Measure for Measure

Get ready again, for another rant. Angelo is such a little idiot that I cannot believe he even made it to the final act! But, maybe Shakespeare wanted us to hate Angelo so that we feel more sympathy towards the Duke...(?) Or maybe, he wanted us to concentrate on hating Angelo so much that we forget that it's the Duke that put us here in the first place. This is my perspective of William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. 

Characters:

My favourite character was probably Isabella, who was the only one who was doing what she thought was right as opposed to something for self-gratification (Angelo) - or what he thought the 'people' would like (Duke). She was the only character with half a brain. But still, she was naive enough to let that Angelo anywhere near her. 

Themes:

My favourite theme in this is religious hypocrisy. The entire theme is portrayed through Angelo's character and it's William Shakespeare's hand at mocking the Catholic religion (with a Latin Italian name like Angelo - meaning "Angel" or "Saint") - what an absolute legend Shakespeare is, hey? Religious hypocrisy can be seen in many of Shakespeare's other plays as well: Othello, Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, Antony and Cleopatra and Julius Caesar are only some of the many religious hypocritical plays written by the bard. 

Plot:

I think the plots and sub-plots of this particular play are far from amazing. They are some of the best sub-plots in English theatre and need to be better recognised:

- At first we've got Isabella's brother (Claudio) in jail for accused rape

- Then we've got the Duke leaving Angelo in charge in order to spy on Angelo to see whether he is doing things accordingly

- THEN we've got Isabella's "relation" with Angelo

-  Then we've got the Mistress Overdone and the Pimps going to prison and what not

- THEN we've got the Duke's secret love for Isabella

- Then we have the trials and appeals of Isabella 

Look at all those plot-lines....

Verdict:

I give this play an 8/9

2/3 for characters: Only because I loathed Angelo entirely. But I really liked how forward-thinking Isabella was and Claudio's character didn't seem too unbearable. 

100% for themes: Religious hypocrisy is set out so well in this play that it takes the embodiment of Angelo as a parody of the audience itself! Remember: this is how pious Elizabethans would've been!

100% for plot: The plot, as I said before, has an amazing interweaving that entails every characters' story and makes sure that each life is woven into everyone else's. What careful planning is this? 

And remember: "Our doubts are traitors..."