Measure Characters Flashcards
Holderness
‘mariana appears at the plays conclusions to be a vitcor/ her chastened husband commited to her auhtoority’
Goodwin
‘there is a verbal correspondence between the names Mary and Mariana.’
‘Shakespeare’s Mariana makes an ideal case for freud’
Legatt
bout Mariana’s feelings we know nothing. Should we expect to know anything?/ t. There is something blank and anonymous about it
Smith
Claudio is a ‘tragic character’
Hathaway
‘He is perfectly happy to use his sister as sexual bait’
Knight
‘It is Claudio— who is scarcely a ‘character’ at all, and who stands between the two extremes—who seems to spring from feelings at war with themselves, and it is in considering the nature of his offence that one feels most perplexity.
Donellan - Caludio
‘More complex that he seems to be, a very human character’..
‘Sweet sister let me live… Greatest moment in Shakespeare, the human will to live and survive’
‘few people to recognize we are both spiritual and animal’
‘vitcim of most terrible scene, the dukes absolution’
Bloom
Certain Christian scholars ask us to believe that the play is an allegory of the Divine Atonement in which…amiable Lucio, Lucifer’
‘Lucio, the fantastic, is saner than anyone else on stage’
Redford
“[T]here is a consistent truth about him. He sees the light and…seems to know truths which the other characters do not.”
Bloom - Barnadine
‘Barnardine is the genius of that disorder, and qualifies as the imaginative center (and greatest glory) of Measure for Measure ‘
‘The superb Barnardine will not play by the rules of Vincentia’s Vienna ‘
Hunter - Provost
‘his passive acceptance of the Duke’s complex plans highlights the play’s deeper questions about the limits of authority.
He shows that moral leadership often becomes a matter of compliance rather than personal judgment.’
Greenbalt - Escalus
Greenblatt argues that Escalus is “the play’s most consistent advocate for mercy” and “functions as a voice of moderation.”
He notes that Escalus represents a kind of “moral idealism” that contrasts with the harsher, more authoritarian rule of Angelo.
‘deliberate passivity” in the play is a reflection of Shakespeare’s skepticism about human institutions and the limits of benevolent authority.
Bevington - Pompey
On Pompey’s role in revealing the tension between public law and private morality
“Pompey is the mirror to the hypocrisies of the governing class
Alderman - Juliet
“In Measure for Measure, Juliet is the silent suffering woman, who stands in stark contrast to Isabella, the outspoken woman of principle.
Dolan - Juliet
Her existence in the play is less a story of individual agency and more a reflection of the expectations placed on women to maintain chastity,
