Comparing Forgiveness and Marriage in Much Ado, Alls Well, and Measure

Forgiveness and Marriage in Much Ado about Nothing, Alls Well That Ends Well, and Measure for Measure Shakespe are neer does manage to make the journey to the end of his comic plays an easy one for his point of references or his audience, and as his comedies evolve, the journey becomes even more difficult. Tragic elements and more psychologically complex characters increase the intensity of the ending and often make a reader or viewer question if there will be a happy ending at all. Specific male characters in three plays act as impediments to this comic ending, often prompted by a villainous character and sometimes by their own doing. These men Claudio in Much Ado about Nothing, Bertram in Alls Well That Ends Well, and Angelo in Measure for Measure for various reasons are not ready for marriage or love. Living in a patriarchal society, they are often more concerned with fighting in a war or preserving male bonds than they are with being in love or being married. The problems th at occur between the couples about to be married or just recently married are essential because these men need to grow up and become responsible. The only way to change them is to let them send these harmful acts and realize the consequence. The women Hero, Helena, and Mariana must be strong enough to forgive them for the hurtful acts these men have committed against them in order for some analogy of a happy ending to take place. The crimes committed by Claudio in Much definitely requires a great act of forgiveness but hunting watch feels that forgiveness is the essential element in this play. He point out that the love of man for woman (but not of woman for man) is seen too frail an sensation to sustain the pressures that are frequently put... ...nter, Forgiving Claudio Works Cited Dash, Irene G. When Women Choose Alls Well That Ends Well. Womens Worlds in Shakespeare. Newark University of Delaware Press, 1997. Friedman, Michael. Male Bonds and Marriage in Alls Well and Muc h Ado. Studies in position Literature 35 (1995) 231-248. ---. O, let him marry her Matrimony and Recompense in Measure for Measure. Shakespeare Quarterly. 46 (1995) 454-464. Hays, Janice. Those soft and delicate desires Much Ado and the Distrust of Women. The Womans Part womens liberationist Criticism of Shakespeare. Ed. Carolyn Ruth Swift Lenz, Gayle Greene, and Carol Thomas Neely. Chicago, Urbana, London University of Illinois Press, 1980. Hunter, Robert Grams. Forgiving Claudio. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Much Ado about Nothing. Ed. Walter Davis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ 1969