Portia also plays on another meaning of light, as the opposite of heavy, and then makes a pun out of the wordheavy. A heavy husband is a sad husband, which Bassanio would be if Portia were unfaithful. Portia concludes with the remark that Bassanio should never be light (unfaithful) to her. Portia thus sets the tone for accusing her husband of infidelity when she later notices that his ring is missing.
As Portia welcomes Antonio, Nerissa is standing in the back of the stage and is talking with her husband, Graziano. Nerissa is already accusing Graziano of giving his wedding ring away to another woman, and the flustered Graziano is trying unsuccessfully to explain that he gave it to a lawyer’sclerk.
Portia interrupts the fighting couple and accuses Graziano of being most unkind to his wife and causing her extreme “grief” (165-75). Bassanio, listening to his wife accuse Graziano, squirms and shifts uncomfortably; for if she has become that angry at Graziano, he knows that she will become even angrier at him.
Graziano then admits to Portia that Bassanio also gave his ring away to the lawyer who defended Antonio, and Portia madly tells her own husband that she will never come to his bed until she sees that ringagain.
Bassanio tries to explain that he gave the ring away because of the great debt that Antonio owed to the lawyer, but Portia pretends not to believe him and insists that he gave the ring away to some otherwoman.