<P> Meanwhile, in Belmont, Portia is awash with suitors . Her father left a will stipulating each of her suitors must choose correctly from one of three caskets--one each of gold, silver and lead . If he picks the right casket, he gets Portia . The first suitor, the Prince of Morocco, chooses the gold casket, interpreting its slogan, "Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire", as referring to Portia . The second suitor, the conceited Prince of Arragon, chooses the silver casket, which proclaims, "Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves", as he believes he is full of merit . Both suitors leave empty - handed, having rejected the lead casket because of the baseness of its material and the uninviting nature of its slogan, "Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath". The last suitor is Bassanio, whom Portia wishes to succeed, having met him before . As Bassanio ponders his choice, members of Portia's household sing a song which says that "fancy" (not true love) is "engend'red in the eyes, / With gazing fed"; Bassanio chooses the lead casket and wins Portia's hand . </P> <P> At Venice, Antonio's ships are reported lost at sea so the merchant cannot repay the bond . Shylock has become more determined to exact revenge from Christians because his daughter Jessica eloped with the Christian Lorenzo and converted . She took a substantial amount of Shylock's wealth with her, as well as a turquoise ring which Shylock had been given by his late wife, Leah . Shylock has Antonio brought before court . </P> <P> At Belmont, Bassanio receives a letter telling him that Antonio has been unable to repay the loan from Shylock . Portia and Bassanio marry, as do Gratiano and Portia's handmaid Nerissa . Bassanio and Gratiano leave for Venice, with money from Portia, to save Antonio's life by offering the money to Shylock . Unknown to Bassanio and Gratiano, Portia sent her servant, Balthazar, to seek the counsel of Portia's cousin, Bellario, a lawyer, at Padua . </P> <P> The climax of the play takes place in the court of the Duke of Venice . Shylock refuses Bassanio's offer of 6,000 ducats, twice the amount of the loan . He demands his pound of flesh from Antonio . The Duke, wishing to save Antonio but unable to nullify a contract, refers the case to a visitor . He identifies himself as Balthazar, a young male "doctor of the law", bearing a letter of recommendation to the Duke from the learned lawyer Bellario . The doctor is Portia in disguise, and the law clerk who accompanies her is Nerissa, also disguised as a man . As Balthazar, Portia repeatedly asks Shylock to show mercy in a famous speech, advising him that mercy "is twice blest: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes" (IV, i, 185). However, Shylock adamantly refuses any compensations and insists on the pound of flesh . </P>

Who gets married in the merchant of venice