“If he [Prince of Morocco] have the condition of a saint, and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me than wive me” (I.ii.106-108)
After Portia dismisses every suitor Nerissa names with a scornful, pithy response, she is informed that the Prince of Morocco is arriving as the next suitor. Portia’s response to the servingman’s announcement is revealing to her racist character as she acknowledges that even if this forthcoming suitor, the Prince of Morocco, were to “have the condition of saint,” she would still not marry him because of his race. Portia's racist nature, revealed by her response to the Prince of Morocco, suggests that she will likely hold the same anti-Semitic view of Shylock as most of Christian, sixteenth century Venice society. Shakespeare’s immediate introduction of both racism and anti-Semitism as themes of the play suggests that these will prove to be continual forces in shaping the interactions between characters, which, in turn, will mold the course of the play.
Mary--Intelligent observation about a line that is, for obvious reasons, rather troubling to the modern reader. How, in the end, do we judge Portia's apparent racism?
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