Shakespeare demonstrates Bassanio’s contrasting wishes of
upholding his vow to Portia and pleasing Antonio in a dialogue between the
three to convey that the trusting nature of unconditional love is much more
influential than the mistrusting tune of conditional love. When Portia,
disguised as the doctor, asks for the ring, Bassanio refuses to give it to her
and says, “this ring was given me by my wife,/And when she put it on she made
me vow/That I should neither sell nor lose it.” (4.1. 437-439). Bassanio wants
to keep his promise to Portia, which shows his devotion to her. On a different
note, he says that “she made [him] vow[;]” By using the word “made”, Shakespeare
highlights that Portia’s love came with a prerequisite, something Bassanio had
to do in order to secure her love. Also, by foisting this vow on Bassanio,
Portia is exhibiting her mistrust of him. As the doctor, Portia tests
Bassanio’s loyalty by claiming, “An if your wife be not a madwomen,/And know
how well I deserved this ring,/She would not hold out enemy for ever/For giving
it to me.” (4.1. 441-444). Through Portia, Shakespeare illustrates that the
doctor “deserves” a prize for his efforts; he saved Antonio’s life. Bassanio
knows his debt to this doctor and yet he lets him go without a second thought;
his loyalty to Portia trumps any obligation he feels to repay the doctor.
However, with only a few words Antonio persuades Bassanio into giving up the
ring. Antonio says, “My lord Bassanio, let him have the ring./Let his
deservings and my love withal/ be valued ‘gainst your wife’s commandment.” (4.1
445-447). Bassanio not only suggests that the doctors “deservings” are of
higher value than Portia’s “commandments”, but also his love, his unconditional
love; he has sacrificed so much and put his own life on the line for Bassanio
with absolute faith and trust, and without asking for anything in return. In
addition, Shakespeare uses the word “commandment” to describe Bassanio’s vow to
Portia to exemplify that Portia conditions her love on Bassanio obeying her
command. In contrast, Antonio has never ordered Bassanio to do anything for
him. In the end, Bassanio chooses Antonio over Portia and thus, Shakespeare that
shows unconditional love inspires much more loyalty than and is far superior to
conditional love.
i got this one
ReplyDeleteReally good stuff here. I really liked how you talked about conditional love vs unconditional love and how unconditional love reigns superior. I think you analyzed the evidence very well and made good connections to the claim. At the beginning I was a little confused because I thought you meant that Portia and Bassanio shared unconditional love, but then you clarified that. I also thought you could have talked about Bassanio and Antonio's unconditional love a little more instead of talking about Portia so much, but overall good work.
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