Main texts i will use: Measure for Measure (m4m), Merchant of Venice (MoV)
Main idea: ideal of Justice as divine justice- perfect, absolute justice from God. notions of judgement day come into mind, where God is the ultimate, perfect judge. judgements made on the basis of human justice is flawed, just as man is, or perhaps because man is. it is a narrow, crude, imperfect version of God's justice. in Sh's texts like m4m & mov, we see the act of human judgement and justice in action. it is flawed, with questionable points and not wholly satisfactory endings. however, i would say that human judgement (in sh's texts) not so much crudely parodies Justice as much as undermines the biblical simplicity of perfect Justice.
M4M:
1) title of play is taken from the bible verse (Matt 7:1-2)- significance of sh drawing from a biblical sense of God's perfect Justice, placing it into the fallen, flawed human world and its system of justice.
2) angelo as a judge- the mistakes he makes
3) duke vincentio as judge- he judges, and appears to right all wrongs, and punish the right people at the end of the play. yet upon reflection, the ending seems to bring us right back to the beginning of the play. nothing has changed. and if the duke, as the ultimate figure of authority in vienna, can judge everyone, who is to judge him? us, as the audience.
MoV:
1) justice seems to prevail at the end of the play, yet the means by which justice is achieved is questionable: portia having to dress up as a man to defend antonio; helping to overcome shylock's aggression by mere technicalities; 'persecution' and punishment of shylock
in both plays:
1) tragic impulses are very much present; at any point, the play could end up in a tragedy. all the more, the 'happy', comedic endings are problematised. every problem appears to be solved way too easily, and the judgements meted out appear fair only on the surface.
2) issue of marriage as a resolution to both plays. is it fair for the women? marriage as part of human judgement undermines Justice.
ok, brain dead here. will refine n add more reference to it soon. please, if u'd like 2 help me, feel free 2 comment :) lol
paper is a 1700 word essay due fri
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