The
Duke is… a strange man. Though he had been attempting to manipulate practically
every character throughout the length of Shakespeare’s play, Act Five really
emphasizes just how ridiculous this man is. It seems as though he really wants
to control every aspect of everything, from who lives and dies, who gets
married, and who gets arrested. The entirety of Act Five is really just the
Duke saying over and over “HAHA! Look at my cunning scheme!” even though his
“scheme” is a massively convoluted plot to accomplish things he could have done
if he had simply exercised the power that he already had.
Throughout
Act Five, the Duke acts as though he wasn’t secretly watching everyone, and has
Isabella ordered to like five different things. Every time anything happens,
he’s just like “OOOOOOKAY, how can I blame this on Isabella, but like not
actually because I’m being SNEEEAKY!” He thinks he’s being clever with this
plan, but really it’s just confusing. He sort of reminds me of the Mayor from
Portlandia. He’s more or less a big man-child with all these ridiculous ideas.
Departing
a little from this idea, I also feel the need to address the common use of
disguises in Shakespeare’s works. I know that suspension of disbelief is a
thing, but how can no one point out the Duke when all he’s doing to disguise
himself is wearing a hood? In addition, how did Angelo never see Mariana’s face
or notice that her body wasn’t so much like Isabella’s? This isn’t something I
should be worrying about, and likely wasn’t something anyone watching this play
would have cared about, but it’s weird to me that such simple disguises are
what the entire play hinges on.
Measure for Measure was as frustrating
as it was entertaining. In the end, no one dies and the only punishment is that
several people have to be married against their will because the Duke has
apparently seen how people treat a ruler who tries to kill people and he’s not
about that. He cares waaaayyy too much about public opinion. The play is so
convoluted and crazy in its scheming and planning, but the way it unravels is
certainly a fun read, and almost definitely better to see acted.
I agree that the Duke is a silly man-child who has access to power and likes being able to play with people’s lives. He reminds me of my old boss at my previous job. He always thought he was so clever, the smartest guy in the room and never wrong. In fact, he had no idea what he was doing, was never right and should never have been placed in his position. The Duke, likewise, takes a windy, skewed road to fixing problems caused by him leaving in the first place. If he had stayed and done his job properly, none of the issue caused by Angelo would've happened. In my first blog post, I said how I despised Angelo for his egotistical ways. I've come to realize it’s not Angelo who I dislike the most, but the Duke. I believe his cowardice, naivete and egotistical morals make him two-faced character. Here is a man we believe to be doing the best for his people, when ulterior motives to increase his power are behind it all. The fact he comes back to “save” the day, does not redeem him in my eyes. He only uses it to empower his position and status over others, especially Isabella. The Duke is not the savior of this play, but rather its villain.
ReplyDeleteI love your thoughts on the Duke, and I agree that he is a bit silly. I think that this comes from his want to do what's right, but also his desire to see what would happen without his ruling. He is the "fun Dad" of the situation, and the city is able to become a cleaner place without him looking like a bad guy. The issue is that he cannot give up his authority no matter how much he tries. Even with a false identity, he still feels a need to rule, the only difference is that he has to do it through proxy. My question is then how the play would occur differently if he stayed in power. As things seem to be going well for our heroes of the tale until Angelo steps in. But did anything get better by the Duke leaving? Did they get better by his intervention? The Duke thinks he wants Angelo to rule and "clean up" the city, but when Angelo tries to do anything, the Duke intervenes. What does the Duke even want?
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