Merchant of Vencice: Comparing the father and daughter relationships
...any suitors who do not impress her. She is not free to choose her own husband, but must follow the procedure decreed by her father in his will. "Besides, the lott'ry of my destiny Bars me the right of voluntary choosing." (Act 2 scene 1 lines 15, 16) In Belmont, the terms of her father's will leave her without any choice in her future husband, and she is saddened that she does not have an appropriate mate. As a dutiful daughter, however, she is compelled to accept her father's wishes. Despite her dissatisfaction with her circumstances, she has a cheerful and optimistic nature. As for her father's procedure, every suitor must choose between three caskets of gold, silver, and lead in an attempt to discover which casket contains Portia's portrait. If the suitors fail to choose correctly, they must leave Belmont immediately and vow never to marry. Portia discovers with despair that a new suitor, the Prince of Morocco, has just arrived to try his hand. He incorrectly chooses the gold, while the Prince of Arragon is equally unlucky with the silver. Bassanio correctly selects the lead casket and wins Portia. Portia falls in love with Bassanio and marries him. Her respect for her father's strict wishes ultimately lead to Portia finidng love in a loving husband. Shylock and his daughter Jessica are jewish living in a Christian Venetian society. Shylock is also a loaner who lends money for profit. By his profession and his religion, Shylock is marked as the alien in a happy and fun-loving Venetian society. His alienation causes his bitterness towards the Christian society. Jessica is, although a Jew, as different from her father "as jet to ivory." Jessica, unlike her father, is more at home with Venetian Christians and Christian ways than with the austerity of her father's Jewish house. Her inclination is towards music and poetry as opposed to h...