Read the following pdf with excerpts from Act 2 scenes 7 and 9. The passages in the pdf show the princes of Morocco and Aragon deciding which of the three chests to choose in order to win Portia’s hand in marriage. There is a chest of gold, one of silver and one of lead. The man who wins the right to marry Portia has to pick the chest that has a small painted portrait of her hidden inside it. If he chooses wrong, then he must leave immediately and swear never to marry another woman. So there’s a lot riding on this choice. Each chest has a little message written on the outside which you’ll see on the first page of the pdf . Each prince reads the messages and then has a speech in which they reveal the logic of their choice. Morocco chooses the gold chest and Aragon the silver one; neither chest contains the portrait of Portia, but instead has a little taunting poem that tells them they have chosen wrongly.
The pdf contains both Shakespeare’s original language and the No Fear Shakespeare translation. Look carefully at the two long speeches where the princes talk about which chest to choose and then post your analysis of their logic. It might help to think about how the princes are modelling different kinds of business or investment choices, especially those which contain some risk. Do you see problems with how they make their decisions or does their logic seem sound even though they don’t pick the right chest? Give reasons to back up your position.
Your response should be around 200-250 words.
