never remove that ring unless it were taken off his hand when he is dead.
Bassanio tries to explain this to the young lawyer, but Portia insists that she will take nothing but the ring. Portia is toying or playing with her husband. She is playing a joke on him. Of course, Bassanio does not know this. Portia then tells the distraught man …
… if your wife be not a madwoman,
And know how well I have deserved this ring, She would not hold out enemy for ever
For giving it to me.(441-44)
Portia is telling Bassanio that his wife will forgive him, but Bassanio is not so confident about that. Portia, with Nerissa, then exits the stage without the ring.
Antonio, however, urges Bassanio to give Portia the ring. Both Antonio and Bassanio know that the young lawyer deserves far more reward than just that ring. Bassanio relents and hands it to Graziano. He tells his friend to run after the young lawyer and give him the ring. Bassanio, however, is still troubled; for he does not know how his wife will respond when she discovers that his ring is missing.