“So may the outward shows be least themselves; The world is still deceiv’d with ornament… Tween man and man; but thou, thou meagre lead, which rather threaten’st than dost promise aught, thy paleness moves me more than eloquence; and here choose I. Joy be the consequence.“
Bassanio is not tricked by outward appearances. He was smart enough to realize that the outside does not matter. So, Portia’s image of beauty would be on the “inside” not the outside. I think that was the moral of this scene.
What do you think the meaning was?