his class, a person who has “a golden mind” (20). Someone with intelligence, the Prince suggests, would never foolishly gamble away all that he possesses.
The Prince of Morocco also rejects thesilver casket. As a prince, he feels that he deserves as much as any man; but he also has a small doubt as to whether he deserves the Lady Portia. However, he then argues that to doubt his merits, to doubt whether he deserves Portia or not, is a sign of weakness (line 30). He then convinces himself that he is as deserving as any other man and more deserving thanmost.
So, the Prince then reexamines the riddle on thegold casket. He immediately believes that “what many men desire” must refer to Portia herself (line 38). After all, many men have come from all parts of the western world to become suitors to Portia. In addition, the Prince appliestwo metaphorsto convince himself that the choice of the gold casket is, indeed, the correctchoice: