21st Century Competency Skills in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice - A Special Reference to the character Portia

Abstract

Shakespeare portrayed the women characters in a way that will tend the audience to focus on the characters with a scholarly interest.  His female characters have a wide range of characterisations with the phenomenal qualities like intelligence, confidence, vitality, maturity, loyalty, composure and a strong sense of personal independence.  Such characterisation of female characters in his dramas made him to differ from his contemporaries’ stereotyped women characters.  His distinguishing heroines are represented as women with high competency skills. Most of the Shakespeare’s plays are remarkable examples of fostering 21^st century skills. This paper is an attempt to showcase some of the competency skills that are noticed in the character Portia from the play Merchant of Venice.