A major theme that can be seen in The Merchant of Venice is blindness. This manifests itself in several forms throughout the play. This manifests physically, mentally and spiritually. The different forms of blindness create tension between the characters. Blindness corrupts their actions, causing them to hurt others for their own personal gain. This theme begins with Old Gobbo, Launcelot's father, who is physically almost blind. He doesn't even recognize his own son. He approaches Launcelot and asks: “Master young man, you, please, what is the way that leads to Master Jew? » ; (page 19). Unfortunately, he didn't realize he was talking to his own son. He does not recognize Lancelot's features. He is also mentally blind because he cannot discern his son's voice. Launcelot decides to play a prank on his father, somehow mocking his blindness, but ends up confessing to it. Portia's suitors present another example of blindness in the play. Portia is forced to have an arranged marriage with the suitor who chooses the correct coffin left by her deceased father. Her first suitor is the prince of Morocco. He sees the beauty and assumed value of the golden coffin, as well as its engraving: “He who chooses me will obtain what many men desire”; () and chooses this coffin. Inside he finds a skull with a scroll inside its empty eye. This empty eye signifies the blindness and lack of wisdom of the one who chose the coffin. The second suitor, the Prince of Aragon, chooses the silver box on which is engraved the words “He who chooses me will receive as much as he deserves”; (). Inside the silver coffin is a picture of a "winking idiot" and a note saying he was a fool for choosing silver. Blinded by appearances, princes... middle of paper ... she was forced to marry because her father was blind to her emotional feelings. She wanted to marry for love and not for money or power. In the end, things went well because Bassanio chose the lead box, the right choice. He was not blinded by the beauty and assumed value of the other two coffins. Shylock is emotionally blind because his life revolved around money, not his relationships. He was more concerned about losing his money than his own daughter. When Jessica fled, he was not concerned with her whereabouts, but with the “two thousand ducats in [the trunk] and other precious, very precious jewels”; () that Jessica stole during her escape. He didn't notice that Jessica was unhappy. He didn't notice that she felt neglected. He was blind to the fact that she was unhappy with the Jewish faith. That's why she ran.