Exploring Morality in Measure for Measure
In Measure for Measure, Shakespeare is able to examine the concept of right and wrong through the characters of Mistress Overdone and Mariana. Throughout the play, by using characters that most people would find morally reprehensible, Shakespeare is able to give the audience a different view of these people and, hopefully, show his audience that people aren't always what they appear to be. Through the character of Mistress Overdone, Shakespeare is able to bring a jovial side to the oldest job known to man -- prostitution. Through the character of Mariana, Shakespeare allows the audience to decide if two wrongs do, in fact, make a right. While the concepts of right and wrong are given a twist in this play, Shakespeare, in the end, allows his audience to decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong.
At the beginning of act one, scene two, Shakespeare uses the bawd, Mistress Overdone, to convey to the audience that Angelo is enforcing the fornication laws of Vienna. While this seems like the more moral, and more right, action to take, Shakespeare puts a twist on what the audience would normally view as a clear cut case. In lines 79 - 81, Mistress Overdone explains to the audience the effects of these new policies. So, while it seems right to shut these businesses down, the audience now is shown that prostitution is this lady's livelihood and her way for making money. However, who is to decide if the "moral benefits" of eliminating the public display of prostitution is in the best interest of the city? By posing this question, Shakespeare forces the audience to consider both sides of the issue to, in the end, make some decision.
In England, during that time...
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... While, of course, this play does not say that Shakespeare was in favor of prostitution, it does force his audience to see these people as individuals and not objects. Likewise, by introducing the description of Mariana, Shakespeare challenges the idea of something always being right or wrong. Through the two characters, Shakespeare is able to have his audience challenge their ideas of right and wrong and force them into justifying these decisions.
Sources Cited and Consulted
Knight, G. Wilson. Shakespeare and Morality. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1967.
Leech, Clifford. "The 'Meaning' of Measure for Measure." Shakespeare Survey 3 (1950): 69-71.
Shakespeare, William. Measure for Measure. The Arden Shakespeare. Ed. J.W. Lever. London: Routledge, 1995.
Thomas, Vivian. The Moral Universe of Shakespeare's Problem Plays. London: Croom Helm, 1987.
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As an attempt to escape the possible tragic proceedings following cultural conflicts, Latin American immigrants seek refuge in America. Once in America, immigrants seek to gain new opportunities that can enable them to essentially achieve a better quality of life. Additionally, Henderson argues that immigrants from Latin America migrate to the United States for roughly the same reasons as other immigrants: “they might wish to join family members, have a lust for adventure, or need to escape something in their home country; but mostly they need jobs, which are scarce back home”
Shakespeare illustrates the injustices done to women by demonstrating the treatment Desdemona and Emilia received after having been framed of adultery. Because both women are though of cheating on their husbands, they no longer fit in society’s model of an exemplary wife. Despite having proved their affection for their husbands countless of times, not having a pure image led to Iago and Othello mistreating of the women they once loved. Once both women began to stand up for themselves and challenge the authority of their husbands, the repercussions of their bravery were both women’s death. Which shows, women’s only source of authority was their reputation as a wife. Once they lost that status, they no longer held any form or respect in society or with their husband’s.
During the Elizabethan era women had a status of subordination towards men. They had a role to marry and oblige to their husband’s wishes. Shakespearean literature, especially illustrates how a woman is psychologically and physically lesser to their male counterpart. The play, Othello, uses that aspect in many different ways. From a Feminist lens others are able to vividly examine how women were subjected to blatant inferiority. Being displayed as tools for men to abuse, women were characterized as possessions and submissive; only during the last portion of the play did the power of women take heed.
Through his discussion of morals in the Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant explores the question of whether a human being is capable of acting solely out of pure duty and if our actions hold true moral value. In passage 407, page 19, Kant proposes that if one were to look at past experiences, one cannot be certain that his or her rationalization for performing an action that conforms with duty could rest solely on moral grounds. In order to fully explain the core principle of moral theory, Kant distinguishes between key notions such as a priori and a posteriori, and hypothetical imperative vs. categorical imperative, in order to argue whether the actions of rational beings are actually moral or if they are only moral because of one’s hidden inclinations.
During the Shakespearean time women were treated as inferiors. The three women in Othello, Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca encountered many degrading and unfortunate situations. They were to be obedient. The women had to comply with the commands, orders, and the instructions of the men. Women were made to believe that they had no rights. The men would publicly humiliate the three women. It was difficult for the women to stand up for themselves due to that time in society. In Shakespeare’s play Othello, he portrayed the three women to be viewed as obedient, loyal, and submissive to their husbands.
Women’s lifestyles back in Shakespeare’s time period was very different from the modern day women’s lifestyles of today. The characteristics for women of that time was that women should be uneducated, should follow chastity, take care of the home and should not join a profession or get a job. Most women were denied the chance to be schooled beyond the basics of simple reading and very little writing. Some women of the upper class were schooled but they were not looked upon as educated women but were instead welcomed to the company of men. Women would not be able to enter professions because of the lack of education and the fact that they were women. For the poor women their work was spinning and weaving. The best job that they could get was to be an overworked nurse. The only real profession that women at this time could get into was marriage. In marriage women were expected to only take care of the home and anything that would benefit the home. When entering marriage women were further endorsed by the law. The law said that when entering marriage women became property of the men and all their belongings were the mans property now and the man could do whatever he wanted with these belongings such as selling them. A woman was generally fail and soft, which proved their overall weakness. A good woman of that time was supposed to be practice obedience, patience, chastity, modesty, and virtue. Women who didn’t live up to these expectations were considered to be “bad women”. During their free time Elizabethan women would sing, dance, and write letters. (Papp and Kirkland)
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... ceremonial aspect of relationships and how wrong they can go if given the leeway with Claudio and Hero's wedding. Finally, Shakespeare shows how powerful the physical attraction between two people can be; so powerful that one becomes totally subservient to the other's commands and requests. The moral of the play: Know thyself, and thy neighbor.
It portrays societal morals and ideals where a man is supposed to objectify women and enjoy fighting and women are supposed to be docile and obedient to someone else’s command. Though these ideals are displayed and made clear, Shakespeare has his characters challenge society’s morals in their actions and personalities. Though Juliet had proven herself to be more impressive because she was more “masculine” than Romeo, Romeo’s more “feminine” nature was also admirable. Seeing Juliet as a powerful protagonist was inspiring, but Romeo’s ability to love her so much despite his friend’s and what society tells him is almost equally as