Sexual Harassment In Measure For Measure, By Bob Komor

208 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Masculinity and violence in Shakespeare as you like it

In Measure for Measure, Shakespeare’s dramatic interpretation of sexual harassment is empowered with having three gender-specific sub settings: the convent, the prison and the whorehouse. But, these locations are greatly uprooted by shifting to spaces pertaining to headline-grabbing sexual assaults that have come out in the last few decades. For the 2011 live production directed by Audrey Coldron and put on by Actor’s Community Theatre, they used Bradford Cathedral in Yorkshire as their backdrop. Meanwhile, the 2006 film version directed by Bob Komar uses a British Army base, but modernizes the three sub settings. By choosing to interpret the play in these contrasting locales, the “comedy” aspect of the problem comedy is taken away. Doing this

Show More
Related

  • Goodnight Desdemona: a Feminist Introspection of Shakespeare

    2493 Words  | 5 Pages

    ... comedies rather than tragedies in their source form the original characters from the source plays are revealed. Strong, ‘masculine’ women of the source are only revealed through the intertextuality of genre and the reassigned direct quotes from Shakespeare’s iconic plays. The feminist perspective of Shakespeare’s plays, which was there all along, could only be revealed by the strong use of intertextuality in MacDonald’s play. MacDonald relies on the iconic meta-theatre and intertextuality to magnify the feminist perspective within the Shakespearean plays. When turned in upon itself, Shakespeare’s plays reveal their distinct feminist perspective that could not be uncovered without the extensive and brilliant use of intertextuality such as that of Ann Marie MacDonald. Therefore the metatheatre’s intertextuality reinforces and supports the traits of the feminine.

    Read More

  • Matrimony and Recompense in Measure for Measure

    7072 Words  | 15 Pages

    Since 1970, when the Isabella of John Barton's RSC production of Measure for Measure first shocked audiences by silently refusing to acquiesce to the Duke's offer of marriage at the end of the play, Isabella's response (or lack thereof) to the Duke's proposal has become one of the most prevalent subjects for Shakespearean performance criticism.See, for example, Jane Williamson, "The Duke and Isabella on the Modern Stage," The Triple Bond: Plays, Mainly Shakespearean, in Performance, ed. Joseph G. Price (University Park: Penn State UP, 1975), pp. 149-69; Ralph Berry, "Measure for Measure on the Contemporary Stage," Humanities Association Review 28 (1977), 241-47; Philip C. McGuire, Speechless Dialect: Shakespeare's Open Silences (Berkeley: U of California P, 1985); and Graham Nicholls, Measure for Measure: Text and Performance (London: Macmillan Education, 1986). However, attention to this issue has tended to overshadow another ambiguous aspect of the same stage sequence: the question of why the Duke asks Isabella to marry him in the first place. It is generally agreed that the text provides no evidence to suggest a romantic attachment to Isabella on the Duke's part until the moment of his proposal, but the play's stage history reveals a pattern of attempts to supply what the text lacks, either through stage business or interpolated declarations of love. Hal Gelb notes, "Critics and directors have so keenly felt a sense of the marriage as a tacked-on after-thought that they have sought ways to prepare it earlier in the play" ("Duke Vincentio and the Illusion of Comedy or All's Not Well that Ends Well," SQ, 22 [1971], 31). These attempts, based on a culturally specific conception of matrimony as prompted by erotic desire, disregard other textually prominent motivations for marriage grounded in Renaissance moral, social, and financial concerns. Ann Jennalie Cook, comparing contemporary notions of marriage to those of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, writes, "Despite the romantic ideas expressed in plays and poetry, most marriages were contracted on the basis of interest rather than affect. Society demanded a legitimate male heir to preserve the family name and properties. Moreover, the financial arrangements of a marriage settlement were essential to insure that both parties could live securely until death. Marriage was also viewed as the safest outlet for the healthful discharge of sexual appetites.

    Read More

  • Measure for Measure: The Duke's Surveillance

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shakespeare, William, and S. Nagarajan. Measure for Measure: With New and Updated Critical Essays and a Revised Bibliography. New York: Signet Classic, 1998. Print.

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Free Will In Measure For Measure

    1220 Words  | 3 Pages

    This plays similarly into Shakespeare’s parallel and distortion of tragedy and comedy, but in more profound way. Not only does it question free will and fate—but reality verses mirage. Shakespeare often explores the idea of dream and vision against fact and truth and as yet explores this theme in Measure for Measure. “Wrench awe from fools and tie the wiser souls to thy false seeming! Blood, thou art blood: let's write good angel on the devil's horn,” Angelo curses against himself. The duality of the characters and of the city itself is present throughout the play, and multiple questions of reality and truth permeate the essence of Measure for Measure. Measure for Measure often depicts testing and choosing as an instance of determining fate: each character has one or two single moments in which to make a momentous choice, which then determines much of the development within themselves and the plot or their circumstances. While Measure for Measure is infused with a sense of inevitability, character flaws, downfall, and irreversible fate, all which mark a tragedy, it plays upon and sometimes even reverses these elements, reflecting more comedic elements. Each character seems to be spiraling toward doom and certain destruction—but then there is a moment in which the Duke, acting as a benevolent meddler, gives

    Read More

  • Sexual Harassment Case

    1290 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) sexual harassment guidelines and the Civil Act of 1964, indicate that Susan Parker was indeed sexually harassed throughout her employment at Plastech Industries. The EEOC has created a set of guidelines that determine liability. These EEOC guidelines say that "A key factor in determining liability is whether the employer has an effective internal grievance procedure that allows employees to bypass immediate supervisors (who are often the offenders)" (Making the Sale p.46). According to the EEOC and section 703 of Title VII in the Civil Act of 1964, sexual harassment is:

    Read More

  • The Character of Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet

    1178 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pitt, Angela. "Women in Shakespeare's Tragedies." Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint of Shakespeare's Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.

    Read More

  • Essay On Sexual Harassment

    570 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sexual harassment is another subject of interpersonal communication that occurs in the workplace. Although sexual harassment violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and as amended by the Civil Rights Act of 1991, it is still a reality in all places of employment which is why it is something that everyone should have the ability to identify, understand, and effectively respond to.

    Read More

  • Comparing Measure for Measure and The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night

    1984 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... only does Measure for Measure fit the definition of comedy, it also parallels Shakespeare's other comedies.  Like The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night, the plot of Measure for Measure overcomes an adversarial obstacle, possesses a disguised character who affects the denouement, touches the audience with the humor of a clown or ruffian, endures the influence of a powerful a female character, and ends with forgiveness and reconciliation.  The similarities between Measure for Measure and The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night help to place Measure for Measure in the same category with Shakespeare's other comedies.  Furthermore, the "problems" many critics single out in Measure for Measure are also present in The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night, and further help to classify Measure for Measure as a comedy.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay: The Impact Of Sexual Harassment On Women

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imagine this, you're walking down the street in your favorite outfit feeling as confident as ever and then, suddenly, you're hollered by a man beside you or from across the street telling you how hot or fine you look. You no longer feel comfortable in what you're wearing because of his demeaning compliment. Obviously, you spend the day thinking of the unpleasant encounter you had and you think about heading back home to change. Men, boys should not make comments about women or girls on the street because it can vary as sexual harassment, it can make women self conscious of themselves and women can be offended by these comments.

    Read More

  • Measure for Measure

    1171 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare’s famous play Measure for Measure is usually put into the genre of a dark comedy. I’m not exactly sure if that best fits this particular Shakespearian writing or not, but I do know that there is more dark than there is comedy in it. The writing is set in Vienna, Italy around the time of the 17th-18th century. The Duke of Vienna has decided to leave on a trip, and he will place a successor, Lord Angelo, in his position while he is away. Little does anyone in the town know, but the Duke decides to stay put within his town so that he may spy upon the citizens and leadership. This minor development begins a whirlwind of plots, themes, and character development. However, one character and plotline is highlighted within this famous writing. Isabella, a virtuous and pious woman, has to make the decision to either give up her chastity and vow to God, or to allow her brother to face seemingly certain death. It is the many facets and reasons behind this choice that has made this Shakespearian play so popular. The person watching or reading wants to know what choice she will make.

    Read More

  • A Feminist Analysis of Othello

    1738 Words  | 4 Pages

    Pitt, Angela. “Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.” Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.

    Read More

  • Iago and Honesty in Shakespeare's Othello

    1172 Words  | 3 Pages

    Snyder, Susan. "Beyond the Comedy: Othello" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987.

    Read More

  • The Value of Sex in Romeo and Juliet and Measure for Measure

    1251 Words  | 3 Pages

    Measure for Measure also speaks to the commodification of sex by highlighting female virginity, those who are and those who aren't. In this play, female virginity functions as a...

    Read More

  • The Personality of Othello

    1047 Words  | 3 Pages

    Snyder, Susan. "Beyond the Comedy: Othello" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987.

    Read More

  • Homoeroticism In Shakespeare Literature Review

    1061 Words  | 3 Pages

    Homoeroticism focuses on the proceeding of the prohibitions of women on the English stage, as young pubescent boys played female characters. (Bullion, L. 2010:7) According to Smith (1994:48); “Historical records, however, the laws were hardly rigorously enforced and cases in which a man was executed for violating the law.” Orgel states; “That Early Modern England exhibited a much greater unease towards female sexuality than towards male sexuality” (Orgel.1996:35-6). He continues by saying; “Theatre therefore, was not especially concerned by the underlying male to male homoeroticism in heterosexual relations between characters on stage (Bullion, L. 2010:7). Thus, English stages only passed a measure of homoerotic charged exchange. (Bullion, L.2010:8-9). Agreeing with these statements, for this proposal I want to understand why it was so acceptable to “act” out these homoerotic desires, but was not acceptable outside the theatres of the Elizabethan society. Can one argue that Shakespeare blatantly used homoeroticism to mock societal standards, by using gender bending as comedic device? But the question remains, did Shakespeare challenge the Elizabethan’s status quo, strictly attacking the patriarchy or was it seen as a palatable association to Elizabethan audiences – the fantasy of men playing

    Read More

More about Sexual Harassment In Measure For Measure, By Bob Komor

Open Document