The brother sister relationship in this play is so strange, neither sibling is willing to sacrifice for the other, understandably, and the shifting of opinions and actions is a little bit unbelievable. Claudio in particular seems to shift his feelings and opinions often. Also I find the the general sexual nature of this play a little boring, it's the entire force behind the plot. I forget Shakespeare was a crude guy when reading Hamlet or MacBeth but this play proves it. I want to talk about Isabella's character a bit in this blog post. Against the sexual overtone of the entire play she is a stark contrast clinging to her virginity and her virtue. The play tries to cast her as rigid and prude because she will not give up her virginity to save her brother, which is a very strange and uncomfortable position to be put in. I find that in most of Shakespeare's tragedies the main female characters are either cast as villains or victims. His female characters in his comedies seem to have less rigid boundaries, however Isabella is still written as a very one dimensional character with very limited choice in her own life.
Angelo is obviously the most despicable character in the play, but I wish Shakespeare had given him more reason to be how he is. I know it is a play so we cannot have pages of character development but I think he would be a better character if we were given more definite motives for his actions. Why does he want to have sex with Isabella in particular? This might have a lot to do with the trope of men wanting to take virgin girls virginity because they are threatened by their control over their own bodies. I think Angelo is probably feeling threatened by Isabella’s conviction in what she believes in.
There is a lot of debate on if Isabella’s decision not to save her brother is justified. I believe it is totally justified, she does not owe anyone anything, especially not something so personal and sacred to her own identity. Also it is not as if she would sacrifice for her brother, she actually states that she would give her life to save him if possible, just not her virginity. Which is understandable. It would be a violation of her own body while giving her life would be her choice. Also Claudio seemed pretty comfortable with dying for a while, what happened to that? The solution the characters come up with seems like a good idea. However I do feel bad for Mariana who has to marry Angelo. Ugh I am not a fan of Shakespeare's comedies.
We *do* get his motives, though - in his soliloquies! What does he say about why he is drawn to Isabella?
ReplyDeleteI get that he has his motives, but what kind of horrible person asks a women who wants to be a nun to give up her virginity. He just makes me angry. I know I'm not supposed to like him, but I feel like someone needs to slap him and tell him to stop being so selfish and closed minded. He does everything he consideres a crime. I personally think he is a horrible leader, not that I'm a huge fan of the Duke either. I also think Isabella's decision is justified, but I don't know that everyone would make the same decision. They have a strange kind of relationship. It doesn't seem as close that they're willing to ask each other for anything unless it in neccisary, but being willing to die for him is a huge sign that she cares for him. I think that is the best she can do. She has said she doesn't want to lose her virginity, so she offers him the next more important thing to her. Plus she gets bonus points in my book for not being as much of a hypocrit as Angelo.
ReplyDeleteI must admit I like the question you raise about Claudio. How can it be that he was so confident with dying mere minutes before Isabella's arrival, yet goes on to say how he is not ready for death and how scary it will be only moments later? As weird as it may sound, and, don't get me wrong, Angelo is a horrible man, but I find myself disliking Claudio slightly more than Angelo at the moment. While in my eyes Claudio has done nothing wrong and does not deserve to die, it is unreasonable of him to ask Isabella, his own sister and family, to give up something so important to her, something that she cherishes above all else, to save his life. As family, he should put her before himself.
ReplyDelete