Measure for Measure

Measure for Measure is a play written by William Shakespeare. It was first performed in 1604 and is known as one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays” because its tone shifts between serious and humorous. Shakespeare was a famous poet and playwright during the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. While he started his career writing comedies and histories, Measure for Measure was written during a time when he was creating some of his most famous tragedies. When the first collection of Shakespeare’s works, the First Folio of 1623, was published, it classified Measure for Measure as a comedy. However, the play has dark themes and a serious tone that make it feel similar to a tragedy. The story explores justice, hypocrisy, and mercy, questioning how laws can be fairly enforced when all humans are tempted to do wrong.

Summary

Measure for Measure takes place in Vienna, where Duke Vincentio is in charge. The Duke decides to leave the city for a while and puts a strict and serious man named Angelo in charge while he is gone. Angelo agrees to enforce the city’s laws while Vincentio is away.

After the Duke leaves, a young man named Lucio hears from a woman named Mistress Overdone, who runs a brothel, that his friend Claudio has been put in prison by Angelo. Claudio is a more respectable person than Lucio, who has made a woman pregnant but refuses to marry her. However, Claudio is sentenced to death because he got his fiancée, Juliet, pregnant before they were officially married. Lucio goes to find Claudio. Meanwhile, Pompey, a bartender and worker at the brothel, complains that Angelo’s strict laws are hurting the businesses in the city’s outskirts.

Claudio sees Lucio on his way to prison and asks him to find his sister, Isabella, to beg Angelo for mercy. Lucio goes to Isabella, who is about to become a nun, and convinces her that she might be able to persuade Angelo to save Claudio. She goes to Angelo and argues that all men struggle with the temptation to sin, so it is important to show mercy to those who break the law.

Angelo is drawn to Isabella’s purity and goodness and, instead of showing mercy, he starts to desire her. He tells her that he will release Claudio if she agrees to sleep with him. Isabella refuses, saying that saving her brother’s life at the cost of her own soul would not be right. Angelo warns her that no one will believe her if she tries to accuse him because of his high status and good reputation.

Meanwhile, Duke Vincentio has not actually left the city. Instead, he has disguised himself as a friar named Lodowick. He explains that he wanted Angelo to enforce the laws again so he would not have to do it himself and seem like a cruel ruler. The disguised Duke tells Claudio to prepare for death, but then overhears Isabella telling her brother about Angelo’s immoral demand. Realizing that Angelo is a hypocrite, the Duke comes up with a plan to save Claudio and protect Isabella. He introduces Isabella to a woman named Mariana, who was once engaged to Angelo. Angelo broke off their engagement when she lost her dowry in a shipwreck. The Duke suggests a "bed trick," a common idea in plays of that time, where Mariana will secretly take Isabella’s place in the dark, so Angelo will unknowingly sleep with his former fiancée. The Duke also arranges with the prison guard to send another prisoner’s head to Angelo instead of Claudio’s, but he does not tell Isabella this plan, so she will believe that her brother is really dead.

Meanwhile, the Duke, still disguised as a friar, speaks with Lucio. Lucio complains that the Duke is foolish, lustful, and incompetent, not realizing that he is actually talking to the Duke himself.

After Angelo unknowingly sleeps with Mariana, thinking she is Isabella, he still orders Claudio to be executed. Isabella is outraged when she finds out, but the Duke advises her to wait until the Duke returns and expose Angelo in public. The Duke then stops pretending to be a friar and announces that he is returning to Vienna. He arranges to meet Angelo at the city gates.

When the Duke returns, Isabella and Mariana reveal Angelo’s corruption. At first, the Duke pretends not to believe them, but he allows them to explain what happened and present their proof. Then, he puts on his friar disguise again to confirm their story. However, Lucio pulls off the friar’s hood, revealing that the Duke was in disguise the whole time.

Angelo immediately confesses his crimes and asks to be executed. But Mariana begs the Duke to show mercy and allow Angelo to become a better person by marrying her. Isabella also asks the Duke to be merciful, even though she still believes that her brother has been killed. The Duke then reveals that Claudio is alive and asks Isabella to marry him. She does not respond.

At the end of the play, Lucio is punished for insulting the Duke and for making a woman pregnant without marrying her. The Duke forces him to marry the woman and then orders him to be executed for his wrongdoings.

Character analysis

Duke Vincentio: The Duke of Vienna, also known as Vincentio, is a central character in the play. He is a wise and authoritative ruler who initially leaves Angelo in charge of the city to observe how he enforces the law. The Duke disguises himself as a friar to secretly observe the events in the city. He is ultimately a fair and just ruler, and his return at the end of the play resolves the various conflicts and injustices that have occurred.

Angelo: Angelo is appointed by the Duke to enforce strict moral and legal standards in Vienna while the Duke is away. Angelo is characterized as a strict, puritanical, and inflexible character who initially appears virtuous and steadfast in his adherence to the law. However, his moral facade is shattered when he propositions Isabella with an indecent proposal, revealing his hypocrisy and inner struggle with temptation. He is a complex character who undergoes a transformation in the course of the play.

Isabella: Isabella is Claudio's sister and a novice nun. She is portrayed as a highly virtuous and devout character, committed to her religious beliefs. Her commitment to chastity and her sense of justice are central to the play. Isabella's character is tested when Angelo makes an indecent proposal to her, and she is faced with a moral dilemma. Her character development is seen as she ultimately agrees to a plan to save her brother's life, even if it means compromising her own values.

Claudio: Claudio is Isabella's brother, and he is sentenced to death by Angelo for impregnating Juliet before their marriage. Initially, he supports his sister's decision to remain chaste, but he changes his mind and urges her to accept Angelo's proposal to save his own life. Claudio's character represents the conflict between personal survival and moral principles.

Mariana: Mariana is Angelo's former fiancée, whom he abandoned after her dowry was lost in a shipwreck. She plays a crucial role in the play when she agrees to take Isabella's place in Angelo's bed, and her character is pivotal in exposing Angelo's wrongdoing.

Lucio: Lucio is Claudio's friend and is known for his witty and cheeky nature. He is the one who brings the news of Claudio's sentencing to Isabella. Lucio's character provides comic relief and represents the lower classes in the play.

Mistress Overdone: She is the Madame of a Viennese brothel.

Elbow: Elbow, the police officer tasked with enforcing sex laws, is a character known for his amusing quirks/evasions.

Escalus: Escalus is a virtuous nobleman who repeatedly advises Angelo against acting unjustly or too harshly, and thinks of his own sins when doing justice.

Pompey: Pompey is a quick-witted "bawd" employed by Mistress Overdone, who is skeptical of any attempt to enact laws that will eliminate prostitution.

Barnadine: Barnadine is an irritable, lazy, drunken prisoner, sentenced to die the same day as Claudio. His laziness is so great that he refuses even to appear for his own execution, and as such the authorities give up on trying to execute him.

Friar Lodowick: Friar Lodowick is the disguise name of the Duke.

Themes:

·        Mercy versus Justice

·        Hypocrisy

·        Liberty

·        Marriage and Social Order