Rings in Merchant of Venice

In an exchange between Portia and Bassanio, both characters use repetition and varying emphasis to express how they feel about Bassanio giving away the ring Portia gave to him. In this scene, Bassanio tries to explain to Portia that he gave the ring away for a good cause. He uses parallel sentence structure to add emphasis to his words and he makes it clear that he thinks he is in the right for giving away the ring. In the lines, "If you did know to whom I gave the ring, If you did know for whom I gave the ring, and how unwillingly I left the ring, When naught would be accepted but the ring," Bassanio emphasizes different words in each line to get his point across. He uses the same ending "the ring" to demonstrate how highly he valued it and this repetition adds to his argument that he did not part with the ring lightly. Portia uses similar repetition in her speech, but she emphasizes different words to get her point across that Bassassio was wrong in giving it away. She says, "If you had known the virtue of the ring, or half her worthiness that gave the ring, or your own honor to contain the ring, you would not then have parted with the ring." Portia emphasizes that Bassassio either does not care enough about Portia or does not realize what he has and that is evident by him giving up the ring. She emphasizes the meaning of the ring as much more than a piece of jewelry.
   In my research, I found a paper by Anastasia Feaster and Phillip Graff that discusses the significance of rings in Shakespeare's plays. In Shakespeare's time, wedding and engagement rings indicated commitment, just like they do today. The rings stood for the man's commitment to his wife. Rings were common among the richer parts of society, while peasants would give smaller tokens or none at all. Rings were a symbol of wealth in Shakespeare's time. The fact that Portia and Nerissa gave the men rings is symbolic of the wealth of the women and the status that they have.