Page 27 - Knighted_Issue2.0

Lear, presumably he committed suicide. Kent having not taken the opportunity to rule does not
negate the fact that he got the offer because of his trickery.

Besides men tricking in order to promote themselves, Palomäki et al. say that because of
gender stereotypes women are viewed as weaker and more gullible than men. Portia, from The
Merchant of Venice, utilizes this stereotype in her favor. Because women are often viewed as
intellectually inferior to men Portia’s father, who sees her as weak and gullible, has devised a
trick of his own that, if all goes according to his plan, will ensure that Portia marries a suitable
man of his choosing. Portia’s father’s plan is to give her potential suitors a chance at winning the
prize of marrying Portia by setting up a sort of game in which they must participate in.
The game consist of three caskets one gold, one silver, and one lead and the suitor must choose
between the three. The correct casket will have a picture of Portia and will entitle the chooser to
her hand in marriage. If guessed incorrectly, the suitor must immediately leave and forget about
Portia. They will not have another chance at becoming her husband. Portia’s father set up her
future that way because he greatly underestimated her and did not think her capable of making
her own decisions regarding her life and his inheritance.

Faced with the fact that she could end up with a suitor that is not to her liking, Portia
decided to take matters into her own hands, all while still playing within her father’s rules. After
reviewing all of her suitors with Nerissa, her servant, Portia dislikes all but one of her potential
suitors, Bassanio.

“this reasoning is not in the fashion tochoose me a
husband. O me, the word 'choose!' I mayneither
choose whom I would nor refuse whom Idislike; so
is the will of a living daughter curbedby the will of a dead