"Measure for Measure is a play without any truly sympathetic characters". To what extent do you agree with this view?

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“Measure for Measure is a play without any truly sympathetic characters”. Do you agree?

On first appearance, it could be perceived as though many of the characters introduced by Shakespeare in Measure for Measure are of an unsympathetic nature and make it difficult for an audience to become endeared to any of their situations. Unlike other Shakespearean plays, in particular those which share the problem play genre, some critics have argued that the personalities in Measure for Measure can appear to be one-dimensional, and apart from perhaps Angelo, have little complexity to their character. This perhaps is accounted for in the title of the play, a biblical reference from the book of Matthew (7: 1-2), by which it is suggested that the audience should not be concerned by the individual characters within Measure for Measure, but instead by their roles and what they are symbolic of in the overall portrayal of real and fictional social issues of law, morality and justice. It could also be argued however that whilst no character appears to be truly sympathetic throughout, the moral pressures that Shakespeare places the characters under enables even the most unsympathetic characters such as Angelo to reveal a moral conscience and sense of compassion reveals even the most unsympathetic such as Angelo to have a moral conscience and sense of compassion

The Duke can be considered as the puppet master in this play, which facilitates the fact that the other characters are used to illustrate particular moral problems. In Act one, scene one, when the Duke is introduced, the audience learn of the Duke’s current role in society and of his intentions to bestow power on somebody else in order for peace and morality to be restored in Vienna, “Hold therefore, Angelo:- In our remove be thou at full ourself, mortality and mercy in Vienna, Live in thy tongue and heart”. The understanding that the Duke plans his retreat from power for a seemingly valid reason, that he is unable to restore law and order himself, perhaps causes him to appear to be a sympathetic character with good moral standing. Despite the Duke having a sympathetic approach to the need to restore a sense of order to his land, when it is learned that his replacement Angelo is a decidedly unsympathetic character leads Claudio and Lucio, and indeed the audience, to question the Duke’s decisions, as Angelo is described as, “A man of stricture and firm abstinence”. Whilst Shakespeare at first presents the Duke as someone who wishes to act in the best interests of his people, and feels that the best way to restore order is to retreat quickly leaving Angelo as deputy for an undetermined amount of time. These actions could be perceived as contributing to a sympathetic character, but his second appearance in Act one, scene three of the play gives cause to the audience to probe further in to his actions, indeed one of the purposes of a problem play, but something which arguably detracts from the original sympathetic image of the Duke that had been created. Much of this comes down to whether his actions are viewed to be selfish and ignoring his duty as leader, or whether they are seen to be a positive and effective way to restore order in Vienna under a ‘firm’ deputy because he feels guilty for letting it get out of control. His testing of Angelo, particularly indicated by the fact that the Duke wishes to adopt a disguise, which allows him many privileges, to watch events unfold, “To the hopeful execution I do leave you of your commission”, this could be argued to indicate that the Duke knows more about Angelo’s somewhat unsavoury character that the audience are so far aware of, and the amount of contradictions between Duke’s words and actions combine in this scene to dramatically reduce the sympathy that may have previously been felt towards the Duke.

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The character of Isabella, simply described by many writers as a young girl of virtue and chastity, is one to whom the audience are initially inclined to be much more sympathetic towards. Her puritanical beliefs and intentions to join the nunnery at a young age, “but rather wishing a more strict restraint upon the sisters stood, the votarists of Saint Clare”, would have been seen as a sympathetic and admirable trait to members of Shakespeare’s early seventeenth century audiences, particularly in the more academic circles to which this play was more commonly performed. However, this element of Isabella’s character is ...

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