 To regain his fortune, he is determined to marry Portia, a wealthy, intelligent heiress of Belmont.In order to ask for her hand in marriage, Bassanio and his best friend, Antonio enter into an agreement with the usurer Shylock.Bassanio is not the main character of the play, but his 73 lines compared to Antonio's 47 and Portia's 117 show that he still plays an important role.