Consider the Attitudes To Women Demonstrated In the Vienna of Measure For Measure

I think most men get fooled themselves into persuasion that they ar the seat of powerbecause women have stoped them that dream. Wo mens subtle power is to practise men think that the man is in charge.Eli Khamarov in America Explained passim the course of cadency for total, Shakespe atomic number 18 highlights subordination of the female sheaths by the males. In the capital of Austria represented in the play women have to suffer exploitation and depreciation as their individualism and independence ar at a lower placemined. Shakespeare uses this intervention of women to exemplify the subversive activity in the city of capital of Austria.The two main female government agencys in Measure for Measure are Mariana and Isabella. Both these women are victims of the asymmetrical motives of the men who so strongly influence their lives. Isabella, the protagonist, is a nun. Her name means consecrated to theology. Looking at the roles the different women in the play have adopted, as will be discussed in more depth during the course of this essay, it seems she is close to labored into the role by the bigoted society in capital of Austria. It appears that the save(prenominal) fate for women, un weeny they wish to join a convent, be a cyprian or alone, is to become a housewife. As a nun Isabella benefits from the procreation and relative independence (although whether this particular privilege can belong to a char, in the Vienna Shakespeare writes about, is doubtful) she would not have if married. in that respect are whitewash certain restraints, in that she is not able to have the sexual immunity of women who are not so divinely consecrated and, once she has interpreted her vows, she is not allowed to entertain the comp to each one of menNun When you have vowed, you must(prenominal) not speak with men precisely in the presence of the mother superior and then if you speak you must not aim your face,Or if you show your face you must not speakHowev er, this is a small apply to instal for the underpinard of life she can expect to live except in spite of the advantages of being a nun, there significant drawbacks. Isabella is forced to abide by two laws the chauvinistic law of the land and the androcentric article of faith of the church. When they collide Isabella is forced to make a plectrum, not just straight amongst man and God, unless also amongst her brothers life and her soul. It is ultimately the mixer structure in Vienna that is responsible for her angst and consequent unsuccessful situation.Isabella thusly Isobel live chaste and brother dieMore than our brother is our honestyUltimately, for Isabella there is no escape. Even her brother does not construe her argumentation behind the choice to sacrifice his life for control of her induce What hell on earth you do to save a brothers life, / Nature dispenses with the deed so removed / That it becomes a virtue. The job between sin and virtue accentuates t he contrast between his perception of the predicament and Isabellas. Claudio also oerlooks that the church does not see personality as the overall decider of in force(p) and wrong. He fails to see that this is not only Isabella clinging onto her eternal life barely also that this is her bid for independence. The strength of her female character is indicated in Act II Scene iv where she delivers the only female soliloquy in the playIsabella To whom should I complain? Did I express thisWho would believe me? had he twenty dollar bill heads to tender downOn twenty blocks hed yield them upBefore his sister should her body stoopTo such abhorred pollution.Though she has just been offered a vicious ultimatum by Angelo, and seems at her wits end, she stands firm in the decision she has made. Her steadfast emplacement towards the values she upholds is a contrast to those displayed by the three most significant male characters in the playAngelo Who will believe thee, Isabel?My unsoiled n ame, thaustereness of my life,My vouch against you, and my place ithstate, exit so your accusation overweigh redeem thy brotherBy yielding up thy body to my willIn this speech Angelo reveals a part of himself so contrasting with the person spoken about so highly in Act I Scene I There is a amiable of character in thy life / That to thobserver doth thy history fully unfold. This well-seeming Angelo is not the uniform person revealed in Act II Scene iv, and indeed throughout the play. His leave out of consistency about his scruples hints at the weakness of his character, curiously compared to that of Isabella. Unfortunately for her, no matter how much she can prove herself in the presence of men her femininity stick arounds. Were women allowed more independence and choice, Isabella would not be faced with two conflicting laws her situation would be completely different. Her failing is highlighted by the fact that it is the subordination by men that has led to her no-win predica ment, even it is only a man who has sufficient authority to founder reprieve of either of the two fates. Bearing in mind the corrupt character of most of the men in Measure for Measures Vienna, this can only mean Isabella will no doubt be exploited.Mariana, in contrast to Isabellas comparatively feminist existence as a nun, has found her entire life shattered by the cancellation of her betrothal to a revered maestro of the city. Not enough to lose her brother at sea, with all the familys wealth, skipper Angelo shows his superficiality along with demonstrating the attitudes of men towards women in Vienna that they are spendable by calling off the engagement.Duke her brother Frederick was wrecked at sea, having in that perished vessel the dowry of his sister she lost a noble and famous brother, in his love toward her ever most kind and natural with his the specify and sinew of her fortune, her marriage dowry with both, her combinate husband, this well-seeming Angelo.Isabella Can this be so? Did Angelo so leave her?Duke Left her in tears, and dried not one of them with his comfort swallowed his vows whole a marble to her tearsHere the Duke reveals the sad fair play of Marianas past which, as a woman, she is powerless to do anything about. The Duke says her brother love her, Angelo clearly did not. In jilting her he demonstrates that his interests in her were based purely on the money she can access from her family. Kathleen McLuskie writes in The venerable bard There is evidence to suggest that marriage was regarded as just an instrument of social control The truth of this is slowly revealed throughout the play, though remains mantled until the final shooting, specially in this scene. The accuracy of McLuskies statement resonates through this scene the significance of its fact is seen in Marianas daily life. The Dukes second statement describes Angelos lack of interest in Mariana besides as a source of wealth and probably business relations of som e sort. Since the Duke describes Angelo as a sample person, this appears to be accepted as some sort of norm amongst the magnanimousness in Vienna. Through Mariana is shown the effect this self-interest has on the women in the society.Mariana is now confined to a moated grange where she has little company and even less to occupy her time. Shakespeare uses Marianas character later in the play to exaggerate the gentle nature of women, one of the few positive attributes he bestows upon the female characters in Measure for Measure.Mariana Oh, my dear lord,I crave no other, nor better man.Although the women in Vienna are stripped of their freedom and seem to have their nose out of right undermined, they retain their principles and live up to the roles they hope to be given. They remain steadfastly loyal Isabella to the doctrines of the church and Mariana to Angelo, regardless of the price they have to pay. Their cultism is often presented as submissionIsabella (to Duke) I am direct ed by you.What Isabella does not realise when she utters these words is the situation to follow. This may be a premonition (as frequently occur in Shakespeares plays) of the obedience the Duke of her in the final scene. Perhaps what Eli Khamarov claims in America Explained is true also in Shakespeares Vienna, that women allow men power over them. Then the question needs to be asked, What do women gain from permitting men to domineer them? Sexual freedom is sure as shooting not the answer. The sexual constriction of Isabella and Marianas lives is a stark contrast to that of the prostitutes, which make up a large Viennese sub-culture, in particular lady of pleasure Overdone.Lucio Behold, behold, where Madam Mitigation comes. I have purchased as many diseases under her roof as come to judgeThis brothel-owner is nicknamed Madam Mitigation by Lucio, since she alleviates mens sexual tension. Her liberalism is however still as much of a nemesis to her as Isabellas chastity is to Claudio and Angelo alike when, on the promotion of Angelo to acting duke, the brothels are ordered to close.Mistress Overdone But shall all our houses of resort in the suburbs be pulled down?Pompey To the ground, mistress.Mistress Overdone What shall become of me?Caught in a vicious cycle, Mistress Overdone cannot attach, since no man wishes to marry her because she is a prostitute. If she cannot marry she must support herself the only trade women are agreeable in is prostitution hence she must remain a prostitute. But this in turn means no man will marry her. Mistress Overdones lack of choice in her own life is other example of the double standards adopted by the corrupt men in Viennese society. This is a culture where women are used for sex yet still expected to remain pure and chaste.Their civil rights are abused, they are treated as second-class citizens, and their freedoms of speech and choice are interpreted from them. The comparison of the female characters suggested in the firs t paragraph of this essay when establishing Isabellas choice of becoming a nun is a good starting commit for this. Mistress Overdone has the most freedom of any woman, but she pays for this with any activated security she could hope for. Isabella has emotional security within the constraints of religion, but no freedom. There is also the possibility she may have little companionship. Mariana has no emotional security or freedom. When Juliet exercised her freedom within her emotional security she had both taken from her. Since, even though the women in Vienna are stripped of their freedom and seem to have their sense of responsibility undermined, when a man is sentenced to death for impregnating his fiance, the virtuous responsibility of the action is determined on the woman.Duke So then it seems your most offenceful actWas mutually committed.Juliet Mutually.Duke Then was your sin of a heavier kind than his.Juliet I do confess it, and abye it, father.Although the Duke is here pos ing as a friar, either he is adopting the attitude of the church he is representing, or he is following his own moral code. By going along with the churchs belief Shakespeare is using him to show the patriarchal set-up of the religion in Vienna. If the Duke is using his own ideals as a guide, this is likewise as worrying since he is the ruler of the city and has the superseding voice.The exploitative nature of the men in Vienna is shown by the treatment of both Isabella and Mariana by Angelo and the Duke throughout the play. They are humiliated in public and subordinated in private.Angelo For that her character was disvaluedIn levity. Since which time of five yearsI never spake with her, saw her, nor heard from herAngelos jilting of Mariana leads to a decline her self-esteem whilst the Dukes manipulation of the two women results in his exultation and their continued lack of choice, as he marries Mariana to Angelo and demands Isabellas own manus in marriage. This lack of respect for womens own abilities to make choices renders them powerless over even their own lives.What Shakespeare says about Vienna through the mens treatment of women is evident. Men who do not respect others, and who strip the rights of women to save their own face not achieve their goals. Nonetheless Shakespeare does not show them suffering, especially not at the hands of the women. Angelo ends the play married to a woman who loves him dearly and will pander to his every want. Claudio, in his inability to understand Isabellas decision to let him die, finds himself not having to. The Duke is still asking for Isabellas hand right up to the end of the scene. Her name suggests she will not give in. stock-still it is not only on the account of oppression that men stand accused of maltreating females, Shakespeare strongly highlights issues including sexual double standards and general moral hypocrisy. Claiming that the Vienna in Measure for Measure was indicative of the capital of the United Kingdom of his time, Shakespeare shows what little he thinks of the values adopted by his peers and contemporaries. The images he conjures up of dirty streets and sufficient mansions are also historically accurate representations of life in capital of the United Kingdom powerfully supporting the supposition that the city was the subject of Shakespeares criticism. Perhaps Shakespeare is pass a theory behind the state of London and what can be done to change it.He also makes reference to what he feels womens role is in society through the characters of Isabella, Mariana and Mistress Overdone in particular. These are three women who do not fit into the role of wife and each have different ways of life, yet still find their destinies have been handed over to men. It is possible that in this play Shakespeare is criticising the misogyny of seventeenth Century London and maybe even King James I (although the latter is highly unlikely he would get away with it). A counter-argument is offe red by Linda Bamburs Comic Women, Tragic Men a Study of sexual practice and Genre in Shakespeare, that the writer fails to attribute the opposite sex characters the privileges of the other hints at Shakespeares own sexist attitude. She hints that the treatment of women in Measure for Measure is a parody for Shakespeares own attitude towards them. Truth be told, his unperceivable messages in Measure for Measure may never be known, but one fact remains. Whether as a result of playwrights like Shakespeare, or simply because of a gradual change in attitudes, two centuries later on this play and its highlighting of deep-rooted patriarchy, the first feminist movement sprang up. London has never been the same.