In The Merchant of Venice, Portia’s lady-in-waiting is Nerissa.
Nerissa is Portia’s waiting maid and close companion at Belmont. She is also in love with Gratiano, Bassanio’s friend. When Bassanio chooses the correct lead casket and wins Portia’s hand, Nerissa and Gratiano become a second couple alongside Portia and Bassanio.
Nerissa plays an active role rather than remaining a background attendant. She accompanies Portia when Portia disguises herself as the lawyer Balthazar to defend Antonio in the Venetian court. Nerissa disguises herself as Portia’s law clerk. Afterward, both women test their husbands by demanding the rings they had given them, creating the play’s final comic misunderstanding.
Bassanio is Portia’s suitor and later her husband; Shylock is the moneylender whose bond drives the central conflict; and Jessica is Shylock’s daughter, who elopes with Lorenzo. None is Portia’s lady-in-waiting. Shakespeare probably wrote the play between 1596 and 1598, and its interwoven plots combine romance, legal drama, comedy, and troubling questions about prejudice and mercy.