young boy who imagines himself as a cowboy or a pirate is actually engaged in an act of suspending hisdisbelief.
Nerissa asks Portia if she has any feelings for any of the suitors who have come to win her in marriage, but Portia describes the faults of each one as Nerissa namesthem:
- The prince from Naples (at line 34) only talks about his horse. He seems to be interested in nothing else, and Portia jokes that maybe his mother had an affair with ablacksmith.
- A count named Palatine (at line 39: the name indicates both a royal lord and one of the Seven Hills of Rome) is always frowning and melancholy, like one of Graziano's seriousmen.
- A French lord (at line 46) appears to copy the bad habits of all of the other lords.Inother words, Portia finds him to be insincere and spurious.
- A lord from England (at line 55) speaks no Italian or French, and Portia does not speak English (a clear indication that the Belmont of this play is not located in England). Portia admits that he is handsome, but he dresses wildly in clothes that come from all over Europe (Shakespeare could very well have been poking fun at an actual lord of his day with this description).
