Critics continue to debate the precise genre of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, because even upon closer inspection it refuses to be precisely classified. To call it a simple "comedy" would be to overlook the unnerving sense of unease at the end of Act V, when the Duke proposes to Isabella. Therefore, the term "problem play" has become a widely accepted description of the three plays that Shakespeare wrote in the period 1601-1604: Troilus and Cressida, All's Well That Ends Well, and Measure for Measure. Unlike a comedy, problematic plays tend to ask numerous questions but leave us with very few satisfying answers. Recently, however, commentators have taken to calling the play a “tragi-comedy” because of the sinister way in which its “happy ending” is achieved. The Italian Renaissance writer Giraldo Cinthio explained that a tragicomedy may have a resolution, but it will not abandon “the terrible and the compassionate.” Indeed, the theme of “human frailty” is one that Shakespeare explores considerably and honestly. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The most obvious example of individual weakness in Measure for Measure is undoubtedly Lord Angelo. But to describe his subsequent downfall as “comic” would be to greatly diminish the dramatic impact of Shakespeare's work. We know from Act 1 Sc1 that Angelo's “metal” as a ruler has never been “tested”; so it seems unlikely that he will succeed in the role. It is the Duke, however, who later reveals Angelo's crucial weakness. He privately reveals to the Friar in Act 1 Sc3 that the Deputy “hardly confesses / That his blood flows,” meaning that Angelo is afraid of his own sensuality. This is soon reinforced by Lucius, who describes him as "a man whose blood / is very snow-soaked". In stark contrast, Lucio embodies the lewd behavior that has engulfed Vienna. Through Lucius, Shakespeare emphasizes how lust cannot be completely legislated against: “It is well allied, but it is impossible to eradicate it altogether, brother, till eating and drinking be done away with” (III.2.97-98). So, although Angelo may try to “castrate and enlarge all of Vienna's youth,” his efforts will ultimately be in vain. Instead, Angelo's first meeting with Isabella (Act 2 Sc2) illustrates how he must change his puritanical ways and have some compassion for the miserable Claudio. Isabella orders Angelo to "Go to [her] breast, knock there" and see if he can still deny the "natural guilt" that all men have experienced. Ironically, this gentle reasoning excites Angelo and he reveals how his "sense breeds with it." As he leaves, his inherent vulnerability becomes even more apparent. It puts an ironic twist on Isabella's "Save your honor" by shifting the emphasis to "From you." Thus, in his subsequent soliloquy, he is forced to accept that “Blood, you are blood” (II.4), as recognition of his essential humanity. His state of mind has been so affected by Isabella's presence that it becomes difficult for the audience not to empathize with her “tragic” passing. In a recent production at the Globe, however, the actor playing the role has increasingly taken on an almost pantomime cast as “the bad guy.” His retort of “Who will believe you, Isabel?” (II.4.153) his threat to "I will tell the world aloud / What a man you are" was accompanied by a "hiss" of disapproval from the audience. In general, however, Angelo's difficult situation seems to represent the “terrible” element, rather than the funny side of a tragicomedy expressed by Cinthio. Likewise, the end of theIsabella's character means it might be awkward to play her comedically. While Angelo's sexual repression is explicit, Isabella's is much better hidden and tempered. Her self-limitation is implicitly excessive from the beginning, when in the convent she desires “a more rigorous restriction” (I.4.4) than the stringent conventions already applied. In Act 2 Sc4, this suppression of desires seems to manifest itself in a strange outburst aimed at Angelo. Isabella graphically describes how she would rather “undress [herself] to death as if it were a bed” than “surrender [her] body to shame” by sleeping with him. Furthermore, her use of words like “desire” and sadistic imagery of “sharp whips” seem to betray a sexual fantasy deeply rooted within her. In contrast, the internal and external “goodness” (III.1.180) that the Duke, Lucio, and Angelo perceive in Isabella acts as a veil over her own emotional insecurity. It is only with the help of Lucio's witty banter in Act 2 Sc2 that his inner fragility produces laughter in the audience. Lucio continually encourages her in a joint attempt to persuade Angelo not to execute Isabella's brother, Claudio. His cries of "Oh, to him, to him, girl!" and “Yes, touch it; there's the vein” provides an obscene undertone to Isabella's pure reasoning. This episode recalls Claudio's statement that Isabella has the power of a “silent dialect/ As men move” (I.2.line174). The ambiguity surrounding his character is thus accentuated and it becomes increasingly complicated to know whether Shakespeare is seriously engaging in self-deception, or is further highlighting how appearances are not always what they seem. If the two explanations can be said to coexist, then Isabella's role remains characteristic of a “problem play” and has very little comedic value. Lucio is perhaps the only true example of comedy within comedy, an indication of how Measure for Measure might be seen to make light of “human frailty.” Not only does he make countless jokes about the weaknesses and difficulties of others, but he also has the ability to make fun of his own mistakes. As Pompey is led off to prison in Act 3 Sc2, Lucius does nothing but mock his friend's unfortunate fate. When asked if he will provide Pompeo with bail, Lucio simply dismisses his request, saying it is "out of date." Then he tells him: “Go to the kennel, Pompeo, go” and gives the scene a farcical air. Ironically, the crime Pompey committed (“being a pimp”) is one that Lucius knows a lot about. Even towards the most "respectable" friends like Claudio, Lucio is unable to control his mischievous side. When the Duke asks him why Claudio was sentenced to death, Lucio uses the obscene allusion “For filling a bottle with a tub” (III.2.167). But Lucio's crude references are most powerful when they refer to Lord Angelo. He tells the Duke that Angelo is believed to have been “spawned between two stockfish,” meaning he lacks sexual desire or attractiveness. Lucio then states that he knows for sure that Angelo's urine “is congealed ice” to reinforce the 'cold' and inhuman image of the Deputy. However, this kind of relentless slander does not go unnoticed by the disguised Duke, and Lucio receives arguably the harshest punishment in Act 5. So, even though we've been laughing with Lucio up until now, a sense of unease emerges as the Duke issues him a stern judgment. This, combined with the Duke's proposal to Isabella, creates a disturbing atmosphere completely atypical for a comedy. It is as if the Duke has used the other characters solely as a means to an end; Lucio becomes the scapegoat for all the social unrest in Vienna, just as Claudio was the.