What is Portia's reaction to the Prince of Morocco in The Merchant of Venice?

Act 2, scene 1 of The Merchant of Venice opens with Portia and the Prince of Morocco already in conversation. It appears that the Prince has been doing most of the talking, but Portia doesn't seem to mind. He's a gregarious, straightforward kind of man: honest and friendly in his own condescending princely way.

As Portia and the Prince enter the scene, the Prince is talking at considerable length about the color of his skin.

When the Prince stops talking, Portia responds, ignoring his comments about his skin color. Portia says, basically, that whether she likes the color of his skin is pretty much irrelevant because whether or not she likes him is pretty much irrelevant: her father's wishes are that the casket test will decide her marriage partner.

Portia tries to let him down easy by adding that he's the best looking guy she's seen so far for the casket test:

PORTIA: Yourself, renowned prince, then stood as fair
As any comer I have look'd on yet,
For my affection. (2.1.20–22)

Of course, he's the only guy she's seen so far for the casket test. She could also be saying that he has just about as "fair" a chance at winning her as anybody else, knowing full well that his chances are somewhere between slim and none, no matter what he looks like.

The Prince nevertheless continues to plead his case, seemingly ignoring the rules of the casket test, as if Portia could choose her own marriage partner:

MOROCCO: By this scimitar,—
That slew the Sophy, and a Persian prince,
That won three fields of Sultan Solyman,—
I would o'erstare the sternest eyes that look,
Outbrave the heart most daring on the earth,
Pluck the young sucking cubs from the she-bear,
Yea, mock the lion when he roars for prey,
To win thee, lady. (2.1.25–32)

The Prince seriously overstates his case, but Portia appears to pay no attention to his boasting. He's a warrior prince. It's just the way he talks. She also ignores his melodramatic plea for sympathy if he loses:

MOROCCO: And so may I, blind fortune leading me,
Miss that which one unworthier may attain,
And die with grieving. (2.1.37–39)

However, we know that he has all of those virgins waiting for him back in Morocco that he mentioned at the top of the scene (and so is unlikely to die from grief):

MOROCCO: by my love, I swear,
The best-regarded virgins of our clime
Have lov'd it too (2.1.9–11)

Little does the Prince know that he's never going to replace Bassanio in Portia's mind or her heart.

"You must take your chance," Portia says, getting right back to business. She explains the rules of the casket test, the Prince agrees to abide by the rules, and they agree to do the casket test after dinner. One of the rules is that if the Prince loses the test he's not to speak to Portia again, ever—which might be something with which Portia can agree wholeheartedly.

In all, Portia seems very business-like towards the Prince: cordial, but non-committal. If she has any good or bad feelings towards him, she doesn't let them show and says nothing that would lead us to believe she has feelings about him either way.

As far as Portia's lines about the Prince at the end of Scene 7 are concerned:

PORTIA: A gentle riddance:—Draw the curtains, go;—
Let all of his complexion choose me so. (2.7.79–80)

Portia has given no indication in her scenes with the Prince, or anywhere else in the play for that matter, that she holds any prejudice whatsoever against dark-skinned people. "A gentle riddance" would seem to support that interpretation.

"Complexion," then, would refer to those of her suitors with similar personality or character traits, not to those with the same skin color. Portia hopes, and intends, that everybody but Bassanio will fail the test, and she'd be happy to be rid of all of them, whoever they are.

What is Portia's reaction to the Prince of Morocco in The Merchant of Venice?

The Prince of Morocco is the first suitor who arrives seeking to gain Portia's hand in marriage. He is black, and his opening words ask her not to dislike him because of his skin color:

Mislike me not for my complexion,

The shadowed livery of the burnished sun.

In The Merchant of Venice, how does Portia respond to the Prince of Morocco's vanity?

The verbal exchange between the prince of Morocco and Portia occurs at the beginning of Act ll, Scene 1. The prince has obviously arrived to chance his luck to win Portia's hand by participating in the lottery her deceased father concocted. The prince blathers on about his greatness and asks Portia not to discriminate against him because of his darker complexion. He comes across as quite boastful and conceited.

Portia's retort encourages him. She informs the prince that her choice for a husband is not limited only to what she might see as attractive but that the lottery bars her from making any choice whatsoever. In this sense, then, the prince has as much a chance as any of her suitors.

In response, the prince thanks Portia for her kind remark and begins bragging again about his prowess as a soldier and the quality of his courage—all skills he would use to win Portia's heart. He alludes to characters in Greek mythology when making the point that just as Hercules might lose a sought-after prize to a weaker man in a lottery because of destiny, he too could lose out on winning Portia's hand. The prince evidently deems himself the equal of Hercules and Alcides, both heroic characters in Greek literature. He states that he would die of grief if he should, similarly, lose Portia to a lesser man.

Portia informs him that he should take his chance or decide not to choose. If he does choose and loses, he is forbidden from ever approaching another woman in way of marriage, since this is one of the requirements of the lottery. The prince accepts and is eager to try his luck. Portia stays him and advises that they must first proceed to the temple where he would have to make a solemn oath to abide to the conditions of the lottery. He can then try his luck after they have had dinner.

In The Merchant of Venice, what does Morocco say to impress Portia?

Act II, scene vii introduces the Prince of Morocco.  He has come to attempt to win Portia's hand by selecting, between three, the casket that holds the picture of Portia.  If he chooses correctly, Portia will be his wife.  This device has been set up by Portia's late father and not Portia.  So, in essence, it does not matter whether Portia is impressed by any of her potential suitors or not.  The caskets, as it were, will do the choosing.

Since Morocco knows that Portia has no say in her choosing, he shouldn't be assumed to be saying anything to impress or flatter Portia.  There is no reason to believe that he is not speaking truthfully.  And, what he speaks (a full 30 lines worth!) is all the highest of the high praise of Portia and his love for her.  He says:

I do in birth deserve her, and in fortunes,

In graces and in qualities of breeding.

But more than these, in love I do deserve.

And later he goes on about how admired and desired she is around the world, and his reasoning leads him to choose the gold casket.  He chooses wrongly and does not win Portia for his wife.  And Portia, once he is gone, reveals her true feelings about Morocco (far from being impressed).  She says:

A gentle riddance. ...

Let all of his complexion choose me so.

For more on Morocco and this scene, please follow the links below.

In The Merchant of Venice, how does Portia "other" the Prince of Morocco?

I'm not sure that "othered" is actually a word, but I know exactly what you mean. However, I don't think that Portia actively does make Morocco feel different to her because of his skin colour: though he clearly admits (from his very first line in the play) that it is an issue that might affect their (proposed) marriage.

Portia doesn't say a great deal to Morocco: and if you compare it to what she says to Aragon, you'll notice she tends to speak briefly, cursorily, to the point. Is this disregard for Morocco or is this just what Portia is like?

One thing is for sure, however. Morocco begins their encounter (and Act 2) with the line "Mislike me not for my complexion". The last line spoken in Act 2 is Portia, after Morocco's exit, and it does indeed "mislike him" for his complexion: "Let all of his complexion choose me so". Clearly Shakespeare wants Portia's reaction to Morocco's skin colour to be considered in this scenes.

In The Merchant of Venice, how does Portia "other" the Prince of Morocco?

I'm afraid I'm not sure what you mean by "othered," so it would be difficult to answer your question.  Could you revise your question so that we know exactly what information you are looking for?

You can also check the eNotes links below for more information about this play and these two characters.