Weekly ELA Blog Post for week of 1/30

This week, our ELA class started reading Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice". There were a lot of interesting characters we were introduced to right off the bat in chapter 1, but the one that stood out to me the most was Portia, the maiden. In my opinion, it was very refreshing to see a woman standing up for herself in an old novel. It was especially interesting seeing as when we look at how Antonio treated Shylock, it seems Shakespeare wasn't afraid to include discrimination in his story. Therefore, the fact that he decided to have Portia actively try to discourage suitors was interesting. Of course, the fact that Bassanio says he loves her adds another interesting twist to the story. It seems like perhaps interactions between the two will later become central to the story. Either way, from her inclusion and role so far, it seems Portia will definitely be a character to follow as the story progresses.