Perhaps one of William Shakespeare's most famous comedies, The Merchant of Venice presents the game of three coffins with the high stakes of marriage to the rich and beautiful Portia if you want it right, or a life of solitude if you fail. The character Bassanio takes on the precarious challenge and, after making the right choice, delivers one of the most popular speeches in the play. The speech is widely analyzed for its peculiar language which lends itself to speculation about what Bassanio really thinks about Portia and winning the game. After a careful reading of the speech, Bassanio's dialogue can be interpreted as expressing his fear of Portia's overwhelming beauty and being married to such an independent and wealthy woman. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Inside the winning coffin is a photo of Portia, which Bassanio takes before beginning his speech. Bassanio announces: “The painter plays spider and has woven / A golden net to unravel the hearts of men / Faster than gnats in cobwebs” (III.ii.121-123). Initially, this statement reads as a compliment to Portia's great beauty, stating that her hair is so seductive that it captures the hearts of all men. But trapping men's hearts has sinister connotations, potentially suggesting that Bassanio believes Portia lures men with her beauty and condemns them to a life alone when they inevitably fail. This creates a characterization of Portia similar to Medusa as she uses her beauty to ensure that these men can never commit to another woman in the future. As the speech continues, Bassanio remains gazing at Portia's portrait, whether with admiration or apprehension. it's not entirely clear. Bassanio states: “But his eyes… / How could he see to make them? Having made one, / I think he should have power to steal both of his own / And leave himself unfurnished” (III.ii.123-126). Bassanio expects that the power of Portia's eyes will prevent the painter from completing the portrait, which once again leads the audience to wonder whether this statement is meant to be a compliment or an admission of fear. The way Bassanio describes her eyes as having the power to permanently steal a man's gaze reaffirms Medusa's characterization of Portia. Upon meeting Medusa's eyes, any man would be instantly turned to stone and prevented from returning home. Bassanio assumes that Portia's eyes would have a similar power and expects that the painter, looking into Portia's eyes, would never be able to break her gaze and complete the portrait. Although it could be argued that the intention of Bassanio's statement is to compliment the beauty of Portia's eyes, the story of Medusa served to warn of the power that comes with such profound beauty. When Bassanio finally breaks his fixation on the portrait, he begins to compare the real Portia to the portrait of Portia in the coffin. Bassanio pronounces: “Yet look how far / The substance of my praise harms this shadow / By underestimating it, until now this shadow / Limps behind the substance” (III.ii.126-129) . Bassanio announces to Portia that neither his portrait nor his praise of her beauty does justice to the true beauty of the current Portia. If Bassanio's previous remarks are actually intended to characterize Portia as Medusa, his statement takes on a very negative meaning. Since the image is only an imitation of Portia, the real Portia would be all the more frightening to Bassanio. If the portrait has the power to trap the hearts of men..