Portia (The Merchant of Venice) Portia (The Merchant of Venice) Portia is the protagonist of William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice". A rich, beautiful, and intelligent heiress of Belmont, she is bound by the lottery set forth in her father's will, which gives potential suitors the chance to choose among three caskets. If he chooses the right casket, he wins Portia's hand in marriage. If he chooses the incorrect casket, he must leave and never seek another woman in marriage. She is said to be blonde and has curly hair. As Bassanio says to Antonio in (Act I scene I), she is more beautiful than
Riverside Shakespeare Company in this country. In October 1983, the Riverside Shakespeare Company launched The Shakespeare Project, New York City's first major residency of actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company – with Edwin Richfield (of the RSC's highly acclaimed "The Greeks"), Heather Canning (of Paul Scofield's "Macbeth"), Christopher Ravenscroft (from the Royal Shakespeare Company's "Nicholas Nickleby", Jennie Stoller and John Kane (the later two from Peter Brook's landmark production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream") – conducting workshops and seminars and performing "The Merchant of Venice", Dylan Thomas' "Under Milk Wood", and the New York premiere of D. H. Lawrence's "The Tarnished Phoenix", with