earticle

영어

This paper examines the theme of disguised rulers in William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure and Thomas Middleton’s The Phoenix. In both plays, rulers in disguise inspect and address individual transgressions and the social corruption rampant in their countries. The motif of the disguised ruler was popular in early Jacobean drama, reflecting playwrights’ anxieties about social inequality and injustice, as well as their hopes that the newly crowned James I would restore social order and stability. In Measure for Measure, Duke Vincentio, who has allowed the law to slide, entrusts the austere Angelo with the task of enforcing the law and restoring order, fearing that he himself would be blamed for tyranny if he took such action. Although Angelo immorally pursues his lust for Isabella while conducting a campaign for social reform, the Duke’s hidden motives complicate any justification for his disguise. In contrast, in The Phoenix, Prince Phoenix, a ruler possessing both wisdom and virtue, travels incognito through his country of Ferrara to assess its true condition. There, he discovers widespread legal corruption, wife-selling, incest, and treason that threaten social order and ducal authority. Unlike Duke Vincentio, Phoenix does not resort to Machiavellian tactics to enforce justice. His aim to restore order and eradicate social ills is achieved through just and virtuous means. In this sense, I argue that Prince Phoenix is better suited to rule than Duke Vincentio, as his pursuit of justice in The Phoenix is both morally justified and effective.