Portia VS Jessica

Hwa Chong Institution

Secondary Two Language Arts Term 3

William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice

Name: Chua Wen Feng (02)                         Class: 2O3                             Date: 19 July 2011
Kang Jun Yi (08)
Tan Wei Jin (24)
Kevyn Yong (32)

Let’s Discuss!

What qualities do you look for in a future wife? Why are these qualities important to you? Tell your friends about it!

• Smart
• Beautiful
• Faithful
• Sweet
• Caring
• Cheerful
• Understanding
• Generous

Questions:

Would you consider Portia as your ideal wife candidate? Give reasons and evidence to support your answers. Consider Portia’s positive and negative qualities in your response.

Positive Traits:

Positive qualities	Evidence (Cite Act, Scene, Line)
Generous	Act 3 Scene 2 Lines 307 – 308 She offers to pay 20 times the amount in a bid to save Antonio.
Has a good sense of humour	Act 1 Scene 2 Lines 75 – 80 When reviewing her suitors, Portia shows her funny and witty side describing them.
Highly Intelligent	Act 4 Scene 1 Lines 255 – 257 She cross-dresses as a lawyer and saves Antonio’s life, outwitting Shylock.
Beautiful, Attractive	Act 1 Scene 2 Lines 32 – 34 Princes all over the world wishes to marry her as they found her very attractive.

Negative Traits:

Negative qualities	Evidence (Cite Act, Scene, Line)
Racist	Act 2 scene 1 lines 1 -7 Portia is racist towards the Prince of Morocco but does not show it to him.
Sensible	Yet, she accepts Prince of Morocco with courtesy and only shows her comments and dislikes  when she is alone with Jessica.
Manipulative	Act 3 Scene 2 Portia lets Bassanio know that the man he gave the ring to was her, and scolds him for lack of love. Portia wants him to know that she’ll be watching.
Ruthless	Act 4 Scene 1 Line 337 She forbids Shylock to retract the bond and enacts an ancient Venetian Law against him

Questions:

Would you consider Jessica as your ideal wife candidate? Give reasons and evidence to support your answers. Consider Portia’s positive and negative qualities in your response.

Positive Traits:

Positive qualities	Evidence (Cite Act, Scene, Line)
Caring	Act 2 Scene 3 Line 15 Jessica bids farewell to Launcelot, thanking him for how much he has impacted her life
Smart, Resourceful	Act 2 Scene 4 Jessica comes up with a plan to escape with Lorenzo
Morally Sensitive	Act 2 Scene 3 Line 17,19 She feels ashamed to be her father’s daughter, but recognizes that she has a different nature from her father.

Negative Traits:

Negative qualities	Evidence (Cite Act, Scene, Line)
Disrespectful, Unfaithful	Act 2 Scene 6 Lines 49-50 Jessica robs her father of all the jewels and money she can carry to marry Lorenzo. She also took her mother’s ring and exchanged it for a monkey.
Rebellious, Disobedient	Act 2 Scene 3 Jessica plans to elope with Lorenzo, which would have been against her father’s wishes.
Cowardly	Jessica hides her identity to hide her shame from running away from her father
Has a low self-esteem	Jessica is willing to be Lorenzo’s “torch bearer”

Class Discussion:

For Love or Money?

1. Between Portia and Jessica, who will make a better wife?
2. How important is money in the relationships between the couples? Do you think Bassanio truly loves Portia? Do you think Lorenzo truly loves Jessica?
3. Is money important in a relationship, in your opinion?
4. Consider the ‘transactional’ element observed in the relationships between the couples. Do you think that there is an upward trend of relationships/marriages valuing money over other qualities?