ACT 2 SCENE 2
Lines 1-191: The Provost waits to speak with Angelo, musing on the harsh nature of Claudio's punishment. He asks Angelo to reconsider, but Angelo tells him to do his "office" or lose his job. The Provost wishes to know what to do with "the groaning Juliet," who is "very near her hour," one of an increasing number of references to the progression of time which create tension. Angelo commands that Juliet be taken to "some more fitter place." Lucio and Isabella are shown in. Conflict is evident in Isabella's character as she acknowledges that she abhors Claudio's crime, but must plead on his behalf, describing herself "At war 'twixt will and will not," one of many phrases that reinforce the idea of balance raised by the play's title. Angelo refuses to change his mind and Lucio says that Isabella is "too cold," urging her to kneel and "hang upon his gown."
The power of Isabella's eloquence is shown in an exchange that highlights the complexities of law and power and establishes the difference between human and divine justice. She asks Angelo what would happen if God were to judge as he does, but he remains unmoved. Urged by Lucio, Isabella continues to argue her point. Aside, Angelo ambiguously acknowledges to himself that Isabella speaks "such sense / That my sense breeds with it," showing awareness of her reason, but also his stirring sexual attraction to her. He is about to leave when Isabella offers him a bribe: she will pray for his soul. Angelo gives no direct response, but tells her to return tomorrow "any time 'fore noon."
Lines 192-217: Angelo's soliloquy reveals his sexual attraction to Isabella. This seems to stem from her virtue: he desires her "foully for those things / That make her good." His internal struggle is evident as he experiences the emotions that he judges harshly in others.
ACT 2 SCENE 3
The duke, now disguised as a Friar, claims that he has come to minister to the prisoners. The Provost points out Juliet and the duke/ "Friar" asks her if she repents, which she does. He argues that her sin was "heavier" than Claudio's, showing that society places more moral weight on the sexual purity of women than men. He tells her that he is going to see Claudio, informing her of his imminent execution. Juliet is in despair.
ACT 2 SCENE 4
Alone, Angelo considers his feelings, and dwells on the difference between speech, thought, and action: while he gives "empty words" to heaven, his thought "Anchors on Isabel." A servant announces Isabella and Angelo struggles to control his feelings. She tells him that she has come to know his "pleasure," a word that he freely misinterprets. Angelo says that Claudio will die, but ambiguously adds that it may be that he will "live awhile." Isabella is confused. Angelo puts a question to her: would she commit a sin to save her brother's life? Isabella misunderstands him, taking the "sin" in question to mean that of pleading for Claudio and his being forgiven. Frustrated, Angelo asks directly whether she would "lay down the treasures of [her] body" to save Claudio. Isabella declares that she would rather die than give her body "up to shame." Angelo tells her that he loves her and that Claudio's life will be spared if she will have sex with him. Disgusted, Isabella accuses him of hypocrisy and threatens to "tell the world aloud." He replies that no one will believe her because of his "unsoiled name" and, giving her until the next day to answer him, leaves. Alone, Isabella realizes that he is right: no one would believe her. She goes to tell Claudio, confident that her brother's "mind of honour" means that he would rather die "Before his sister should her body stoop / To such abhorred pollution."
ACT 3 SCENE 1
Lines 1-55: The duke, still disguised as a Friar, visits Claudio in prison and counsels him to prepare to die, arguing that death is better than life, which is full of difficulty and pain. Claudio thanks him and claims that he is ready to die. Isabella arrives and asks to see Claudio. The duke hides to overhear their conversation.
Lines 56-188: Isabella tells Claudio that he must die. He asks if there is "no remedy," and she explains that the only alternative will "fetter" him until his death. Claudio believes that she means life imprisonment, emphasizing his focus on the physical/bodily aspects of existence, in contrast to Isabella's concerns with the soul. He is further confused when she explains that she means a life imprisonment outside of jail. When Claudio demands to know what she means, Isabella is afraid to tell him, suggesting that she is not as confident in her brother as she was at the end of the previous scene. He assures her that he is not afraid of death, and she explains that the "outward-sainted deputy," Angelo, will grant Claudio's freedom in exchange for her virginity. Claudio says that she "shalt not do't," and Isabella is relieved. Claudio comments on Angelo's hypocrisy, but then tells Isabella that he is afraid to die, "To lie in cold obstruction and to rot," again emphasizing his concerns with the body rather than the soul. He asks her to agree to Angelo's demands, arguing that the sin would become a virtue because she would be saving his life. Angry and disgusted, Isabella says that it is best that he should die. The duke interrupts and asks to speak to Isabella privately. She goes aside, and the duke speaks quickly to Claudio, telling him that he overheard their conversation. Pretending that he is Angelo's confessor, he says that Angelo was only testing Isabella and that Claudio will die anyway. Claudio goes to ask Isabella's pardon.
Lines 189-275: Isabella speaks to the duke, believing him to be a Friar, and says that she would rather that her brother died than she have an illegitimate child by Angelo. The duke claims to have a solution that will both save Claudio and Isabella's virtue, and also help "a poor wronged lady." He tells Isabella about Mariana, who was betrothed to Angelo, but between the "time of the contract and limit of the solemnity" her brother died in a shipwreck, and her dowry was lost with him. Angelo then rejected Mariana without a dowry, pretending that he had discovered she was unfaithful. This revelation reinforces issues concerning human "worth," but also raises further questions about the duke's motivations: if he has known this all along, then he knows that the popular image of Angelo is untrue and his appointment of Angelo as deputy is difficult to understand. The duke suggests that Isabella agree to Angelo's demands, but asks that their meeting take place in "shadow and silence" so that Mariana, who still loves Angelo, can take her place. Isabella agrees.
Lines 276-352: Elbow brings in Pompey, who sees Lucio and hopes he will pay his bail. The duke is disgusted by their bawdy conversation, which creates a comic contrast to the scene so far. Lucio refuses to pay, and Pompey is led away to prison.
Lines 353-441: Lucio, unaware of the disguise, asks the "Friar" if he has any news of the duke. Dramatic irony is sustained as Lucio criticizes the duke for leaving and putting Angelo in charge. He suggests that Angelo could be more lenient toward "lechery," and says that the duke would have been more sympathetic, as he enjoyed "the sport" himself. Lucio slanders the duke as drunk and lecherous. The duke, in disguise, can do nothing, but threatens to report Lucio when the duke "returns."
Lines 442-532: Escalus and the Provost escort Mistress Overdone to prison for running a brothel. She claims that Lucio has informed on her and reveals that he has a child by a woman he promised to marry, but didn't. Escalus tells the Provost that Angelo will not change his mind about Claudio, who is to die the next day. The duke's soliloquy reveals his anger with Angelo, who "weeds" the vice in the city but lets his own grow.
ACT 4 SCENE 1
A Boy sings a melancholy song to Mariana, but she dismisses him when the duke/"Friar" arrives. As Isabella approaches, the duke asks Mariana to leave them for a while. Isabella says that Angelo has given her two keys and instructions to meet in a garden that night. In turn, she has told Angelo that they must remain in the dark and that she can only stay a short while. The duke calls Mariana and tells Isabella to explain matters to her. They return after a short while and Mariana agrees to the plan if the duke advises it. He states that Angelo is Mariana's "husband on a pre-contract" and therefore it can be no sin for her to have sex with him, an argument which seems to contradict the law under which Angelo has imprisoned Claudio, raising a subtle distinction between "crime" and "sin."
r /> ACT 4 SCENE 2
The Provost asks Pompey to act as executioner's assistant, creating an unusual juxtaposition of comedy and tragedy. Claudio and Barnardine, another prisoner, are called, but Claudio arrives alone and explains that Barnardine is asleep. The Provost shows him the warrant for his execution and tells him to go and prepare himself. The duke arrives, still in disguise, and asks if anyone has come with a pardon for Claudio, knowing that Mariana has kept Isabella's half of the bargain with Angelo. A Messenger comes, but instead of a pardon, Angelo has sent instructions that Claudio is to be executed by four o'clock and his head delivered to Angelo by five. Realizing that Angelo has not kept his word, the duke improvises an alternative plan. He asks about Barnardine, and, learning that he is a drunkard who "apprehends death no more dreadfully but as a drunken sleep," suggests that they execute him early and send his head to Angelo in place of Claudio's, another exchange of identities. The Provost is unsure until shown a letter with the duke's seal on it and is assured that he is acting on the duke's behalf.
ACT 4 SCENE 3
Dark humor is generated as Barnardine refuses to be executed, arguing that he has been drinking all night and needs more time to prepare himself. The Provost suggests an alternative: they can send the head of yet another prisoner, the pirate Ragozine, who has died of natural causes. Once alone, the duke reveals his intention to write to Angelo, telling him he will soon be returning and that he intends to enter the city "publicly." Isabella arrives, wanting to hear whether Angelo's pardon for Claudio has arrived. The duke decides to tell her that Claudio has been executed, although once again his motives are unclear. He tells her that "The duke comes home tomorrow" and that Angelo and Escalus are to meet him at the gates. Explaining that he cannot be there himself, he sends Isabella with a letter to Friar Peter, who will accompany Isabella and Mariana to accuse Angelo in front of the duke. Lucio enters, expressing sympathy for Isabella and criticizing the duke, unaware that he is speaking to him.
ACT 4 SCENE 4
Angelo and Escalus discuss the duke's instructions and make arrangements to meet him at the gate with various people of importance from the city. They also reveal that he has told them to proclaim "that if any crave redress of injustice, they should exhibit their petitions in the street." This emphasizes that the duke's return will be public, unlike the other events of the play. Angelo's soliloquy reveals that he is relying on Isabella's "tender shame" to prevent her speaking out and says that he executed Claudio out of fear that he would have revenged his sister.
ACT 4 SCENE 5
The duke, no longer disguised, makes arrangements with Friar Peter.
ACT 4 SCENE 6
Isabella is nervous, but Mariana tells her that she must obey the "Friar," who has said that she must continue the pretense that Angelo has taken her virginity. Friar Peter arrives to take them to meet the duke.
ACT 5 SCENE 1
In keeping with generic expectations of a comedy, the various deceptions and misunderstandings are made public and rectified, although this is not straightforward: the duke deliberately delays the revelation of certain facts and, even when order is restored, several questions remain unanswered.
Lines 1-187: The duke greets Angelo and Escalus as Friar Peter leads in Isabella. She kneels before the duke and asks him for "justice, justice, justice, justice!" Angelo claims that Isabella is unstable due to the execution of her brother, but she accuses him of being "an adulterous thief, / An hypocrite" and "a virgin-violator." She urges the duke to "make the truth appear where it seems hid" and explains Angelo's offense against her, assisted (unasked) by Lucio, who continues to interrupt throughout the scene, often to comic effect. The duke pretends not to believe Isabella and, when she starts to leave, has her arrested for slandering Angelo. He claims that it must be a plot and asks Isabella who knew of her intentions, and she tells him about "Friar Lodowick" (the duke's assumed identity). Lucio interrupts, saying that he met "Friar Lodowick" and that he slandered the duke, but Friar Peter says that this is not true and neither are Isabella's claims against Angelo. Isabella is led away and the duke asks Angelo to be the "judge / Of [his] own cause."
Lines 188-302: Mariana enters, veiled. The duke asks her to show her face but she refuses to do so until her husband bids her. The duke asks whether she is married, a "maid," or a widow, but she denies all three, and he responds, "Why, you are nothing then," emphasizing the value/status of women in a society in which their position is determined entirely in relation to men. Mariana claims that Angelo is her husband and that he has "known" her body, even though he thinks that he has not. Angelo asks to see her face and she unveils herself, a visual representation of the revelations in this scene. Mariana tells Angelo that it was she, not Isabella, he had sex with. Angelo confesses he knows Mariana and explains their broken engagement, but claims that she and Isabella are mad and merely "instruments" in someone else's plan. He asks to be allowed to "find this practice out," and the duke agrees. The Provost is sent to find "Friar Lodowick" and the duke explains that he must leave for a while. Escalus asks Lucio about "Lodowick" and Lucio repeats his claim that he slandered the duke. Escalus asks him to remain until "Lodowick" is brought before them and calls for Isabella.
Lines 303-406: The duke returns, disguised as a Friar again, claiming that he is an outsider and has watched "corruption boil and bubble" in Vienna. Angelo questions Lucio about the "Friar" and Lucio claims that he slandered the duke. Escalus commands that the "Friar" be taken to prison but, as the Provost seizes him, Lucio pulls the duke's hood off only to reveal his true identity. The duke has Lucio arrested and takes Angelo's seat, emphasizing his return to power. Angelo confesses his crime and asks to be sentenced to death, but the duke sends him away to be married at once to Mariana.
Lines 407-518: The duke apologizes to Isabella for Claudio's death, saying that he could not reveal his identity before, and that Claudio died sooner than he expected. Angelo and Mariana are brought back in, married. The duke orders that Angelo should be executed as Claudio was: "Like doth quit like, and measure still for measure." Mariana protests and asks Isabella to join her in pleading for Angelo's life, and, despite the duke reminding her that Angelo should pay for Claudio's death, she agrees. Isabella argues that Angelo's intentions were sincere until he met her. The duke refuses to listen, then turns to the Provost and asks why Claudio was beheaded at an "unusual hour" and fires him for acting without a special warrant from himself. The Provost argues that he thought it was wrong, and kept Barnardine alive "For testimony whereof." The duke summons Barnardine.
Lines 519-580: Barnardine is brought in, along with Juliet and Claudio, whose face is hidden. The duke pardons Barnardine and the Provost reveals that the muffled man is Claudio. The duke pardons him as well and asks Isabella to marry him, apparently forgetting her intention to become a nun. He pardons Angelo and punishes Lucio by ordering him to marry the woman that he made pregnant, despite Lucio's protests that she is a "whore." However, the text gives no clues as to the various characters' responses to the duke; in particular, Isabella's answer to his proposal. Despite the "tidy" resolution, therefore, the end of the play creates a problematic tension between the generic requirements of comedy and the dark events that have occurred.
MEASURE FOR MEASURE
IN PERFORMANCE:
THE RSC AND BEYOND
The best way to understand a Shakespeare play is to see it or ideally to participate in it. By examining a range of productions, we may gain a sense of the extraordinary variety of approaches and interpretations that are possible--a variety that gives Shakespeare his unique capacity to be reinvented and made "our contemporary" four centuries after his death.
We begin with a brief overview of the play's theatrical and cinematic life, offering historical perspectives on how it has been performed. We then analyze in more detail a series of productions staged over the last half-century by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The sense of dialogue between productions that can only occur when a com
pany is dedicated to the revival and investigation of the Shakespeare canon over a long period, together with the uniquely comprehensive archival resource of promptbooks, program notes, reviews, and interviews held on behalf of the RSC at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, allows an "RSC stage history" to become a crucible in which the chemistry of the play can be explored.
Finally, we go to the horse's mouth. Directors and actors know the plays from the inside: we interview the director of a distinguished RSC production and actors who have played the parts of Isabella and the duke to high acclaim.
FOUR CENTURIES OF MEASURE FOR MEASURE:
AN OVERVIEW
Measure for Measure has enjoyed a patchy stage history since its first recorded performance at Whitehall before James I on St. Stephen's night (December 26) 1604. Based on internal evidence, the play is thought to have been written earlier that same year and was most likely performed by the King's Men, the acting company with which Shakespeare was associated, at the Globe playhouse. There are no further records of its performance before the closure of the theaters in 1642 and their reopening in 1660.
The Restoration period introduced moving scenery and women onto the stage. Many of Shakespeare's plays were revived, having been "improved" in various ways. Restoration productions of Measure were heavily adapted in order to eliminate those elements considered indecorous--the low-life scenes and the emphasis on sex--in order to produce a play in keeping with contemporary sensibilities. William Davenant's adaptation, The Law Against Lovers, performed by the Duke of York's Servants at Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1662, incorporates Beatrice and Benedick from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Benedick becomes Angelo's younger brother and leads an insurrection against the prison to free Claudio. Beatrice is a wealthy heiress, sister to Juliet, and Angelo's ward. Mariana is eliminated, but there is a younger third sister, Viola, who dances a sarabande (passionate dance) with castanets, a performance much enjoyed by Samuel Pepys.1 Angelo, disgusted by the low morals of women in his society, claims to have been merely testing Isabella, whom he finally marries. Benedick marries Beatrice, and the duke, most likely played by Thomas Betterton, the leading actor of the period, retires to a monastery. Despite its muddle and eccentricity, Davenant's adaptation does resolve in its own way some of the issues that have troubled later critics. It recognizes that there is a problem in the union of the duke and Isabella, that the "bed trick" is a sleazy device, and that Angelo and Isabella seem temperamentally suited.