Measure for Measure- Act III, Scene ii, Lines 248-270

Duke: “Peace be with you!
He who the sword of heaven will bear
Should be as holy as severe;
Pattern in himself to know,
Grace to stand, and virtue to go;
More nor less to others paying
Than by self-offenses weighing.
Shame to him whose cruel striking
Kills for faults of his own liking.
Twice treble shame on Angelo,
To weed my vice and let his grow.
O, what may man within him hide,
Though angel on the outward side!
How may likeness made in crimes,
Making practice on the times,
To draw with idle spider’s strings
Most ponderous and substantial things?
Craft against vice I must apply;
With Angelo tonight shall lie
His old betrothed, but despised:
So disguise shall by th’ disguised
Pay with falsehood, false exacting,
And perform an old contracting.”

Context: The Duke’s soliloquy closes Act III and details his upcoming plans to frame Angelo. He intends to send Mariana in Isabella’s place, thereby freeing Isabella from soiling her purity and teaching Angelo the fallbacks of scheming hypocrisy.

Theme:
*Political hypocrisy: The dichotomy between proclaimed moral righteousness and action, specifically with respect to political figures such as Angelo, underlies the course of the play. The Duke’s soliloquy accomplishes two things. Firstly, it details plans to set-up Angelo and free Isabella. But most importantly, it furthers the theme of political hypocrisy. The Duke justifies his scheming by proving that Angelo has abandoned the upstanding moral path. He furthers the idea that political figures must adhere to the same standards they enforce (clearly, something Angelo has failed to do). The Duke believes that “he who the sword of heaven will bear/ should be as holy as severe”. Angelo should punish “more nor less to others paying/ than by self-offenses weighing”. A just ruler must inflict no more nor less on others than his own offenses warrant, and Angelo has failed to follow such a standard. Angelo hopes to prove that he can mask corruption while maintaining the façade of an “angel on the outward side”, and the Duke plans to prove him wrong.

Jessica McMillin
Waldo Discussion
Thursday 2:00-2:50