Shakespeare on Right Choices

In The Merchant of Venice Portia’s father left in his will that Portia was prohibited from marrying a man of her own choosing. Instead, she must accept the suitor that chooses “rightly” from among “three caskets of gold, silver, and lead.” 

On the gold casket a sign reads, “Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire.” 

On the silver casket: “Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves.” 

On the lead casket: “Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.”

All suitors fail to choose the correct casket until Bassanio (the man who Portia loves) reviews the inscriptions. Bassanio rejects the gold casket that he calls “hard food for Midas”—reminding us that Midas who turned everything to gold by his touch starved to death. 

Bassanio refuses silver that he calls the “common drudge ‘tween man and man”—indicating that although silver is a precious metal it is often the medium of exchange, money. 

Bassanio chooses the least likely looking casket because “The world is still deceiv’d with ornament….Thy plainness move me more than eloquence”—contrasting between appearance and reality. What appears to be valuable turns out to be worthless, and what appears to be worthless (service and sacrifice) turn out to be valuable. Bassanio chose the right way—the way to love and service—rather than worldly gain.