Measure for Measure Act I Scene IV

Lucio: Assay the power you have.
Isabella: My power? Alas, I doubt.
Lucio: Our doubts are traitors,
And makes us lose the good we oft might win,
By fearing to attempt. Go to Lord Angelo;
And let him learn to know, when maidens sue,
Men give like gods, but when they weep and kneel,
All their petitions are as freely theirs
As they themselves would owe them.
Isabella: I'll see what I can do.

In this passage from Measure for Measure, Lucio has gone to the convent to ask Isabella to plead for her brother Claudio's life. What proceeds is a conversation discussing the power of women in Shakespeare and probably of the contemporary society in general. The bulk of the passage comes from Lucio, attempting to convince Isabella over her power over men quite simply because she is a woman. She begins by saying she "doubts" she has any power over someone like Angelo, to which Lucio replies that "Our doubts are traitors,/And makes us lose the good we oft might win". This speech not only speaks to Isabella's potential power over Angelo but also can be viewed as a critique of her decision to become a nun. Isabella is often viewed as the model of purity in Measure for Measure; she makes it her duty to keep herself as far from temptation as possible. Here Lucio is questioning that logic by replying that if she always doubts her own power as a woman (both sexually and her own power to resist temptation) that no good will ever come of it.
The passage also paints a universal picture of men as a gender who cannot resist the pleas of a woman. Up to this point, Lord Angelo has been portrayed as cold, calculating and emotionless. Lucio portrays this lack of emotion as ignorance: "...let him learn to know, when maidens sue/Men give like Gods, but when they weep and kneel,/All their petitions are as freely theirs/As they themselves would owe them." Here is the passage where Lucio's belief in the power of women is truly revealed and confirmed throughout the rest of the play. While still recognizing that men still have the official "power" in society by characterizing the desires of woman as "As they themselves would owe them", he claims that if she but pleads to Lord Angelo that he like any other man will "give like Gods". Lucio seems to be juxtaposing both the supposed power of men in society and their weakness in regards to women at this point. By saying they have the power to "give like Gods" he reveals that men (especially those like Lord Angelo) have an abundance of wealth and power that is their alone to designate. He then follows that by saying that if a woman truly desires any of these things all she needs to do is "weep and kneel" and she can have as much as she wants. So while men may have the state-issued power that contemporary society reserved solely for them, they are helpless to defend against the "weaker" gender at any given time.
The passage from Claudio is also surrounded by two passages from Isabella which reveal her knowledge of such power but an aversion to recognizing and utilizing it. She first says she "doubts" she has such power, but as Lucio continues to speak it seems that she recognizes that what he says is true. Whereas before Lucio speaks she "doubts", after he speaks she replies "I'll see what I can do". Isabella has entered the convent in order to avoid the temptations of the world, but she is being asked to go converse with a man and use her femininity as a woman to persuade him. Lucio is also comparing the power men can give to that which she would receive in the convent. By saying men will "give like Gods" he is juxtaposing what she would receive through prayer in the convent and what men on the outside would give her if she only asked. Isabella ends the passage by stating: "I'll see what I can do" which seems to be her own recognition that the power Lucio is speaking of is something she is aware of and reluctantly willing to use to save her brother.

Richard Keeling
T.A. Fuson Wang