CHARACTER AND ROLE OF DUKE VINCENTIO
In the world of Shakespearean comedies, most characters are gentle, merry and humorous. Here women emerge as more intellectual and potential than men do; women not only match men but also come out winners. The men may be young and handsome, but when works need to be done Shakespeare invariably reaches out for his heroines. He has given us such a glittering array of heroines that Ruskin comments "Shakespeare has only heroines and no heroes." Truly, Shakespeare has not been able to depict a neat `hero' in the true sense of the word. Though Vincentio, Duke of Vienna, has been largely accepted as the hero of `Measure for Measure', not because he does any physical or intellectual heroics but because he towers above the rest of the rather mediocre characters. The man is not given to too much action; he is more prone to reflect and philosophize on things.
The play appears with the Duke handing over his powers to Angelo and Escalus, chiefly to Angelo whose austere and honourable deed is known to all Vienna. The Duke does it in one of those philosophic and moral speeches in his fashion, the less do we think him fit to be ruler of man. He is a thinker, not a man of action; a philosopher in a wrong place. Therefore, he urges Angelo to make full use of his virtue and assumes the disguise of a friar to spy upon his hedonistic subjects and upon Angelo.
The Duke has a deep insight to see that Angelo with his profound learning would strike the right balance between two opposite demands by law and by religion - death and mercy. But still, he was not sure that even Angelo could manage such impossibility. He was a creator and abrogator...
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... This is only possible through gentle persuasion. His failure lies in the fact that is that he is unable to evaluate the teachings of Gospels and to give it a perfect dimension or to have the courage to reject it if it neglects life.
He is not a perfect man. He also commits faults. However, those are estimated and corrected. We still remembers him as a dispenser of justice and forgiveness. Wilson Knight comments, "Like Prospero, the Duke tends to assume proportions evidently divine." Though this is an exaggeration, we must also reject Lawrence's view that he is a `stage Duke', "a mere instrument in the play's economy." Not all his flaws make him a very inspiring figure. However, we have to give him a place in our hearts because of his morality, creative talent, controlling power, inborn mysticism, compassion, forgiveness and deep knowledge of philosophy.
One of the first things that Lord Angelo does after taking over for the Duke is to enforce the already existing rules upon the people. Lord Angelo seems to view himself as a bit more of a disciplinarian than the Duke. Unfortunately, it is Isabella’s brother, Claudio, who Angelo makes an example out of for the entire town. Claudio has slept with his longtime girlfriend Juliet. Juliet is now pregnant and the entire town knows of their “sin.” Lord Angelo wants the town to know that this type of behavior is unacceptable and summons Claudio to be killed. Claudio quickly calls for his loving and pious sister Isabella to come and vouch for him ...
The morality of the hero also plays a key role in the nature of his heroism. Hamlet holds himself to high moral standards and ethics. “We, the ...
Within Measure for Measure, the character of Angelo can be seen as a case study of will over moral nature. Angelo, a deputy, is given the Dukes authority to act in his behalf while the Duke is away. The story unfolds as Angelo uses the agency he's been given in ways that many men in authoritative positions have done. It is interesting to follow his line of thought and to realize that this is a man who is not unlike many others. The main conflict between Isabella and Angelo is a contemporary problem. Measure for Measure is a unique opportunity to investigate the personality types of the characters involved in the conflict, and the study of these complex characters can give meaningful insights into the nature of human emotion and action.
Shakespeare’s tragic play Othello is an unfortunate example of gender bias, of sexism which takes advantage of women. The three women characters in the drama are all, in their own ways, victims of men’s skewed attitudes regarding women. Let us delve into this topic in this essay.
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.
Neely, Carol. "Women and Men in Othello" Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. (page 68-90)
Another aspect of the duke’s character addressed in the poem is his condescending attitude. Two times in the poem the duke needlessly told the names of the artists who created the masterpieces that he owned (lines 3 & 56). He felt superiority over the emissary he was speaking to by dropping these names. The duke addressed the emissary as a “never read stranger'; (line 6). Not only was it patronizing for the duke to call him a stranger, but he called him unintelligent too.
Duke is portrayed as being a very controlling gentleman. He thinks that no one but himself has the authority to show off his late wife portrait: "Since no one puts by/ The curtain I have drawn for you, but I" (9-10). The duke seemed like the kind of man who wanted his wife's company all to himself. He enjoyed having the power to try and control who she smiled upon. He felt she treated too many others the same way she treated him. Apparently, in his mind he t...
Treatment of women has evolved much since Elizabethan England. As a preface to the dissection of The Tempest – in particular, the character of Miranda, Shakespeare’s role for women as a whole must be addressed. According to Carolyn Ruth Swift Lenz’s introduction of Woman’s Part, “patriarchal order takes different forms and is portrayed with varying degrees of emphasis throughout the Shakespearean canon” (5). In the midst of this patriarchy, where do women stand? What social assumptions guided the pen of the great English poet and playwright as he wrote The Tempest? Lenz discusses that “In the comedies women are most often nurturing and powerful; as their values educate the men, mutuality between the sexes may be achieved” (6). However, “in tragedy…their roles are at once more varied, more constricted, and more precarious…they are condemned for acting, accused of being deceitful even when they are not” (6). Why the canyon between the two? How does Shakespeare reconcile women in what The Norton Shakespeare terms a romance play?
"O cunning enemy that, to catch a saint, with saints dost bait thy hook." A disturbing tale of suspense, dark comedy and corruption, Shakespeare's Measure for Measure explores sexuality, morality and the law, exposing the abuse of authority in high places amid the seething underworld of Vienna. This essay will explore Isabella’s moral dilemma.
Summary: Duke wants to restore the strictness of fornication/adultery laws. He sets up Angelo to do it, while he feigns that he will be away. Instead he remains to check up on Angelo and the town (Vienna). Angelo goes ahead and closes down Overdone's brothel and the others, and puts Claudio in jail, condemned to die the morrow, for impregnating Juliet.
Lord Angelo is precise; Stands at a guard with envy; scarce confesses That his blood flows, or that his appetite Is more to bread than stone: hence shall we see, If power change purpose, what our seemers be.
Knight,G.Wilson. “The Shakespearean Superman: An essay on The Tempest.” The Crown of life: Essays in Interpretation of Shakespeare’s Final Plays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1947. 203-255
The play begins with the Duke manipulating Angelo to “weed” the vice of the people (3.2.258), and to see “what our seemers be” (1.3.58). The Duke has reason to believe that Angelo will strictly enforce laws that the Duke had neglected to enforce (1.3.50-53). We have already seen how Angelo manipulates Isabella. The Duke’s manipulation, he believes, will bring order to his people without him personally having to be perceived a tyrant, “And yet my nature never in the fight / To do it slander” (1.3.42-43). Angelo, too, has taken pride in maintaining a particular reputation. The Duke’s great concern about being slandered suggests he has a less than complete bosom, showing a lack of self-knowledge—another feature shared by Angelo.
The tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s most popular and greatest tragedy, presents his genius as a playwright and includes many numbers of themes and literary techniques. In all tragedies, the main character, called a tragic hero, suffers and usually dies at the end. Prince Hamlet is a model example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. Every tragedy must have a tragic hero. A tragic hero must own many good traits, but has a flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall. If not for this tragic flaw, the hero would be able to survive at the end of the play. A tragic hero must have free will and also have the characteristics of being brave and noble. In addition, the audience must feel some sympathy for the tragic hero.