Letter: Portia's prejudice

TONY RIDGE is wrong about The Merchant of Venice (letter, 16 March). It is not the heroine who is made to fancy "the noble Ethiopian" (actually he is Moroccan), but the audience. Portia's attitude is best summed up in her two gibes to Nerissa about the Prince's complexion: proving that even a multi-millionairess can come cheap.

JAMES LOADER

Orpington, Kent