Saturday, July 19, 2014

What was inscribed on the three caskets?

In Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Portia's father wrote in his will that whoever wishes to marry Portia must solve a riddle of three small caskets—one gold, one silver, and one lead—each of which has a cryptic inscription.
If the suitor chooses the casket with Portia's portrait inside, he receives Portia's hand in marriage.
If the suitor fails to choose the casket containing Portia's portrait, he agrees never to reveal his choice to another of Portia's suitors and to remain a bachelor for the rest of his life.
The Prince of Morocco, the first of Portia's suitors to agree to the terms of the will, is led to a room containing the three caskets. A curtain in front of the caskets is drawn aside, and the Prince reads the inscriptions on the caskets.

PRINCE OF MOROCCO: The first, of gold, who this inscription bears:Who chooseth me, shall gain what many men desire.The second, silver, which this promise carries:Who chooseth me, shall get as much as he deserves.This third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt:Who chooseth me, must give and hazard all he hath.How shall I know if I do choose the right?
PORTIA: The one of them contains my picture, prince;If you choose that, then I am yours withal. (2.7.4–12)

The Prince spends a considerable amount of time trying to decipher the meaning of the inscriptions, and he eventually chooses the gold casket.
He makes the wrong choice and is rewarded with a scroll that begins with the famous line "All that glisters is not gold . . ."
The Prince of Arragon is the second suitor to try his luck with the caskets, and he chooses the silver casket. He, too, makes the wrong choice, and he is sent away with the portrait of a fool.

PRINCE OF ARRAGON: With one fool's head I came to woo,But I go away with two. (2.9.75–76)

The final suitor is Bassanio, Portia's choice to be her husband. She implores him to go away for a day or two and take the time to think carefully about his choice. Bassanio doesn't want to wait.

BASSANIO: Let me choose;For, as I am, I live upon the rack. (3.2. 25–26)

Bassanio chooses the lead casket, in which he finds Portia's portrait and a scroll.

BASSANIO: [reading the scroll] You that choose not by the view,Chance as fair, and choose as true!Since this fortune falls to you,Be content, and seek no new.If you be well pleas'd with this,And hold your fortune for your bliss,Turn you where your lady is,And claim her with a loving kiss. (3.2.135–142)

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