The Merchant of Venice Pt. I

The Merchant of Venice Act 1

I love reading The Merchant of Venice; I was in a play a few years ago called Shakespeare and the City. It was a combination of four of Shakespeare's heroines and the TV show Sex and the City. Every woman was a mixture of one of the women in Sex and the City and one of the heroines in one of Shakespeare's plays. I was the Miranda/Portia combo, and I absolutely loved playing this character. Needless to say I had to really research and know the role of Portia, and, since I had never seen an episode of Sex and the City in my life, I also had to watch quite a few episodes to understand the relationship and bond that the four women had. The other character combos were Samantha/Lady Macbeth, Carrie/Viola, and Charlotte/Desdemona. The plots revolved around Shakespeare's plays, while the relationship with the four women plus the narration by Viola was very Sex and the City-esque.
That is why I really love and enjoy this play; I know all there is to know about the role of Portia and really grew fond of her characteristics. I love how much integrity she has and how much she respects her fathers wishes, even if she complains to Nerissa in Act I about the way her father has chosen her future husband, she still goes along with this plan when she could've chosen otherwise. She shows herself to be highly independent and capable of choosing, yet chooses to respect her deceased father. Others know her to be virtuous and honorable, which is not something as prominent in other of Shakespeare's female characters.