Unlike Protheus, though perhaps younger and less wrapped up in the sense of friendship than Anthonio is, Bassanio is worthy of such regard. Do the "faire speechless messages" he has received from Portia's eyes and his praise of her as "nothing undervalued to Brutus's Portia" tell the cause of his quest better than what is said of her wealth? Notice that even what he says of that is as a mere grace of her person: "her sunny locks Hang on her temples," etc. (I. i. 177-181).
What reasons had Shylock for hating Anthonio?
Does Anthonio's demand that he lend the money to him as an enemy justify the terms of the bond?
Is Bassanio right in distrusting, and wrong in accepting such a bond?
The long pedigree of Jewish and Christian antipathy and its illustration in this bond by the characters that are its exemplars.
What is to be gathered of Portia in this Act before she meets again with Bassanio?
QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION
Are Anthonio and Shylock more individual than typical?
Does the Act close with assurance of good luck or foreboding of bad?
Is Bassanio a fortune hunter?