SOURCE: Geckle, George L. “Shakespeare's Isabella.” Shakespeare Quarterly 22, no. 2 (spring 1971): 163-68.

In the following essay, Geckle addresses Measure for Measure as a problem play, focusing specifically on the character of Isabella.

Since critics are generally persistent in terming Measure for Measure a “problem play,” it is useful to designate exactly what the problems are. These cover a wide range of issues, such as the relationships between government and morality, law and justice, and mercy and justice, the dramatic structure and genre of the play, and the attitudes and actions of the play's various characters. In terms of the play's major figures probably more absurd statements have been made regarding Isabella than practically any other Shakespearian character, with the notable exception of Hamlet. It is Isabella who stands out today as Measure for Measure's greatest critical “problem.”

This problem of Isabella derives from the fact that a consensus...