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Why Would She Concern Herself In These Affairs? A Significant Possibility Is ...

A significant possibility is that Portia was socially subversive before assuming the identity of Balthasar, choosing a lesser man so that she might retain some semblance of authority after marriage. Another possibility is that Bassanio married up, taking advantage of Portia and thus allowing for the establishment of a veneer of convenience:

Bassanio would marry up, ridding himself of social weights and debt, while Portia would retain authority having married one of lesser social status. Shakespeare's unique use of Portia as subversive plays off of several other themes in gender classification, most notably that of women as a prize to be women, something to be guarded as a mark of society. The attempted courtship of the dark-complexioned prince of Morocco plays off the concept of the other, posing another threat to the integrity of Venetian society by introducing the familiarity of the Muslim hordes and their threat to Christendom. Indeed, Shylock's denigration as a Jew plays equally into this category, with Portia and her colleague Nerissa undermining the attempts of one of the other to harm a Christian male. In this sense, Portia's subversion is actually a measure of assistance to the feeble incompetence of Bassanio and Graziano, who are otherwise unable to help their friend escape the clutches of Shylock the moneylender. Portia essentially becomes a man to defend the realm of the Christian male when others could not; in the context of the familiar versus the other, Portia's sexual transgression actually makes her more of a hero to an Elizabethan audience.

The sexual exchange between the roles of men and women is naturally placed in check with the malfeasance of Portia as Balthasar. Almost as if to introduce a point of contention in the play, Shakespeare establishes the pomp of men early in the play in a discussion between the characters Graziano and Salerio, the latter of whom theorizes that love is at its best when the male lover pursues the female object of his affection; once the lover consummates the relationship having conquered the lady, the romance is lost and interest in the relationship dies (Act II, Scene vii, lines 1-11). Salerio's theory reflects Shakespeare's style in MOV with the establishment of tension set in the introduction of a strong female protagonist; thankfully for the noted playwright, the resolution of the intertwined confusion and chaos comes at the very end of the play, neutralizing the relevance of Salerio's theory to the work. Portia introduces a great many of these small tensions and incredulities, materializing her threat to the sovereignty of the Elizabethan patriarchy by cross-dressing relatively late in the plot.


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