Women in "The Merchant of Venice"

Characters of Women in "The Merchant of Venice"

In his relatively short play, "The Merchant of Venice", Shakespear introduces very new and bright ideas such as women's rights and their equality with men which were totally unacceptable for the people of the Elizabethan time. In that male dominated world women were considered no better than cattle or land and to talk directly about their rights and needs was useless and even impossible. However, Shakespeare's talent and wit exceeded that impossibility and enlightened people's minds toward accepting the new ideas they were to face in the future. In this play, Shakespear introduces three female characters that though few in number, are powerful in their effect on the audience and very influential in the course of the events happening in the play. The characters of these three women-Portia, Jessica, and Nerissa -are much related to the roles they have in the play.

The first and most influential woman in the play is Portia. She is first introduced and described to the audience by Bassanio with such words as...