Claudio, arrested for fornication with his almost-wife, claims his problem was "too much liberty"(1.2.121). He elaborates "Our natures do pursue, / Like rats that raven down their proper bane, / A thirsty evil, and when we drink, we die." (1.2.125-7). In other words, his animal appetites, unrestrained, undisciplined and unguided, led to his misfortune. Later the Duke makes a similar claim about the harmful effects of failing to strenuously enforce the law: Because he did enforce the law, the law became "Even like an o'ergrown lion in a cave / That goes not out to prey." (1.3.23-4). Even later Angelo takes about laws without penalties as
[A] scarecrow of the law,
Setting it up to fear the birds of prey,
And let it keep one shape till custom make it
Their perch and not their terror. (2.2.1-4)
What's all this animal imagery about? What, according the play, is the proper role of the law when it comes to our appetites? Does the play get it right?
The play’s depiction and use of justice is flawed. Lord Angelo, when given the reins to the kingdom by the Duke himself, employs a form of absolute justice. With the punishment for fornication being death, Lord Angelo shows no mercy to Claudio. The punishment is clear: Claudio must die. According to Angelo, long gone are the days that the government became simply “[a] scarecrow of the law, setting it up to fear the birds of prey, and let it keep one shape till custom make it their perch and not their terror” (2.2.1-4), meaning that Angelo will no longer allow the law to simply be a deterrent that never really carries out its punishments, but will now truly be carrying out the executions of criminals of fornication. Yet, there’s a reason that the punishment for fornication had become “a scarecrow of the law” and had not been enforced by the Duke; because it is not that drastic of a crime. In fact, Angelo’s desire to execute every person who has committed fornication is too harsh. Escalus, Angelo’s right hand man, even tells Angelo to his face that he lacks empathy, explaining, “That, in the working of your own affections, had time cohered with place, or place with wishing… whether you had not sometime in your life erred in this point which now you censure him, and pulled the law upon him” (2.1.5-17), or that Angelo, if he has not already, could have committed the same crime as Claudio very easily. Angelo does not take empathy, or any specific circumstances into play when sentencing Claudio to death, which shows that the play’s depiction of justice is flawed.
ReplyDeleteMeasure for measure offers a perspective on the legal system that paints those in power as predators, hence painting the rest of society as prey. Angelo refers to the harshness of the law as the “bits and curbs to headstrong steeds” The bluntly cruel and harsh disciplinary action Angelo is taking upon Claudio for his crime is what really leaves the reader thinking about the predator-prey relationship between common men and rulers. The main idea that Shakespeare depicts regarding Claudio’s situation is that while the law is necessary for a sound society, it can’t be sustained without mercy and the understanding of human imperfection. This is where the criticism of the “predators” (Angelo) comes into the picture, because Angelo himself admits that he too, is “only human.” Hypocrisy is evident amongst the predators of society in Measure for Measure especially in Angelos character when he makes an attempt to sleep with Isabel. This was done to show how even those in power (like Angelo) are subject to the same flaws and desires they seek to control. So, with this being said, the proper role of the law should be that it acknowledges humanity as a factor in the justice system, and that we as mere mortal beings are subject to error because of our “appetite.” Laws should be enforced an equal amount all of the time, otherwise an abrupt reform will lead to criticism and outbursts from the people, even if it’s a fair action to take. For instance, Isabella, who is devastated about her brother's fate interprets the sudden enforcement of the law as tyrannous. “O’ it is excellent to have a giant's strength, but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant” (65). The usage of “giant” is a substitution for the “predator-prey” analogy, but possesses the same significance.
ReplyDeleteThis animal imagery depicts the ineffectiveness of the law and justice system in Vienna as a deterrent for criminal activity. The Duke is aware of the lack of law enforcement, and, thus, uses Lord Angelo as a predatory figure to hunt down his prey/the local law breakers. Under the Duke’s control he had made “a scarecrow of the law/Setting it up to fear the birds of prey” (2.2.1-2). A scarecrow is employed to deter the crows, however, like the law, after a period of time no fear results from its empty threats. Due to a lack of action in the form of punishment or sentencing from the judge, the citizens of Vienna walk all over the law like they are above it, making the scarecrow “[t]heir perch and not their terror” (2.2.4). Lord Angelo desires that the law serves as a deterrent to criminals and reoffenders and is tasked with asserting the judicial system’s power over its prey. To do so, Angelo makes an example of Claudio by sentencing him to death for fornication. Claudio is not naïve to Angelo’s deterrence tactic and compares his situation to “the public body [being]/ A horse whereon the governor doth ride[s]/ Who, newly in the seat, that it may know,/ He can command, lets it straight feel the spur” (1.2.157-160). Lord Angelo arresting Claudio and sentencing him to death is an abusive use of power employed to reinstate Vienna’s legal system as the predator of the public regardless of how many criminals have gone unseen by the law. The play demonstrates this controversial construct of the law as a predator and the criminals/law-breaking civilians as its prey through Angelo’s tyrannical actions. Instead of an appropriate punishment to deter others from having sex outside of wedlock, Angelo asserts his predatory dominance and attacks his prey, Claudio.
ReplyDeleteThe purposeful use of animal-related scenarios plays a massive role in displaying the character's personalities and development. Angelo and his harsh punishments of the law show many themes of using animals, most of the time using a retired predator missing its common trait. Animal imagery has been shown to display the dysfunctionality of the law and Lord Angelo’s perspective on how it has become a “scarecrow” due to the little implications of enforcing punishment rather than leaving it up to deter people from committing said crime. An example of this imagery can be seen when, “He—to give fear to use and liberty, which have for long run by the hideous law as mice by lions—hath picked out an act under whose heavy sense your brother’s life falls into forfeit” (1.4.1-33). The importance of mice by lions is another figurative way of saying that the people under the law are unfearful of it as they know it poses no moral threat due to its little usage. When a mouse is ruling over a lion, the balance of power is drastically incorrect which is why it relates to Lord Angelo’s stance on capital punishment. Our human appetites call for what we want rather than what is just. The crime committed by Claudio was fornication which at the time, was punishable by death. Had the law not been a scarecrow, the crimes Claudio committed were under the impression that punishment would not be enforced. Lord Angelo chooses to recognize the dormant law since, “The law hath not been dead, through it hath slept. Those many had not dared to do that evil if the first that did th’ edict infringe had answered for his deed. Now ‘tis awake…” (2.2.1-65). Lord Angelo believes that if Claudio’s sentence were to be carried out, the law would awaken and people would begin to fear it as they once had.
ReplyDeleteIn the play Measure for Measure, animal imagery consistently conveys that law cannot contain a person's primal set intentions, especially if it is not strictly enforced. Claudio committed an act of fornication, impregnating his partner, Juliet. He is imprisoned, awaiting a death sentence for his crime, but he defends his actions as primal, “Our natures do pursue, / Like rats that raven down their proper bane, / A thirsty evil, and when we drink, we die” (1.2.125-7). Essentially, nothing, not even the law, could stop Claudio’s instincts to have premarital sex with Juliet, his “proper bane.” Additionally, the analogies of animals in the play depict Angelo’s attempt to deter residents of Vienna from committing crimes. “[A] scarecrow of the law, / Setting it up to fear the birds of prey” (2.2.1-4). Enforcing the law is deterrence, but the lack of enforcement results in the law's loss of power, “And let it keep one shape till custom make it / Their perch and not their terror” (2.2.1-4). Angelo applies the concept of scarecrows to discuss the Duke’s lack of enforcement of laws. After the duke realizes the law has virtually no faculty unless the punishments are carried out, he begins to fulfill his promises. Claudio, who had just committed a crime punishable by death, was not deterred by the law because the Duke had not previously executed it and could not resist his primal instincts. The play uses more comparisons to animals to expand on the concept that people are animals and can not be controlled but can be deterred.
ReplyDeleteMeasure for Measure presents a contradictory interpretation of the role of law in its application to humans’ appetites. The presence of animalistic references throughout the play highlights the idea of inherent morality and human nature that influences decision making. After Claudio was sentenced to death for fornication, a previously dormant law, Lord Angelo must publicly invoke a harsh punishment emphasizing his strict new order. Before Angelo’s decision, the laws that once served as deterrents, were “like an o'ergrown lion in a cave,” too loosely enforced to prevent citizens from committing crimes. (1.3.23-4). The simile uses an animal to symbolize how the fiercest influence weakens if it has been neglected. Reinforcing the ideology that with tolerance, over time the laws will no longer be able to govern behavior, Angelo proclaims, “We must not make a scarecrow of the law, setting it up to fear the birds of prey, and let it keep one shape till custom make it their perch and not their terror.” (2.1.1-4). Once again, Shakespeare uses animal behavior to illustrate its inherent parallelism to human nature. Not only does the play utilize animal imagery to convey similarities, but it also implements satanic characteristics to personify the internal conflict that Angelo experiences while deciding Claudio’s fate. While talking about Isabella, Angelo articulates his feelings about the situation declaring, “Blood, thou art blood. Let’s write good angel on the devil’s horn. ‘Tis Not the devil’s crest.” (2.4.15-17). This statement epitomizes Angelo’s flawed decision making process flooded by lust and abuse of power, dominated by his desire to break the very law for which he sought out to punish Claudio by death. Up to this point, even though the messages that have been conveyed describe the mentality at which criminal justice should not be approached, the play clearly recognizes and displays the human psychology that plagues the justice system over 400 years later.
ReplyDeleteThe use of animal imagery in Measure for Measure serves as a poignant metaphor for human desires, particularly those like lust and gluttony, which can easily spiral when unrestrained or unchecked by moral or legal boundaries. Claudio, confronted with his excess of liberty, then compares the human appetites to those of rats that consume their own poison. This imagery serves to underscore the self-destructive tendencies of unchecked desires can lead to ruin, as his lust and desire for his soon to be wife led him to his death sentence. Law is also used in this lens of animal metaphors. The duke's analogy of an "o'ergrown lion in a cave" illustrates the concept of lax enforcement of the law. A fierce lion quartered away in a cave is ineffective, similarly the law when not enforced loses its mighty power. In this same light, Angelo uses animal imagery through human being a crow, that once the law is merely used as a "scarecrow", something that poses no real threat but is supposed to instill fear and deter negative behaviors. He details how the law when unenforced becomes a symbol of futility and neglect, and eventually the scarecrow will lose its terror and become a perch. These examples of the beast like tendencies of man serve as an argument for the need of regulation of these desires and appetites, through both self-discipline and external enforcement through the law. The play emphasizes that the law is not only for structure and deterrence, but also enforcement that curbs those who escalate the destruction of man's civility. This stance is complicated however by the exploration of needlessly and excessively harsh punishments, as embodied by Angelo, can actually lead to injustice. Through this, the play asserts the idea that the proper role of the law is to maintain balance. Order is vital to regulate the voracious appetites of humans, but you also need to hold space for mercy and humility.
ReplyDeleteIn the play Measure for Measure, animal imagery compares and depicts the laws and humanity. During Claudio's imprisonment, his friend Lucio visited him and inquired about his crime. Claudio describes his crime as “from too much liberty"(1.2.122); at the same time, his actions are “[l]ike rats that raven down their proper bane, [a] thirsty evil, and when we drink, we die.” (1.2.126-7). Claudio thinks he is acting like an animal, ignoring the laws and fully knowing the law while still committing a crime. The law functions to control human desires; when people go too far with their appetites, they are warned or restrained by legal measures. However, if they disregard these warnings, the law will impose severe consequences to rectify their behavior. Lord Angelo was an unswerving law executor. In the conversation he had with Escalus, he refuses to be flexible on Claudio’s case. In his mind, the law and the justice system should not have any ambiguity; otherwise, it will become “a scarecrow of the law, setting it up to fear the birds of prey, [a]nd let it keep one shape till custom make it [t]heir perch and not their terror” (2.1.1-4). Animal imagery shows the relationship between human nature and the law. If Angelo spares Cloudio, not enforcing the law, then he and the law become a “scarecrow”; if Cloudio is not executed in accordance with the law, others will continue to commit crimes, because this will show them there are no consequences for committing a crime. The use of animal imagery also tells the reader about the character of Angelo; he compares himself with a nonliving object, indicating he sees himself as someone with no emotion nor empathy, like an object instead of a human who can be flexible.
ReplyDeleteThe animal imagery in Measure for Measure is very important because it highlights the tension in the play between human instincts and the law's instincts of how it is to regulate people. The use of animals particularly rats, lions, and birds of prey serves as a way of illustrating the dangers of unrestrained desires and the consequences of failing to enforce discipline and order. We can see this when Claudio's claims "too much Liberty" because it is like comparing each other and which would led to self-destruction. Similarly much of the story is concertation on lust and the lack of self-control which is similar to how a rat would eat something with poison knowing there is poison but wouldn't have the self-control to not eat it. The Duke also has his idea of this and how he compares this to the law, "an o'ergrown lion in a cave / That goes not out to prey." It means that even though the lion once would command other animals, but once it grows old it is only weak and useless. This metaphor speaks to the law’s role in controlling human behavior without enforcement, the law becomes irrelevant, even dangerous, because it no longer has the power to restrain human instinct. Something that would further the point is Angelo's Scarecrow imagery, a scarecrow is a hollow and ineffective symbol of the law, the main idea of a scarecrow is to scare of other animals to protect something. This is similar to the law, because it is something meant to instill fear, but if it lacks the capacity for action. And without true punishment, the law has no meaning and just becomes a formality because if it doesn't have the power to punish it lose its power.
ReplyDeleteMeasure for measure shows a flawed interpretation of a criminal justice system/ law enforcement. According to the play the proper role of law was when the leader benefited from it. The prime example is when Claudio was sentenced to death by angelo. “like an o'ergrown lion in a cave, too loosely enforced to prevent citizens from committing crimes. “(1.3.23-4). Since Angelo was so flawed he decided that his largest benefit was to use this case to try to sleep with Isabelle. The interesting part is that Angelo is breaking the same law that Claudio is being sentenced to death for. Animal imagery throughout the play is very crucial because it shows the tension in the play between human instincts and the laws, instincts of regulation of the law and the people. The use of animals, specifically birds, rats and lions are shown as a way of illustrating the dangers of the consequences of not enforcing the law. Angelo uses animal imagery throughout the story as being a scarecrow because enforcing the law is supposed to just scare people away and to be intimidating. And when it comes down to it he could turn into a “crow” if he receives benefit from enforcing the law, but in the Claudio/Isabelle case he ends up not benefiting from it. Overall, Measure for Measure provides a flawed and unjust way of enforcing the law while being ruled by Angelo which was predicted by the duke which was revealed at the end of the play
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