Shakespeare's Measure for Measure explores the concepts of moral law within an immoral context and imposed by leaders with questionable morals. Measure's Vienna is an environment in which pragmatism and absolutism can compete both in the shadows and on the front lines for control of the city's justice system regarding sexual immorality. The conflicts between these two legal thoughts are interpreted through the characters of Angelo, Isabella and the Duke. Shakespeare uses the seemingly sexually immoral city as a backdrop for the shift from absolutism to pragmatism to parallel the need for the characters themselves to change from one to the other. It could be argued that this dark comedy vindicates the idea of ​​pragmatism towards issues of sexual immorality, rather than absolutism, but Julia Lupton points out that the ending of the play seems to leave the reader on a questionable note, giving way to the thesis that Shakespeare might have defined pragmatism as the lesser of two evils, but perhaps it is absolutely no justification for either school of thought regarding the law, especially in cases where corruption seems to have taken hold as in Vienna. However, Measure for Measure follows the transformation of an administration and a society from absolutism to pragmatism, placing the latter above the others when it comes to the law regarding sexual morality, while casting a skeptical eye towards the validity of the government with “conditional consent”. .Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Vienna by Measure for Measure and the people depicted in it play a vital role in why there is a change from absolutism to pragmatism within the plot. There seems to be rampant sexual immorality, which no one is sure how to control, or whether they should control it. Pompey says in Act 4, “I am as familiar here as I was in our house of profession. You would think it was Mistress Overdone's house, for many of her old customers are here” (90). Here Pompeo points out many of the inhabitants of the hall as visitors to prostitutes. One can understand why a city could remain under absolute rule under terrible pressures, as the Duke says: “We have severe statutes and very sharp laws, / The bits and brakes necessary for stubborn steeds, which for these fourteen years we have let slide, just like an overgrown lion in a cave / that does not come out to prey” (30). Here, Vienna is said to have behaved cavalierly regarding the rule of law, with the Duke choosing to rule according to amoral relativism and finding it did not work well for deviance. Although these lines show the Duke making a case for why an absolutist view of law is needed in Vienna, the language Shakespeare uses here describes how the Viennese might feel about it. To people subjected to the law, he would appear to be a "biting" predator, as the Duke likens the law at its best. There must be rampant immorality in Vienna because the Duke's next lines on that page, "For terror, use not, in time the rod / Becomes more mocked than feared, so our decrees / Dead to infliction, are dead to themselves" to have a grounding. If the Viennese did not actually seem to mock rather than fear the law as it exists, there would not be such a battle between absolutism and pragmatism. Angelo is described as an absolutist by many characters, as when Lucio says: “And with all the line of his authority, / governs lord Angelo, a man whose blood / is much snow soup; one who never feels / Wantonness stings andmoves the senses, / But dulls and blunts its natural edge / With the profits of mind, study and fasting” (33). This is giving Angelo, and absolutism, a rather positive light, giving way to the thesis that this type of ruling can be perceived as necessary for people in a context like that of Vienna. There are many more cases where, however, Angelo's power seems to allude to corruption. He is described as tyrannical, as when Claudius says: "Let it be guilt and a glimmer of novelty, / Or let the public body be / A horse on which the governor rides, / Who, as soon as he sits, can know / Can command, makes the spur feel straight, / Whether tyranny is in its place, Or its eminence that fills it” (28) This comments on the fact that Angelo does not govern with the same relativism that once governed the Duke. that the city “feels the urge,” even applying arbitrary laws for the sake of law. We see one of these laws when Pompey says, “All the houses in the suburbs of Vienna must be demolished” (25). at what point is Angelo practicing his absolutism. Even when a law seems to harm more than help, Angelo feels he must enforce it. This prepares us for Angelo's decisions on Claudio. Lucio says: “He arrests him on this / And follows closely the rigor of the statute / To make an example of it” (33). This is an obvious use of arbitrary absolute power. This is a direct rejection of the apparent relativism that the Duke practiced beforehand, because it guarantees that no one will be spared, case by case, but that Claudio's life will be struck down to set an example for everyone else in Vienna. The corruption of this absolutism Julia Lupton mentions in Citizen-Saints the corruption of government through the means of “consent in reserve,” meaning that citizens do not give consent at all to what is happening. This is especially seen with regards to the marriage of Isabella and the Duke, which we will see later. It is easy to see the corruption in the examples of the Angel's absolutism. When Angelo tells Escalus, “We must not make the law a scarecrow, / set it up to fear birds of prey, / and let it hold a form until habit makes it / their perch and not their terror.” (35) This is another example of Angelo denouncing relativism, which may give way to custom in the rule of law, but it is also an indication that Angelo does not want the courts to be involved in law enforcement. This should give the characters pause, as much of the action in this play takes place inside a prison cell. An absolutist leader calling for an end to courts in the rule of law shouts corruption to anyone with experience with democracy, and Shakespeare included these lines to criticize both absolutism and the corruption found in Angelo's administration. Perhaps the greatest example of Angelo's corruption is when he pairs his absolutist ruling on Claudio's death (“It is the law, not I, I condemn your brother” (47)) with a sexual proposition to Isabella. He does this by asking: “that there were / No earthly means to save him, but that / You must lay down the treasures of your body / To this supposition, or let him suffer. What would you do?" (57). This is not only a break with Angelo's rule of absolutism, but also corruption at its highest level. He is using his absolute power and justice to put Isabella between the death of her brother and the death of his sexual purity, which is very important to a somewhat moral absolutist like Isabella. It cannot be said that the corruption of absolutism vindicates the Duke's position delivered to Lord Angelo, / A man of rigor andfirm abstinence, / My absolute power and place here in Vienna" (29). The Duke, although he supports pragmatism, gave Angelo this power after doubting the validity of his practice of relativism. This is an example of the transition to a more pragmatic position not only of the government and the community, but also of the characters. The Duke's pragmatism Although we can only know his previous actions through comments made by him and others regarding the law before Angelo took power, the Duke has shown himself to be quite pragmatic during the show. He says of Angelo: “Shame at a cruel stroke / He kills for sins of his own accord… Cunning against vice I must apply. / With Angelo tonight will lie / His old but despised fiancée; Thus the disguise, by disguise, / will pay with false exactions / and perform an old contract” (79). He does not refrain from damaging his morality by lying and stealing, because he knows that his actions will bring mercy to Claudio and Isabella. The Duke often disguises himself as a Friar in the play, as when he tells Juliet, "I will teach you how to question your conscience, / And test your penance, whether it is sound / Or emptyly dressed" (52). This can be seen as corruption, similar to Angelo's actions, or as a reflection of mercy in the pragmatic point of view. By portraying the Duke as a friar, even though he disguises himself as one, Shakespeare places him in a position of moral solidity. Although the Duke may show doubts about morality when he lies about being a friar, he does so out of pity towards Juliet and Claudio. The Duke is also invoked for moral solidity in the legal sphere as well. Isabella tells him: “O gracious Duke, / Do not insist upon it, nor banish reason / For inequality, but let thy reason / Make truth appear where it seems hidden, / And hide the false seem true” (102) . Shakespeare's continuing moral portrayals of the Duke provide a foundation for the argument that the Duke's pragmatism is argued to be, at least, the greater of the two schools of thought. Isabella appears to be absolutist in her belief of equal justice under the law and sexual morality at certain moments in this play. For example, when Angelo asks her, “Could there not be a charity in sin / To save this brother's life?” as a justification for obtaining a favor from sex, she replies: “I will take it as a danger to my soul; / It is not a sin at all, but charity” (56) and then he says: “As much for my poor brother as for me; / That is, if I were in the condition of death, / the impression of sharp whips I would wear like rubies, / and I would undress until death like a bed / for which I have been sick with desire, before giving up / My body until the shame" (57). These lines show us how absolutist Isabella is regarding her sexual morality, which could be explained by the rampant sexual immorality in the city. We see this again when he tells his brother, “If only I could bend down / Free you from your fate, it should proceed. / I will pray a thousand prayers for your death, / No words to save you” (66). Here he is vehemently saying no to his brother's request, for the sake of his absolutist belief in his morality. He does not share Claudio's relative thoughts when he says: "What sin do you do to save the life of a brother, / Nature so far dispenses from the action / That it becomes a virtue". Lupton argues that by holding so firmly to her absolute morality, Isabella is "electing her own chastity over her brother's body" (Lupton 140). This favors the absolutist Isabella who we see until she is later given justification by the Duke. Let's see an example of Isabella's legal absolutismwhen he says of his brother's crime: “Your sin is not accidental, but a craft. / Pity towards you would prove to be a pimp; / You better die soon” (66). This is an echo of Angelo's idea that the law should be enforced on anyone who breaks it and the punishment should be harsh. However, we see how easy it is for her to switch to a pragmatic way of thinking when she wants mercy for her brother, i.e. “O just but severe law!” (45) or herself. He tells Angelo of his brother's death sentence: "Yes, I think you could forgive him, / And neither heaven nor man grieve for mercy" (46). Here, he is advocating more mercy than justice. He also sees the need for relative thinking when he tells Angelo, “Oh, it is excellent / To have the strength of a giant, but it is tyrannical / To use it like a giant” (48). By this he is saying that it is so difficult to have absolute power without using it with absolute corruption. He also says to Angelo: “It is placed thus in heaven, but not on earth” (55). This is an important line because with it Shakespeare shows Isabella's reconciliation between her religion and her newfound pragmatism within herself. Most notable is how quickly Isabella becomes pragmatic when the Duke presents a way to use the legalities to her advantage. The Duke says to Isabella: "I make myself believe that you could rightly do a well-deserved benefit to a poor wronged lady, redeem your brother from the angry law, not stain your gracious person, and greatly please the absent Duke, if perchance he ever returns." to hear about this matter” (68) Isabella is immediately moved by this, saying back, “Let me hear you speak again.” By giving her a justification for an action that would otherwise be considered rather rough by an absolutist, Isabella is influenced by the pragmatism.This is because she values ​​mercy more than justice most of the time, especially regarding her brother's sentence, so it is easy for her to justify relative morality when it comes to practicing mercy Shakespeare does that mercy is what changes her mind about pragmatism to show that mercy is much more applicable to the Duke and Isabella's pragmatism than to Angelo's absolutism. Angelo returns to absolutism only to ask for death, saying: "No more session hold my shame, / But let my trial be my confession. / Immediate sentence then and consequent death / Is all the grace I ask" ( 112).The boy is incredibly hard on himself because his absolutist beliefs ring true even for himself. The death he demands contrasts strongly with the life the Duke has granted him through his pragmatism grants life to Claudio and Juliet, and instead of death grants a marriage (however unwanted) to Angelo and Mariana. As mentioned before, however, it is not enough to say that the ending makes this a vindication of the Duke's pragmatism. by Shakespeare. Another marriage proposed by the Duke is that between him and Isabella. Lupton points out that we do not witness Isabella's response. He writes: "Leaving her response in question, in my opinion, the play ends with the surprising spectacle of consensus in reserve, carrying forward, suspending and illuminating the element of mutual agreement" (Lupton 140). Pragmatism is given its best light at the end of the play, but by not giving a direct answer as to whether or not government consent is given, the corruption discussed above may be an obstacle to Shakespeare's absolute vindication of the practices of Duke. .The battle between absolutism and pragmatism is explored in Measure for Measure in a personal and social way. Angel.