So after finishing the play I'm a little ticked off that Shakespeare doesn't give us good textual evidence for whether or not Isabella is going to marry the duke. The duke says in 5.1.485-486 "Is he pardoned; and for your lovely sake/ Give me your hand, and say you will be mine." Isabella says nothing after that. Instead the duke talks to Lucio for the rest of the play, and Isabella is strangely quiet. I think it would be interesting to see how a director would interpret this. There could be non-verbal cues like Isabella throwing her arms around the duke, and that could mean a yes, or she could just nod, and in that way the director could add his own touch. It's like when we were watching that clip from "The Merchant of Venice" and the director showed Jessica still with her mother's ring. That throws Jessica in an entirely different light. Previous to that she is shown with the textual evidence as a bit of a spoiled brat, just wasting away her father's money in foreign countries, but the inclusion of a scene with her with her mother's ring shows that she wasn't as frivolous as the reports had suggested. In this same way the director is left with an opportunity to change the nature of the play through non-verbal cues. We can consider Isabella's character for evidence of how she would most likely react. The question is whether Isabella would marry or have sex with someone if she was threatened, or if the person did something for her in the hopes that that act would endear her to that person. Angelo tried the first method. In 2.4.141-144 he tries his luck with Isabella.
Angelo: "Plainly conceive, I love you."
Isabella: "My brother did love Juliet,
And you tell me that he shall die for it."
Angelo: "He shall not, Isabel, if you give me love."
Of course this tactic will not work with Isabella, and we know this before she even replies because of what she has said in 2.2.29-30 "There is a vice that most I do abhor,/ And most desire should meet the blow of justice," and the vice she is referring to is promiscuous sex, or premarital sex, of which her brother is guilty. Knowing that about Isabella, and also that she is becoming a nun, it should not be surprising that she declines Angelo's offer, even though it means her brother will die. She is only petitioning for her brother because he is her brother, and not because she approves of what he did, and she is not going to engage in the same act just to save him. The whole play depends on the fact that Isabella will not bend to this type of pressure. It's strange then that the duke expects her to marry him at the end of the play. True, he saved her brother's life, but I'm not convinced that Isabella would go along with this. She seems to value her chastity more than she values her brother's life, so even though the duke saves her brother's life, I'm not sure that Isabella would now be willing to give up her virginity to the duke, even after all he had done for her. I would be interested to see how different directors interpret this scene, because as it is a comedy one can expect a marriage and a somewhat happy ending, but there is enough evidence in the play to suggest that perhaps Isabella is not the type to marry, and could still be considering becoming a nun, even after all this. True, the duke is not merely asking for sex but marriage, and he is not forcing her to do anything but just asks for her hand, still Isabella may not marry him. I really wish Shakespeare had just added some sort of response for her.
I really don't think Isabella is going to marry the duke. She was planning on becoming a nun, and values her chastity more than her brother's life. While it is extremely nice, and I think she will be eternally grateful to the duke, I don't think she will marry him. I don't think she wants to marry anyone.
3 comments:
I agree, and do not think that Isabella is going to marry the Duke. She makes it very clear throughout the play that she wants t become a nun and her virginity mean so much to her. If she is to marry the Duke, then why wouldn’t she sleep with Angelo to save her brother earlier in the play? I see Isabella as the only symbol of purity in this play, and if she were to marry the Duke, she would no longer be pure.
I was also upset that we weren't given a reaction from Isabella to the Duke's marriage proposal. I'd also have assumed, based on what we saw of her character throughout the play, that she wouldn't have accepted his proposal. The only thing I can think of that would indicate that they marry after the play is that there is no unhappy reaction from the Duke. I would think that if Isabella wasn't planning on marrying him there would've been some negative reaction from the Duke.
It would be interesting to find out what the majority of director's did with this scene, not only in its early productions, but in its modern ones as well.
I definitely agree with your points that the Duke's demands conflict with her previous plans to become a nun, that she values her chastity more than her brother's life." While I agree that she shouldn't marry him, I believe that ultimately she will have to. As we've seen from the rulers in this play, they will attempt to get what they desire no matter what the consequences. The Duke even has a hand in the actions of others even when he is disguised as someone else. Although it disappoints me to think that Isabella will have to give up her chastity and will not be able to choose her own destiny, I believe she will be forced into marriage by the Duke.
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