In "The Merchant of Venice" Shakespeare used Portia and Jessica as his stereotypical characters through which he successfully conveyed greatness and challenged the perception of 17th century society. Shakespeare, by doing so, has "accomplished them with what they lacked." Quotation serves to emphasise Shakespeare's drama since the word `accomplished' implies that it is Shakespeare who created the two characters to appear as men's equals and that otherwise this equality would not be attainable within the society of the contemporary time.

At the beginning of the play, Portia appears to have no real identity despite all her greatness and worth whereas Jessica, being a Jew appeared as a character with low self-esteem and emerges as having no commitment to her father's house. Shakespeare furthers this notion by enabling us to recognise Portia's wealth and status as he allows her to appear as very intelligent and bilingual. Portia speaks three...