Merchant Of Venice-The Three Boxes

The Three Boxes

Portia's father had been very anxious that she should choose the best person to be her husband. Before he died, he invented a plan to help her to do this. He had three small metal boxes made. Each one was made of a different metal. The first box was made of gold, the second box of silver, and the third box of lead. One of these boxes contained a picture of Portia. Her father wished her to marry the first man to guess which box contained the picture. Each man must make a promise; if he guessed wrongly, he must never, after that, ask any woman to marry him. Portia felt she must be obedient to her father, even after his death. She was worried that a man she did not like would find the picture, but still she intended to do what her father had asked.

When they heard about this plan, many men did not dare to guess at all, and they went away. They were afraid to lose, because that would mean they would have to stay unmarried for the rest of their lives. This pleased Portia, for she had not liked any of the men who had come to see her. She told her servant, Nerissa, that they were all rather uninteresting, or had no sense of humour, or were always very cross.

One of the men who did dare to choose was a prince from Morocco. He chose the gold box. He thought that only a gold box would be good enough for Portia's picture. Also, there was some writing on the outside of the box. It said: "The man who chooses this box shall get what many men wish for.'

'Why, that means the lady,' the Prince said to himself. 'All the world desires her. They come from the four corners of the earth, across seas and deserts, just to look at the beautiful Portia. So, if I choose what many men wish for, that surely must mean her picture will be in this box.' But when he opened it, he found only a picture of a skull, to remind him of death, which is what many people wish for when they are old and sick and sad. The Prince was very unhappy.

The next man to guess was the Prince of Aragon from Spain. He did not choose the gold box because he thought the words 'many men' meant all the ordinary people in the world. The Prince of Aragon was a proud man. He would never want what everybody else wanted. Instead he chose the silver box. On the silver box these words were written: "The man who chooses this box will get what he deserves.' This seemed fair, thought the Prince. He knew that there were people coming to see Portia who were not as good as they seemed. Those people did not deserve to marry Portia. But he was not like them. He was the Prince of Aragon, a very important, rich young man, and he was sure he deserved a wife as good, beautiful and rich as Portia. The Prince was very hopeful when he opened the box. However, inside was not the beautiful picture of Portia that he expected, but the picture of a mad fool. He too went away disappointed.

Then Portia heard that Bassanio had arrived. He had brought with him a friend called Gratiano. Gratiano was in love with Nerissa, Portia's servant, and hoped to persuade Nerissa to marry him while Bassanio was asking Portia to be his wife.

When Bassanio appeared, Portia welcomed him very kindly. She was pleased he had come, as she wanted to marry him. She was very worried that he would choose the wrong box, as the others had done. Portia wanted to help him to find the right one, but she knew she must not. She asked Bassanio to wait some time before he chose, so that they could be together for a while. She knew if he made a mistake and chose the wrong box, they could never be married, and she would never see him again. But Bassanio would not wait; he was anxious to know what would happen. So he was shown the three boxes, of gold, silver, and lead.

Bassanio thought for a long time. Finally, he decided. Gold and silver looked precious and beautiful, but many things that were evil, or had no value, could be made to look precious and beautiful. Lead was a plain, ordinary metal. It did not pretend to be better than it was, he thought. It was honest. On the box these words were written: 'The man who chooses this box will be taking a great chance: he might lose everything he has.' That was honest, too, thought Bassanio. So, he chose the lead box.

Portia watched him make the right guess with delight. Bassanio opened the box, and inside it, he saw the picture of Portia. He turned to Portia, and saw that she was as pleased and as happy' as he was. She immediately told him that she loved him very much. She then took a ring off her finger and gave it to Bassanio. Portia said that he must never give the ring away; if he did, their love would end. Bassanio accepted the ring happily, and promised never to lose it or give it away. Thus Portia and Bassanio promised to be faithful to each other.