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Unequal Measure

As T.F. Wharton discusses in his book Measure for Measure, Shakespeare’s play by the

same name is to be seen as a moral eperiment drama, a cate!ory populari"ed durin! the

#acobean period. $n this type o% play, the main character or characters, presumably speci%ically

the &uke in Measure for Measure, 'seek to %ind out i% innocence is a reality or a %raud( and so, in

actual moral eperiments, they de)ise *ays to test their o*n innocence and that o% others+ -/.

Follo*in! in this )ein o% thou!ht, the concludin! scene o% the play should there%ore be eamined

*ith a primary %ocus on the &uke’s actions. A%ter his theatrical return to the dukedom, the &uke

 passes %our key rulin!s0 he %orces An!elo to marry Mariana, he %orces ucio to marry a

 prostitute, he %orces $sabella to marry himsel%, and he pardons 2laudio. 2edric Watts, in outlinin!

a 2hristian parable readin! o% the play, su!!ests '3The &uke3s sense o% human responsibility is

deli!ht%ul throu!hout0 he is like a kindly %ather, and the rest are his children3( he is 3automatically

comparable *ith &i)inity3 114/.' 5et, curiously his %our rulin!s, thou!h perhaps satis%actory to

the audience on some emotional le)el, do not sho* a %ather6like or an illuminated leader.

The &uke sho*s his belie%, %ollo*in! the traditional lo!ic o% a traditional patriarchal

society, that *omen are subser)ient to men in his public echan!e *ith Mariana0

&uke0 What, are you marry’d7

Mari0 8o, my lord.

&uke0 Are you a maid7

Mari0 8o, my lord.

&uke0 A *ido*, then7

Mari0 8either, my lord.

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&uke0 Why, you are nothin! then: ;.i.14<614/

This short dialo!ue sho*s that *omen in this society are de%ined in lar!e part by their

relationship to a man. From this male centered )ie* o% the *orld, it becomes di%%icult to %ollo*

the &uke’s lo!ic %or %orcin! An!elo to marry Mariana. The man, the important one in this

relationship, is un*illin! and thus Mariana’s =side+ o% the equation, in *hich her emotional lost

do*ry story is lo!ically placed, is irrele)ant. An!elo is %ree, under the morals o% the society, to

re>ect a *oman as he pleases. ?y %orcin! the marria!e, ho*e)er, the &uke is clearly *orkin!

a!ainst the norm he himsel% pro>ects by, in a sense, takin! the *oman’s side. The marria!e

clearly only bene%its Mariana, %or it is hard to phantom she *ould %ind a husband, *ithout a

do*ry to her name, other*ise.

$n stark contrast to his aid to Mariana, the &uke publically %orces $sabella to marry him.

@rior to her dealin!s *ith An!elo and the &uke, she *as plannin! on enterin! a li%e o% celibacy

in the sisterhood. At no point durin! the play do *e see a chan!e in her attitude to*ard marria!e

  no epression o% a desire to abandon her ori!inal plan. Furthermore, all o% $sabella’s encounters

*ith the &uke prior to his proposal ha)e been at times *hen he *as dis!uised as a %riar, lea)in!

her *ithout any eperience *ith the =true+ man on *hich to base an opinion.

2ombined, the t*o marria!es sho* the &uke to be inconsistent in his rulin!s. Mariana

 bene%its in the %irst and he in the second. 8either !ender is sho*n a pre%erence. B)en >ud!in! the

characters simply as !ood or bad does not pro)ide a pattern. Mariana, thou!h not necessarily

 bad, really cannot be classi%ied as !ood either. ?ecause she plays such a minor role, there is little

tetual e)idence, aside %rom the %act that she *as *illin! to help $sabella, %rom *hich she hersel% 

also !reatly bene%ited, on *hich to base an opinion. This inconsistence su!!ests the &uke is not

utili"in! any o)er archin! moral !uide in his decision makin!.

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The third %orced proposal, ucio and his prostitute, *hen compared to 2laudio’s pardon,

eposes yet a third pu""lin! part to the conclusion. ?oth men committed, %rom a purely physical

stand point, the same act( they premarital impre!nated a *oman. The &uke, at the be!innin! o%

the play, eplains to Friar Thomas that the reason he trans%erred po*er to An!elo *as because

=*e ha)e strict statutes, and most bitin! D la*s: D *hich %or these nineteen years *e ha)e let

sleep( D B)en like an o’er!ro*n lion in a ca)e, D that !oes out not to prey:+ $.i).C<96C</.

An!elo’s dealin!s *ith Madam E)erdone, @ompey, and 2laudio, su!!est the &uke *as talkin!

about the need to clean up se in his dukedom. There%ore, *hy should one man be punished %or

his actions, %or surely marryin! a prostitute is >ust that, *hile the other is pardoned %rom his

 punishment7 The &uke has only >ust =returned+ but he is already actin! in the manor his trip *as

desi!ned to eradicate, but only *ith ucio, and only as %ar as to say a punishment *as !i)en. The

la* o% the land, the audience is to presume %rom the pre)ious scenes, states ucio should die.

Fittin! all o% the mismatched pieces o% the conclusion to!ether ultimately requires a

departure %rom a moral ob>ecti)ism, a )ie* su!!ested by the title o% the play. $nstead, e)erythin!

comes to!ether is only the &uke, rather than balance, is placed at the center. e in)ol)es

Mariana in order to assure $sabella remains %ree %rom An!elo’s !rasp. 2laudio must be pardoned

in order to appease the &uke’s ne* %iancG. And lastly, ucio, thou!h unintentional, insulted the

&uke to his %ace, somethin! the ruler’s pride could not let !o unpunished. Bllis6Fermor su!!ests

that in reality =there is no character Hin the playI *ho is not suspect, and those *hose claims to

!oodness or decency seem most )i!orous are precisely those in *hom meanness, sel%6re!ard, and

hypocrisy root deepest+ Schan"er 9/. While this statement is a bit more broadly condemnin!

than this essay is su!!estin!, its criticism is certainly rele)ant to the &uke. From this cynical

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)ie*, the epression =measure %or measure+ becomes little more than ton!ue and cheek, %or

moral balance cannot eist in such a society !o)erned by sel%ishness.

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Works 2ited

Schan"er, Brnest. The problem plays of Shakespeare: a study of Julius Caesar, Measure for measure,

 Antony and Cleopatra. ondon0 Koutled!e, 9<<-. @rint.

Shakspere, William. Measure for Measure. @rint.

Watts, 2edric Thomas. William Shakespeare, Measure for measure. armonds*orth0 @en!uin, 14L.

@rint.

Wharton, T. F. Measure for measure. ?asin!stoke0 Macmillan Bducation, 14L4. @rint.