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?
There are many uses of animals alluding to human's fierce appetite throughout Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. One of the first uses of animals is when Shakespeare noted that "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). Rats are commonly used in literature as a method of portraying greed. So, Shakespeare used rats to represent humans' greedy and gullible nature when they are presented with a law-breaking situation, such as impregnation before marriage. The second example of animal imagery is when describing "[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). In this case, Shakespear similarly uses the imagery of birds to depict the gullibility of humans when presented with the fallibility of Vienna's law. Moreover, while Vienna, and arguably other countries around the world, have strong laws, they are often unenforced and can lead to our wrong-doing human appetites to go unnoticed as the bird is to a scarecrow. However, when Angelo took control of Vienna, he enforced the law, leading to the imprisonment of Claudio for impregnating his soon-to-be wife, Juliet. There is often a disconnect between the legislatures and the enforcers. Laws are made but are then not appropriately enforced or maintained. Measure for Measure effectively captured this reality by illustrating humans as gullible and greedy animals and connecting the fallibility of the law to that of a scarecrow.
ReplyDeleteThe animal imagery in this passage goes to show that that the lives of humans are similar to the dynamics of rats and birds of prey, in that rats can’t control their appetite, and will even eat something they know is not good for them due to their overpowering appetite, and the birds of prey must be there to keep the hordes of rats under control. The play ties this conceptual idea to the conflicts Claudio experiences with the new Duke Angelo over crimes of fornication. Angelo attempts to hang Claudio for having pre-marital sex with his fiancée, and Claudio references this idea of humans and rats sharing an overpowering appetite, and ties it to his apparent “lust” for his wife. In the play Claudio claims that he knew there would be consequences for his actions, but that he could not wait any longer, control his inherent “appetite”. Additionally, Claudio shows how he had been waiting for a great time to marry his fiancée, and that they were basically married, and in no way had just met. Claudio compares his nature to that of the rats, with their uncontrollable desires and no regard for their well being to himself, but at the time defends himself and tries to get himself out of the consequences. The play misconstrues the nature of rats in this way in order to tie them effectively to Claudio’s plights. The nature of rats isn’t too ignoring eating poison out of lack of caring due to their extreme hunger, but to believe that everything is good because they are so hungry. Claudio did not think that he would have good consequences from his actions, but knew in the back of his mind what he was doing was wrong, which is different from the inherent nature of rats. Angelo’s nature is to control the rats, his rebuttal to Claudio comparing himself to a rat was to compare himself to a bird of prey. He then labels his job as to make sure that everything in order, and that by using fear, he will actually make the world more safe.
ReplyDelete