Portia (The Merchant of Venice) original Portia Shakespeare drew from was Porcia Catonis, the wife of the Roman statesman Brutus. She was also compared to the wife of Brutus within the play in Act 1 scene 1 when Bassanio talks to Antonio. The strength of the role of Portia has made it attractive to many notable actresses. Frances Abington, Sarah Siddons and Elizabeth Whitlock all played Portia in the 18th century when actresses first started appearing on stage in performances of the play. More recently, the role has been depicted in the cinema and on television by a number of notable actresses such as Maggie
The Merchant of Venice 1989, and follows the events in "The Merchant of Venice". In this play Shylock gets his wealth back and becomes a Jew again. The "Star Trek" franchise sometimes quote and paraphrase Shakespeare, including "The Merchant of Venice". One example is the Shakespeare-aficionado Chang in "" (1991), a Klingon, who quotes Shylock. Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List" (1993) depicts SS Lieutenant Amon Göth quoting Shylock's "Hath Not a Jew eyes?" speech when deciding whether or not to rape his Jewish maid. In David Fincher's 1995 crime thriller "Seven", a lawyer, Eli Gould, is coerced to remove a pound of his own flesh