The Trial of the Caskets, while not an actual legal affair, has many similarities to a court trial. It is designed to prove something. A judgment is rendered at the end of the trial and, if appropriate, punishment is given. Also, the terms of the trial were set by the will of a person in the past, much as laws are the will of the legislatures that enacted them, sometimes long dead. Morocco and Aragon choose unwisely, fail the trial, and must not only leave immediately, but never marry. Bassanio, on the other hands, chooses successfully and wins Portia.
However, are these outcomes just? Do Morocco or Aragon deserve their punishment? Look at their reasoning: does it merit the outcome? What about Bassanio? Does he deserve Portia? What about the possibility that Portia is giving him hints? What does the Trial of the Caskets tell us about legal trials?
I believe the trail of the caskets to be very unjust to Morocco and Aragorn. For example, Morocco and Bassanio took a similar approach when reasoning through the challenge. However, the outcomes or "punishment" was not fitting of the action. How can it be that two people who took similar actions can have such different end results? Morocco is doomed to never marry while Bassanio is fortunate to marry a beautiful woman. In the movie's interpretation of the story Portia clearly gives hints to Bassanio whom she was already in love with. Going off this information, it appears that the challenge was rigged against the likes of Morocco and Aragon. Portia knowingly influenced the challenge which resulted in the unfair punishment for two innocent men. I believe that because of this, Portia should not be allowed to marry (too bad this would never happen). The Trial of Caskets tells us that legal trials are not always fair. While we are supposed to be judged by a "jury of our peers" it is actually a group of random people. Prejudice and stereotypes often come into play because it is human nature and people can be unfairly punished like Morocco and Aragon. Although the jury does not decide on the actual sentencing of criminals they often determine whether or not an alleged criminal is innocent or guilty. The Trial of Caskets also shows us that there is no perfect system or challenge which will automatically grant justice to every one. It opens up the question of whether or not a world where an "eye for an eye" mentality would ensure justice for more people because citizens can take matters into their own hands.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Aidan that both Morocco and Arragon were unjustly treated by the Trial of the Caskets. In addition, I find it rather ironic the way the trials worked out, given our prior connection between it and our current court trials/justice system. More specifically, Morocco choose gold simply out of his reverence for Portia, saying that, "Or shall I think in silver she's immured, being ten times undervalued to tried gold? O, sinful thought!" (2.7.59-60). Also, looking at Arragon's situation we see something very similar. He simply choose the silver casket based on his own virtues and beliefs, and is punished. However, the ironic twist comes in alongside Bassanio who firstly seems to put little (if at all) thought in his decision regarding the caskets, and secondly is really only going after Portia for her financial and social status. Altogether, Shakespeare paints for the reader a cynical, ironic picture depicting two men simply following their own morals and consequently suffering severe punishment while the arguably thoughtless and greedy Bassanio moves on, basking in his future wealth and 'love'.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as we look towards today's justice system, we see a startling and unfortunate similarity. Laws, rules, and regulations put in place (in most cases) years ago, albeit with good intentions, simply not working out as intended. Looking towards Portia's scenario, it seems her father put into place the rules regarding the trial in an effort to free her from the presence of greedy suitors. However on the contrary, this very trial served to only punish the virtuous and admirable suitors while rewarding the very type of suitor (the greedy Bassanio) that he strove to repel. Just like today's justice system, Portia's Trial of the Caskets is a gleaming embodiment of hypocrisy and dysfunction that (unfortunately) plays a key role in our society.
I think that the Trial of the Caskets is not a very fair way of determining who gets to marry Portia. Morocco and Aragon both have sound reasoning in the choosing of their caskets and maybe have even better reasons for choosing their caskets than Bassanio does with his. Morocco shows his humility when he says of the silver casket, “Weigh thy value with an even hand. If thou beest rated by thy estimation, thou dost deserve enough; and yet enough may not extend so far as to the lady” (75). Aragon also has sound reasoning when he dismisses the gold casket as being what all the fools and unworthy people must pick. Bassanio’s reasoning as to why he chooses the lead casket is simply that the gold and silver caskets are too shiny and everyone must pick those ones so he chooses the lead one. Morocco and Aragon have arguably more valid reasons for choosing their caskets. However, since they guess wrong, they have to face the harsh punishment of not only being unable to marry Portia, but also not being able to marry anybody. This tells us a little bit about our legal system in that the outcomes of trials are often decided at random. Lawyers can build a strong case and use sound reasoning but their client can still be found guilty, despite the fact that they might not deserve the punishment. Also, similar to how Portia was giving Bassanio hints when he was choosing his casket, judges and juries can also be biased when dealing with people of certain races or beliefs.
ReplyDeleteAlthough seemingly up to fate, I believe that the trial of caskets was fairly strongly altered in favor of Bassanio’s success. The movie version of this tale clearly displays Portia providing Bassanio with strong signals that he is on the right track. On the other hand, Portia displayed complete indifference with Morocco and Aragorn when they were attempting to select the proper casket. Even before giving Bassanio not so subtle hints, Portia’s love for Bassanio motivated her to try to convince Bassanio to postpone his selection process. She wanted him to take all the time he needed to make the proper decision because she wanted him to succeed. In the cases of Morocco and Aragorn, however, she quickly cut to the chase and informed that they need to pick the proper casket to gain the opportunity to marry her, allowing them essentially no prior time to prepare for such a major decision. Even Morocco and Bassanio’s similar approaches were not enough to protect Morocco from his looming punishment. Due to false selections of the the proper casket, not only were Morocco and Aragorn unable to marry Portia, but they also then lost the right to marry anyone for the rest of their days. Portia very clearly did not like Morocco or Aragorn, so she had the preconceived desire for them to fail. She did, however, strongly love Bassanio, which caused her to, possibly intentionally, hinder with Bassanio’s raw process of randomly choosing a casket. The clear connection to be drawn from this would be in the world of justice where many involved parties, including lawyers, judges, and juries, often enter a case with many preconceived notions which can unintentionally affect the fair process and produce terrible repercussions.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion I believe that none of the characters are deserving of a reward or a punishment. If you look at this from a legal perspective, Morocco and Aragon have not broken any laws or codes, and are thus not deserving to be punished. Picking of the wrong chance should not be considered a crime because the characters have failed to harm or hurt anything. The punishment given for picking the wrong chest based off the clues provided is incredibly unjust. However, neither of them have taken any actions that would earn the reward of Portia’s marriage. If you look to Bassanio on the other hand, he is not more deserving of the reward of marrying Portia than the other two suitors. This because so far into the story has not completed any deed worthy of being rewarded. He of all the characters deserves to be punished the most because as talked about in act 1 he is failing to repay his debts time and time again. . Overall, I think what the trial of the chests is trying communicate is that in trails there are always factors at play that can sway who wins and who loses. In the act 3 and before the best example of this is Portia attempting to give Bassanio hints to help him pick the right chest, and this gives an unfair advantage to man who has not yet proven why he should of the ability to marry her instead of every else. During the story so far no has proven why they should and or shouldn’t be able to marry Portia, but actions Portia’s actions during the trail makes it unfair and favors Bassanio, and thus showing the reader that there are outside factors that can affect a trail.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Merchant of Venice" Portia’s father’s method of determining the best suitor is incredibly flawed in that a suitor’s choice may reflect good reasoning and not guarantee a desirable outcome just as a suitor may have poor reasoning and happen to choose correctly. In this trial specifically, Morocco determines that the lead and silver boxes are too crass to hold a picture of a woman as valuable as Portia; his reasoning is rooted in a fondness and deep respect for Portia which appears to make him an ideal suitor and merit a desirable outcome. Similarly, Aragon’s decision indicates good character and maturity in the sense that he chooses the silver box because he believes that he should only be rewarded with Portia’s hand in marriage if he deserves to be. Both suitors appear to have done everything correctly and with good intentions, yet they end up having to face harsh punishments because the system in place is one of chance. When it comes time for Bassiano’s turn, Portia begs him to stay with her for a month or two before choosing but Bassiano says that he wants to choose quickly and be able to enjoy Portia. He uses language that is objectifying and suggests that he wants to “own” her, indicating that he may not be the ideal suitor. Unlike Morocco and Aragon, Bassiano does not indicate a clear respect for Portia, yet he ends up choosing correctly by reasoning that appearances can be deceiving. Moreover, before Bassiano chooses, Portia gives him hints as to which box is the correct one by playing a song that has words rhyming with “lead,” making the system even more flawed. These kinds of unfair advantages can be seen in legal trials today when those with more money can afford better lawyers or have status that gives them the benefit of the doubt. For example, Brock Turner, a rich white male, was given an incredibly light punishment for rape compared to a man convicted in an inner city case. Overall, the Trial of Caskets alludes to the idea that the outcomes of legal trials are often determined by a subjective, outdated system when they should be determined by objective standards.
ReplyDeleteNo, the outcome of the casket trials is not just. The trials don’t take into consideration why the suitors made the choices that they made, they only take into consideration that they were incorrect. The Prince of Morocco picked the gold not because he was greedy as the scroll he received assumed but because he thought Portia was worth as much as gold. The Prince of Aragon picked the silver because he was arrogant about taking what he thought he deserved not because he was necessarily a fool. Bassanio doesn’t have the purist of intentions. He is only really chasing after Portia to pay back the debts he owes on her dollar. He doesn’t deserve her but he haphazardly picks the correct casket. There is a definite possibility that Portia helps him and that is really a demonstration of the flaws that exist within the trial and within the legal system in general. Within our legal system it doesn’t matter why you committed a crime as much as it matters if you can be proven guilty of that crime. Having a good lawyer or being friends with a judge gives you an advantage in the same way that Portia liking Bassanio gives him an advantage. The Casket Trial is telling us that justice is “blind” but illustrates that maybe it is wrong to the wrong things. The predetermined answer to the Casket Trial and the prewritten scrolls don’t always directly correlate to the situation at hand. In other words it tries to use precedence that doesn’t exist, which in turn means that the conjectures are unfounded.
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