THE
CASKET SCENE
The
Merchant of Venice
The Casket
Scene in ‘The Merchant of Venice’ appears in the middle of the play in ACT III,
Scene 2. It is one of the most important scenes as far as dramatic importance
is concerned.
v THE
STORY OF CASKETS:
Portia and her father lived in Belmont in Italy. Before his
death Portia’s father had prepared three caskets. One was made of gold, the
other of silver and the third of lead. In one of the caskets, there was a
picture of Portia. As per the condition of the will, the suitor who chooses the
right casket containing Portia’s picture could marry her. Another condition was
that every suitoris expected to go to the church and take oath that if he
chooses the wrong casket; he would never marry any woman in his life.
v SUITORS
OF PORTIA:
Portia was a young, beautiful and intelligent princess. Being a princess she was also very rich.
Hence, many suitors wanted to marry her. Three suitors, namely, the Prince of
Morocco, the Prince of Aragon and Bassanio arrive at Belmont to try their luck
in order to marry Portia.
v INSCRIPTIONS
ON THE CASKETS:
Portia’s father had written some lines on the caskets to
guide the suitors to choose the right casket.
Golden Casket – “Hewho chooses me shall gain what many men
desire.”
Silver Casket –“He who chooses me shall gain as much as he
deserves.”
v PRICE
OF MOROCCO:
The Prince
of Morocco was attracted by the outward appearance of the golden casket. He
thought that the picture of Portia must be in the golden casket only. He opened
it and he was sad to find a human skull inside the casket.
v PRINCE
OF ARAGON:
The Prince of Aragon
rejected the lead casket as it was not looking good. He also rejected the
golden casket thinking that many people would like gold. He wanted to do
something different. He chose the silver casket, but he found a picture of an
idiot inside the casket.
v BASSANIO:
Portia was a little nervous
when Bassanio comes to choose the casket. By his internal sense of judgment,
Bassanio chooses the lead casket and when he opens it he finds a picture of
beautiful Portia inside it. Hence, he makes the right choice.
v DRAMATIC
IMPORTANCE OF THE CASKET SCENE:
1.
Shakespeare wanted to deliver a moral to the
audience by presenting this scene in the play. The moral is:
“All
that glitters is not gold.”
2.
The scene presents Portia as an ideal and faithful daughter who obeys the
will of his father even after his death.
3.
This scene also releases the message, “True
live always wins.”
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