In Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Portia is a woman who has seemingly good intentions and tries to play by the rules. However, she looks for ways to bend the rules and make them go in her favor so that she benefits from the situation's outcome. Three prime examples of this are when she is picking a suitor, when she disguises herself as the lawyer, and when she takes back Bassanio's ring.

A first example of when Portia bends the rules is when she is picking a suitor. At first, she appears to be following her father's will. In fact however, she does whatever she can until the right man comes along to trick her suitors into picking the wrong casket. She tries many different ways to trick her suitors. She reminds the Prince of Morocco that if he picks the wrong casket, he will have to remain...