The ‘old fantastical duke of dark corners’. The tradition of the Italianate disguised ruler and Measure for Measure’s questioning of divine kingship

My paper analyses the godlike figure of the duke in Shakespeare’s "Measure for Measure," drawing from the tradition of the Italianate disguised ruler. On the basis of a stylistic approach to the topic word grace in the play, I attempt to demonstrate how the structurally dialectical motion of the tragicomedy pertains to the same character of the disguised duke, who does not fulfill a definite role, neither dramatically nor politically, within the problem of divine kingship.