Portia in Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice and...

Portia in Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice and Abigail of Marlowes the Jew of Malta Portia and Abigail are two characters with very different values. Portia in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice remained true to her religion, and her father’s wishes throughout the play. Abigail, on the other hand, changed religions and disobeyed her father. However, the writers used these two women to make similar statements about religion. Portia represented the quintessential Christian. Abigail of Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta, was more of an ethically ambiguous character, but it can still be argued that she was the most principled character in the play. Both Shakespeare and Marlowe used the daughter character to represent the ideal human†¦show more content†¦Already Portia clearly puts her sense of duty ahead of her desires, as a good Christian should. Later, in the trial scene, Portia again showed her love of the law, but attempted to use the law with mercy. She gave Shylock a choice as she judged the trial. She said he may choose either to be merciful to Antonio or the court would abide by the law- word for word. Shylock did not accept her offer because he felt that he was entitled to the justice of the law. Portia would never have broken the law, but she was able to find a way to use it to her advantage. â€Å"This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood; The words expressly are ‘a pound of flesh,’† (Merchant of Venice, IV.i.306-307). Portia found the loophole in the bond that none of the other characters could see. It was a triumphant moment for her because she was able to release Antonio from his debt while still being utterly just and fair. â€Å"He shall have justice and his bond,† she explained to the court (Merchant of Venice, IV.i.339). She is was the same time more lenient and s tricter to the letter of the law than Shylock and defeated him on his own terms as well as by Christian terms. When she offered Shylock a chance to be merciful before she used the full extent of the law against him, Shakespeare’s audience would have seen that as evidence ofShow MoreRelated Father-Daughter Relationships in Sidney’s The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia, Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta, and Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice3187 Words   |  13 PagesFather-Daughter Relationships in Sidney’s The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia, Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta, and Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice Justification for the subjugation of females to males during the sixteenth century came from a variety of sources. Ranging from the view that God gave Adam authority over Eve as penalty for the fall, to a belief in the superiority of a husbands’ physical strength over that of his wife, attempts at rationalization of the restricted freedom of women