Why does Portia choose Bassanio over her six other suitors in The Merchant of Venice?
Your question seems to lack understanding of some of the details of Portia's situation when she enters the play in Act I, scene ii.
Portia is not given the opportunity to choose her husband herself, rather each suitor who arrives to "win" her as his wife must agree to choose between three caskets, one of which gives the permission to take her as his wife. If the suitor should choose incorrectly, he must vow to remain single. Most of Portia's potential suitors have been frightened off by this caveat. So, it isn't Portia who is to choose her husband at all, but, in an odd fashion, it is her dead father's choice.
There are only three suitors who actually appear in the play (and actually go the distance and choose a casket, vying to win Portia's hand) -- Prince of Morocco, Prince of Arragon and Bassanio. Though she has shown disdain for the other suitors, Portia hints at her interest in Bassanio at the end of Act I, scene ii.
The best way to compare the suitors Morocco and Arragon is by their reasoning in choosing between silver, gold and lead. Morocco reckons that gold is the most valuable of the three and, comparing that to the value of Portia, chooses gold and chooses wrongly. Arragon chooses silver because he "assumes" that he deserves Portia and chooses wrongly.
In Act III, scene ii, Bassanio chooses to go against appearances and choose lead (the winner). He says:
So may the outward shows be least themselves
The world is still deceived with ornament.
He decides to choose "meagre lead," because its "paleness moves [him] more than eloquence." He wins Portia's hand by choosing the leaden casket that holds her picture, not by her decision.
How does Portia show she prefers Bassanio over the other suitors?
Portia shows she is more fond of Bassanio than the other two suitors when she advises him to wait a day or two before making his choice of the three caskets. She says this because she wants him to choose the right one and become her spouse. As she puts it:
in choosing wrong, / I lose your company.
She doesn't say anything like this to the other two suitors, both of whom she endures rather than encourages. When they are gone, she refers to them both as "deliberate fools."
Portia shows positive emotion, however, when Bassanio picks the right casket. In her overflowing love, she wants to give him even more than the wealth she has to offer, which is considerable. She willingly gives him all that is hers, including her ring. She also gets actively involved in helping him save his friend Antonio.
How do Portia's feelings for Bassanio differ from her feelings for other suitors in The Merchant of Venice?
Portia makes remarks that are disparaging, or at least negative, about all her suitors except Bassanio, whose arrival elates her.
In Act I, Scene 2 a number of suitors arrive to solve the riddle of the caskets and win the hand of the beautiful and wealthy Portia.
- The Neopolitan prince - Portia is not interested in the prince from Naples because he speaks continually of his house. Portia intimates that the prince may love horses so much because "his mother played false with a smith" (1.2.43).
- Count Palatine - Portia finds him morose. "I fear he will prove the weary philosopher" (1.2.48), she tells Nerissa.
- Monsieur Le Bon - Portia feels that he is too affected. He is "every man in no man. If I should marry him, I should marry twenty husbands." (1.2.61-62) She does not know who he is.
- Falconbridge, the Baron of England - Portia admits that he is a handsome man, but she cannot talk with him because he knows nothing but English.
- The Scottish lord - Portia wonders why he has let the Englishman hit him, and has sworn to do something later; likewise, the Frenchman hit him, too, but he has done nothing. Portia had doubts about this man.
- The Duke of Saxony's nephew - He drinks and becomes animalistic; Portia knows she could go on without him. She does not want to be married to a "sponge," that is, a drunk.
- When the Prince of Morocco arrives, Portia is polite, but that is all. When he asks her not to judge him by the color of his skin, Portia replies politely that appearance is not the only way to her heart. She states that she has other ways to judge the suitor, but her father has taken away her ability to choose, anyway.
On the other hand, when Bassanio calls upon Portia at the end of Act II, Portia becomes very excited, calling upon Cupid and praying to the god of Love. Portia later begs him to take his time about selecting a casket, hoping he will stay before making his decision. In this way, she can talk with him for some time and get to know him in case he should depart after having lost. While she cannot help him choose, Portia has a song played that is suggestive of one of the caskets while Bassanio tries to make his selection. Finally, Bassanio chooses the lead casket, complaining that many are deceived by outward appearances. When he does so, Portia tells Bassanio,
Allay thy ecstasy.In measure rein thy joy. Scant this excess.I feel too much thy blessing. Make it less,For fear I surfeit. (3.2.113-116)
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