Comparing Wealth, Power, and Virtue in Measure for Measure and Mrs. Warrens Profession :: comparison compare contrast essays

Wealth, Power, and Virtue in Measure for Measure and Mrs. Warren’s Profession       As seen in the dramas Measure for Measure and Mrs. Warren’s Profession, the Elizabethan and Victorian periods have different views of wealth, power and virtue. To compare these views, one should start by defining the different views of virtue. The people of the Elizabethan times see virtue in obtaining a balance of their three souls and as promoting order within their society and city. Also in this period of time, wealth and power were rarely gained, but when they were, it was due to virtue. Conversely, in Mrs. Warren’s Profession, virtue is interpreted as a person trying to change how the poor were treated by the industrialists; and this could only be done when a person already had wealth or power.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Measure for Measure, Isabella starts off seeming to be a very virtuous person: she is entering a very strict nunnery and living a purely rational and sinless life. As the play goes on she chooses to keep her virtue by not sleeping with Angelo. However, we start to see her virtue come into question when she coldly and with no compassion tells her brother Claudio to "Die Quickly!" (III, i, 135) This shows that she is not using her emotional soul. But, at the end of the play, Isabella shows that she has the ability to utilize her emotional soul when she forgives Angelo; at the same time proving she has a balanced soul. From this action, the Duke realizes that Isabella is truly virtuous and then, because of this, asks her to marry him (V, i, 530). We can clearly see that Isabella is rewarded for her virtuous actions at the conclusion of Measure to Measure.   This positive conclusion demonstrates the Elizabethan society's tendency to prize virtue as achieved through a balanced soul.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Isabella is not only seen to be virtuous because of her balanced soul, she would have also been seen as virtuous because her actions to preserve order in Vienna.   At the beginning of Measure for Measure, the Duke goes into