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#101959 05/08/03 12:19 PM
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There is a well-known Portia in Merchant of Venice. There is also a Portia in Julius Caesar. She is Brutus' wife.



#101960 05/08/03 12:21 PM
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Portia is Brutus's wife, but a minor character compared to her namesake in Merchant. It does seem likely that the moon is named for the latter.


#101961 05/08/03 01:34 PM
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I've just googled:

Uranus Portia "Julius Caesar"

...and sites come up indicating that the Portia orbiting Uranus is the one from "Julius Caesar" and not from "Merchant of Venus."

That's curious. I, too, would have thought the Portia from "Merchant"--but Google, at least, takes us elsewhere.

Edit: Here's the listing from one site, similar to Father Steve's above:

"SATELLITES: Cordelia (daughter of Lear in Shakespeare's “King Lear”); Ophelia (daughter of Polonius, fiance of Hamlet in Shakespeare's “Hamlet”); Bianca (daughter of Baptista, sister of Kate in Shakespeare's “Taming of the Shrew”); Cressida (title character in Shakespeare's “Troilus and Cressida”); Desdemona (wife of Othello in Shakespeare's “Othello”); Juliet (heroine of Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet”); Portia (wife of Brutus in Shakespeare's “Julius Caesar”); Rosalind (daughter of the banished duke in Shakespeare's “As You Like It”); Belinda (character in Pope's “Rape of the Lock”); Puck (mischievous spirit in Shakespeare's “A Midsummer Night's Dream”); Miranda (the heroine of Shakespeare's “The Tempest”); Ariel (a benevolent spirit in Shakespeare's “The Tempest”); Umbriel (a malevolent spirit in Pope's“ Rape of the Lock”); Titania (the queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's “A Midsummer Night's Dream”); Oberon (the king of the fairies in “A Midsummer Night's Dream”); Caliban (the brutish slave in Shakespeare's “The Tempest”); Sycorax (Caliban's mother in “The Tempest”); Prospero (the rightful Duke of Milan in “The Tempest”); Setebos (a false god worshiped by Caliban in “The Tempest”); Stephano (a drunken butler in “The Tempest”)."

No Google hits for:

Uranus Portia "Merchant of Venice"

#101962 05/09/03 01:45 AM
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Merchant of Venus Ohmigawd.

Take *that, Jackie! [grabbing the protruding hilt of the sword in my abdomen] Cough! Co-ugh-gh-gh. C... [thud]



#101963 05/09/03 06:14 AM
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Oh, when I read "Merchant of Venus", I just assumed a chain of sex shops in deepest, darkest Virginia. Did I get it wrong?


#101964 05/09/03 08:17 AM
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I wondered whether anybody would catch that or not. I thought it looked so bizarre when I mistyped it--but let it stay hoping that at least the Asp would catch it.

Now about those satellites: Did you notice that it was Bianca from the Shrew and not Kate who was named? I think that's worse than Portia from Caesar over Portia from Merchant of Venus or Merchant of anything...


#101965 05/09/03 09:40 AM
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Now, just what kind of business would the Merchant of Venus be having with Uranus, hmmm?


#101966 05/09/03 10:10 AM
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Now, Connie! That pronunciation went out when the discovered a ring around it.


#101967 05/09/03 10:43 AM
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What does the starship Enterprise do circling round Uranus?


#101968 05/09/03 12:40 PM
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What does the starship Enterprise do circling round Uranus? Oh gawd--do we really want to know?


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