Provost (Measure for Measure)

Play

Measure for Measure

Summary

The prison official responsible for carrying out Angelo's death warrants who proves to be the play's most quietly humane figure. He is troubled by the injustice of Claudio's sentence and, once he recognizes the disguised Duke's true identity, becomes his willing instrument — substituting a dead pirate's head for Claudio's and thus preserving the young man's life.

Notable Quotations

"It is a bitter deputy." *(III.ii)*

Cross-references

• Measure for Measure — the play
• Comedies
• character_duke_vincentio — the Duke in disguise whom he assists
• character_claudio_mm — the prisoner he protects
• character_angelo_mm — the deputy whose harsh orders he must execute