. This is the first significant instance in which she begins to take control. There has been some disagreement as to whether the song Portia plays while Bassanio tries to choose the right coffin is actually meant to be a clue or if it is simply a clue. a poetic accompaniment to his thoughts. Many scholars believe that Portia has too much honor to even give her any guidance on which coffin to choose: “Portia was a woman of her word. To imagine that she renounced her oath would harm her moral stature” (Wilson 100). However, whether this is true or not, Portia has found the man she wants to marry and while she isn't ready to tell him which coffin to choose, she has gotten to the point where leaving her fate to chance seems to be an unnecessary decision. risk. She plays music in which many words rhyme with "lead" and "Let us all toll the death knell of fancy" (MV 3.2.70), warning him not to choose the fanciest coffins. Bassanio gives some indication that he understood the meaning of the song, repeating certain rhyming words in his later comments: "The echoes of these rhyming words clearly indicate that Bassanio actually heard Portia's song and the important clues that she provides. » (Rasmussen 12). There's no doubt that Portia is smart enough to think of this way to help win over her lord without actually going against her father's orders. She certainly has a manipulative spirit, as we see later in the play. Whether through his own means or those of Portia,Bassanio makes the right choice and is permanently linked to his lady. She has her chance to truly begin to win his ultimate love. At this point, Bassanio still considers Antonio his greatest friend, but he is now torn on two fronts. Portia gives him her ring: "Which, when thou partest, lose or give, / Let it portend the ruin of thy love / And be my point of view to exclaim over thee" (MV 3.2.172-174). She gives Bassanio an indication of his desire to claim her loyalty. Bassanio seems sincere when he swears to protect the ring, as a symbol of his loyalty to her above all others: “But when this ring / Parts of this finger, then separates life from here; / Oh, then dare to say that Bassanio is dead! » (VM 3.2.183-185). But it doesn't take long for Bassanio to remember his former allegiance to Antonio. Bassanio discovers that Antonio's investments have all failed. His attentions are immediately returned to Antonio: "my dearest friend, the kindest man, / The best conditioned and indefatigable spirit / In doing courtesies" (MV 3.2.292-294). Antonio writes to him and tells him of his misfortunes and says to him: “if your love does not persuade you to come, do not leave my letter” (MV 3.2.320-321). He reminds Bassanio of his previous loyalty. Antonio still has a hold on Bassanio. Now that he will die giving his flesh to Shylock, Bassanio will always be indebted to him. In a way, this situation works to Antonio's advantage in his play for Bassanio's affection: "He foresees that his sacrifice will forever cast Portia's love for Bassanio into the shadow of his own more great love” (Hamill 232). However, Portia began to take more control of the situation: "First go with me to church and call me wife, / And then go to Venice to your friend!" » (VM 3.2.303-304). She plans to turn Antonio's trial in her favor. Portia's plan is clever on several levels. When Bassanio leaves immediately married to Portia, she understands that her loyalty lies above all with Antonio. She recognizes that to gain Bassanio's respect for herself over her friend, she must first earn Antonio's respect. She gives Bassanio more than enough money to repay the debt, which would not only put Bassanio more firmly in her affections, but also subordinate Antonio to her. When she considers dressing like young men (MV 3.363), she is essentially considering infiltrating Antonio's world and, by saving him, rising above him. In Venice, Portia will make her second attempt to conquer Bassanio. She appears at the trial and, in short, displays keen intelligence and cunning when she outwits Shylock at his own game and demands justice from the evil Jew. Antonio is saved and almost bows down in gratitude to the young lawyer who rescued him. Bassanio is also grateful. Portia, however, is not yet satisfied. During the trial, Bassanio makes it very clear which person he loves most when he tells Antonio: "Life itself, my wife and all the world / Are not with me esteemed above your life" ( MV 4.1.282-283). Portia's retort is scathing, although Bassanio does not acknowledge the full implication coming from an unknown doctor of law: "Your wife would little thank you for it / If she were there to hear you make an offer" (286-287 ). The simple gratitude of Antonio and Bassanio is not enough for him. She designs a test for Bassanio. As a gift for her services, she asks Bassanio for the ring she herself gave him and made him swear to protect as a symbol of his love for her. She demands it from him, hoping that he will not give it up and thus prove his devotion to her. At first, he seems to pass the test: "This ring was given to me by my wife, / And whenshe put it, she made me swear / Never to sell it, nor give it away, nor lose it” (MV 4.1.440-442). Portia is satisfied and takes her leave. However, Antonio demonstrates here that he still has influence over Bassanio, at least to some extent. He urges her to give up the ring: “Let her merits and my love be valued against the command of your wife” (MV 4.1.448-449). Much to Portia's dismay, Bassanio listens to his friend and abandons the ring. She has not yet imposed herself on Antonio. Antonio was given a surprising second chance. Even though his moment of rather poetic self-sacrifice is now lost, thanks to Portia's intervention, he still benefits from Bassanio's affection. But it won't last long. It is noteworthy that when, in his gratitude, Antonio asked the still disguised Portia what she would get from him for his services, Portia demanded his gloves: “Give me your gloves; I will carry them for you” (MV 4.2.424). Portia takes over the position of an unconscious Antonio. She will become for Bassanio what Antonio was. Finally, the scene returns to Belmont, where Portia is in her element and makes her third and final major play for Bassanio's love. She arrives just before her husband and Antonio and prepares to receive them and carry out the final act of her plans. She is very aware that Bassanio still carries Antonio's devotion above her own, but she now wears Antonio's gloves, figuratively and literally, and she irrevocably owes both men: "Portia gives more than what Bassanio can never repay, first to him, then to Antonio” (Newman 26). She is ready to finish triumphantly. With Nerissa's help, Portia brings Antonio into a state of abject terror and utter guilt for abandoning the ring. He regrets it deeply: “Well, I would have done better to cut off my left hand / And swear that I lost the ring defending it” (MV 5.1.177-178). Acting surprised, Portia's anger is righteous and eloquent. She reminds Bassanio of his wishes and his love for her: If you had known the virtue of the ring Or the half of its dignity that gave the ring, Or your own honor to contain the ring, You would not have then separated from the ring. (MV 5.1.199-202)Antonio attempts to justify himself, using Antonio's trial as an excuse. Antonio is also reduced to asking the indignant lady for forgiveness: “I dare to be bound again, / My soul in confiscation, so that your lord / Never again betrays the faith wisely” (MV 5.1.251-253 ). He is willing to offer himself to Portia, perhaps out of guilt, for his role in the situation. He seems no longer able to fight to maintain Bassanio's loyalty: "Antonio steps forward and finally cedes his rights to Bassanio" (Boose 249). Portia makes it very clear that she is in control: “Then you will be his surety. Give him this, / And tell him to keep it better than the other” (MV 5.1.254-255). She lets Antonio know that she understands who pushed Bassanio to abandon the ring before. Bassanio gets another chance to keep the ring. Portia adds an additional comment, almost as an aside to Antonio, telling him that his investments have indeed been successful. How she learned this is a mystery that must, ultimately, be attributed to her new position as the play's dominant figure. Antonio can only say: "I'm stupid!" » (VM 5.1.279). Portia has completed her quest. Portia changed dramatically from the beginning to the end of the play: "there was a glaring incongruity between the lead role of the mermaid and the role she plays as the liberator of her husband's friend" (Parrott 143) . She assumes Antonio's role as the central character through the three shifts in power demonstrated in the coffin scene, the trial, and the ring game and ultimately assumes full control. It should be noted that the last words. 1962.