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Measure For Measure - That of Juliet and That of Isabella - Are Also Substantially Different From

This document analyzes the silences of female characters in Shakespeare's play Measure for Measure. It discusses Juliet, who is virtually absent after revealing her pregnancy to Claudio. Her brief speech portrays her as immoral. Isabella is initially vocal but loses her voice at the end when the Duke proposes without her consent, implying her obedience to patriarchal authority. The document examines how the silences of Juliet and Isabella serve different textual functions, with Juliet silenced as moral condemnation and Isabella silenced to uphold male power structures.

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59 views

Measure For Measure - That of Juliet and That of Isabella - Are Also Substantially Different From

This document analyzes the silences of female characters in Shakespeare's play Measure for Measure. It discusses Juliet, who is virtually absent after revealing her pregnancy to Claudio. Her brief speech portrays her as immoral. Isabella is initially vocal but loses her voice at the end when the Duke proposes without her consent, implying her obedience to patriarchal authority. The document examines how the silences of Juliet and Isabella serve different textual functions, with Juliet silenced as moral condemnation and Isabella silenced to uphold male power structures.

Uploaded by

Anonymous FHCJuc
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Werbanowska 1

Marta Werbanowska
Dr. Elisa Oh
ENGG-213
22 September 2016
Response to Measure for Measure
Similarly to some other comedies by Shakespeare, Measure for Measure features
curiously silent, or silenced, female characters. However, the idea(l) of the silent/silenced
woman as presented in this play seems to be much more complicated than the rather
straightforward equation of silence with virtue in the case of Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew
or Hero in Much Ado About Nothing. Furthermore, the two most puzzling female silences in
Measure for Measure that of Juliet and that of Isabella are also substantially different from
one another, and appear to perform contrasting textual functions. While Juliets virtual absence
from the play can be interpreted as an implicit condemnation of her misconduct, Isabellas
silence in the plays final scene may be read as an expression of her obedience to the sovereigns
will and, therefore, the ultimate prevalence of man-made state laws.
The primary thread of the play, which is that of the imprisonment and sentencing of
Claudio, is set in motion directly via the body of his bride, Juliet: it is her pregnancy that reveals
their sexual intimacy. Juliet, however, is virtually absent throughout the play. She appears only in
one scene in Act II, to ensure the Duke (disguised as a friar) of the consensual nature of her
relations with Claudio and to express her remorse. In the few lines she is given to speak, she
mostly assures the Duke and thus the audience of her contrition, claiming her willingness to
bear the shame most patiently and cursing the law for sparing her life which has become a
dying horror (38-9). Even though the immorality and illegality of her sexual relations with
Claudio are disputable rather than absolute (she is, after all, promised to be his wife), she is
presented to the audience as tainted and unchaste through her own as well as the Provosts
characterization (the latter describes her as a gentlewoman who has blisterd her report
[38]). Never given the chance to explain herself or plea her case, she cannot possibly gain the
audiences sympathy. Her silence, forced by her physical absence throughout most of the play,
can thus be understood as her moral indictment.
The case is quite different with Isabella, Claudios sister and would-be nun. Throughout
the play, she is a very active and vocal character, and her pleading with Angelo in Scene II of Act
II is a rhetorical tour de force. Her specific status of a nun-to-be allows her to converse with men
(unlike sworn nuns who, in the words of Francisca, can only speak with men in the presence of
the prioress and with their faces covered or, if [they] show [their] faces, [they] must not speak
[16]) and gives her a certain authority in suggesting that the Christian morality, or Gods law, can
perhaps trump the state laws made by men (How would you be / If He, which is the top of
judgement, should / But judge you as you are?, she inquires of Angelo [33]).
However, in the final scene of the play, the textual design takes Isabellas power of voice
and expression away from her. Rather than asking her to marry him, the Duke announces his will

Werbanowska 2
to do so without taking her will into account. Not only is the phrase Give me your hand and say
you will be mine (105) uttered by him in the imperative (as opposed to interrogative) mode, but
Isabellas reply to his call is never mentioned in the text. Surely, her reaction to the Dukes
proposal may be interpreted in various ways (particularly in staged versions of the play, given the
myriad of possible directorial choices and the actors interpretations of her character);
nevertheless, a reading of her silence as implied agreement and obedience is a strong possibility.
This, in turn, suggests the absoluteness of Dukes power: a negative response from Isabella and
her refusal to give up her previously chosen path of life in the nunnery are presented as an
impossible choice, and she loses whatever discursive authority she might have had previously.
Consequently, the prevalence of both the patriarchal order (perhaps somewhat threatened by
Isabellas potency displayed throughout the play) and the sovereigns law over any alternative
moral and/or religious principles is secured.
Work cited: Shakespeare, William. Measure for Measure. Stilwell: Digireads.com
Publishing, 2005. Print.
Discussion question:
1. The events in the play inspire questions regarding the nature and authority of the law.
Angelos hypocrisy and his abuse of the power bestowed onto him expose the dangerous
imperfections of human agents of state laws; the Dukes undercover participation in the lives
of his subjects hints at the impossibility of a full and true assessment of their situation from
the confines of the court; and Claudios predicament illustrates a certain conflict between
morality and the letter of the law. Would you say that the play indicates a superiority of either
of the laws (i.e. moral over state, or vice versa), or does it only point to their complicated
relationship? Think about Angelos discussion with Escalus in Scene I, Act II, or Isabellas
pleading with Angelo in Scene II of the same. What arguments does each of the sides
present?

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