her father’s decision, but she is committed to abide by it.

In act I, scene 2, in her first conversation with her maid Nerissa, the two women discuss the topic extensively. Portia laments that she can neither choose nor refuse, "so is the will of a living daughter curbed/ by the will of a dead father.” Yet she does commit to abiding by his wishes:

“If I live to be as old as Sibylla, I will die as
chaste as Diana, unless I be obtained by the manner
of my father's will.”

Portia’s father, Nerissa notes, was “ever virtuous,” and as a holy man, he had a good inspiration; she has confidence in the idea that the correct chooser will be the one who truly loves Portia.

…the lottery,
that he hath devised in these three chests of gold,
silver and lead, whereof who chooses his meaning
chooses you, will, no doubt, never be chosen by any
rightly but one who shall rightly love.

Portia also subscribes to the dominant idea that love clouds the judgment. At the point when the man she loves is about to make his choice, she comments: “O love,/ Be moderate; allay thy ecstasy,/ In measure rein thy joy….”

Although his method is unusual, it turns out that her father had the right instincts, as revealed by the messages inside the caskets when opened. The gold message speaks about falsity and greed, and the silver one criticizes vanity.

Bassanio, who correctly chooses the lead casket, is the one who had figured out the clue that appearances are deceiving: “So may the outward shows be least themselves:/ The world is still deceived with ornament.” When he opens the lead casket, that is precisely the message. “You that choose not by the view,/ Chance as fair and choose as true!”

Looking purely at results, the man Portia loves chooses the correct casket. He is wise enough to figure out her father’s message that “the outward shows be least themselves: / The world is still deceived with ornament.” Bassanio selects the leaden casket instead of the silver or gold, the one that reads “Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.” Nerissa points out that Portia’s “father was ever virtuous” and holy, rightly assuring Portia that this test would determine the right husband.

However, Portia does not feel that way: “I may neither choose whom I would nor refuse whom I dislike; so is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father.” She acutely feels the powerlessness of being a woman. Also, the men who choose the wrong caskets give reasonable justifications. Morocco says that the gold is the right answer because the lovely Portia is “what many men desire.” Arragon likes the silver casket which says, “Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves,” because he likes the idea of justice.

In the context of the almost fairy-tale-like setting, Portia’s father was ultimately wise in this task, but practically speaking, the casket trial seems like a cruel, sexist, and uncertain way to decide on a husband.