Shakespeare’s Venice is a place that is seemingly chaotic, but in truth, bound by strict societal rules. Although Venice is a point of commerce where people of different cultures co-exist, it is clear that the dominant people in power are the Christians. It is ironic that conformity and identity is so important in such a diverse city. We assume that Jessica feels shame for being Shylock’s daughter because he is a Jew, and marriage to a Christian is the only way for her to become socially acceptable. There seems to be a considerable amount of tension between her and Lorenzo, however, so it isn’t certain that they will have a happy marriage. In scene 3.5 , Lancelot and Jessica have a conversation wherein Lancelot says that “the sins of the father are to be laid upon the children” and then tells Jessica “Marry, you may partly hope that your father got you not, that you are not the Jew’s daughter.” Jessica, understandably, is offended, and replies “That were a kind of bastard hope indeed. So the sins of my mother should be visited upon me.” Jessica cannot help the circumstances of her birth. She then reaffirms that she will be ‘saved’ by her husband. In conventional terms, this means Christian salvation in the afterlife, but Jessica can also mean that she will be ‘saved’ the discrimination that her father suffers. Lorenzo tells Lancelot “I shall answer that better to the commonwealth than you can the getting up of the Negro’s belly.” Here, the hierarchy is spelled out: Jews are considered to be subhuman, but Africans are on an even lower scale. Both men seem to consider their respective mates as less than worthy of them.
Portia is subject to strict limitations, as well. She must abide by her father’s will by participating in the lottery that he has set up to determine her husband. Her portrait, which symbolizes herself and her future, has been locked into a lead casket chosen by her father. This is symbolic her circumstances imprisoning her. It is interesting that the casket her portrait is enclosed in is lead, a heavy metal that is often used to describe reluctance, as in “lead feet”, or to describe a feeling of dread “a leaden feeling.” Also, while a casket is an object that holds money, it is also a word used to describe a container for holding corpses. Shakespeare was most likely aware of these connotations.
Portia does not fight against these limitations. She participates by setting her own. She tells Bassanio that if he takes the ring off of his finger, she will know that it means that he does not love her anymore. Portia puts her emotional and spiritual faith into the object, and not the person. It is almost as if she cannot tell the difference between material and spiritual, by putting so much of her emotional well being into the caskets and the ring.