ABSTRACT
Nerissa is lady-in-waiting and confidante to Portia, a rich heiress. Throughout the play she is a pert and lively companion to her mistress. This is the first time we see them and Portia has just said, ‘By my troth, Nerissa, my little body is aweary of this great world’ and then there is dialogue about Portia’s feelings on having a husband chosen through the famous caskets. Although it is somewhat cheeky of me to turn this into a monologue (and add the word ‘weary’), I think it is perfectly reasonable to turn Portia’s ‘weariness’ into silence and imagine Nerissa trying to cheer her up by reviewing the whole situation. She is probably in her late-teens or early twenties, but could be up to late thirties.
