Act 2, Scene 2 — Measure for Measure

The argument Isabella pleads for Claudio's life before Angelo; her eloquence — coached by Lucio — slowly cracks Angelo's composure until, alone after her departure, he confesses in soliloquy that he desires her.

Enter Provost and a Servant.

SERVANT ≋ verse

He’s hearing of a cause. He will come straight.

I’ll tell him of you.

He’s hearing of a cause. He will come straight. I’ll tell him of you.

PROVOST

Pray you do.

[_Exit Servant._]

I’ll know

His pleasure, may be he will relent. Alas,

He hath but as offended in a dream;

All sects, all ages, smack of this vice, and he

To die for ’t!

Enter Angelo.

ANGELO

Now, what’s the matter, Provost?

PROVOST

Is it your will Claudio shall die tomorrow?

ANGELO ≋ verse

Did not I tell thee yea? Hadst thou not order?

Why dost thou ask again?

Did not I tell thee yea? Hadst thou not order? Why dost thou ask again?

PROVOST ≋ verse

Lest I might be too rash.

Under your good correction, I have seen

When, after execution, judgement hath

Repented o’er his doom.

Lest I might be too rash. Under your good correction, I have seen When, after execution, judgement hath Repented o’er his doom.

Lest I might be too rash. Under your good correction, I have seen When, after ex

ANGELO ≋ verse

Go to; let that be mine.

Do you your office, or give up your place,

And you shall well be spared.

Go to; let that be mine. Do you your office, or give up your place, And you shall well be spared.

Go to; let that be mine. Do you your office, or give up your place, And you shal

PROVOST ≋ verse

I crave your honour’s pardon.

What shall be done, sir, with the groaning Juliet?

She’s very near her hour.

I crave your honour’s pardon. What shall be done, sir, with the groaning Juliet? She’s very near her hour.

I crave your honour’s pardon. What shall be done, sir, with the groaning Juliet?

ANGELO ≋ verse

Dispose of her

To some more fitter place; and that with speed.

Dispose of her To some more fitter place; and that with speed.

Enter Servant.

SERVANT ≋ verse

Here is the sister of the man condemned

Desires access to you.

Here is the sister of the man condemned Desires access to you.

ANGELO

Hath he a sister?

PROVOST ≋ verse

Ay, my good lord, a very virtuous maid,

And to be shortly of a sisterhood,

If not already.

Ay, my good lord, a very virtuous maid, And to be shortly of a sisterhood, If not already.

Ay, my good lord, a very virtuous maid, And to be shortly of a sisterhood, If no

ANGELO

Well, let her be admitted.

[_Exit Servant._]

See you the fornicatress be removed;

Let her have needful but not lavish means;

There shall be order for it.

Enter Lucio and Isabella.

[_Offering to retire_.] Save your honour!

ANGELO

Stay a little while. [_To Isabella_.] You are welcome. What’s your

will?

Stay a little while. [_To Isabella_.] You are welcome. What’s your will?

ISABELLA ≋ verse

I am a woeful suitor to your honour,

Please but your honour hear me.

I am a woeful suitor to your honour, Please but your honour hear me.

ANGELO

Well, what’s your suit?

ISABELLA ≋ verse

There is a vice that most I do abhor,

And most desire should meet the blow of justice;

For which I would not plead, but that I must;

For which I must not plead, but that I am

At war ’twixt will and will not.

There is a vice that most I do abhor, And most desire should meet the blow of justice; For which I would not plead, but that I must; For which I must not plead, but that I am At war ’twixt will and will not.

There is a vice that most I do abhor, And most desire should meet the blow of ju

Why it matters Isabella opens by admitting she agrees with the law she's asking Angelo to waive — making her case purely on mercy, with nothing held back. It's disarming and dangerous.

ANGELO

Well, the matter?

ISABELLA ≋ verse

I have a brother is condemned to die;

I do beseech you, let it be his fault,

And not my brother.

I have a brother is condemned to die; I do beseech you, let it be his fault, And not my brother.

I have a brother is condemned to die; I do beseech you, let it be his fault, And

PROVOST

Heaven give thee moving graces.

ANGELO ≋ verse

Condemn the fault, and not the actor of it?

Why, every fault’s condemned ere it be done.

Mine were the very cipher of a function

To find the faults whose fine stands in record,

And let go by the actor.

Condemn the fault, and not the actor of it? Why, every fault’s condemned ere it be done. Mine were the very cipher of a function To find the faults whose fine stands in record, And let go by the actor.

Condemn the fault, and not the actor of it? Why, every fault’s condemned ere it

ISABELLA ≋ verse

O just but severe law!

I had a brother, then. Heaven keep your honour!

O just but severe law! I had a brother, then. Heaven keep your honour!

[_Going._]

[_To Isabella_.] Give’t not o’er so. To him again, entreat him,

LUCIO ≋ verse

Kneel down before him, hang upon his gown;

You are too cold. If you should need a pin,

You could not with more tame a tongue desire it.

To him, I say.

Kneel down before him, hang upon his gown; You are too cold. If you should need a pin, You could not with more tame a tongue desire it. To him, I say.

Kneel down before him, hang upon his gown; You are too cold. If you should need

ISABELLA

Must he needs die?

ANGELO

Maiden, no remedy.

ISABELLA ≋ verse

Yes, I do think that you might pardon him,

And neither heaven nor man grieve at the mercy.

Yes, I do think that you might pardon him, And neither heaven nor man grieve at the mercy.

Yes, I do think that you might pardon him, And neither heaven nor man grieve at

ANGELO

I will not do’t.

ISABELLA

But can you if you would?

ANGELO

Look, what I will not, that I cannot do.

"Look, what I will not, that I cannot do" A chilling formulation: Angelo equates moral unwillingness with legal incapacity. It's the logic of the absolute authority — his choice is law itself. Isabella is about to contest this directly.

ISABELLA ≋ verse

But might you do’t, and do the world no wrong,

If so your heart were touched with that remorse

As mine is to him?

But might you do’t, and do the world no wrong, If so your heart were touched with that remorse As mine is to him?

But might you do’t, and do the world no wrong, If so your heart were touched wit

ANGELO

He’s sentenced, ’tis too late.

[_To Isabella_.] You are too cold.

ISABELLA ≋ verse

Too late? Why, no. I that do speak a word

May call it back again. Well, believe this:

No ceremony that to great ones longs,

Not the king’s crown, nor the deputed sword,

The marshal’s truncheon, nor the judge’s robe,

Become them with one half so good a grace

As mercy does.

If he had been as you, and you as he,

You would have slipped like him, but he like you

Would not have been so stern.

Too late? Why, no. I that do speak a word May call it back again. Well, believe this: No ceremony that to great ones longs, Not the king’s crown, nor the deputed sword, The marshal’s truncheon, nor the judge’s robe, Become them with one half so good a grace As mercy does. If he had been as you, and you as he, You would have slipped like him, but he like you Would not have been so stern.

Too late? Why, no. I that do speak a word May call it back again. Well, believe

"No ceremony that to great ones longs" 'Longs' = belongs. The argument: mercy is the true ornament of power — it becomes authority more than any symbol of force.

Why it matters This is where Isabella's rhetoric shifts from petition to argument — and where she finds the vein that will unsettle Angelo. The mercy speech is the scene's first genuine turning point.

ANGELO

Pray you be gone.

ISABELLA ≋ verse

I would to heaven I had your potency,

And you were Isabel! Should it then be thus?

No; I would tell what ’twere to be a judge

And what a prisoner.

I would to heaven I had your potency, And you were Isabel! Should it then be thus? No; I would tell what ’twere to be a judge And what a prisoner.

I would to heaven I had your potency, And you were Isabel! Should it then be thu

[_Aside_.] Ay, touch him; there’s the vein.

ANGELO ≋ verse

Your brother is a forfeit of the law,

And you but waste your words.

Your brother is a forfeit of the law, And you but waste your words.

ISABELLA ≋ verse

Alas, alas!

Why, all the souls that were were forfeit once,

And He that might the vantage best have took

Found out the remedy. How would you be

If He, which is the top of judgement, should

But judge you as you are? O, think on that,

And mercy then will breathe within your lips,

Like man new made.

Alas, alas! Why, all the souls that were were forfeit once, And He that might the vantage best have took Found out the remedy. How would you be If He, which is the top of judgement, should But judge you as you are? O, think on that, And mercy then will breathe within your lips, Like man new made.

Alas, alas! Why, all the souls that were were forfeit once, And He that might th

"He that might the vantage best have took / Found out the remedy" The Christian doctrine of Grace: God, who had the most justification to condemn humanity, chose redemption instead. Isabella is applying theological logic — if God doesn't exact the full legal penalty, Angelo has no divine mandate to.

"Like man new made" As if freshly created — innocent, before sin. Isabella is imagining Angelo capable of mercy the way Adam was before the fall. The image is both beautiful and deeply ironic given what's happening to Angelo.

Why it matters The 'man new made' speech is Isabella at her full height — combining legal, moral, and theological arguments in a single sustained flight. It's the most sophisticated case for mercy in all of Shakespeare.

ANGELO ≋ verse

Be you content, fair maid.

It is the law, not I, condemns your brother.

Were he my kinsman, brother, or my son,

It should be thus with him. He must die tomorrow.

Be you content, fair maid. It is the law, not I, condemns your brother. Were he my kinsman, brother, or my son, It should be thus with him. He must die tomorrow.

Be you content, fair maid. It is the law, not I, condemns your brother. Were he

ISABELLA ≋ verse

Tomorrow? O, that’s sudden! Spare him, spare him!

He’s not prepared for death. Even for our kitchens

We kill the fowl of season. Shall we serve heaven

With less respect than we do minister

To our gross selves? Good, good my lord, bethink you.

Who is it that hath died for this offence?

There’s many have committed it.

Tomorrow? O, that’s sudden! Spare him, spare him! He’s not prepared for death. Even for our kitchens We kill the fowl of season. Shall we serve heaven With less respect than we do minister To our gross selves? Good, good my lord, bethink you. Who is it that hath died for this offence? There’s many have committed it.

Tomorrow? O, that’s sudden! Spare him, spare him! He’s not prepared for death. E

"Even for our kitchens / We kill the fowl of season" The season argument: we time the killing of animals for quality — shouldn't we at least give a human soul time to prepare? The domestic image makes the theological point viscerally.

LUCIO

Ay, well said.

ANGELO ≋ verse

The law hath not been dead, though it hath slept.

Those many had not dared to do that evil

If the first that did th’ edict infringe

Had answered for his deed. Now ’tis awake,

Takes note of what is done, and, like a prophet,

Looks in a glass that shows what future evils,

Either now, or by remissness new conceived,

And so in progress to be hatched and born,

Are now to have no successive degrees,

But, where they live, to end.

The law hath not been dead, though it hath slept. Those many had not dared to do that evil If the first that did th’ edict infringe Had answered for his deed. Now ’tis awake, Takes note of what is done, and, like a prophet, Looks in a glass that shows what future evils, Either now, or by remissness new conceived, And so in progress to be hatched and born, Are now to have no successive degrees, But, where they live, to end.

The law hath not been dead, though it hath slept. Those many had not dared to do

ISABELLA

Yet show some pity.

ANGELO ≋ verse

I show it most of all when I show justice;

For then I pity those I do not know,

Which a dismissed offence would after gall,

And do him right that, answering one foul wrong,

Lives not to act another. Be satisfied;

Your brother dies tomorrow; be content.

I show it most of all when I show justice; For then I pity those I do not know, Which a dismissed offence would after gall, And do him right that, answering one foul wrong, Lives not to act another. Be satisfied; Your brother dies tomorrow; be content.

I show it most of all when I show justice; For then I pity those I do not know,

"I show it most of all when I show justice" Angelo's most dangerous argument: that rigorous enforcement IS mercy, for future potential victims. It's not entirely wrong, and that's what makes it so insidious.

ISABELLA ≋ verse

So you must be the first that gives this sentence,

And he that suffers. O, it is excellent

To have a giant’s strength; but it is tyrannous

To use it like a giant.

So you must be the first that gives this sentence, And he that suffers. O, it is excellent To have a giant’s strength; but it is tyrannous To use it like a giant.

So you must be the first that gives this sentence, And he that suffers. O, it is

LUCIO

That’s well said.

ISABELLA ≋ verse

Could great men thunder

As Jove himself does, Jove would ne’er be quiet,

For every pelting petty officer

Would use his heaven for thunder.

Nothing but thunder. Merciful Heaven,

Thou rather with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt

Splits the unwedgeable and gnarled oak,

Than the soft myrtle. But man, proud man,

Dressed in a little brief authority,

Most ignorant of what he’s most assured,

His glassy essence, like an angry ape

Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven

As makes the angels weep; who, with our spleens,

Would all themselves laugh mortal.

Could great men thunder As Jove himself does, Jove would ne’er be quiet, For every pelting petty officer Would use his heaven for thunder. Nothing but thunder. Merciful Heaven, Thou rather with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt Splits the unwedgeable and gnarled oak, Than the soft myrtle. But man, proud man, Dressed in a little brief authority, Most ignorant of what he’s most assured, His glassy essence, like an angry ape Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven As makes the angels weep; who, with our spleens, Would all themselves laugh mortal.

Could great men thunder As Jove himself does, Jove would ne’er be quiet, For eve

"Dressed in a little brief authority" One of Shakespeare's most quoted phrases — authority is simultaneously 'little' (small, limited) and 'brief' (temporary). The double diminishment is the argument: whatever power Angelo has is small and fleeting.

"like an angry ape / Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven / As makes the angels weep" The angry ape is man performing before God — the image reduces human self-importance to primate pantomime. The angels weep because it's too pathetic to be funny. This is one of the most devastating descriptions of human pride in all of Shakespeare.

"who, with our spleens / Would all themselves laugh mortal" The spleen was the seat of laughter in Elizabethan physiology. Angels don't have spleens — they can weep but not laugh. If they could laugh as humans do, they'd laugh so hard they'd die.

Why it matters The 'proud man / Dressed in a little brief authority' speech is the most famous passage in the play and one of the most quoted in Shakespeare — a philosophical demolition of institutional power in fourteen lines.

LUCIO ≋ verse

O, to him, to him, wench! He will relent;

He’s coming. I perceive ’t.

O, to him, to him, wench! He will relent; He’s coming. I perceive ’t.

PROVOST

Pray heaven she win him.

ISABELLA ≋ verse

We cannot weigh our brother with ourself.

Great men may jest with saints; ’tis wit in them,

But in the less, foul profanation.

We cannot weigh our brother with ourself. Great men may jest with saints; ’tis wit in them, But in the less, foul profanation.

We cannot weigh our brother with ourself. Great men may jest with saints; ’tis w

LUCIO

Thou’rt i’ th’ right, girl; more o’ that.

ISABELLA ≋ verse

That in the captain’s but a choleric word

Which in the soldier is flat blasphemy.

That in the captain’s but a choleric word Which in the soldier is flat blasphemy.

That in the captain’s but a choleric word Which in the soldier is flat blasphemy

LUCIO

Art advised o’ that? More on’t.

ANGELO

Why do you put these sayings upon me?

ISABELLA ≋ verse

Because authority, though it err like others,

Hath yet a kind of medicine in itself

That skins the vice o’ th’ top. Go to your bosom,

Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know

That’s like my brother’s fault. If it confess

A natural guiltiness such as is his,

Let it not sound a thought upon your tongue

Against my brother’s life.

Because authority, though it err like others, Hath yet a kind of medicine in itself That skins the vice o’ th’ top. Go to your bosom, Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know That’s like my brother’s fault. If it confess A natural guiltiness such as is his, Let it not sound a thought upon your tongue Against my brother’s life.

Because authority, though it err like others, Hath yet a kind of medicine in its

"Go to your bosom, / Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know" One of the play's most searching moments — Isabella directs Angelo inward, to his own potential guilt. She doesn't know she's telling him to examine the desire he's already feeling for her.

Why it matters Isabella's 'go to your bosom' speech is the scene's dramatic fulcrum — she accidentally tells Angelo to examine exactly the fault he's in the process of discovering in himself.

🎭 Dramatic irony Isabella tells Angelo to 'go to your bosom, knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know that's like my brother's fault' — unknowingly asking him to examine the desire for her that's already building in him.

ANGELO ≋ verse

She speaks, and ’tis such sense

That my sense breeds with it. [_Going_.]

Fare you well.

She speaks, and ’tis such sense That my sense breeds with it. [_Going_.] Fare you well.

She speaks, and ’tis such sense That my sense breeds with it. [_Going_.] Fare yo

"She speaks, and 'tis such sense / That my sense breeds with it" The pun on 'sense' is the scene's pivot: Angelo means 'what she says makes my own understanding breed' — but 'sense' also meant sensory desire. What's breeding in him isn't rational comprehension. He doesn't know it yet.

Why it matters Angelo's 'my sense breeds with it' is the moment the crack appears — and the pun on 'sense' (meaning both understanding and desire) tells the audience what Angelo himself hasn't yet named.

ISABELLA

Gentle my lord, turn back.

ANGELO

I will bethink me. Come again tomorrow.

ISABELLA

Hark how I’ll bribe you. Good my lord, turn back.

ANGELO

How? Bribe me?

ISABELLA

Ay, with such gifts that heaven shall share with you.

LUCIO

You had marred all else.

ISABELLA ≋ verse

Not with fond shekels of the tested gold,

Or stones, whose rates are either rich or poor

As fancy values them, but with true prayers,

That shall be up at heaven and enter there

Ere sunrise, prayers from preserved souls,

From fasting maids, whose minds are dedicate

To nothing temporal.

Not with fond shekels of the tested gold, Or stones, whose rates are either rich or poor As fancy values them, but with true prayers, That shall be up at heaven and enter there Ere sunrise, prayers from preserved souls, From fasting maids, whose minds are dedicate To nothing temporal.

Not with fond shekels of the tested gold, Or stones, whose rates are either rich

ANGELO

Well; come to me tomorrow.

[_Aside to Isabella_.] Go to, ’tis well; away.

ISABELLA

Heaven keep your honour safe.

🎭 Dramatic irony Isabella says 'Heaven keep your honour safe' as a sincere blessing — while Angelo is already moving toward the temptation that will destroy his honour. She's wishing him safety in the same moment she's become the source of the danger.

[_Aside_.] Amen.

ANGELO ≋ verse

For I am that way going to temptation,

Where prayers cross.

For I am that way going to temptation, Where prayers cross.

"For I am that way going to temptation, / Where prayers cross" An aside — Angelo admits to himself (and us) what's happening: he's moving toward temptation in the very moment Isabella is offering prayers for his soul. The 'crossing' of prayers suggests both prayers going in opposing directions and prayers being blocked.

ISABELLA ≋ verse

At what hour tomorrow

Shall I attend your lordship?

At what hour tomorrow Shall I attend your lordship?

ANGELO

At any time ’fore noon.

ISABELLA

Save your honour.

[_Exeunt Isabella, Lucio and Provost._]

ANGELO ≋ verse

From thee, even from thy virtue!

What’s this? What’s this? Is this her fault or mine?

The tempter or the tempted, who sins most, ha?

Not she; nor doth she tempt; but it is I

That, lying by the violet in the sun,

Do as the carrion does, not as the flower,

Corrupt with virtuous season. Can it be

That modesty may more betray our sense

Than woman’s lightness? Having waste ground enough,

Shall we desire to raze the sanctuary

And pitch our evils there? O, fie, fie, fie!

What dost thou, or what art thou, Angelo?

Dost thou desire her foully for those things

That make her good? O, let her brother live.

Thieves for their robbery have authority

When judges steal themselves. What, do I love her,

That I desire to hear her speak again

And feast upon her eyes? What is’t I dream on?

O cunning enemy, that, to catch a saint,

With saints dost bait thy hook! Most dangerous

Is that temptation that doth goad us on

To sin in loving virtue. Never could the strumpet

With all her double vigour, art, and nature,

Once stir my temper, but this virtuous maid

Subdues me quite. Ever till now

When men were fond, I smiled and wondered how.

From thee, even from thy virtue! What’s this? What’s this? Is this her fault or mine? The tempter or the tempted, who sins most, ha? Not she; nor doth she tempt; but it is I That, lying by the violet in the sun, Do as the carrion does, not as the flower, Corrupt with virtuous season. Can it be That modesty may more betray our sense Than woman’s lightness? Having waste ground enough, Shall we desire to raze the sanctuary And pitch our evils there? O, fie, fie, fie! What dost thou, or what art thou, Angelo? Dost thou desire her foully for those things That make her good? O, let her brother live. Thieves for their robbery have authority When judges steal themselves. What, do I love her, That I desire to hear her speak again And feast upon her eyes? What is’t I dream on? O cunning enemy, that, to catch a saint, With saints dost bait thy hook! Most dangerous Is that temptation that doth goad us on To sin in loving virtue. Never could the strumpet With all her double vigour, art, and nature, Once stir my temper, but this virtuous maid Subdues me quite. Ever till now When men were fond, I smiled and wondered how.

From thee, even from thy virtue! What’s this? What’s this? Is this her fault or

"That, lying by the violet in the sun, / Do as the carrion does, not as the flower" A stunning image: the same sun that nourishes the violet accelerates the rot of carrion. Isabella's virtue — which should be benign — is working on Angelo like sunlight on dead flesh. He's not corrupted by her sin; he's corrupted by her goodness.

"O cunning enemy, that, to catch a saint, / With saints dost bait thy hook" The 'cunning enemy' is the devil — Angelo is describing his temptation as a specifically diabolical trap, using holiness itself as the lure. This is theologically sophisticated: the devil baiting with virtue is more dangerous than tempting with vice.

"Never could the strumpet / With all her double vigour, art, and nature, / Once stir my temper" Angelo confesses that professional seductresses never moved him — only a chaste novice about to take holy vows. The inversion of the expected is the catastrophe.

Why it matters Angelo's closing soliloquy is one of Shakespeare's most psychologically precise portraits — a man who understands every dimension of his own corruption and cannot stop it. The final line ('When men were fond, I smiled and wondered how') captures the full scale of the fall.

[_Exit._]

The Reckoning

This is the scene the entire play was written to deliver. Isabella comes in cautious, almost apologetic — she agrees with the law she's asking Angelo to break. Angelo is a wall. And then something happens that neither of them expected: her eloquence keeps hitting him somewhere he didn't know he was vulnerable, and his attempts to end the meeting keep failing. By the time she leaves, the man who called himself immune to desire is asking what he's dreaming on. The soliloquy at the end is one of Shakespeare's most disturbing psychological portraits: a man who understands exactly what is happening to him and cannot stop it. The audience is left watching a catastrophe already in motion.

If this happened today…

A freshly appointed ethics board chair — the one hired specifically because of his unblemished reputation — has to review a case involving a university student who broke a strict code-of-conduct rule. The student's sister comes in to appeal. She's a first-year law student, nervous at first, but once she finds her footing she makes the most compelling case for proportionate mercy the chair has ever heard. And somewhere around the third time she leans forward and holds his gaze, he realizes he's stopped listening to her arguments and started listening to her voice. Afterward, alone in his office, he stares at his ethics policy binder and types her name into the faculty directory. That's 2-2.

Continue to 2.3 →