There is a lot to respond to in the final acts of Measure for Measure, but there is one character I want to respond to the most, and that is the notorious Isabella. She has to be one of the most interesting and misunderstood women I’ve ever read in Shakespeare. For a woman who is seen as pious and chaste, it seems she does quite a few things that lead audiences and readers alike to see her as two-faced, not so much as good/evil or angel/devil, but as chaste and good/clever and flawed. The entire play reveals these aspects of Isabella, but for this post I will center on act IV scenes I and III.
It can already be argued that Isabella is doing the wrong thing in convincing Mariana, Angelo’s ex-betrothed, to have sex with him in Isabella’s stead. Do we know that this act is wrong? In the first scene of act IV, Isabella explains what she has said to Angelo, and when Mariana comes in, Mariana says, “Will’t please you walk aside?” (4.1.55) Not only has Mariana decided to listen to Isabella, but she talks to her in secrecy, outside the hearing range of the duke. This can possibly be seen as a simple stage direction –perhaps Shakespeare did it this way so as to not repeat the plan again –but it can also be seen as more than that. We as readers and audience do not know what is said to Mariana: we trust that Isabella has only told her what we know. Who know what she could have said to convince the woman?
Despite this all being speculation, the point is that Mariana does agree to Isabella, supposedly without a fight, since they had to make haste (4.1.53). If Mariana wholeheartedly agrees with this plan, how wrong can it truly be? Angelo is not an innocent man that is to be corrupted by this plan, and Mariana wants it to happen.
Scene I of act IV reveals Isabella’s ability to convince others to do her bidding (referring to Angelo as well as Mariana, though we as the reader do not hear what she says to Angelo). In the third scene, what reveals her other side is her remorse at finding out her brother has been beheaded despite having “slept” with Angelo (not knowing, of course, that he is alive all along). Isabella is incredibly upset, threatening to “will to him and pluck out his eyes” (4.3.111). Though her part is small in this scene, it reveals a part of Isabella that the audience did not know she had. Isabella, for a single moment, forgot who she was, and made a threat to silence a man, which could obviously be read as to kill him. That’s a big mortal sin, as she well knows, being ready to get into sisterhood.
I believe the point Shakespeare is making in this play concerning Isabella is that those who wish to devote themselves to God, those who take their chastity very seriously, those people are still human with emotions. Isabella originally came off as uptight, set on her nunnery ways, but in reality I believe that Isabella was simply revealing her stubbornness and need to argue (since she is a natural with persuasion). She’s not being a hypocrite at all; she’s just revealing her personality. That’s why she’s a such a great character.
2 comments:
Isabella is a very complex and multidimensional character. She is also kind of puzzling when one truly looks at the growth she makes during the play. Isabella starts out very much like Angelo; very ridged in their beliefs and prudent to their duties. Then Isabella is tested as to what lengths she will go to save her brother. Through this experience she is altered. Her demeanor as well as some of her values seem to shift and one cannot help but think that Isabella becomes a bit more human or at least more likable. At the end of the play she gives this grand speech about the wrongs that were committed to her and her brother and this time she needs no prodding from Lucio. She freely says what she feels and it does not have to be saintly. Isabella lets her passions known and even becomes aggressive in her speaking. I think you are right to say that Shakespeare points out the human qualities of Isabella and shows her vulnerable human side, but i do think it's interesting to see that Isabella has to progress this point.
Elaine, I think you bring up a really great point in arguing Isabella's innocence. I agree with your statements concerning Isabella's tendency to be manipulative and threatening, both traits that are seen as sinful. The last few points you made are what I think to be crucial in understanding Isabella's character- a woman who wants to be a nun should feel a devotion to God, and in Isabella's case, it seems as though her only intention is to escape her annoyance that is Vienna.
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