Measure For Measure

1 Pages 363 Words

In Shakespeare’s play, Measure for Measure, Isabella is faced with a very difficult decision. She is propositioned by Lord Angelo to have sex with him in order to save her brother’s life. This goes against all her values since she is planning to join the convent, and she is a very virtuous and chaste woman by nature. Her brother is in trouble from the beginning because he impregnated Juliet before they were married. Therefore, Isabella must either let go of her values or lose her brother. At the end of the play, she remains virtuous, and Claudio, her brother, does not get executed. However, we cannot help but wonder if losing her virginity to save the life of her brother or keeping it for the sake of chastity is more virtuous.
Reading the play from a modern standpoint, one would probably think, ‘Why won’t she save her brother’s life? – It’s just sex’. One would think that she is quite selfish not to give a little of herself to save the life of her brother. Not only is Claudio her brother, but his fiancée is expecting a baby, and there is no need for the baby to grow up fatherless, is there? On the other hand, sex in Elizabethan times was not just sex. It was viewed very differently than it is today. Being pure and virginal was the ultimate quality for a woman to possess. Isabella even says that she will die for her brother, but she will not succumb to Angelo’s greedy desires. “Sir, believe this. I had rather give my body than my soul” (II.iv.55).
Her dilemma is a prime example of how times have changed since the days of Shakespeare. Thankfully, everything works out for the characters in the play. If the same situation took place in modern times, Isabella probably would have quickly slept with the villain in order to save Claudio’s life. The virtuous thing to do in present times would be to save her brother’s life, while in Elizabethan times preserving her virginity was considered to be a m...