“Millions of false eyes / Are stuck upon thee.” The scope of surveillance in Measure for Measure
In this paper, I treat surveillance as the nexus of the ethical, political and aesthetical aspects of Measure for Measure. To this effect, I first relate the surveillance practices of Shakespeare’s time to some of the play’s prevalent thematic pairs: imprisonment and punishment, authority and the pr...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"
2013-01-01
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| Series: | Sillages Critiques |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/2594 |
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| Summary: | In this paper, I treat surveillance as the nexus of the ethical, political and aesthetical aspects of Measure for Measure. To this effect, I first relate the surveillance practices of Shakespeare’s time to some of the play’s prevalent thematic pairs: imprisonment and punishment, authority and the prerogatives of the ruler, divine rule and secular law. I then show that the Duke stands as a polymorphous vehicle of surveillance, his status being characterised by hypervision and overinformation, but also by a propensity to act as a stage producer. Finally, I demonstrate that Measure for Measure suggests that theatrical representation apes God’s creation, but also exposes the scopic regime of drama as a perversion of divine surveillance. This leads to the conclusion that the play’s surveillance elements participate in Shakespeare’s refining of the theatrum mundi cliché, and in his questioning of drama’s right to capture, imitate or re-create reality. |
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| ISSN: | 1272-3819 1969-6302 |