Critics Views on The Duke Flashcards
What does Declan Donnelan say about the Duke exploring Vienna?
Rulers were referred to as the place they ruled, so the Duke of Vienna = ‘Vienna’, so when the Duke explores Vienna, he is exploring himself.
What does Wasson say the Duke knows has led to the corruption in Vienna?
‘He knows that his own merciful nature has led to the corruption of Vienna’
Nathan in his article “The Marriage of Duke and Isabella” states what about their marriage?
That it is designed to fit the notions of the wife a Duke should have as prescribed in “King’s Gift”- one of James’s works on statecraft
What did Peter Pick say about the Duke and power?
‘Power, a sort of mental sadism, which is Angelo’s aphrodisiac, is also the Duke’s addiction’
What does Marian Cox say about the final scene?
‘The final scene of the play is both the convening of a court and a symbolic Day of Judgement’
What does Fiona Dunlop say about the legal system the Duke has inherited?
‘In Measure for Measure, the Duke has inherited a legal system that depends part on ‘terror’ of the ruler and of the law.’
What does Hazlitt say about the Duke?
‘more absorbed in his own plots and gravity than anxious for the well-being of the state.’
What does Knight say the Duke represents?
The Duke ‘represents a divine principle of justice and mercy.’
What does Coursen say about the Duke?
The Duke is ‘vain’, interested in ‘image mongering’
What does Tebbets say the play is based on?
‘The play is based on James but intended to be a sly, subversive attack on the monarch.’
Why does Stevenson think the play was written?
‘The play was written partly to flatter James 1 as the Duke is based on many of his attributes.’
