The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare | Act 2, Scene 7
Summary
TLDRIn 'The Merchant of Venice,' the Prince of Morocco faces a challenge to win Portia's hand in marriage. He must choose between three caskets: gold, silver, and lead, each with a riddle. The gold casket's riddle suggests it holds what many men desire. The prince, valuing Portia highly, selects gold but finds a skull, symbolizing the danger of judging by appearances. His failure reveals that Portia's father's riddles are not mere chance but tests of character. Portia's relief at his departure hints at her own superficial judgment based on his 'complexion,' mirroring the prince's mistake.
Takeaways
- 📖 In Act 2 Scene 7 of 'The Merchant of Venice', the Prince of Morocco faces a challenge to win Portia's hand in marriage by choosing the correct casket.
- 📖 There are three caskets: gold, silver, and lead, each with a different inscription that serves as a clue to its contents.
- 📖 The gold casket promises what many men desire, the silver casket suggests receiving what one deserves, and the lead casket warns of giving and risking all.
- 📖 The Prince of Morocco dismisses the lead casket due to its threatening inscription and considers his own worth in relation to the silver casket.
- 📖 He chooses the gold casket, believing it to be the most fitting container for Portia's portrait, reflecting his own attraction to outward appearances.
- 📖 Upon opening the gold casket, the Prince finds a skull and a message that warns against being deceived by appearances, revealing his mistake.
- 📖 Portia is relieved by the Prince's failure, indicating that her father's choice of suitor involves more than mere chance.
- 📖 The caskets' inscriptions are designed to test a suitor's character and ability to interpret clues, rather than relying on luck.
- 📖 The Prince of Morocco's choice reflects his own preoccupation with appearances, which is the very trap the casket's inscription warns against.
- 📖 Portia judges the Prince based on his appearance and ethnicity, showing her own prejudice, which mirrors the Prince's initial assessment of the caskets.
- 📖 The Prince's departure is marked by Portia's comment on his complexion, highlighting the theme of superficial judgment in the play.
Q & A
What is the big challenge left by Portia's father in The Merchant of Venice?
-The challenge is to choose the correct casket among three: gold, silver, and lead, each containing a different message and only one contains Portia's portrait.
What are the inscriptions on the gold, silver, and lead caskets?
-The gold casket reads 'Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire', the silver casket 'Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves', and the lead casket 'Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath'.
Why does the Prince of Morocco eliminate the lead casket from consideration?
-He finds the inscription on the lead casket threatening and decides to eliminate it right away.
What does the Prince of Morocco believe he deserves and why does he choose the golden casket?
-He believes he deserves much and chooses the golden casket because he thinks Portia is something many men desire and it is symbolically worthy to contain her image.
What does the Prince of Morocco find inside the golden casket and what message does it convey?
-He finds a skull and a message cautioning against being seduced by outward appearances, stating 'All that glisters is not gold'.
How does Portia feel about the Prince of Morocco's failure to choose the correct casket?
-Portia expresses relief at his failure.
What does the selection of the caskets reveal about Portia's father's intentions?
-It reveals that Portia's father did not leave her fate to pure chance but provided clues in the inscriptions to guide the suitor to the correct choice.
How does the Prince of Morocco's choice of the casket reflect his own character?
-His choice reflects his preoccupation with outward appearances, as he is seduced by the outward appearance of the gold casket.
What does Portia's reaction to the Prince of Morocco's departure indicate about her?
-Portia judges the Prince by his appearance and is unable to look beyond his complexion, showing her own prejudice.
What is the significance of Portia's last line in relation to the Prince of Morocco's first line?
-Her last line mirrors his first, indicating her prejudice and inability to see beyond his appearance, which is a form of blindness to his actual qualities.
What is the moral lesson conveyed by the caskets' inscriptions and the Prince of Morocco's choice?
-The moral lesson is not to be seduced by outward appearances and to look beyond the surface to understand true value and character.
Outlines
🎭 The Merchant of Venice: The Casket Test
In Act 2, Scene 7 of 'The Merchant of Venice,' the Prince of Morocco faces a pivotal challenge set by Portia's father to win her hand in marriage. He must choose between three caskets: gold, silver, and lead. Each casket contains a riddle, and only one holds Portia's portrait. The gold casket promises what many men desire, the silver casket promises what one deserves, and the lead casket warns of giving and risking all. The Prince of Morocco dismisses the lead casket as too threatening and opts for the gold, believing it to be worthy of Portia. However, he finds a skull and a message warning against being deceived by appearances. His choice reflects his own preoccupation with outward appearances. Despite his ego, he is not inherently flawed but is judged by Portia for his appearance, showing a mutual prejudice that blinds them to each other's true nature.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Merchant of Venice
💡Portia
💡Caskets
💡Prince of Morocco
💡Inscriptions
💡Appearances
💡Deserves
💡Prejudice
💡Ego
💡Relief
💡Complexion
Highlights
The Prince of Morocco faces a challenge to marry Portia by choosing the correct casket.
There are three caskets: gold, silver, and lead, each with a hint.
The gold casket's hint: 'who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire'.
The silver casket's hint: 'who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves'.
The lead casket's hint: 'who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath'.
The Prince of Morocco eliminates the lead casket due to its threatening hint.
He considers his own worth and Portia's value in choosing the caskets.
The Prince chooses the gold casket, believing it to be symbolic of Portia.
Inside the gold casket, he finds a skull and a message about outward appearances.
The message cautions against being seduced by appearances: 'all that glisters is not gold'.
The Prince of Morocco departs, having failed the challenge.
Portia expresses relief at his failure, indicating her own prejudices.
The caskets' inscriptions are not just games but clues to Portia's portrait.
Portia's father did not leave her fate to chance but to the解读 of clues.
The Prince of Morocco is shown to be preoccupied with outward appearances.
Portia judges the Prince by his appearance, failing to see beyond his complexion.
The Prince's choice reflects his ego and superficiality.
Portia's prejudice is mirrored in her final line, showing her own inability to look beyond appearances.
Transcripts
[Music]
in act 2 scene 7 of The Merchant of
Venice back at Portia's house the Prince
of Morocco undertakes the big challenge
left by Porsha's father one he must
successfully pass in order to marry
Portia he is to choose between three
caskets or chests one made of gold one
made of silver and one of lead one of
the chests contains a portrait of Portia
and if the suitor chooses that chest he
can marry her but if he chooses the
wrong chest he goes home in shame each
chest is inscribed with a hint the gold
one reads who chooseth me shall gain
what many men desire the silver one
reads who chooseth me shall get as much
as he deserves the lead one reads who
chooseth me must give and hazard all he
hath the Prince of Morocco deliberates
over the chests and considers carefully
their inscriptions he finds the lead
casket threatening and eliminates in
right away then he thinks of what he may
deserve and he thinks he deserves much
but he questions whether that extends to
Portia he settles on the golden casket
because he believes Portia is the thing
many men desire and he decides the
golden casket is symbolically the only
one worthy to contain her image so he
chooses gold when he unlocks the casket
he finds a skull and a message
cautioning against being seduced by
outward appearances all that glisters is
not gold he bids Portia adieu and leaves
as Portia expresses relief at his
failure with the inscriptions on the
caskets it becomes apparent that
Porsha's father has not entrusted his
daughter's fate to a game of pure chance
these inscriptions provide clues to the
location of her portrait and the man who
can figure out the clues correctly will
be the one worthy of Porsha's hand the
Prince of Morocco is absolutely not that
man seduced by the outward appearance of
the gold casket his choice indicates his
own preoccupation with outward
appearances as evidenced by his choice
of casket yet Portia has judged the
prince
Morocco by his appearance as well when
he departs she says let all of his
complexion choose me so unlike the other
suitors she dislikes the Prince of
Morocco is not actually as repellant as
the drunken fighting inconstant lot that
have vied for her affections
he has no evident character flaws beyond
his ego she has been unable to look
beyond his complexion from the moment
she met him which is evident from the
way her last line mirrors his first her
prejudice has made her blind to any good
points or flaws the prince may actually
possess
[Music]
Посмотреть больше похожих видео
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare | Act 2, Scene 1
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare | Summary & Analysis
The Merchant of Venice Story in English | Stories for Teenagers | @EnglishFairyTales
Indarapatra at Sulayman | Epiko ng Mindanao
Gold/Silver: What Drives the Silver Market? Three Things to Watch - Metals Minute w/ Phil Streible
Hamlet - Video Summary
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)