(FINISHED) 1.4 Critical Views and Devices in Measure for Measure Flashcards
Angelo’s coin quote
“Let there be some test made of my metal before so noble and so great a figure be stamped upon it” “coin heathen’s image in stamps that are forbid” (illegitimate children are forgeries) - coining image = ironic. Angelo is tested and fails. “Angel”, “noble” = coin
How does Shakespeare set word against word, phrase against phrase?
“the tempter or the tempted” “I have hope to live, and am prepared to die” “To sue to live, I find I seek to die/ and seeking death find life”
Give an example of listing used by Shakespeare to intensify description
“lord Angelo is precise… stands at guard with envy…scarce confesses that his blood flows” “Unhappy claudio, wretched Isabel,/ Injurious world, most damnéd Angelo!”
How is repetition effectively used by Shakespeare?
To heighten theatrical effect and deepen emotional and imaginativesignificant in particular speeches - seeming, justice, tomorrow, sense
In what sequence does antithesis centre on Angelo?
Angelo’s staging against Claudio “An Angelo for Claudio, death for death; haste still pays haste, and leisure answers leisure; like doth quit like, and measure still for measure”
Name a few language registers used in MfM
- Formal conversations between Escalus and the Duke - Colloquial banter between Lucio and the ‘gentlemen’ - Intellectually demanding discussion of Isabella and Angelo (with sexual subtext) - Convoluted excuses of Pompey and Elbow
Name a few quotes related to sexual euphemism within the play
“Groping for trouts in a peculiar river” “Our most mutual entertainment” “A game of tick-tack” “Saucy sweetness” “Sweet uncleaness” “Gift of my chaste body” “rebellion of a codpiece”
What are the bawdy connotations within Shakespeare’s work?
“stewed prunes” “dish” “pin” “point” “stones”
What are the iterative (repeating) images present within MfM?
sex, desire and coinage
What conflict exists and what intensifies it?
Angelo is forced into public life, as is Isabella. Angelo v Duke, Angelo v Isabella, Angelo and Mariana v Claudio and Juliet, Angelo v Claudio Antithesis intensifies this conflict
What does Frank Kermode comment about on MfM?
The density and intellectual intrigue in Acts 1-3 present poetical mastery, however, following Act 3 Scene 1 Line 152, the shift to a simpler play changes the dynamic of the play for the worst
What does the pervasive language of multiple layers provide?
Duplicity of language
What figurative language examples used by Shakespeare compound sexual imagery within theological guises?
“Heaven in my mouth/ As if I did but only chew is name,/ and in my heart the strong and swelling evil/ of my conception” - Evocation of passion for Isabella with the sacrilege of intercourse with a nun - receiving the sacrament but still committing sin in his thoughts (theme of public “God’s do with us as we do with torches”)
What is the significance of the play format featured within MfM?
Verbal and non-verbal methods to exploit the dramatic possibilities of language
Who criticised the works of Shakespeare for having obscuring imagery?
John Dryden and Dr Johnson
