Topic > A Critic's View of Isabella: Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

'Different audiences respond to Isabella in different ways.' It shows how Shakespeare's presentation of Isabella could lead to a wide range of responses. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayThe mere mention of Isabella's name seems to strike an indignant fear in the heart of the literary critic. His character divides them into factions of conflicting interpretations, just as his moral dilemma divides the audience. In Quiller-Couch's words, critics make her "two opposite women, and praise or blame her accordingly." As Measure For Measure has aged, new dimensions of moral indignation and blind exemption have been added to this complexity, which is, in essence, the confused reactions of writers and audiences to Isabella's decision in the face of Angelo's "sadism" . At the esteemed Quiller -Couch (1922), there is a 'rancid' element to Isabella's chastity brought to the surface when she transforms into a 'naked procuress' replacing Marianna's shameful body with her own. It highlights the gap between Isabella's "morally right choice" and her deplorable self-preservation. Rosalind Miles (1976) also highlights her "unscrupulous readiness to put another head on the chopping block intended for herself" after the unshakable rectitude of her decision to reject Angelo. This could, perhaps, be seen as evidence of Isabella's fall from grace. Is it possible that she came to the wrong conclusion when faced with her dilemma?Mary Suddard (1909) came to a completely opposite conclusion when faced with the same work. He describes how Isabella is a representation of “Puritanism at its most favorable…intense in its moderation, passionate in its self-control.” This quintessentially Puritan paradox confronts "real life" and all the consequences of human frailty and immorality, before reaching a new moral level in which Isabella's early monastic training was "not only transcended but unconsciously condemned" . The noble rules of Isabella's faith are transformed into rigid constraints, just as the closed doors and walled gardens of her home are about to be replaced, at the end of the play, by the Duke's palace of light. Many critics are quick to condemn Isabella for her 'triumphant preservation of chastity' (Ellis-Fermor 1936). More shocking to Mrs. Lennox in 1753 was Isabella's abuse of her brother: "That torrent of abusive language, those gross and unfeminine reflections on her mother's virtue, her exultant cruelty to the dying youth are the ways of an affected puritan, outrageous in her apparent virtue; she is not pious in mind, innocent and tender. Mrs. Lennox proclaims Isabella "a vixen" for her cruelty and ferocity in act 3, and perhaps she is right in thinking that, whatever both his anguish and Isabella's anger at Claudio's desperate attempts to save his life could not be exonerated. However, JW Lever (1965) tried, noting that this is "her second male solicitation in a short space of time." time,” and the trusted brother she was counting on to save her betrays her, dashing her hopes of salvation. Thus the once clear waters of social acceptance are once again muddied. However, it suggests that although Isabella begs for the life of his brother, his actions are contrary to his true beliefs, managing to comment on the extremely unusual form of Isabella's request for mercy. Far from attempting to avenge his brother, he questions Angelo's fitness to judge other human beings and invokes the principle of.