Portia then hands a ring to Antonio and tells him to give it to Bassanio as a pledge of their rebuilt faith. She also states that Bassanio should “keep it better than the other” ring (254).
Bassanio is surprised and confused to see that the ring is the very same one that he had given to the lawyer, and Graziano is equally surprised and bewildered when Nerissa hands him the very same ring that he had given to the lawyer’s clerk.
Portia cannot help but make one more jest. She tells Bassanio that she got the ring from the lawyer by sleeping with him; and Nerissa tells Graziano that she similarly got her ring by sleeping with the clerk.
But before the shocked husbands can grieve over the infidelity of their wives, Portia admits the truth and tells the surprised men that she herself was the lawyer who saved Antonio from Shylock and that Nerissa was her clerk.
The husbands and wives thus are united onceagain.