Measure for Measure Essay: The Pontification of Isabella

At this point in the essay, it is clear that social norms and customs have contributed to oppressing female characters in the play, but there is another element which has not been mentioned before and it is religion. Religion, in this case Christianity, promotes chastity and discourages sex before marriage. To keep her daughters “pure”, Bernarda does not allow them to have a boyfriend or to interact with men while they are

She is vain, petulant, spoilt, full of doubt and have very little patience. She has a masochistic enjoyment of enforced separation because it enables her to dramatize their situation, lament, moan, send messages, etc. When her and Lelio do meet they are almost always tongue-tied and need interpreters who proceed to misinterpret their statements, either through stupidity (Zanni), malicious desire for revenge (Brighella) or calculated self-interest (Columbina). Isabella's attention span is short like a young child's and her fear that she might be a nobody keeps her hyper-animated.

     Shakespeare's work, Measure for Measure, puts the "problem" in "problem play" as it, examines the difference between law and justice, virtue and goodness. It's a case study of abuse of power that has a particularly contemporary resonance.  Isabella is a very intriguing Shakespearean female. She is one of the few intelligent females who are also innocent and holy. Measure for Measure focuses primarily on her moral dilemma. Does she save her brother and give up her valued chastity or does she save her own soul while allowing her brother to die? By playing on Elizabethan viewpoints concerning women, nuns, and chastity, Shakespeare uses Isabella in developing his plot and

On arriving at the convent where she is preparing to take vows, Lucio at first glance recognizes her for a virgin "as those cheek-roses proclaim no less!" As he unfolds the plight of her brother she is prepared to immediately leave to speak on Claudio's behalf. The Provost announces her to Angelo in II.ii.20-22. "Ay, my good lord, a very virtuous maid, and to be shortly of a sisterhood, If not already." Thus Isabella is introduced as a virtuous young woman with intelligence,

After Alfonso’s death Isabella was not sure if she would be able to rule Spain as a woman. Many people doubted and even her herself doubted. Enrique and Alfonso were planning on arranging a marriage for Isabella eventually, but Isabella had her interest somewhere else. Living as a woman, Isabella wanted equality and equity for women. In the book it says, “Issues that affected women were always of particular interest to Isabella, and gender relations also colored the perceptions of people living in Spain. All three great faiths--Judaism, Christianity, and Islam--honored women in certain ways but were also patriarchal and made women second-class citizens in other significant ways.” (p 22) When there was a possibility for Isabella to become queen she wanted to truly impact the way things in her world ran. Enrique eventually accepted that Isabella as his heir and announced it to the kingdom. Even though Isabella was often alone there was a time where Enrique sent her to another town where Isabella was considered a stranger. In the book, Isabella the Warrior Queen it says, “It is just as likely that the marital alliance was Enrique’s attempt to remove Isabella from the direct line of succession in Castile and relocate her to a distant land.” (p 47) Luckily, Gonzalo and his nephew were around which helped her mood. Being surrounded by friends is always helpful after a tragedy, like a family

Born in 1474, Isabella d’Este’s family shaped her into who she became later on in her successful life. Isabellas parents taught her the important lessons of politics and government starting at a young age and that women can be leaders just like men,“Her parents believed in schooling their daughters equally to their sons, and she received an education not frequently afforded women”.(Brooklyn Museum,1). The important lessons Isabella was taught impacted her in a large way later in her life. This time

Throughout ‘Othello’, Shakespeare uses the manipulation of the protagonist, by the antagonist, Iago, to present a play controlled by men. In such a male dominated society, Shakespeare presents the women in the play as tragic victims at the hands of their husbands, in particular Desdemona and Emilia. Throughout this essay I will relate to the Aristotelian and Senecan descriptions of tragedy to come to a conclusion of how in ‘Othello’ Shakespeare presents women as tragic victims of men.

            Hero does not get a chance to mull over the idea of Claudio as a husband.  Even the audience knows little about her going into the now famous “shaming scene.”  Details about Hero’s virtues and personality are purposely left out, partially to satisfy the dominant male perspective in the play, but also to give more clout to the heinous claim that Claudio makes during the wedding.  The reactions of Hero’s father and others indicate that a woman’s virtues are only as good as a man says they are.

Elizabeth’s strength, independence, and her intense willpower to assure that her marriage is coordinated only by love demonstrate the feminist portrayal of Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s desire for

The characterisation of Jessica further challenges the role and expectations for women in the 16th century. Jessica is initially bound to her Jewish father, but later elopes with her lover, Lorenzo, defying the most prominent male in her life to live by her own free will; definitely not a common practice of her time. Jessica’s courage and strength which are exemplified through her actions and are also expressed in the quote; ‘I am a daughter to his blood; I am not to his manners’ (Act 2, Scene3, 18-19). When Jessica says this as she betrays her father to secretly marry Lorenzo, it is clear that she possesses a strong sense of defiance and strength against this dominant male, showing that she is free to be her own person and is not going to let her life be run by her father. This brave and controversial act by a young girl is in stark contrast to the expectations of 16th century society, revealing a hint of disrespect in the character of Jessica that is admired as a sign of her power. Overall, the actions of Jessica exemplify Shakespeare’s construction of women as powerful characters who

Fragments Of Isabella by Isabella Leitner Is a book that is about a girl and her family. Her and her family are jews and they start off in a place in Hungary called Kisvárda. They get deported to a concentration camp in Auschwitz. Where a lot of her family died like her mother one of her sisters and her older brother. You learn that her father went to America to try and get them immigration papers but by them time he got them it was too late for most of his family but a couple of them.

The theme for honour and fidelity apply for both men and women in Shakespeare’s play ‘much ado about nothing’. Honour and fidelity is represented very differently for men and women as it would have been for the people in Elizabethan times. In this first section of the essay, I will be exploring double standards and Shakespeare’s awareness of the double standards between sexes and his feminist approach, the differences of honour and fidelity for men and women and upper class and lower class comparisons.

man whose orders are highly questionable—and as a consequence her character is markedly diminished” (Riefer 4). As the play progresses Isabella’s spirit weakens. Male dominance was extreme during the Jacobean Period. Isabella receives no sympathy or support from the men in the play. No one would believe her if she told them that Angelo, a man praised for his religiosity, has propositioned her to have sex with him to save her brother’s life. Isabella hopelessly asks herself “to whom shall I complain?” (Shakespeare 34). Women had no political or social power and couldn’t challenge the patriarchal system.

Comparing the characters of Angelo and Isabella, one could argue that Isabella is ‘the symbol of goodness and mercy set against a background of moral decay’. Alternatively, one could see her character as self-righteous and hypocritical, as we later discover when she values her chastity higher than her brother’s life.

William Shakespeare’s problem play, “Measure for Measure” presents men in patriarchy as the justified rulers despite characterizations of erraticism and corruption. The hypocritical and corrupt figure Angelo, the irrational Claudio, and the deceiving Duke all undermine the central figure Isabella because of their ‘male superiority’. Isabella’s agency to protect Claudio, however, affirms her refusal to conform to biased societal views of women. Even though Isabella is moral in character, she breaks her modesty and passiveness by confronting Angelo, which presents her in a more masculine way. This masculine portrayal is ultimately highlighted by the ending of the play,