Comparing the Characters, Portia and Helena, in...

Shakespeare begins to mature when he creates Portia in the Merchant of Venice, and he shows a peak of maturity through Helena in his problem play, All’s Well That Ends Well. Despite the few years between these two plays and the development of characters during Shakespeare’s maturation period, he makes two very similar female characters. They understand love more than their lovers, and they see potential in the men they have chosen that no one else seems to notice. They exhibit similar character traits, but they use their qualities in different ways to achieve the same purpose. Both Portia and Helena display intelligence, love, and grace in choosing their husbands. Portia and Helena draw the right husband into their lives through their†¦show more content†¦Helena calls her act â€Å"lawful† many times and concludes by saying it is â€Å"a lawful deed/And lawful meaning in a lawful act† (3.7.45-6). Her ingenious legalization of the marriage proves lawful in both the eyes of man and of God. Portia and Helena draw the right husband into their lives through their love. Portia emulates the purest form of love shown to all by God. Portia starts out sad, but because she has self-knowledge, she knows she is sad because of love. Once chosen by Bassanio, she shows she will sacrifice everything for him. She confirms her sacrificial love when she gives him a ring and says that â€Å"this house, these servants, and this same myself/Are yours—my lord’s! —I give them with this ring† (3.2.170-71). She surpasses Bassanio’s understanding of love by seeking to be a better woman, and she shows this by saying she wants to â€Å"wish myself much better, yet for you† (3.2.152). Helena’s love is also sacrificial, constant, and deep. At first Helena’s love appears to be an infatuation and motivated by impulse when she talks about Bertram as â€Å"a bright particular star† that shines â€Å"In his bright radiance and collateral li ght† (1.1.86, 88). Helena’s love takes a more active form, and she openly talks about her virginity with Parolles, which associates her with purity. She, like Portia, knows more about love than the one she desires. Helena also has to deal with a snobbish prig, who at first refuses