Portia is the heroine of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. Suitors try to win Portia's hand in marriage. If they choose the wrong casket, they must leave and never seek another woman in marriage. Portia is glad when two suitors, one driven by greed and another by vanity, fail to choose correctly. She favours Bassanio, a young Venetian noble, but is not allowed to give him any clues to assist in his choice. Later in the play, she disguises herself as a man, then assumes the role of a lawyer's apprentice (named Balthazar) whereby she saves the life of Bassanio's friend, Antonio, in court.
Portia is one of the most prominent and appealing of the heroines in Shakespeare's mature romantic comedies. She is beautiful, gracious, rich, intelligent, and quick-witted, with high standards for her potential romantic partners. She obeys her father's will, while steadfastly seeking to obtain Bassanio. She demonstrates tact to the Princes of Morocco and Aragon, who unsuccessfully seek her hand. In the court scenes, Portia finds a technicality in the bond, thereby outwitting Shylock and saving Antonio's life when everyone else fails. Yet, she also shows immense injustice and cruelty towards the figure of Shylock; those who are sympathetic with Shylock see her as the epitome of blunt, barbaric, Christian primitivism. It is Portia who delivers one of the most famous speeches in The Merchant of Venice:
The quality of mercy is not strain'd. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
The strength of the role of Portia has made it attractive to many notable actresses. Frances Abington, Sarah Siddons and Elizabeth Whitlock all played Portia in the 18th century when actresses first started appearing on stage in performances of the play. More recently, the role has been depicted in the cinema and on television by a number of notable actresses such as Maggie Smith, Claire Bloom, Sybil Thorndike, Joan Plowright,Caroline John and Gemma Jones.
Portia's nature has received some negative critiques. The Jewish writer Wolf Mankowitz dubbed her a "cold, snobbish little bitch" in a video he made about anti-Semitism against Shylock the moneylender