In act 2 of the merchant of Venice we get a first look at the three caskets, and the game that Portia’s father designed for choosing Portia’s suitor. In respect of her father’s dying wish, she chose to go along with the game. The game consisted of three caskets, one of gold, one of silver, and one of lead. Each casket had a message written on it, as well as something inside. The goal was to choose the casket which had Portia’s picture in it. The genius behind this was that it wasn’t just a game of chance, it was a game that determined the individual’s wit, personality, and ego. For the Prince of Morocco, it was clear that due to his ego, he would choose the gold casket. On the gold casket was written, “whoever chooses me will get what many men desire”. It was the most beautiful, and he “judged a book by its cover” and chose the gold casket. This represented his massive ego and was not a good fit for Portia. This was also an example of his greed, so he was not chosen for Portia.
The second casket was one of Silver. This one was chosen by the Prince of Aragon, this casket had inscribed “who chooseth me shall get what he deserves.” The prince thought that this meant he deserved Portia, and when he picked it, it was the wrong casket yet again. Finally, Bassanio comes along and chooses the lead casket, on top of that he laughs and calls choosing the gold and silver casket foolish since it was so obvious that it would be on the lead one. On the lead, one was inscribed that whoever chose that casket would have to risk and give everything he had. This is similar to what happens when it comes to marriage.
The genius behind this game for suitors is that it not only crosses out all of the dull, superficial suitors, but it also picked the right man for Portia. Bassanio was not only a smart man, but he was truly in love with Portia. The game was a test of character, and as I said earlier, intelligence. The person who was choosing the casket had to think clearly about his choice, the first two people had brushed off the lead casket right away, and immediately assumed it would be the silver or the gold casket. So that is how this game is genius, it chose the right type of person that fit Portia’s need, a selfless guy who really cares about her.
link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-4rAU2pfMyduCSDv4r66rIIiidCGyp-0slYhZyjdHns/edit?usp=sharing
Reflection: I chose to add this essay because this was my analysis of the 3 caskets and the game that Bassanio had to go through in order to win over Portia. Personally this was my favorite part of the book because it was like the “boy and girl get together”. But on top of that, it showed that Bassanio had to work hard to win in order to get to Portia.
College Writing Final Assessment 