Shakespeare's Measure for Measure explores the concepts of moral law within an immoral framework and implemented by leaders with questionable morals. Measure's Vienna is a place where pragmatism and absolutism can compete both in the shadows and in the foreground for control of the city's justice system regarding sexual immorality. The conflicts between these two thoughts of law are played out through the characters of Angelo, Isabelle and the Duke. Shakespeare uses the apparent sexually immoral city as a backdrop for the move from absolutism to pragmatism, alongside the need for the characters themselves to move from one to the other. It could be argued that this black comedy justifies the idea of ​​pragmatism towards issues of sexual immorality, rather than absolutism, but Julia Lupton points out that the end of the play seems to leave the reader on a dubious note , paving the way for the argument that Shakespeare might have characterized pragmatism as the lesser evil, but perhaps it is not absolutely justified for either school of thought in matters of law, particularly in cases where corruption seems to have a hold as is the case in Vienna. Nevertheless, Measure for Measure follows the transformation of an administration and a society from absolutism to pragmatism, placing the latter above the others in matters of sexual morality law, while casting a skeptical eye on the validity of governing under “reserved consent”. .Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original Measure for Measure essay in Vienna and the people depicted in it play a vital role in why there is a shift from absolutism to pragmatism in the plot. . There seems to be rampant sexual immorality, which no one really knows how to control, or whether they should. Pompey says in Act 4: “I know myself as well here as in our professional house. One would think that this is Mistress Overdone's own house, for many of her former clients are here” (90). Here Pompey accuses many of the courtroom residents of being visitors to prostitutes. One can understand why a city might submit to absolute power under terrible pressure, as the Duke says: "We have strict statutes and most biting laws, / The checks and brakes necessary for the stubborn steeds, which we have left during these fourteen years. slip, Even like a lion too big in a cave / Who does not go towards prey” (30). Here, Vienna is said to have acted cavalierly towards the rule of law, with the Duke choosing to rule through amoral relativism and believing that this did not work well for deviance. Although these lines show the Duke arguing for why an absolutist view of the law is necessary in Vienna, the language Shakespeare uses describes what the people of Vienna might think of it. To those subject to the law, this would feel like a "biting" predator, as the Duke compares the law at its best. There must be rampant immorality in Vienna for the Duke's next lines on this page, "For terror, not to use, in time, the stick / Becomes more mocked than feared, therefore our decrees / Dead to the infliction, to themselves are dead" have grounding. If the people of Vienna did not seem to mock rather than fear the law as it exists, there would not be such a battle between absolutism and pragmatism. Angelo is described as an absolutist by many characters, such as when Lucio says, "And with the whole line ofhis authority, / Rules Lord Angelo, a man whose blood / Is a very snowy broth; one who never feels / The wanton pricks and movements of the senses, / But who dulls and dulls its natural advantage / With the benefits of mind, study, and fasting” (33). This puts Angelo and absolutism in a rather positive light, leaving room for the argument that this type of decision may be seen as necessary by people in a context like Vienna. There are many more instances where Angelo's power seems to hint at corruption, however. He is described as tyrannical, as when Claudio says: "Let it be the fault and a glimpse of the new, / Or let the public body be / A horse on which the governor rides, / Who, new to the seat, that he can know / He can command, let him directly feel the spur, / If tyranny is in his place, Or in his eminence which fills it” (28). This comments on the fact that Angelo does not govern with the same relativism as the Duke once did. He “lets” the city “feel the pulse,” even enforcing arbitrary laws for the sake of the law. We see such a law when Pompey says: "All the houses in the suburbs of Vienna must be demolished" (25). Shakespeare includes this example to show the extent to which Angelo practices his absolutism. Even when a law seems to harm more than help, Angelo believes he must enforce it. This prepares us for Angelo's decisions regarding Claudio. Lucio says: “He stops him there / And closely follows the rigor of the statute / To make an example of him” (33). This is a clear use of arbitrary absolute power. This is a direct rejection of the apparent relativism that the Duke previously practiced, as it guarantees that no one will be spared, case by case, but that Claudio's life will be destroyed to serve as an example to all other inhabitants of Vienna. The corruption of this absolutism Julia Lupton mentions in Citizen-Saints the corruption of government through "reserved consent", meaning that citizens do not quite give their consent to what is happening. This is particularly seen in regards to the marriage of Isabella and the Duke, which we will see later. It is easy to see the corruption in the examples of Angelo's absolutism. When Angelo says to Escalus: "We must not make the law a scarecrow, / Establish it to fear the birds of prey, / And allow it to keep a form until use makes it / Their perch and not their terror. » (35) This is another example of Angelo's denunciation of relativism, which can give way to custom in the rule of law, but it also indicates that Angelo does not want the courts to be involved in the law enforcement. This should give the characters pause, as much of the action in this play takes place in a prison cell. An absolutist leader calling for an end to the courts in a rule of law cries corruption to anyone with experience of democracy, and Shakespeare included these lines to criticize both absolutism and the corruption seen in administration d'Angelo. Perhaps Angelo's greatest example of corruption is when he combines his absolutist decision on Claudio's death ("It's the law, not me, condemn your brother" (47)) with a sexual proposition to Isabella . He does so by asking: “that there was / No earthly means to save him, but that either / You must lay down the treasures of your body / For this supposed, or else let him suffer.” What would you do?" (57). This is not only a break with Angelo's absolutist rule, but also corruption at its worst. He uses his absolute power and justice to place Isabella between the death of his brother and the death of his puritysexual, which is very important for a somewhat moral absolutist like Isabelle. The examples of corruption of absolutism cannot be said to justify the Duke's position. , However. The Duke says bluntly: “I have handed over to Lord Angelo, / A man of rigor and firm abstinence, / My absolute power and my place here in Vienna” (29). The Duke, although he advocates pragmatism, gave this power to Angelo after doubting the validity of his practice of relativism. This is an example of not only the government and community changing towards a more pragmatic stance, but also the characters. The Duke's Pragmatism Although we can only know of his previous actions through comments made by him and others regarding the law before Angelo took power, the Duke is shown to be rather pragmatic during the play. He says about Angelo: “Shame on him whose cruel strike / Kills for faults of his taste… Craft against vice I must apply. / With Angelo tonight I will sleep / His old but despised fiancée; / So the disguise must, by him who is disguised, / Pay with lie, falsely demanding / And fulfill an ancient contract” (79). He is not stopped from harming his morals by lying and sneaking, because he knows his actions will bring mercy to Claudio and Isabella. The Duke often disguises himself as a brother in the play, as when he says to Juliet: “I will teach you how you must challenge your conscience, / And test your penitence, if it is healthy / Or if it is hollow” (52 ). . This can be seen as either corruption, similar to Angelo's actions, or a reflection of mercy from the pragmatist perspective. By describing the Duke as a brother, even if he disguises himself as one, Shakespeare places him in a position of moral solidity. Although the Duke demonstrates questionable morality when he lies about being a brother, he does so out of pity for Juliet and Claudio. The Duke is also called upon for his moral solidity within the legal framework. Isabelle said to him: “O gracious duke, / Do not harp on this, and do not banish reason / For inequality, but let your reason serve / To bring out the truth where it seems hidden, / And hide the false that seems true” (102). Shakespeare's continuing moral portrayals of the Duke provide a foundation for the argument that the Duke's pragmatism is upheld as, at least, the greater of the two schools of thought. Isabella appears to be absolutist in her belief in equal justice under the regime of equality. law and sexual morality at certain points in this play. For example, when Angelo asks him: “Would there not be charity in sin / To save the life of this brother? To justify obtaining a sexual favor, she responds: “I will take it as a peril to my soul; / It is not a sin at all, but charity” (56) and he later says: “As much for my poor brother as for myself; / In other words, if I were under the influence of death, / The impression of sharp whips that I would carry like rubies, / And undress myself until death as for a bed / This desire of which I was sick, before giving in / My body is ashamed” (57). These lines show us how absolutist Isabelle is about her sexual morality, something she might find in the city's rampant sexual immorality. We see this again when she tells her brother, “If I would only bend down / Deliver you from your fate, this should continue.” / I will make a thousand prayers for your death, / No words to save you” (66). Here she vehemently says no to her brother's request, in the name of her absolutist belief in his morality. She does not share Claudio's relative thought when he says: "What sin do you do to save a brother's life, / Nature dispensesuntil now of the act / May it become a virtue”. Lupton argues that by holding so firmly to her absolute morality, Isabella "chose her own chastity over her brother's body" (Lupton 140). This favors the absolutist Isabella we see until the Duke later gives her justification. We see an example of Isabella's legal absolutism when she says of her brother's crime: "Your sin is not accidental, but a business." / Mercy towards you would prove to be debauchery; / It is better that you die quickly” (66). This echoes Angelo's idea that the law should be enforced against anyone who violates it and the punishment should be severe. However, we see how easy it is for her to shift into a pragmatic way of thinking when she wants to have pity on her brother, that is, “O just but severe law! » (45) or herself. She tells Angelo about her brother's death sentence: "Yes, I think you could forgive him,/And neither heaven nor man grieves at mercy" (46). Here she pleads for more mercy than justice. She also sees the need for relative thinking when she tells Angelo: "O, it is excellent / To have the strength of a giant, but it is tyrannical / To use it like a giant" (48). By this, she says that it is difficult to have absolute power without using it with absolute corruption. She also tells Angelo: “It is so in heaven, but not on earth” (55). This is an important line because with it, Shakespeare shows Isabella's reconciliation between her religion and her new pragmatism within herself. We especially see how quickly Isabelle becomes pragmatic when the Duke presents a way to use legalities to their advantage. The Duke said to Isabella: “I am convinced that you can very honestly do a deserved good to a poor wronged lady, redeem your brother from the angry law, not defile your kind person and give much pleasure to the absent Duke. if by chance he comes back one day to hear about this matter” (68) Isabelle is immediately moved by this, and responds: “Let me hear you talk more. » By giving him a justification for an action that would otherwise be considered rather summary by an absolutist, Isabella allows herself to be guided towards pragmatism. This is because she measures mercy higher than justice most of the time, especially when it comes to her brother's punishment, so it is easy for her to justify relative morality when it involves adopting the mercy. Shakespeare makes it so that mercy is what makes her change her mind about pragmatism to show that mercy is much more applicable to the Duke and Isabella's pragmatism than to Angelo's absolutism. Angelo returns to absolutism only to ask for death, saying: "No more sitting hold my shame, / But let my trial be my own confessions." / Immediate condemnation therefore and subsequent death / It is all the grace that I ask” (112). The guy is incredibly hard on himself because his absolutist beliefs ring true even to himself. The death he asks for is greatly juxtaposed with the life the Duke has granted through the play. Thanks to his pragmatism, the Duke grants life to Claudio and Juliet, and instead of death, he grants a marriage (even if unwanted) to Angelo and Mariana. As mentioned previously, however, it is not enough to say that the ending does it a vindication of the Duke's pragmatism on Shakespeare's part. Another marriage proposed by the Duke is that between him and Isabella. Lupton points out that we are not witnessing Isabella's response. She writes: "Leaving its response in question, I argue, the play ends with the gripping spectacle of consent in reserve, advancing, suspending and illuminating.