Marriage Politics in Measure for Measure

Updated thesis:

In his play, Measure for Measure, Shakespeare draws on teachings from the King James Bible to challenge the moral superiority of the Puritan Manifesto and new Puritan leadership, especially in regards to conflicts between traditionally accepted marriage practices and the stricter Puritan marriage regulations.

Although this is much more condensed than the thesis presented in my last post, I'm still working on researching and refining it, so any feedback would be appreciated.

Social Graph:

• Mom—big fan of reading anything and everything; loves sharing her ideas. No surprise, since she’s daughter of an English professor.
• Rachel—roommate. She’s one of those homies who will listen just because she loves you.
• Maegan –friend and fellow English major. I just found out she did a semester abroad in England, and took Shakespeare while there, so she has lots of experiences to talk about.
• Mary—roommate. She graduated in English and is currently finishing up a BYU law degree. Loves Shakespeare.
• Grandpa Stephens—former English professor. Shakespeare guru. But for some reason, I’d never asked him much about Shakespeare before.

New Media:

• I found that the blog on Shakespeare.com has a Shakespeare queries section, where people have discussed their thoughts and questions regarding specific plays. Unfortunately, the “post new query” function has been disabled (there’s a pop-up saying: “Queries and replies are closed. Over the years, people asked and answered pretty much everything. Sorry.” Huh? I submit that the list of possible unanswered questions is essentially limitless…), but you can read through past submissions and might find some helpful information. This is a good starting place for ideas.
  http://shakespeare.com/queries-and-replies/
  http://shakespeare.nowheres.com/queries/advs.php
• I also dabbled in Goodreads and became a HUGE fan of the book/play reviews, which are really people’s thoughts and reactions to the text. I was surprised by the long list of essay-like responses to Measure for Measure, and a couple of people even included links to their blogs for further reading. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/91571.Measure_for_Measure

Social Networks:

• I joined a “Shakespeare Fans” book group through Goodreads, where you can participate in discussions with other readers, and posted my tweethis there, requesting feedback from other fans.
• I also posted thesis as a message to several friends on Facebook, asking for feedback/research suggestions.

Scholarly resources:

• Marcus, Leah. “London.” Critical Essays on Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. Ed. Richard P. Wheeler. New York: G. K. Hall & Co., 1999.
• Shuger, Debora K. Political Theologies in Shakespeare’s England. New York: Palgrave, 2001.