Table of Contents
- 1 Who do Portia and Nerissa disguise themselves as?
- 2 Why did Jessica disguise herself as a man?
- 3 How does Portia and Nerissa relationship differ from Antonio and Bassanio’s?
- 4 Why do Nerissa and Portia disguise themselves?
- 5 Why did Portia and Nerissa dress up as men?
- 6 Why did Jessica dress up as a man?
Who do Portia and Nerissa disguise themselves as?
Portia and Nerissa go to Venice disguised as a lawyer and clerk. In the courtroom, the Duke asks Shylock to show some compassion and Bassanio offers 6000 ducats to repay Antonio’s loan. Portia appears, disguised as Balthazar.
Why did Jessica disguise herself as a man?
Jessica displays how controlled women were at the time where they couldn’t even go out freely and so therefore she disguises herself into a boy. The fact that Jessica is forced to disguise herself as a male in order to gain freedom from her father and run away shows the weakness of women in Shakespeare’s time.
How does Portia plan to disguise herself as a man?
Portia, in other words, says she will talk like a teenaged boy, walk with a manly stride, and speak, as a man would, of fighting. She says she knows many “raw tricks” about bragging like a man, showing she has been a keen observer of male behavior.
What scene does Portia disguise herself?
Summary: Act IV, scene i, lines 397–453 After Shylock leaves, the duke invites Portia, still in the disguise of a young lawyer, to dinner. Portia declines, saying that she must leave immediately for Padua. As she leaves, the duke tells Antonio to reward the young law clerk, since it was he who saved Antonio’s life.
How does Portia and Nerissa relationship differ from Antonio and Bassanio’s?
They are different because Bassanio is Antonio’s friend, but Nerissa is Portia’s servant that also plays the role of her friend. Bassanio and Antonio’s relationship towards each other was dry and boring, and Nerissa and Portia’s relationship towards each other is a little more joyful and exciting.
Why do Nerissa and Portia disguise themselves?
This very sentiment is the primary motivation for the cross dressing of Portia and Nerissa in The Merchant of Venice. Portia understands that in order to help her husband’s friend Antonio, she must dress like a man in order to escape the strict limitations placed on women at the time (Belsey 639).
Why does Portia want to disguise herself and Nerissa?
Why did Portia have to disguise herself?
Portia was disguised as a lawyer who came to defend Antonio during his trial in Venice. This allowed Shylock an opportunity to take revenge on him for Shylock hated him and had approached the duke to give judgement in his favor to cut out a pound of Antonio’s flesh as per the agreement in the contract.
Why did Portia and Nerissa dress up as men?
Portia and Nerissa dressing as men comes back to the point of women having very few rights. In the era it would have been strictly forbidden for a women to hold a position of power such as lawyer and unless they were involved in a case it also would have been forbidden for them to enter a courtroom.
Why did Jessica dress up as a man?
It was Jessica who did this first when she left her fathers house. She did this to disguise herself in amongst the people celebrating the masque ball she becomes a torchbearer for Lorenzo, he says, “Descend, for you must be my torchbearer. ” Portia and Nerissa dressed as men so that they could go into the court and humiliate Shylock.
How many women have dressed up as men in the play?
All three women have a one point in the play dressed up as men. It was Jessica who did this first when she left her fathers house. She did this to disguise herself in amongst the people celebrating the masque ball she becomes a torchbearer for Lorenzo, he says, “Descend, for you must be my torchbearer.
How is Jessica the opposite of Portia?
Jessica is the opposite of Portia. She lacks the modesty of Portia in her expression of love for Lorenzo. She is bold and rash in her actions. Jessica is disloyal to her father and cheats him by eloping with Lorenzo and taking her father’s earnings with her.