The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare is a play set in a predominantly male and Christian society, where other religions and women's rights were not very well accepted by the community. However Portia, a wealthy woman who had previously been controlled by men, triumphs as she manipulates the tricks and saves the men's lives. We see how she is manipulated by men through her father, who although dead, still manages to control who she marries. by his will. In her will she states that the suitors will have to choose between three different caskets, each of which will contain either a letter to the suitor or a picture of Portia. In one of the three caskets, the lead, silver or gold casket, there will be an image of Portia, the suitor who chooses the casket containing the image will be the suitor who will marry Portia. “I can neither choose whom I would, nor reject whom I do not like, so the will of a living daughter is restrained by the will of a dead father” this shows that Portia would rather have a say in who can choose than be told who must marry. She overcomes the fact that after two suitors she does not wish to marry choose the wrong chest by letting her know which chest contains her photo, so that when Bassanio becomes a suitor and she falls in love with him she can suggest which chest to choose: 'Tell me where she is brought up Fancy, or in the heart, or in the head? How was she born, how was she nurtured?' He uses his linguistic knowledge to lead him to the lead chest by rhyming the words at the end of each line with "lead": bred, tested and fed'. Throughout the rest of the play we see Portia react by not only giving herself control over who she marries, but also by deceiving the Duke into believing she is an intelligent young lawyer named Balthazar by writing a letter which the Duke receives, presumably, from Bellario who tells him he says he cannot appear at the court hearing but has sent a young man, a disguised Portia, called Balthazar to take his place. He begins the letter with flattery, saying, “Your Grace will understand…” This makes the Duke feel elevated and respected because Your Grace is a sign of humility that shows respect and a feeling of status. He then writes that Bellario is "very ill" so that the Duke will have sympathy for Bellario and therefore be more inclined to accept that Balthazar is the prosecution's advisor..