Do you usually treat others the same way that they treat you? That's the whole idea of 'measure for measure' in a nutshell. It is also the name of one of Shakespeare's problem plays. Measure for Measure is a five-act play first performed in 1604.
Measure for Measure: summary
Overview: Measure for Measure |
| Author of Measure for Measure | William Shakespeare |
| Genre | Tragedy, dark comedy |
| Literary Period | Renaissance |
| Written in | 1603-1604 |
| First performance | 1604 |
| Brief summary of Measure for Measure | - The play enters around Duke Vincentio, who hands over power to his deputy, Angelo, while secretly remaining in the city disguised as a friar.
|
| List of main characters | Duke Vincentio, Angelo, Isabella, Claudio, Lucio, Marianna |
| Form | Verse, unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| Themes | Law and justice, power, gender roles, forgiveness and mercy |
| Setting | Vienna, Austria |
| Analysis | A critique of the legal system and those in power, as well as an exploration of the complex ethical questions that arise when justice and mercy come into conflict. It is also a meditation on the nature of forgiveness and redemption, as well as an examination of the power dynamics that exist between men and women. |
Set in Vienna, Measure for Measure is about a man who is sentenced to death for immoral behaviour. The play explores the hypocrisy and corruption of the State.
The Duke of Vienna, Vincentio, wants to solve the problem of corruption in the city. He comes up with a clever plan. He pretends that he has to leave on a diplomatic mission and he appoints the strict judge Angelo to act as his deputy. Vincentio disguises himself as a priest called Friar Lodowick, and he keeps an eye on Angelo.
Claudio makes his fiancee Juliet pregnant. Angelo sentences him to death. Claudio's friend, Lucio, visits Claudio's sister, Isabella, to ask for her help. Angelo gives Isabella an ultimatum - if she loses her virginity to him, he will release Claudio. Isabella wants to become a nun and remain a virgin. She goes to talk to Claudio in prison. He asks her to sleep with Angelo for him. Isabella refuses.
Friar Lodowick (the disguised Duke Vincentio) offers her a solution. His plan involves Angelo's ex-fiancee, Mariana. Mariana and Angelo used to be engaged but he left her before the wedding because her dowry was lost. Isabella meets with Marianna who agrees to help her. Angelo sleeps with Mariana, thinking she's Isabella. However, he doesn't hold his end of the bargain and is still planning to execute Claudio.
Meanwhile, the brothels in Vienna are raided as Angelo attempts to impose a strict moral code on the citizens, while he himself doesn't care for the same. The Provost, who runs the prison, receives Angelo's order to behead Claudio. He sends Angelo the head of another prisoner who has died of fever. Angelo thinks that Claudio has been executed.
Friar Lodowick (the disguised Duke Vincentio) knows the truth but he tells Isabella that her brother is dead. He suggests that she talks to the Duke about it when he's back. When the Duke 'returns', Isabella tells him how Angelo has tricked her. The Duke pretends not to believe her. Mariana supports Isabella's story.
The Duke disguises himself as the Friar again and comes forward to confirm what the two women have said. He takes off his disguise and reveals that Friar Lodowick and Duke Vincentio are the same person.
The Duke orders Angelo and Mariana to be married immediately. Then, he sentences Angelo to death. Mariana pleads for his life. Isabella shows forgiveness and supports her. Vincentio spares Angelo's life. The Duke reveals that Claudio is alive. At the end of the play, Vincentio asks Isabella to marry him and she doesn't reply.
Measure for Measure: characters
The following characters from Measure for Measure explore the themes of morality, punishment and forgiveness.
Duke Vincentio
Duke Vincentio is the ruler of Vienna. He makes everyone believe that he has left the city. In reality, he observes them, disguised as Friar Lodowick. The Duke is a wise man who understands human nature. Thanks to him, Claudio's life is saved and Angelo is exposed. However, the Duke is also a great manipulator who gets what he wants in the end.
Angelo
Angelo is a strict judge, appointed by the Duke to serve as his deputy. Angelo is obsessed with morality and he punishes everyone whom he deems immoral. He thinks that he himself can't be tempted until he meets Isabella. Angelo knows that he shouldn't give in to his lust for her but he does it anyway. He shows no mercy to others for the crimes that he himself is guilty of.
Isabella
Isabella is a novice nun. She's Claudio's sister and wants to save his life. When Angelo gives her the ultimatum to exchange her virginity for her brother, she refuses. Her chastity is more important to her than her brother's life.
Isabella agrees with the Duke’s plan to trick Angelo to sleep with Mariana. However, in the end, she shows mercy to Angelo and saves his life. Isabella trusts Friar Lodowick only to find out that he is actually the Duke who has deceived her.
Claudio
Claudio is Isabella's brother. He is sentenced to death by Angelo because he has made his fiancee, Juliet, pregnant before their wedding. Claudio asks Isabella to lose her virginity to Angelo so that she can save his life. In the end, Claudio is released from prison and reunited with Juliet.
Lucio
Lucio is Claudio's friend. He's not ashamed of his life of debauchery. Lucio asks for Isabella's help to save Claudio. He accidentally insults the Duke when he doesn't know he's talking to him. The Duke holds a grudge against Lucio. He makes him marry the prostitute he's made pregnant.
Marianna
Marianna is Angelo's ex-fiancee. He left her when her dowry was lost but she's still in love with him. Marianna agrees to help Isabella and to sleep with Angelo, so that she could finally marry him.
Measure for Measure: genre
Measure for Measure is considered to be one of Shakespeare's problem plays.
'In Shakespearean studies, some of the ‘dark comedies’ are known as problem plays, notably Measure for Measure, All's Well that Ends Well, and Troilus and Cressida. These plays are difficult to classify because their sombre themes and cynical tones contrast oddly with their comedic elements, and the moral issues raised are not satisfactorily resolved. The term was originally applied to these plays by Frederick S. Boas (1862–1957, scholar of early modern drama).'¹
(Oxford Reference)
We can't say that Measure for Measure is only a comedy because the issues are not resolved and not all of the characters have a happy ending. Isabella finds out that she was deceived by the one person she thought she could trust - Friar Lodowick.
At the same time, the play is not a tragedy. It includes comedic elements, such as the subplot concerning Lucio and the confusion concerning the Duke's disguise. Claudio is saved in the end and Angelo is exposed. This uncertainty between the two genres makes Measure for Measure a problem play.
Measure for Measure: themes and quotes
The main themes of Measure for Measure involve the complex tensions between law and justice, and forgiveness and mercy.
Law and justice
Isabella confronts Angelo about the way in which he abuses his position of authority.
'O, it is excellent
To have a giant's strength, but it is tyrannous
To use it like a giant.'
-Isabella, Act 2, Scene 2
'Measure for measure' means that one should be treated the same as they have treated others. This is not what happens in the play. The justice system in Vienna is flawed.
Ordinary people are persecuted for immoral behaviour while the representatives of the State are not held accountable for the same sins. Claudio is sentenced to death for having sex outside of marriage. Angelo does the same but he thinks that he can get away with it.
At the end of the play, just as we think that justice is being served by Duke Vincentio, he himself turns out to be corrupt. When he asks Isabella to marry him, knowing full well that she wants to be a nun, it is revealed that he has twisted things in his favour. Just like Angelo, The Duke is less interested in justice and more interested in his own benefit.
Do you think the play is still relevant today? Some critics say that Measure for Measure exposes the kind of corruption that is still an issue in modern society.
Power, gender and sexuality
Angelo says the following quote to Isabella right after he has given her the ultimatum - her virginity for her brother's life. Angelo points out that he's in power and she has no way out because no one would believe her word against his.
'Say what you can, my false o’erweighs your true.'
- Angelo, Act 2, Scene 4
The power dynamics in the play are determined by a male-dominated society. The only power that Isabella has in her conflict with Angelo is her own values, onto which she holds. Even if she gave him her body, her mind and spirit would remain pure.
Fig. 1 - Isabella is torn between maintaining her chastity and saving her brother.
However, if the Duke hadn't come to 'save' her chastity with his plan, she would've been powerless and not in control of her own body. Mariana didn't have the power to stop Angelo from leaving her in the past. She only has the power to get him back now, because another man, Duke Vincentio, tells her how to do it.
At the end of the play, the Duke reveals his true intentions by asking Isabella to marry him. Although she doesn't reply, we can imagine that she probably doesn't have any choice in the matter. Vincentio is the most powerful man in Vienna. Isabella, whose virginity is more important to her than her brother's life, finds out that she will lose it anyway.
The ending of Measure for Measure can take on different meanings depending on the way that the last scene is staged. In some productions of the play, Isabella's silence shows that she's completely powerless. In other versions, her silence can be interpreted as power - even if the Duke marries her and has her body, her silence will ensure that he never traps her spirit.
What do you think Isabella's silence means? Does it show power or the lack of it?
Forgiveness and mercy
Isabella begs Angelo to spare Claudio's life. Isabella's view is that while sins are written in stone people can be redeemed and don't necessarily deserve to die for their mistakes.
'I sometimes do excuse the thing I hate,
For his advantage that I dearly love.'
- Isabella, Act 2, Scene 4
The play explores the religious meaning of 'measure for measure'. This phrase is taken from the New Testament of the Bible, where the old law of 'measure for measure' is challenged by the Christian value of forgiveness.
Angelo shows no mercy to anyone. He doesn't even keep his promise to Isabella to release her brother. Duke Vincentio judges his citizens for what they have done and punishes them accordingly. He represents 'measure for measure'. After everything that Angelo has put her through, Isabella forgives him and asks the Duke to spare his life. She represents mercy.
Measure for Measure - Key takeaways
- Measure for Measure is a five-act play by William Shakespeare that was first performed in 1604.
Set in Vienna, Measure for Measure is about a man who is sentenced to death for immoral behaviour. The play explores the hypocrisy and corruption of the State.
Measure for Measure is considered to be one of Shakespeare's problem plays. The play doesn't fall into the category of comedy or tragedy. The issues that it brings up are not resolved in a typical comic or tragic fashion.
The main themes in the play are: Law and justice, Power, gender and sexuality, Forgiveness and mercy.
The main characters in Measure for Measure are: Duke Vincentio, Angelo, Isabella, Claudio, Lucio, Marianna.
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¹Oxford Reference, 2022, oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100347336
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