Carolyn E. Brown evaluates the conflicting critical attitudes to Isabella's character, noting that while some scholars regard Isabella as "saintly," others condemn her as shrewish. Brown asserts that a psychological assessment of Isabella reveals that she is a complex character who unconsciously harbors incestuous feelings for her brother and a fascination with sexual masochism. Bernice Kliman describes Isabella as youthfully innocent; further, Kliman observes that Isabella is a "poor debater" and an inexperienced rhetorician who must depend on the Duke for a resolution to her troubles. By contrast, Amy Lechter-Siegel and Marcia Riefer consider Isabella to be highly articulate. However, both Lechter-Siegel and Riefer remark that be cause the novice's speeches pose a threat to the established male authority, they become fewer and less persuasive until Isabella is at last reduced to what Riefer regards as.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 4,431 words. This
study guide contains 75,709 words (approx. 252 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our Measure for Measure Access Pass.
