We have for the central interest the same personal struggle after right, not after use or happiness; and one of the finest passages in that whole marvellous drama is a distinct statement by the heroine that this is so.

The one rule she says, that she is resolved to live by, and not live by only, but if needs be to die for, is no human rule, is no standard of man's devising, nor can it be modified to suit our changing needs; but it is _The unwritten and the enduring laws of God, Which are not of to-day nor yesterday, But live from everlasting, and none breathes Who knows them, whence begotten._ In _Measure for Measure_ and _Faust_ we can see the matter reduced to a narrower issue still.

In both these plays we can see at once that one moral judgment at least, not to name others, is before all things pre-supposed in us.

This is a hard and fixed judgment with regard to female chastity, and the supernatural value of it.

It is only because we assent to this judgment that Isabella is heroic to us; and primarily for the same reason that Margaret is unfortunate.