Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

Is it your dear friend that is thus in trouble?

 -Portia

The Merchant of Venice                Act III, scene ii, line 290

 

Day five of Merchant; And for the third day in a row, we’re on the same scene; in fact, the same part of the same scene (I didn't post to the blog yesterday, but the line I read was from this scene). Today we have Portia asking Bassanio if the person in trouble is his dear friend Antonio. Yes, it is; and he is perhaps dearer than you could imagine.

It's widely, albeit not universally, held that Antonio and Bassanio were gay, or at least bisexual, lovers. This is one reason posited for why Antonio is so sad at the beginning of the play. He’s sad because he knows that Bassanio will be leaving him to pursue Portia. So, when Portia refers to Bassanio’s dear friend, it begs the question of whether or not she knows just how dear a friend he is.

What do you think?

And just when I thought there was no way I had any pics relevant to two gay friends, I find this one. How about that!