Isabella in Measure for Measure
a student paper
a student paper
Of the major female characters encountered to this point in Shakespeare's works, Isabella is the first who "hath but slenderly known" herself. She does not possess the clarity of the vision of Portia (The Merchant of Venice), the insight of Katherine (The Taming of the Shrew), nor the common sense of Rosalind (As You Like It). Isabella is, in contrast, a woman with a distorted view of herself. This misunderstanding seems to be the root of her self-righteousness. It is an almost tragic character flaw, which fortunately for Isabella, Shakespeare chooses to resolve in comedy.
From the first scene in which she is introduced until the end of the play, Isabella reveals a nature that takes itself too seriously. The importance she seems to place upon herself leads to her extremes--the denial of her sexuality and ultimately the denial of her humanity. In the friary (1.4), Isabella first manifests this tendency. "And have you nuns no further privileges?" she asks Francisca. "Are not these large enough?" she is almost reprimanded. Isabella's answer reveals her exaggerated sense of self-importance, a blind spiritual pride that shows she will not accept her humanness. Without doing so she is also unable to accept Mercy, and at this point begins to operate into Shakespeare's thematic purposes. Isabella is, like Angelo, an Old Testament figure. To those that worship the letter of the law above the spirit of the law forgiveness is impossible, without "Divine" intervention.
Isabella's initial hesitance to help her brother, Claudio, is the first indication of yet another result of her slender knowledge. Isabella is also unable to love. "Alas, what poor/Ability's in me to do him good?" (1.4.75-76). Shakespeare has repeatedly reinforced the connection between love and self-knowledge in his plays. Kate must see herself clearly before she can love Petruchio unconditionally (The Taming of the Shrew). Orlando must see his own immaturity before he can win the love of Rosalind (As You Like It).
This lack of love in Measure for Measure, however, may serve more to further Shakespeare's theme than it did in the other two plays. For in not loving, Isabella refutes the New Testament ideal of love, which involves sacrifice. "Greater love has no man than this. . . ." Christ said in John 15:13, calling man to give up that which is most important to him. Isabella is unable to give up what is most important to her, her chastity, but more importantly what her chastity represents, her self-righteousness. In her stubborn insistence on maintaining her sinless purity, she is again a worshipper of the letter of the law. She is, again like Angelo, a Pharisee with eyes inverted so that she is unable to look outside of herself to truly love, even her brother:
(3.2.136-150)
Shakespeare never seems to use this fault in Isabella as a justification of what the twentieth century may call "situational ethics." He seems to prove with the interaction of Marianna and Isabella, instead, that it is not the ethic of purity itself that Isabella maintains but only how that ethic affects herself! It is interesting that though she refuses to sacrifice her own virginity, she is willing to sacrifice Marianna's. The argument that Isabella could have considered Marianna's action not fornication because of the prior contract of betrothal is refuted by Isabella's own words in the final scene: "My brother had not justice,/In that he did the thing for which he died" (V,i,453-454). Isabella's acceptance of the Duke's scheme is in a sense a condemnation of Marianna. It is doubtful that Isabella would have made a very good nun. She is unaware of her own contradictions, still blinded by her lack of self-knowledge.
It is not until the final scene of the play that the change in Isabella, at least in part, occurs. It is a believable change only in the realm of comedy. In her request for Angelo's pardon and in her acceptance of the Duke's offer of marriage she reconciles herself to both her humanity and her sexuality. It is also only in the former action that she is allowed to love.
Shakespeare has consistently shown his Protestant view of the value of marriage. It is the highest form of love. It is the seal of the healing and unifying power of love. It is also a vehicle of self-knowledge (again demonstrated in the marriage relationship of Kate and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew). Shakespeare had placed Isabella outside the normal means of grace in her own choice of celibacy. The nunnery for Shakespeare is a place of condemnation. "Get thee to a nunnery," Hamlet condemns Ophelia. It is not only in the act of forgiveness (as she asks for Angelo's pardon), but in the further act of marriage that she is "redeemed." Isabella obviously has much to learn, but in marriage the Duke promises that "what is mine is yours. . . ," which includes his insight into her own nature. It is a comic resolution. Isabella is on the road to continuing self-knowledge.