Measure for Measure

The darkest of the problem plays, Measure for Measure places the conflict between law and mercy at its center, as the hypocritical deputy Angelo condemns Claudio to death for fornication — then offers to pardon him only if Claudio's sister Isabella will sleep with him.

At a Glance

Dramatis Personæ

Character Description
VINCENTIO, DUKE OF VIENNA Abdicates authority; returns in disguise as a friar to observe
ESCALUS Wise, moderate lord; Angelo's fellow commissioner
PROVOST Merciful jailer; refuses to execute Barnardine
ELBOW Simple constable; malapropisms
ABHORSON Executioner
A JUSTICE
VARRIUS Gentleman; servant to the Duke
ANGELO Deputy; rigidly legalistic; hypocritical; the play's antagonist
MARIANA Abandoned by Angelo (dowry lost at sea); participates in bed-trick
ISABELLA Claudio's sister; novice nun; chaste; eloquent; refuses Angelo
FRANCISCA A nun
CLAUDIO Young gentleman; condemned for fornication with Juliet (his betrothed)
JULIET Betrothed to Claudio; pregnant
LUCIO A "fantastic"; friend to Claudio; comic; slanders the Duke
TWO GENTLEMEN Claudio's friends
FRIAR THOMAS The Duke's cover for his disguise
FRIAR PETER Assists in the unmasking
MISTRESS OVERDONE A bawd; her brothel to be closed
POMPEY Her servant; tapster; philosophical
FROTH A foolish gentleman
BARNARDINE A dissolute prisoner; refuses to be executed
BOY A singer

Plot Summary

Act I: Duke Vincentio, claiming to leave for Poland, secretly deputizes Angelo to enforce the neglected laws of Vienna — including a law against fornication that carries the death penalty. Claudio is arrested for getting Juliet pregnant (they are secretly betrothed but the marriage not formalized). His friend Lucio asks his sister Isabella, a novice nun, to plead for him.

Act II: Isabella pleads eloquently for mercy. Angelo, his rigid virtue punctured by Isabella's beauty, offers to pardon Claudio if she sleeps with him. Isabella refuses and will tell Claudio. Escalus reluctantly sentences Pompey to prison; interviews Elbow and Froth comically. Angelo insists on Claudio's execution.

Act III: In prison, the Duke (disguised as Friar Lodowick) counsels Claudio to embrace death. Isabella tells Claudio of Angelo's offer; Claudio at first accepts his fate, then — desperately — begs his sister to save him by agreeing. Isabella is furious. The Duke reveals his identity to Isabella and devises the bed-trick: Mariana (Angelo's abandoned fiancée) will take Isabella's place.

Act IV: The bed-trick is executed. Angelo, treacherously, still orders Claudio's execution. The Provost, at the Duke's urging, substitutes the head of a prisoner (Ragozine, who has conveniently died of fever) for Claudio's. Barnardine, another prisoner, refuses to be executed. The Duke prepares his return to public life.

Act V: The Duke reveals himself. Angelo is tried; he confesses everything and asks for death. Mariana and Isabella both plead for his life. The Duke sentences Angelo to marry Mariana first, then be executed. The Duke reveals that Claudio is alive. Angelo is pardoned. The Duke proposes to Isabella — without waiting for her answer, the play ends.

Key Themes

Notable Quotations

"O, it is excellent / To have a giant's strength, but it is tyrannous / To use it like a giant." *(Isabella, II.ii)*

"The quality of mercy is not strained..." is Portia's; here: "How would you be / If He, which is the top of judgment, should / But judge you as you are?" *(Isabella, II.ii)*

"Be absolute for death." *(Duke to Claudio, III.i)*

"Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall." *(Escalus, II.i)*

LibriVox Recording

Measure for Measure audiobook on LibriVox — Free public domain recording.

Cross-references