Measure for Measure, Disceit for Honesty?

Sorry it's late. I was ULTRA tired last week and couldn't do much school work.

The end of Measure for Measure leaves the audience with a question: How does Isabella respond to the duke’s marriage demand? One rigid interpretation would be to assume that she agrees, whether she wants to or not, simply because a man of such high social stature asked her to. That notion would only work in a perfect world where subjects never question an order from authority. Seeing as this play is full of characters that bend and break the law, the above assumption then proves to be quite flawed.

True, Isabella has two options as far as the audience can see. She can either go with the Duke’s desire and get married or she can complete her vows and become a full nun. Even though the answer is not clearly defined, Isabella would probably do whatever she could to become a nun, only yielding to the Duke under some extreme circumstance. Part of my reasoning comes from the Duke himself and part comes from Isabella.

First, we have the Duke. The very first official act we see him do is give his power to Angelo under the pretense of going away. Once it is revealed that he was the Friar the whole time, the whole city will know that there was something strange going on, even if they can’t discern his entire plot. Second, he tells his guards to arrest Isabella when she’s trying to testify. Finally he reveals that he was actually lying when she thought that Claudio was dead. To an outsider, some of the events in the play may be at least partially admirable. For Isabella, however, none of the above would make the Duke any more appealing to her as an individual. In fact, she may be a tad ticked off at a few of these. Add that to the fact that he says “Give me your hand, and say you will be mine” (5.1.486) and she has plenty of reason to refuse. This is a man that is willing to do anything to make sure that he socially looks good and then asks her to do something that, by the definition of her chosen lifestyle, means that he can’t possibly value her beliefs. I don’t even think these two have any history together outside of the whole executing Claudio fiasco.

Next, we have Isabella herself. We get no background information suggesting that there was a reason she is becoming a nun, so we can assume that this is purely her desire. This notion is strengthened as the play goes on. She does not make any statement that make it appear that she wants to repeal her vows in terms of striking up a relationship with anyone. In her conversations with the Duke in the guise of the Friar, she is very focused in her words; all she wants to do is free her brother. It can be understandable why the Duke may find this virtue charming but she does absolutely nothing to lead him on. Even though she does want Claudio to live, she is not willing to do anything to compromise her vows. She plainly tells Angelo that, if she has to lose her virginity to save her brother, it wasn’t worth it. She has absolutely no desire to be intimate with a man.

If this woman would rather let her own relations die than be with a man, I’m sure she’d rather die herself than marry the Duke. Opposites may attract, but mis-matched pairs simply won’t mesh.