The Duke Critics 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’
What does Wasson say of Shakespeare’s interpretation of justice?
‘clearly Aristotelian. ‘
According to Magedanz what does the Duke finally adopt in his reading of justice?
‘The hybrid standard the Duke adopts is finally neither pure justice nor pure mercy, but equity’
-This links back to Aristotle who begins Nicomachean Ethics in this way of defining equity as making exceptions in certain circumstances.
Link to Aristotle’s Golden Mean
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
“The King’s Gift” and James I’s Notions of Marriage: A Synthesis of Politics, Duty, and Personal Dynamics
James VI and I’s approach to marriage was deeply intertwined with political strategy, dynastic duty, and personal inclinations. The phrase “The King’s Gift” could metaphorically allude to his marriage to Anne of Denmark, which served as both a diplomatic “gift” to stabilize his reign and a pragmatic tool for securing succession. Here’s an analysis of his notions of marriage, drawing on key themes from the search results:
- Political Alliance and Dynastic Duty
James’s marriage to Anne of Denmark in 1589 was primarily a strategic move to strengthen Protestant alliances and secure his legitimacy. The union was negotiated to counterbalance Catholic threats and reinforce Scotland’s ties with Lutheran Denmark, a critical step given England’s suspicion of James’s potential Catholic sympathies 79.
Dowry and Diplomacy: The marriage negotiations focused on Denmark’s dowry (settled at 75,000 thalers) and mutual military support against Catholic powers, reflecting James’s prioritization of political stability over personal affection 79.
Succession Pressures: James acknowledged the necessity of marriage to produce heirs, declaring, “God is my witness… my long delay bred in the breasts of many a great jealousy of my inability” 7. His union with Anne resulted in three surviving children, including Charles I, fulfilling his duty to secure the Stuart dynasty 58.
- Personal Dynamics: Love, Duty, and Distance
While the marriage began with apparent affection—James famously sailed to rescue Anne during storms on her voyage to Scotland, composing love poems in her honor—their relationship deteriorated over time 78.
Public vs. Private Life: Anne’s assertiveness and patronage of the arts clashed with James’s frugality and focus on governance. They eventually lived separately, with Anne converting to Catholicism, further straining their bond 89.
Male Favorites: James’s close relationships with male courtiers, such as Esmé Stewart, Robert Carr, and George Villiers, fueled speculation about his sexuality. Contemporary accounts describe his “public tokens of affection” (kissing, embracing) and the political influence these favorites wielded, contrasting sharply with his marital obligations 410.
- Marriage as a Tool for Legitimacy
James’s correspondence with Elizabeth I reveals his acute awareness of marriage’s role in securing his claim to the English throne. Elizabeth’s refusal to name a successor led James to position himself as her “natural heir,” leveraging his marriage to Anne to present himself as a stable, Protestant patriarch 12.
Union of the Crowns: His marriage reinforced his image as a unifying monarch, aspiring to merge England and Scotland into “Great Britain”—a vision that, while unrealized in his lifetime, framed his reign as a bridge between fractured kingdoms 510.
- Contradictions in James’s Views on Marriage
Anti-Sodomy Laws vs. Personal Behavior: Despite his relationships with male favorites, James harshly condemned sodomy in writings like Basilikon Doron, ordering judges to never pardon offenders. This hypocrisy highlights the tension between his public moralizing and private life 610.
Witchcraft and Superstition: The storms during Anne’s voyage sparked James’s obsession with witchcraft, leading to trials like the North Berwick Witch Trials. His belief in supernatural threats to his marriage and reign underscores his blending of personal paranoia with statecraft 68.
- Legacy: The “Gift” of Stability and Cultural Patronage
Though their marriage was strained, James and Anne’s union had lasting cultural impacts:
The King James Bible: Commissioned during his reign, this project reflected his desire for religious unity, indirectly shaped by his need to legitimize his rule through intellectual and spiritual authority 58.
Architectural and Artistic Patronage: Anne’s patronage of masques and Inigo Jones’s Banqueting House symbolized the Stuart court’s grandeur, even as their personal relationship faltered 8.
Conclusion
For James I, marriage was a multifaceted “gift” of political alliance, dynastic security, and public legitimacy. While his relationship with Anne of Denmark began with romantic gestures, it evolved into a pragmatic partnership overshadowed by personal differences and his complex relationships with male favorites. His reign exemplifies the early modern tension between monarchical duty and private desire, where marriage served as both a tool of statecraft and a stage for personal contradictions
Everett says the Duke at the end spends…
‘spends the last few hundred lines dealing out justice like a man with a pack of cards”
Vincentio means?
Conqueror
What does Paul Cheetham say about the Duke’s confidence in Angelo?
‘the Duke while pretending to have total confidence in Angelo, clearly implies that rigid application of the law by fallible human beings is indefensible.’
fallible
/ˈfalɪbl/
adjective
capable of making mistakes or being wrong.
What does Marian Cox say the Duke must learn?
‘The Duke has to learn to moderate his private studies with his public duties, his status as a ruler with his needs as a man.’
Interesting to note that a similar lamentation was expressed consistently by Lucio about The Duke acting below and out of his ordained station:
AO1: beggar of fifty…he would mouth with a beggar…and usurp the beggary he was never born to… etc
What does Marian Cox say the Duke’s practice of assessing others is?
‘he demonstrates that his practice is metaphorically to weigh humans to assess their moral gravity’
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 Goldberg say about the Duke’s exchange?
‘He exchanges political authority for religious authority; he exchanges power over the people’s public actions for power over their private actions.’
Almost playing God
What does Schlegel say about the Duke and his subjects?
‘He has more pleasure in overhearing his subjects than governing them.’
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 Patsy Hall say about the Duke being an ineffectual leader?
‘An ineffectual leader has left his people in the hands of a moral zealot with the authority to execute laws that the leader himself has squirmed from upholding.’
What does Brendan Jackson think of the Duke as a plot device?
‘The Duke disguised as a friar… steered the plot away from its tragic potential and towards a kind of comedy.’
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 Fiona Dunlop say to explain the Duke’s disguise?
‘People who are conscious of being visible to authority figures modify their behaviour to avoid punishment or gain rewards.’
Jacobean Period (17th) and 21st Century universality, but specifically note a modern relation to the Hawthorne Effect and contemporary Chinese political affairs.
What does Hazlitt say about the Duke?
‘more absorbed in his own plots and gravity than anxious for the welfare of the state.’
Some context from Hazlitt’s critical writing which focused on Shakespeare’s play characters
Characters of Shakespear’s Plays
William Hazlitt
Measure for Measure
MEASURE FOR MEASURE.
This is a play as full of genius as it is of wisdom. Yet there is an original sin in the nature of the subject, which prevents us from taking a cordial interest in it. “The height of moral argument” which the author has maintained in the intervals of passion or blended with the more powerful impulses of nature, is hardly surpassed in any of his plays. But there is in general a want of passion; the affections are at a stand; our sympathies are repulsed and defeated in all directions. The only passion which influences the story is that of Angelo; and yet he seems to have a much greater passion for hypocrisy than for his mistress. Neither are we greatly enamoured of Isabella’s rigid chastity, though she could not act otherwise than she did. We do not feel the same confidence in the virtue that is “sublimely good” at another’s expense. as if it had been put to some less disinterested trial. As to the Duke, who makes a very imposing and mysterious stage-character, he is more absorbed in his own plots and gravity than anxious for the welfare of the state; more tenacious of his own character than attentive to the feelings and apprehensions of others. Claudio is the only person who feels naturally; and yet he is placed in circumstances of distress which almost preclude the wish for his deliverance. Mariana is also in love with Angelo, whom we hate. In this respect, there may be said to be a general system of cross-purposes between the feelings of the different characters and the sympathy of the reader or the audience. This principle of repugnance seems to have reached its height in the character of Master Barnardine, who not only sets at defiance the opinions of others, but has even thrown off all self-regard,—”one that apprehends death no more dreadfully but as a drunken sleep; careless, reckless, and fearless of what’s past, present, and to come.” He is a fine antithesis to the morality and the hypocrisy of the other characters of the play.
What does Dollimore say about the Duke’s surveillance?
the Duke’s ‘undercover surveillance and Christian morality that stigmatises sex as guilt combines to keep the populace under a sinister form of ideological control.’
Transgression and Surveillance in Measure for Measure (2005)
ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net › publication › 31859286…
21 Nov 2024 — Download Citation | On Jan 1, 2005, Jonathan Dollimore published Transgression and Surveillance in Measure for Measure | Find, read and cite …
A Modern Perspective: Measure for Measure
Folger Shakespeare Library
https://www.folger.edu › explore › shakespeares-works
Jonathan Dollimore argues that the duke’s strategy is political. He stages this elaborate trial of Angelo to demonstrate his own power and integrity as a ruler.
Criticism: Transgression and Surveillance in Measure for …
eNotes
https://www.enotes.com › … › Criticism: Themes
Dollimore provides a materialist analysis of social transgression in Measure for Measure, which he sees as the result of “unregulated desire” responded to by “ …
What does Knight say the Duke represents?
The Duke ‘represents a divine principle of justice and mercy.’
What does Gless say about the way the Duke acts?
The Duke ‘acts in a way analogous to God.’
What does Schiner say the Duke is?
‘a man of tests’
What does Rosalind Miles say about the Duke?
‘ultimate benevolent authority figure ‘
