Structure Flashcards
What is the comic structure in the context of forced endings?
False resolution → chaos → marriages (critiques forced endings).
Comic Structure in Measure for Measure: A Tragi-Comic Framework with Forced Endings
Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure is a prime example of a play that defies rigid genre classification, blending comic and tragic elements to create a “problem play” . Its structure, particularly in the context of forced or ambiguous resolutions, reflects tensions between justice and mercy, public morality and private corruption. Here’s how the comic structure operates within the play’s unconventional framework:
- Five-Act Structure: The play follows the classical comic arc (exposition, complication, climax, resolution) but subverts expectations. Acts 1–2 establish a moral dilemma (Claudio’s death sentence, Angelo’s hypocrisy), while Acts 3–4 employ comic devices like the “bed trick” (Mariana replacing Isabella) to resolve conflicts .
- Happy Ending?: The finale includes marriages (Angelo-Mariana, Duke-Isabella) and pardons, typical of comedy. However, Isabella’s silent response to the Duke’s proposal and the unresolved moral ambiguities undermine the genre’s conventional closure .
- Reversal and Recognition: Aristotle’s tragic elements permeate the play. Angelo’s moral downfall (reversal) and the Duke’s unmasking (recognition) are structurally comic but thematically dark, exposing power’s corruptibility .
- Scenes of Suffering: Isabella’s torment—choosing between her chastity and Claudio’s life—echoes tragic heroines, complicating the comic tone .
- The Duke’s sudden interventions (e.g., sparing Claudio via a head-substitution trick) feel contrived, resembling “forced endings” in comics where external pressures truncate narratives . The rushed marriages and pardons lack organic development, leaving ethical questions unanswered .
- Low-life characters (Lucio, Pompey) provide satire and levity, but their subplots critique the main plot’s severity, mirroring how comic relief in darker narratives often underscores systemic flaws .
- Like Black Science’s bittersweet finale or Sandman’s melancholic closure , Measure for Measure balances humor and despair. Its “happy ending” is undercut by unresolved tensions, akin to comics that challenge genre expectations .
Conclusion: Measure for Measure’s comic structure is a vehicle for moral interrogation, using formal conventions to expose societal hypocrisies. Its forced resolutions—whether by authorial design or thematic necessity—align with modern narratives where endings defy neat categorization, leaving audiences to grapple with ambiguity .
For deeper analysis, explore Aristotle’s Poetics applied to the play or comparative studies of Shakespearean and comic-book endings .
What does the term ‘dénouement’ refer to?
Problematic resolution (forced marriages, unanswered injustices).
What is ‘peripeteia’?
Sudden reversal (Angelo’s exposure in Act 5).
What is meant by ‘dramatic tension’?
Delayed revelations (Duke’s prolonged disguise).
What are the parallel plots in the narrative?
Claudio/Juliet vs. Angelo/Isabella (contrasts lust vs. coercion).
What is an example of foreshadowing in the text?
Duke’s early warnings (‘Hence shall we see if power changes purpose’).
