Motivation in Measure for Measure: Criticism Between

1940-1980
Amanda Skelton 05
In the many critical essays written on Shakespeares Measure for Measure between 1940 and
1980, a nmber o! di!!erent perspecti"es are taken# $hese perspecti"es "ary !rom the laws o!
marria%e and society to &n%ian archetypal characters to reli%ios alle%ory# All points made are
"alid and can be easily spported by the te't and the cltral conte't in which it was written#
(hen readin% sch essays, ones "iew o! the characters and play as a whole will chan%e# Some
critics belie"e the )ke to be the central character o! the play, while others see him as bein% a
nonessential character, ha"in% "ery little in!lence on the people o! his dkedom# $hese critics
will !ind An%elo and Isabella to be more central !i%res in this play and dwell on their moti"ations
and !alts# $he adience may be in!lenced by these opposin% "iews bt mst choose between
them on their own accord#
Measure for Measure is considered a *problem play+ o! Shakespeares, alon% with Troilus and
Cressida and Alls Well That Ends Well, as well as a *dark comedy,+ ha"in% been written drin%
Shakespeares darker days, amidst re"isions o! Hamlet and ,st be!ore Othello# -arly critics
a"oided the problems in Measure for Measure by de!endin% Isabellas character and %i"in% her
no !alt in the play, or by considerin% it to be alle%orical# It is easy to place the characters into
traditional reli%ios positions. the )ke wold be considered e/i"alent to 0od or 1ro"idence2
An%elo wold *stand !or 3the old law be!ore 4hristian liberty and3 5orality,+ *Isabella is 5ercy
as well as 4hastity,+ and 4ladio and &liet *represent nre%enerate mankind+ 6$illyard 178899#
$he critics that came a!ter these 6in the 1940s9 prposely went in the opposite direction, claimin%
that the style o! the play chan%es hal!way thro%h# :e!ore Act III, scene i, the play cold be
considered a tra%edy with no soltion in si%ht bt, a!terwards, the )ke reenters and sol"es all
the problems# $he !irst hal! is also "ery poetic, while the second hal! contains "ery !ew poetic
lines altho%h it has more rhymed lines# $he )kes part in the play also chan%es *!rom the old
!olk moti"e o! the so"erei%n in dis%ise mi'in% with his people+ to *the con"entional sta%e
character o! the plot8promotin% priest+ 6$illyard 1;;9# $he chan%es in the play at this point in the
te't present one o! the *problems+ that the earlier critics attempted to a"oid#
In (ylie Syphers 1950 essay *Shakespeare as 4asist. Measure for Measure,+ An%elos
sitation is compared to <amlets# In <amlets case, the tension he e'periences is internal, bt
An%elos tension is made pblic# <e is !aced with pholdin% the law while his !eelin%s 6his lst !or
Isabella9 contradict the law# $he !act that <amlets str%%le is mainly within the character and
An%elos is mani!ested in a sitation on display !or the pblic distin%ishes the di!!erence between
a tra%edy and a comedy# Sypher claims that the characters in Measure for Measure are
stereotyped in order to present the moral problem# $he adience is then re/ired to re!lect on the
moral choices o! the characters as Shakespeare, thro%h the )ke, makes the pniti"e decisions
!or them#
$wenty8two years later, Ale' Aronson pro"ides a &n%ian perspecti"e on the character o! An%elo#
Similar to Syphers comparison o! internal tension in Hamlet to the pblic tension o! Measure for
Measure, Aronson demonstrates the *split personality+ o! An%elo between his pri"ate and pblic
personae. *(hat Shakespeare portrays in this play, then, is mans inability to li"e p to the mask
he has assmed be!ore the world+ 6Aronson 17=9# An%elo is chosen as )epty to the )ke
becase o! his 1ritan "iews, yet when he is pt in the position to en!orce those "iews, Isabella
enters and, withot bein% conscios o! it, tempts him with her chastity# <e then !alls short o! his
e'pectations as a leader tho%h he !l!ills his e'pectations as a man# $his makes the adience
/estion their own pri"ate and pblic personae and how their *inner "oice+ can contradict their
social e'pectations, mch like in An%elos case#
Aronson also e'plores the personalities o! An%elo and Isabella, or rather lack o! personalities, in
his book# <e claims, *:oth An%elo and Isabella hide their incomplete, crippled personalities
behind a pose o! chastity and sel! control+ 6Aronson 1;19# $hey pt on *masks+ o! stereotyped
members o! society in order to make a personality !or themsel"es# An%elo presents himsel! as a
strai%ht8laced, controllin% man with "ery hi%h moral standards and Isabella is in the process o!
becomin% a nn, be%%in% !or more rles and re%lations to mold her into that particlar
stereotype# $he tension o! pblic "erss pri"ate li!e then catches p with them and they mst !ace
their pri"ate desires to display them pblicly#
An essay by $erence -a%leton, ,st a !ew years earlier, "iews the play in a similar !ashion. as an
*opposition between law and passion+ 6-a%leton >>9#<owe"er, in this essay, the pblic "erss
pri"ate sitation is not as mch moral as it is le%al# 5ost people wold "iew laws as bein%
*ne%ati"e restraints+ on society tho%h they pro"ide *commnication+ between the people and
%ide them to act appropriately in order to !nction as a commnity# $he laws were de"ised to
protect women !rom bein% nmarried and pre%nant, as is &liets sitation# Altho%h 4ladio and
&liet ha"e e'chan%ed "ows between each other, they ha"e not done so pblicly and ths are still
considered to be breakin% the law# $his is where the moral /estion wold come in. why kill a
man who is !lly prepared to marry and brin% p a child with the woman he lo"es, lea"in% his
lo"er pre%nant and alone 6e'actly what the law was attemptin% to a"oid9? $his is how ones "iew
o! An%elo can become con!sed# <e is a man tryin% to phold the law 6the reason why he was pt
in the position o! power9, yet by doin% so he pts a woman in the position that the law was bilt to
a"oid# $hat he is "ery stron%8willed in his decision can be seen as a positi"e thin% bt we
/estion why he is so stron%8willed in this particlar sitation# <e needs to make an e'ample o!
someone and 4ladio ,st happened to come in at the wron% time# $he adience is le!t to
/estion An%elos moti"ation#
-n"isionin% the characters o! An%elo and Isabella as str%%lin% to !ind their tre Sel"es chan%es
the adiences interpretation o! the play# It no lon%er is abot the laws and the sitation, as earlier
critics !ocsed, bt, instead, it is abot the characters themsel"es# $he play then becomes a story
abot people tryin% to !ind their place in society, which is a problem that e"eryone str%%les with#
In an essay in 1980, @aymond 1owell !ocsed on the role o! the )ke# <e claims that the )ke
cold be considered 0od8like in an alle%orical interpretation, bt, a"oidin% the biblical allsions,
he is at the least ob"iosly separate !rom the rest o! the characters# <e has the %reatest in!lence
on his people and looks ot !or the %ood o! all# In Aienna, a *city o! e'tremes,+ there are the
people, sch as 5istress B"erdone, who lo"e %ratitos se' and disobey the laws, and there are
the people, sch as Isabella, who abstain !rom se' and !ollow the laws withot /estionin% them#
$hese two worlds collide in this play and the )ke inter"enes in the end to make decisions !or the
people# $he rebels end p in ,ail and those that look as i! they ha"e a chance to re!orm and
become less e'treme in their belie!s are re!ormed# 5arria%e in the end o! Measure for Measure is
sed as both a pnishment and as reward# $he only trly happy marria%e is that o! 4ladio and
&liet 61owell 1709# $his point !orces the adience to /estion the idea o! marria%e, or at least
Shakespeares "iew o! marria%e#
4ritics ha"e opposin% "iews abot which character is the central !i%re o! this play# $he )ke has
*more lines to speak than Isabel and An%elo combined+ 6SchanCer 1179, bt he is hidden in the
back%rond !or the !irst hal! o! the play# Det both An%elo and Isabella are characters who lack
personality and clin% to rles and re%lations to !l!ill their li"es2 they do not make any tre
actions drin% the play. Isabella does not actally sacri!ice her "ir%inity to sa"e her brother,
An%elo does not actally ha"e se' with Isabella or end p killin% 4ladio# :oth cold be
considered pawns in the sitation, bein% maniplated in order !or characters sch as 4ladio and
the )ke to %et their way# $here is no correct way to "iew the characters in Measure for Measure2
they are simply meant to make the adience think, /estionin% their own moral choices#