M4M Themes and Ideas Flashcards
-Being and Seeming -Law, Governance, Power -Justice and Mercy -Gender and sexuality -Humour
The human condition
encompasses the totality of the experience of being human and living human lives,
all humans have the tendency to sin
note:
ideas of conflict between soul and body, reason and emotion
Capacity for sin as an innate part of the human condition
E: humans are tainted with original sin, manifested in their immoral actions and indulgence in sexual pleasures (corrupting nature of sexual desires)
- Claudio’s use of simile and metaphor
” like rats that ravin down the proper bane”
Claudio describes human attraction to evil like ‘rats ravin down’ the poison that kills them.
“like rats”
D1: simile of human nature being likened to rats
highlighting depravity akin to their filth
D2: connotation of ‘ravin’
: immorality through indulgence in base desires — a rather repulsive image.
D3: metaphor of ‘bane’ to describe sinful desires.
comparison to poison: deathly consequences of yielding to our inclinations to sin.
- Pompey listing the people he met in prison
“Starve-lackey, Drop-heir”
D1: Use of aptronym to describe and give insight to each prisoner’s flawed nature shows the different crimes they have committed
“killing, stabbing, raping”
-reveals their capability to sin, wider reflection of humanity where we all innately possess some extent of sinfulness
D2: listing of multiple people shows the large number of people who have committed crimes, shows how many people succumb to sin and how it is inescapable
Consequences of sin
E: though it is inescapable, the consequences are detrimental
- Claudio’s use of simile and metaphor
” like rats that ravin down the proper bane”
Claudio describes human attraction to evil like ‘rats ravin down’ the poison that kills them.
“like rats”
D1: simile of human nature being likened to rats
highlighting depravity akin to their filth
D2: connotation of ‘ravin’
: immorality through indulgence in base desires — a rather repulsive image.
D3: metaphor of ‘bane’ to describe sinful desires.
comparison to poison: deathly consequences of yielding to our inclinations to sin.
- The duke’s perception of Vienna’s moral laxity
“Liberty plucks justice by the nose. The baby beats the nurse.”
D1: Personification of “liberty” + kinesthetic imagery:
complete overthrow and reversal of normal order shows the chaos that may ensue when people are given more freedom to indulge in sin
D2: Visual imagery of baby and nurse:
subvert expectations of the role of an infant and a nurse
: going against assumptions of an infant incapable of violence and the caretaker being affectionate and good-willed by illustrating violence and harm.
Human’s dual nature is responsible for the conflict between the spiritual and physical selves
E: Presentation draws on GCOB, in which humans are subjected to conflict between rational, spiritual selves and their base physical instincts
- Angelo’s soliloquy
“Lying by the violet in the Sun / Do as the carrion does, not as the flower/ Corrupt with virtuous season.”
D1: Metaphor:
his character as one of repulsive filth akin to a rotting body. This implies his disturbing sexual desire or attraction towards Isabella due to her purity and chastity.
+ Contrasting imagery of ‘carrion’ against the ‘violet in the sun’
D2:
Juxtaposition in the line “corrupt with virtuous season.” The word “corrupt” contrasts the connotations of beauty and purity brought about by the words “virtuous season”.
D3: Diction
“Season” connotes vitality, of plants, growth and prosperity, abundance, and therefore, as informed by connotations of uprightness in “virtuous”, purity and beauty. Yet the oxymoron lies in the proportional increase in putrescence instead of purity, underlining Angelo’s confusion and conflict between giving into his sexual desire and upholding his moral beliefs.
- Motif of blood “Blood, thou art blood”
D1: Blood as a symbol of temptation to sin and human nature, refers to human passion that cannot be denied
D2: Repetition of “blood” suggests how Angelo is slowly relenting to the fact that he cannot completely repress his sexual temptations.
Leaders are given divine duty and expected to possess good moral qualities (representative of God’s standards)
E: Universe as ordered and hierarchical, leaders are regarded as God’s deputies.
- “Sword of heaven’
D1: Visual imagery, symbol of honour in this divine appointment and power, and likewise the seriousness of the task. The sword is a pertinent symbol of this divinely-ordained
responsibility, under the Great Chain of Being, in which all leaders are divinely appointed.
- Duke lamenting Angelo’s corruption and reflects on the way it compromises the divine right to rule as a leader “Pattern in himself to know, Grace to stand and virtue go// More, not less to others paying than by self-offences weighing
D1: Implied visual imagery of the ruler having ‘grace to stand’ , suggests resistance against external factors that may tempt the ruler, instead holding firm in moral uprightness as confirmed by implied. The Duke thus
highlights the high moral standards expected of a ruler.
D2: ‘virtue go’ adds to the meaning of
‘pattern’ which, through illustrating repeated action, suggests setting an example for others to follow.
D3: Motif of coins, Financial diction in the verb ‘paying’ highlights the costs that a leader may impose on his citizens in the form of penalties, further reinforced by the imagery of weights in ‘weighing’, which depicts discernment and measurement in meting judgement. The ruler should only judge insofar as he himself can be absolved of judgement, this precision suggested by the connotations of precision in the imagery of weights.
Inability of rulers to live up to divine calling reflects the flaws human nature (and proclivity to corrupt)
(TS)
- Failure of Angelo as a leader
- abuse of authority, lust for Isabella causes him to compromise social morality
-uneven implementation of the law - Failure of the Duke as a leader
- too much moral laxity
- selfish avoidance of his responsibilities which lead to disorder
Earthly justice is flawed as an even balance between justice and mercy will never be achieved.
- The duke’s perception of Vienna’s moral laxity
“Liberty plucks justice by the nose. The baby beats the nurse.”
D1: Personification of “liberty” + kinesthetic imagery:
complete overthrow and reversal of normal order shows the chaos that may ensue when people are given more freedom indulge in sin
D2: Visual imagery of baby and nurse:
subvert expectations of the role of an infant and a nurse
: going against assumptions of an infant incapable of violence and the caretaker being affectionate and good-willed by illustrating violence and harm.
- Angelo’s overly strict laws (lack of compassion)
“A horse whereon the governor doth ride / … lets it straight feel the spur”,
D1: Metaphor of horse riding: Angelo riding the metaphorical horse which represents the public, highlighting the firm grip he has on morality
D2: Tactile violent imagery “spur”, critique of Angelo’s overly strict laws and cruelness (no mercy)
Mercy is an integral part of the law.
- Isabella’s description of mercy ‘ceremony … the king’s crown… the deputed sword … the marshal’s truncheon … the judge’s robe’, to highlight honour and prestige through visually illustrating a glorious range of symbols of high standing. In particular, the crown
emphasises superlative honour in the monarchy, the sword the power to punish, and the truncheon,
being a symbol of military authority, symbolising the enforcement of rules. Such imagery is bettered still
by ‘mercy’, thereby forcefully emphasising the great honour that mercy brings.
D2: Polysyndeton, to
illustrate and enumerate, further emphasise.
D3: Double meaning of ‘grace’, both to
refer to mercy as merely kindness, yet also as a divine attribute. Through highlighting divine mercy,
Isabella emphasises the integral role of divine mercy and grace not merely in sustaining and saving humankind, but in even granting honour to these roles.
- ‘Mercy will then breathe within your lips / Like man new made’
D1: Personification - breathe - suggests sustenance, life
Meaning of ‘breathe’ informed by religious allusion to second creation and redemption in the
simile ‘like man new made’, therefore ‘breathe’ visually emphasizes this.
D2: Isabella introduces the idea of redemption to remind Angelo of Christ’s saving grace in redeeming
all mankind. Therefore, this is the mercy that Christ expects his subjects to show to their subjects,
obligated to initiate and enact Christ’s will.
