Daughters in Elizabethan England were predominantly subject to their father's wishes. This is particularly evident regarding the female protagonist, Portia, who must obey her father even after his death: Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay O me, the word "choose"! I can neither choose who I would like, nor reject who I don't like; thus the will of a living daughter is restrained by the will of a dead father. Isn't it difficult, Nerrissa, that I can't choose one or reject any? What appears to be ordinary prose is permeated by poetic devices such as repetition and internal rhyme that emphasize Portia's lament. “Choose” is repeated three times, and the internal rhyme of “choose” and “reject” is also repeated. The word "testament" is repeated and appears to be a pun on "last will and testament", which serves to further reinforce the finality of her father's ruling. This rhetorical style appears to be a precursor to the later court scene in which Antony is saved by Portia's ingenuity and subtlety of speech. Harley Granville-Barker said in her essay on the character of Portia that; "until the end she expands her beautiful freedom, growing in authority and dignity, new touches of humor enlighten her." This is interesting to the modern reader because he has no freedom in the sense we understand it. Portia's choices are initially governed by her deceased father to the extent that he limits the choice of her husband, who in turn will assume control of her finances and oversee her future decisions. One could see from the point of view that this is not necessarily a bad thing, rather it is Nerrissa who says: "Your father has always been virtuous,...so the lottery he devised...undoubtedly will never be chosen by everyone justly except from him whom you will justly love." (The Merchant of Venice, Act 1:3, lines 27 - 31 page 429) So is Portia's father giving Portia the freedom not to choose? After all, there is "freedom from and freedom from"#, and Portia is free from the pressure of unwanted suitors interested only in her fortune. This is due to "the lottery which he devised in these three chests of gold, silver and lead" which probably, by the nature of their puzzle, discourage this form of litigation. It is true that the suitors whom she and Nerrissa ridiculed were all destroyed by this conundrum, and that Portia's final marriage to Bassanio, also chosen by her, is well-matched. It is possible that this is some sort of cautionary allegory aimed at women to instruct them that they must obey their fathers, because they know better. However, it could be argued that Portia is not a mere instrument of her father's will and that in fact, she takes liberty by means so delicate that they are barely perceptible. This is evident in Act Three, Scene Two, where it is up to Bassanio, her favored suitor, to make his decision. Strangely, Portia commands, "Let the music play while she makes her choice" (The Merchant of Venice, Act 3:2, line 43, page 439), this she does not do for any other suitor, and the reasons she gives do not they do. they seem as important as the fact that the song contains a potential clue to solving the riddle: Tell me where fantasy originates, or in the heart, or in the head? How was it generated, how was it nurtured? Answer, answer. It is generated by the eyes. .With the gaze nourished, and the imagination diesIn the cradle in which it lies. Let's all ring the bell of imagination. I'll start: ding, dong, bell. Ding, dong, bell. First, and most noticeably, the first three lines of the song ends with words that rhyme with lead, it's as if Bassanio was unconsciouslyencouraged towards the correct choice. The second is the subject of the song; which is "imaginative". It implies a "superficial or transitory feeling of attraction", made clear in the first lines of the second stanza, where it is discouraged. The rhymes here are about "eyes", "dies" and "lies", all things that can have a double meaning. "Eyes" are the only place where this superficial love pervades, not in the heart or head, and this love is short-lived once "the gaze (is) nourished". "dies" can be said to emphasize the idea of ​​sexual love when taken as a play on words meaning "culmination", and "lies" which can have several meanings, literally "lying down" or lying down in death, also lies as in telling a lie, implying that this is what aesthetics can do, and lying as in sleeping, underlining once again the sordid aspect of "fantasy". These combine to give Bassanio a hint as to which coffin to choose, so Portia was not entirely passive in the decision-making process. Jessica is different in that she actively opposes her father's wishes. She is also different in that her father doesn't seem to treat her the way Portia's father did. Shylock is more interested in money and, as Lancelot points out, "...behold, the sins of the father must be laid upon the sons" (The Merchant of Venice, Act 3:5, line 31, page 442), to which she responds jokingly: "you are not a good member of the Commonwealth, because by converting Jews into Christians you increase the price of pork (The Merchant of Venice, Act 3:5, line 57, page 442)". His words have an almost biblical sound, underlining the sense of their separation through religion, and also showing the general aversion towards the Jews and their "sins". Jessica shows her awareness of money and business; he is parodying his father's concerns to make light of the situation. Jessica proves to be witty, just as Portia is when talking about her suitors. Jessica, however, deceives her father, despite being outwardly compliant. For example, when Lancelot tells her to prepare to flee, she tells her father, "His words were 'Farewell mistress,' and nothing else." (The Merchant of Venice, Act 2:5, line 10, page 434 ) and her last words to his back: "Goodbye; and if my fortune is not thwarted, / I have a father, you a lost daughter." (The Merchant of Venice, Act 2:5, line 55, page 434) they do not appear to show any emotion during the separation, and the word "fortune" accentuates the idea of ​​women being used as merchandise and what he is running away from. Is he also playing with the word "crossed" in relation to his subsequent sex change? It is important that both Jessica and Portia's disguises help them escape male domination of the world, but it shows that they still have to look male to do so, it is the classic path of the Shakespearean heroine to dress as a man to achieve her ends . Portia acknowledges this when she says; “They will [see] us but with such a habit / That they will think we are fulfilled / with what we lack” (The Merchant of Venice, Act 3:4 line 60, page 442), he knows that women are not capable of being taken seriously in the male-dominated fields of medicine and law. She is ironic, knowing that she lacks nothing, but also knowing that her intelligence and intelligence could not be recognized as that of a woman. Giving rings to husbands by filming them in disguise is perhaps not as cruel as it initially seems, Jessica and Portia simply demonstrate to their husbands that outward appearances can be deceptive. This is a significant theme in the play and an undercurrent to other aspects of the plot such as in the coffin scene and Shylock's speech about the Jews. After all, Portia's speech on the quality of mercy, (in, 2001)