Portia is very upset about the casket test that her father stated in his will. suitors have come from all over the world to take a chance and have a go at their luck at the test of choosing between gold, lead and silver. Out of these, one of them contains Portia's picture which will entitle the suitor to marry her. Portia is sad with this reason because what if the suitor she dislikes picked the right casket with her picture in it as she states in Act 1 Scene 2: "I cannot choose who I like, nor refuse who I dislike."

Her waiting-maid Nerissa ties to cheer her up by saying that her father was a holy man and holy men have spiritual ideas before they die, and only the one who loves her from the heart and the one she chooses will be the one to choose the...