In recent decades, William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure (1604) has undergone substantial critical re-evaluation with respect to its exploration of reproductive and sexual politics. While past critics condemned Isabella's unwillingness to save Claudio's life by accepting Angelo's request that she trade sex for his mercy, contemporary critics have defended Isabella's right to refuse what they have identified as an act of flagrant sexual coercion. However, although some contemporary critics have defended Isabella's right to refuse Angelo's request for sex, few have specifically defended Isabella's right to refuse Claudio's plea for life. This paper defends Isabella, not as a victim of sexual coercion, but as a hypothetical victim of forced pregnancy. Applying arguments made by contemporary pro-abortion theorists to Measure for Measure, this paper contributes to evolving feminist criticism of Shakespeare by mounting an alternative defence of Isabella which explains her right to refuse Angelo's proposition even if it condemns Claudio to death. Examining the implications of this alternative reading further, I argue that expanding the scope of re-evaluations of the play to include considerations of bodily autonomy outside of the right to refuse sex foregrounds the play's exploration of reproductive and sexual control at a broader, structural level.
K. H. Kuo (Wed,) studied this question.