Example #1

In her article entitled “ `Instruments of Some More Mightier Member': The Constriction of Female Power in Measure for Measure,” Marcia Riefer Poulsen argues that Duke Vincentio “perverts the comic paradigm” through his patriarchal manipulation of the female characters, especially Isabella (Signet, 157). The essay is broken up into six sections: Section one introduces the idea of female powerlessness in Measure for Measure, specifically as it pertains to Isabella, suggesting that she—unlike other female protagonists of Shakespearean comedy—is completely ineffectual throughout the play, ultimately unable to direct the plot or to secure her own autonomy in any way. Section two of the essay exposes the Duke as the culprit behind the diminishment of Isabella's power in the play. It describes the way in which the Duke's self-centered and patriarchal actions inevitably “undermine his credibility as a dramatist figure,” because they come as contrary to the Shakespearean comedic convention in which the women tend to do more to influence plot (156-57). Section three shifts the focus back to Isabella, illustrating the loss of self-determination that she experiences at the hands of the manipulative, imposing Duke: “…her character dissolves, her spirit erodes, and she becomes an obedient follower of male guidance” (162). Section four continues to describe the ways in which the events of the plot further shrink Isabella's self-worth and weaken her spirit. It highlights the fact that she has lost her “own voice” by the end of act four, having been morally subordinated at the will of the Duke (165). Section five further elaborates on the effects of the Duke's puppeteering on Isabella's character, pointing to her “literal loss of voice” in the surprising concluding scenes of the play in order to demonstrate the complete disarming of Isabella that has occurred by then. Finally, section six suggests the idea that Shakespeare intentionally defies the reader's expectation of male and female power roles in order to highlight the inevitable way in which male autocracy thrives at the expense of female autonomy.

In “`Instruments of Some More Mightier Member': The Constriction of Female Power in Measure for Measure,' Marcia Riefer Poulsen argues that whether or not critics debate the character of Isabella of Measure for Measure as an “angel” or “vixen,” there are other more important statements to be made about her. Poulsen then goes on to argue that this debate obscures the more important point, the negative effects of patriarchal attitudes on female characters and comedic resolution as explored through Isabella. Poulsen gives examples in many other Shakespearean comedies of the heroine exercising dramaturgical skills and control over the action of the play, and argues that in Measure for Measure this dramaturgical control is given almost completely to a male character, Duke Vincentio. Her argument then demonstrates how the Duke perverts Shakespeare's established comic paradigm in that he lacks the dramatic skills and qualities to make a satisfying resolution to the comedy, and that this lack “should make us apprehensive about the Duke's potential to warp the experiences of those involved in his plots” (159). She goes on to say that the result of this lack in the victimization of the female characters, particularly Isabella, who loses her ability to argue and her personal autonomy. This is shown to be the result of the Duke's choice of disguise as the Friar to the extent that by the end of the play “the eloquent Isabella is left with no tongue” (169). Poulsen uses this representation of female power, or lack thereof, as an example of the effects of patriarchal power to prove that the stronger the patriarchal forces in the play, the less likely the comic resolution becomes. The work concludes by marking Isabella as the link between the comic heroines and the victimized tragic women and still anticipates and allows for later positive force shaping characters.