Brothel Houses Within Shakespeare's Plays (2470 words)

• Topic: Shakespeare paper that talks about brothel houses within Shakespear's plays measure for measure and pericles. Must uses direct quotes from play!
• Length: 8-12 page final paper. Times new roman 12-point font for declaration/draft and final paper with 1” margins and footnote plus in-text citation for the final paper.

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William Shakespeare’s plays, Measure for Measure and Pericles, both have sexual themes and feature brothels prominently as examples of individual sexual morals intertwined with government. Each play tells a very different tale, yet in both, we see individuals in government straining to determine what role the law should play in enforcing or interfering with sexual morals and activity. Each play ends on a positive note, with those who ultimately live with dishonorable intentions suffering their own wicked fate. This paper will examine the different plays separately, beginning with Measure for Measure.
Vienna, in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure has a thriving sexual underground which includes many illegal brothels. The central plot is how the government deals with purported sexual offenses, such as fornication and prostitution, which are illegal despite not being enforced. In the play, we are introduced to Duke Vincentio, who runs Vienna, who has not enforced the strict laws regarding sexual activity for over a decade; his deputy Angelo, whom he puts in charge of the city, in the hopes that he will reinstate the sexual conduct laws; and Claudio and his sister Isabella, who both serve as examples of the effect of the laws.
It is clear that there is a dichotomy for the citizens of Vienna when the laws are so clear, but the violators so obvious and not punished. Indeed, some citizens, like Mistress Overdone, a brothel madam, see sex as solely a profitable business enterprise:
Thus, what with the war, what with the sweat, what
with the gallows and what with poverty, I am
custom-shrunk. (1.2.4)...