Topic: 'Isabella is the play's most admirable character.' Do you agree?
Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare is a problem play written in the time of Jacobean England. It examines the trials and tribulations of the Viennese society, where characters are admirable and flawed alike. Isabella may seem as the most admirable character, but similarly to all humans, she falls, which supports Shakespeare's opinion that in fact, all beings are equally capable of admirability and contemptibility.
In the play's beginnings, Vienna is depicted as a morally lax society, and this is embodied through the low-life characters that are depicted. In a society where 'liberty plucks justice by the nose', there is a a plague of immorality, which is celebrated in the town of Vienna by the poverty-stricken characters. In fact, many characters such as Pompey, Kate Keepdown, and Mistress Overdone use their moral freedom as a way of sustenance, through the operation of brothels. Their persistence of their sinful way of surviving is made evident, when Pompey tells Mistress Overdone that 'though you change your place, you need not change your trade.' This enthusiasm in transgression is further emphasised, when Lucio exclaims that he has 'purchased as many diseases under her roof as come to'. This depicts Vienna as a society where moral transgression is celebrated, and emphasises the despicable and dishonourable behaviour that has overtaken this society. Indeed, there is a lack of admirability amongst the lower-class citizens of Vienna, and this only one side of what humans are capable of.
Amidst the despicable behaviour of the lower-class of Vienna, it seems that Isabella is the most admirable character in Vienna, but even she shows her flaws. Isabella heavily contrasts the sexual and immoral nature of character such as Lucio and Pompey. Wishing a 'stricter restraint upon the sisterhood', Isabella is a character who is completely devoted to her spiritual life, which is an admirable quality, especially at the time at which the play was written. This indeed makes Isabella arguably the most admirable character, but even she is susceptible to descending to an immoral state. This is as a result of her separation from the human condition. Isabella, as someone who views values her religion as most important, eventually causes her own downfall. Isabella, when given the opportunity to save her brother's life, Claudio, declines. Although she cannot be condemned because of the nature of Angelo's request, it is in the way that she talks to her brother that signifies her decline. She angrily shouts to Claudio that she will 'pray a thousand prayers for thy death', and confidently says that 'more than our brother is our chastity'. Shakespeare exhibits Isabella's lack of understanding of human life, and this reveals Isabella's flaws as a human. This emphasises Shakespeare's opinions that all humans are equally capable of flaws whether it be the immoral Kate Keepdown, or the admirable and 'chaste' Isabella.
Ultimately, the play exhibits that admirable characters can fall and equally, immoral characters can rise. This is examined through the many morally lax characters such as Kate Keepdown and Lucio. Although both characters exhibit their moral lapses, in the form of their work in prostitution and the abandonment of an illegitimate child respectively, both equally show their capability for admirability. Kate Keepdown takes care of Lucio's child, and Lucio shows a willingness to help his friend Claudio. Furthermore, Angelo who turns back on his promise of saving Claudio, shows a great amount of remorse, when he exclaims that Claudio 'should have lived', and begs that he his punished by 'sequent death' for his wrongdoings. This starkly contrasts Angelo's image at the start of the play, one of who's 'urine is congealed ice'. Even Isabella, who so deeply lost in her religious beliefs, realises her coldness when talking to Claudio, and this is made evident through her pain when she thinks that Claudio is dead, and the way she describes the world as 'injurious', and Angelo as 'damned'. Indeed, Isabella is in fact not the most admirable character, and this is because Shakespeare makes it evident that all characters are capable of both admirability and flawlessness.
Similarly to all other characters in the play, Isabella is simply human, and in no way the most admirable character in the play. Through the admirability of the acts of seemingly immoral characters such as Keepdown and Lucio, and the regret shown in Angelo and Isabella, Shakespeare makes it clear that humans cannot be viewed simply as admirable or non-admirable, but rather as simply people who are capable of acting out of goodness, our acting out of immorality.
Home
Help
Search
Login
