The Modern Eye Views Isabella

The first 200 words of this essay...

Andrea Justice

November 11, 2002

Survey of Shakespeare

The Modern Eye Views Isabella

Isabella is a character that modern audiences would have a hard time connecting to. Though her role in Measure for Measure is critical, a modern audience may wonder that she is simply a weak, selfish woman. Isabella strives to present herself as a godly woman but in the end can only be seen as a self righteous pawn used to further the Duke's plans.

Isabella believes she is a virtuous woman. She is not only about to enter a convent in which she will be restricted for interaction with men she obviously has no issue with. Isabella longs to uphold Christian morality and religion. At the time this play was written the virtues that Isabella possessed seemed ideal. A virtuous woman was to uphold the rules of decency, remain a virgin, either remain a maid or become a wife. Modern audiences might read these virtues as prudishness or even possibly see her religion as a crutch, a loss of her own personality in exchange for a life of celibacy and protection from the outside world.