Dead Zones

In Measure for Measure, the "dead zones" are places like the nunnery and the prisons. They are antisocial communities where life essentially ends. Since there are only women in nunneries, they are not able to have children, and therefore the women are not able to do what they should be able to do which is to have children. Since the Duke is ruling over these dead zones, he does not have any living beings to assert his rule over and therefore the laws are not really being followed. Since these are private places, Shakespeare is commenting on how authoritarians would like to be able to rule over both the private and public sector, but absolute rule over the private sector is not possible.


Danielle Galante