Measure for Measure

Measure for Measure

1. Angelo's power

   • Described as "precise"/"a man of firm abstinence"
     • Link between characters - Isabella is also "wishing a more strict restraint"
       • Isabel's soliloquy, she says "live chaste, and brother, die: More than our brother is our chastity"
         • "I'll pray a thousand prayers for thy death, No word to save thee"
         • Shows importance of religion
           • Context - religion of greater importance to the audience of the day than a contemporary audience
           • Despite this, she is happy to follow the Duke's plan, and let Marianna commit a sin
             • Shows how even trustworthy characters can become corrupt when given power
               • Critic and poet Wheale - "Measure for Measure can unnerve its audience at many levels, remorselessly demonstrating that every supposedly moral choice made by characters is, in fact, a relative and compromised position, rather than an absolute ethical truth."
   • Uses it to abuse Isabella
     • "Who would believe thee, Isabella?"
       • "To whom should I complain?"
         • Angelo says "my false o'erweights your true"
   • Passes harsh sentence on Claudio
     • Does this just to show his power, makes an example of Claudio to deter future offenders
     • Escalus disagrees, stating "Let us rather cut a little/Than fall and bruise to death" (2.1)
       • Angelo replies "Tis one thing to be tempted, Escalus, another thing to fall" (2.1)
         • Foreshadowing his hypocrisy
           • "An Angelo for Claudio, death for death!"
             • "measure still for measure"
               • Link back to the title, scales of justice
           • "Let mine own judgement pattern out my death"
           • "Who sins most, the tempter or the tempted?"
           • Angelo/Angel? Ironic naming?
     • "Fellow, why dost thou show me thus to th'world?" (1.3)
       • "To lie in cold obstruction...bathe in fiery floods" (3.1)
         • Contrasting imagery shows fear of death, the unknown, and desperation

2. Duke's lack of control

   • Recognises his lack of effective leadership and hands power to Angleo
     • "we must not make a scarecrow of the law" (Angelo)
   • "the baby beats the nurse"
   • Duke regains control through use of disguise for dramatic return in Act 5
     • Relies on technique "suspension of disbelief" - comedic aspect to his disguise and Lucio's slander of him in Act 5
       • Link to being a "problem play" - neither comedy nor tragedy, aspects of both and a 'satisfactory' ending
       • Other dramatic techniques include juxtaposing serious scenes with low, bawdy humour
         • Act 1 - bawdy humour "What has he done? A woman...groping for trout in a peculiar river" contrasts with the next scene of a condemned Claudio
         • Bawdy humour through characters such as Mistress Overdone
           • Contrasts with religious character of Isabella
     • Shows how the power affects both him and Angelo - he abuses it too
       • Only Isabella's plea for Angelo to be forced to marry saves his life
       • Critic Glyn Austen describes the Duke as acting like a "puppeteer"
         • "never truly lets go of the reins of influence"
         • "The Duke deceives so constantly and so successfully that it is difficult to make a comprehensive assessment of his true character"
         • Can be neither seen as a hero or villan. "ineffective, manipulative...too flawed to qualify for heroic status"
     • Duke also abuses religious powers of his disguise as Friar Lodowick