Sister Act
Comments(4) We already have enough juice within Acts 1 & 2 to satisfy any gossip drinker, what with bodily bribes, marital accusations, and disguised authority; however, the tidbit I’d like to sink my teeth into is found in one line by Claudio before he is taken away: “Bid herself assay him;/ I have great hope in that, for in her youth/ There is a prone and speechless dialect/ Such as move men” (1.3 l. 65-68). Did he just call his sister sexy?
The next line Claudio speaks almost puts the spotlight on her aforementioned skill: “BESIDE, she hath prosperous art/ When she will play with reason and discourse,/ And well she can persuade” (1.3 l. 68-70). I take artistic liberty in capitalizing the first word, but that is because I think it’s the most important. First Claudio says she’s got this ‘speechless dialect’ thing that’s sure to win Angelo over…. and BESIDE that, she can discourse with reason. He’s totally pimping his sister!
Beyond the sleaziness of Angelo, it is what brings Isabella to confront him that makes me squirm: Claudio chooses Isabella, of all people, to speak to Angelo on his behalf, and why? Because Angelo is a man, and Isabella a hot youth about to enter sisterhood? We cannot know how long or short Claudio thought before asking for this ‘kind service’ , but we can see it obviously works: after just one conversation between Isabella and Angelo, Claudio, who was set for execution at 9a.m. the next morning, was able to keep living until another conversation took place between Isabella and Angelo.
Raquel,
From what I gather, you seem to give insights to the class with more of a feminist perspective. As a fellow feminist, don’t you find it intriguing that a FEMALE is granted a position of power and persuasion (although, we can discuss how Lucio plays a puppetmaster of sorts egging Isabella on). Not only that, if you’re placing Claudio as the bawd tapster character, is there a commentary about how the structures of power and law are not so different from the brothel house operated by the Heidi Fleiss of Shakespearean drama, Mistress Overdone? And going back to the dynamics of power (fresh off Richard III), can we draw a parallel between Isabella and Richard-as-feminized-maiden in order for him to be king? Why does gaining power require a submissiveness? And why are the aspects of give and take assigned gendered meanings?..give/submit –> feminine; take/gain –> masculine? -CT
By the end of Act II it is established that Claudio is not a good brother. His priority is to be alive, more likely than not, for his lover and his child. And he has no hesitation is sacrificing his sister in the process of securing his future with his new family (Juliet and his baby). He openly says to his sieter, “What sin you do to save a brother’s life, … That it becomes a virtue” (3.1.134,136)
I liked the Duke telling him to stop dreaming and that it was just a test for Isabella, not a real possibility for his pardon. To me, Claudio is a much bigger sinner for trying to sell out his own sister for personal gain than Angelo, who is corrupt to begin with. A brother has much more repsonsibility towards his sister and her virtue than some guy in power.