Bassanio is a fictional character in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.
Bassanio, the best friend of Antonio, is a spendthrift who wasted all of his money in order to be seen as a respectable man. To regain his fortune, he is determined to marry Portia, a wealthy, intelligent heiress of Belmont. In order to ask for her hand in marriage, Bassanio and his best friend, Antonio enter into an agreement with the usurer Shylock, which ultimately puts Antonio’s life in danger. He is not the main character of the play, but his 73 lines compared to Antonio's 47 and Portia's 117 shows that he still plays an important role.