It's To Blame For Measure Essay: Isabella

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.

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

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

 In the plays female sexuality is not expressed variously through courtship, pregnancy, childbearing, and remarriage, as it is in the period.  Instead it is narrowly defined and contained by the conventions of Petrarchan love and cuckoldry.  The first idealizes women as a catalyst to male virtue, insisting on their absolute purity.  The second fears and mistrusts them for their

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.

Loss of virginity wasn’t a light matter in Shakespeare’s day. “For Isabella, too, the prospect of giving herself to Angelo is tantamount to dying” (Riefer

The most significant aspect of Isabella's character is her desire to be a nun. This immediately establishes the importance of her chastity while at the same time aiding in characterizing the setting in Catholic Vienna. Her decision to enter into a convent is especially interesting considering the fact that Shakespeare's audience was predominantly Protestant. Reformation England abolished convents and monasteries and discontinued the practice of forcing celibacy on the clergy; however, there was still a certain reverence for the holiness of virginity. This respect for virginity was, to a certain extent, superficial. Elizabethans did not always make a distinction between chastity and virginity. Isabella's spiritual commitment to abstain from sex, her chastity, would be rendered false when there was an end to the physical state of virginity. Sleeping with Angelo, even under these unusual circumstances, would make her unsuitable for the convent. By diverging from his source materials and making Isabella a novice in a convent, Shakespeare further complicates Isabella's dilemma.

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

In the Middle Age literature, women are often presented or meant to come off as an unimportant character; which can also reflect on how the author wants the women character represent. Women are usually shunned, have no say or control in what they do; due to what men desire; like Ophelia and Gertrude did in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. But these female characters that I will discuss are women with power, control, and a voice. Majority of the female character’s appearances are made to represent wickedness, evil, or a seducer who challenges a man belief; and does not symbolize perfect women.

As a nun Isabella would have little contact with men and would not be answerable to anyone other than her female order. Isabella is unavailable to any men, even Angelo. She does not conform to one of the roles society deems appropriate for a female. She is a virgin but has no intention of marrying. She believes passionately in her faith and would not sacrifice her body for any sinful reason, meaning that she would never become a prostitute. As a virgin destined to remain so the rest of her life, Isabella falls outside of Angelo's understanding.

" But as ironic as his actions may initially seem, he does however exhibit truth when confronted by the power of the Duke when sentenced at the end of the play. Isabella would rather let her brother die than give up her virginity, "Before his sister should her body stoop To such abhorred pollution. Then, Isabel live chaste, and brother die: More than our brother is our chastity." (II, iv, 184-86)

In 'Twelfth Night’, gender and sexuality in many ways add to the play’s themes of madness. 'Twelfth Night ' is a reflection of renaissance thought and culture, the renaissance was a transitional period from the medieval to the radical Elizabethan era. The culture of the time was a contradictory one, as from one aspect it was influenced by the patriarchal medieval time, where women were under the rule of men and seen as needing the protection of men, however, from another perspective, the culture was a changing one as women were starting to receive education and many humanists believed that women should be given more rights. The play reflects these attitudes and often challenges the social hierarchy and establishes ideas on gender roles, sexuality and cross-dressing. These factors indeed undermine the expectations of male and female behaviour, and in turn further the play 's theme of madness which has a comedic effect on the audience due to the shock humour it provides.

    Some critics of Shakespeare’s play, Measure for Measure, judge Isabella as "a narrow minded but passionate girl afflicted with an irrational terror of sex" (Barton, 546), "a young, immature woman" demonstrating "moral absurdity and cruelty" (Nicholls, 478), whose actions are scarcely defensible. A classmate of mine asked, "Why doesn't Isabella just sleep with Angelo? What's the big deal?" These statements reveal that these people have no understanding or sympathy for Isabella’s position: socially, morally or physically.

Shakespeare and the members of the Elizabethan era would be appalled at the freedoms women experience today.  The docility of Elizabethan women is almost a forgotten way of life. What we see throughout Shakespeare’s plays is an insight into the female character as perceived by Elizabethan culture.  Shakespeare’s female characters reflect the Elizabethan era’s image of women; they were to be virtuous and obedient and those that were not were portrayed as undesirable and even evil.