Measure for Measure: Key Quotations (OCR A Level English Literature)

Key Quotations

The best way to revise quotations is to group them by character, or theme. Below you will find definitions and analysis of the best quotations, arranged by the following themes:

• Appearance and reality

• Gender and sexuality

• Justice 

• Religion and virtue

Appearance and reality

Shakespearean comedies, such as Measure for Measure, revolve around thwarted plans and romantic dilemmas, raising questions, via disguises and tricks, about what is real and what is false. Comedies, however, resolve these problems at the end with a wedding or marriage. Measure for Measure ends with marriage too. However, the resolution is ambiguous regarding what is outwardly seen (on the surface a respectable marriage) and the reality of love and relationships. 

“Because we see it; but what we do not see/We tread upon” Angelo, Measure for Measure, Act II Scene I

Meaning and context

• In the rising action, Angelo explains to the court his thoughts on justice after sentencing Claudio to death for adultery

• He tells Escalus he believes justice is like a gem you see on the ground; sometimes you see it and sometimes you miss it

• He believes you should catch someone when they commit a crime regardless of all other people who have committed that crime or a worse crime

Analysis

• The line uses an analogy of seeing a gem in the street which alludes to the idea of luck regarding punishing crime

• Angelo’s repetition of “see” within his suggestion that ‘seeing is believing’ is ironic:

  • Angelo, himself, tricks people into believing he is sinless and is later tricked into believing Mariana is Isabella

“Go to your bosom,/Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know” Isabella, Measure for Measure, Act II Scene II

Meaning and context

• In this scene Isabella pleads with Angelo to be merciful

• She asks him to look into his heart and see what he really is, to consult his conscience

• Later in the scene, Isabella refers to Angelo’s powerful status as like a “medicine” for his sins:

  • She tells him his status cures all his crimes while others are punished for similar crimes

Analysis

• Isabella challenges Angelo with a mataphor in her rhetorical plea to his conscience

• This line presents Isabella as not only religiously devout but also morally pure

• Isabella associates morality with conscience, an innate wisdom about real goodness:

  • She highlights the difference between what is perceived as right and what is not

  • By personifying the heart. she suggests Angelo should address his conscience (his heart) about what is genuine justice and goodness

Paired Quotations:

“O that we were all, as some would seem to be,/From our faults, as faults from seeming, free!“ Duke Vincentio, Measure for Measure, Act III Scene II 

“O, what may man within him hide,/Though angel on the outward side!” Duke Vincentio, Measure for Measure, Act III Scene II

Meaning and context

• In this climactic scene Elbow pleads with the Duke to intervene on behalf of Pompey:

  • He says Angelo will be harsh on Pompey

• The Duke replies that everyone has faults but not all of them can be seen

• Later in the scene, the Duke becomes distressed as he realises Angelo’s reputation for morality is not true:

  • The Duke says that Angelo is an “angel on the outward side”

Analysis

• It could be argued that the Duke’s exclamation conveys his deep concerns regarding crime and punishment

• The alliterative and ambiguous message about visible and hidden sin explores the play’s themes of human fallibility in the enforcement of a moral code

• Later, his reflections on Angelo reveals he has been deceived by Angelo’s reputation:

  • He uses a pun to connect the idea of an “outward” angel with Angelo’s name 

  • The exclamation here suggests his distress that Angelo’s puritanical code of morality appears to be false in reality

  • This is ironic as the audience knows the friar himself is also only “an angel on the outward side” 

Paired Quotations: 

“Wrench awe from fools, and tie the wiser souls/To thy false seeming!” Angelo, Measure for Measure, Act II Scene IV

“Say what you can, my false o'erweighs your true” Angelo, Measure for Measure, Act II Scene IV

Meaning and context

• In a soliloquy, Angelo mourns his dilemma: he feels desire for Isabella while knowing this is immoral

• He reflects that appearances are deceiving:

  • He says that those with high ranking clothes can easily convince the gullible of their goodness and cause confusion for the wise

• Later in the scene, Angelo confirms and misuses his powerful status:

  • He tells Isabella the city will believe his lies over her truths 

Analysis

• In his soliloquy, audiences hear Angelo’s real thoughts on the power and influence of appearance:

  • He uses dynamic verbs to show the destructive power authority holds

  • He describes the way admiration is “wrenched” from fools as they are easily manipulated

  • Meanwhile, wiser individuals are still “tied” and bonded to what they perceive as real

• The play’s juxtaposition of truth and deceit is evident in Angelo’s oxymoronic phrase:

  • Angelo states that what is true and what is false depends on what is perceived by others

Gender and sexuality

Measure for Measure has been described as a play which deals sympathetically with the limitations placed on women in Jacobean society. Female characters are coerced and controlled by male characters, regardless of their status or behaviour. The play grapples with standards of female sexuality related to virtue and promiscuity in a patriarchal and puritanical society. 

Paired quotations:

“Never could the strumpet,/With all her double vigour, art and nature,/Once stir my temper; but this virtuous maid/Subdues me quite”  Angelo, Measure for Measure, Act II Scene II 

“Dost thou desire her foully for those things/That make her good?” Angelo, Measure for Measure, Act II Scene II 

Meaning and context

• In a soliloquy, Angelo reflects on his confusing feelings for Isabella

• He realises that he respects Isabella for her virtue and chastity 

• He says that he would not desire an immoral and promiscuous “strumpet”

• Angelo says that “foully desiring” a woman outside of marriage is something he would usually condemn

Analysis

• Angelo uses emotive language to reflect on his responses to women:

  • He says an immoral woman would not “stir” his “temper” but a virtuous female would subdue him

• Angelo shows his disdain for promiscuous women by using a derogatory term, “strumpet”  

• The oxymoron of “foul” and “good” conveys the dichotomies in the play regarding female sexuality

• Angelo’s reflections comment on the hypocritical standards for women in Jacobean society

“Then, Isabel, live chaste, and, brother, die./More than our brother is our chastity.” Isabella, Measure for Measure, Act II Scene IV

Meaning and context

• In this scene, Isabella pleads with Angelo to stop Claudio’s execution

• She repeats to Angelo that her chastity is worth more than her brother’s life

Analysis

• Isabella emphasises the value of her chastity in an emphatic sentence which places the words “live” and “chaste” beside each other

• This line comments on the power and influence Isabella gains by her virtuous sexuality 

• The oxymoronic comparison of “live” and “die” signifies her belief that her chastity is equivalent to life:

  • This highlights the limited autonomy of Jacobean women

Paired Quotations:

“Why, you are nothing, then, neither maid, widow,/nor wife?”

Duke Vincentio, Measure for Measure, Act V Scene I

“I beseech your highness, do not marry me to a/whore.” Lucio, Measure for Measure, Act V Scene I

Meaning and context

• The Duke asks Mariana if she is a virgin, widowed or married 

• When she replies she is not any of these he describes her as having no worth

• Lucio jokes that perhaps she is a prostitute as many are single and are not virgins

• Later in the resolution, Lucio begs the Duke not to marry him to a prostitute, suggesting this would be a fate worse than death

Analysis

• The Duke and Lucio attempt to ascertain Mariana’s status and identity:

  • This illustrates the connections between female power and marital and sexual status

• The indefinite pronoun “nothing” clarifies Mariana’s lack of autonomy 

• Lucio’s plea to the Duke is emphasised throughout the scene as he repeatedly compares marriage to a prostitute to a fate worse than death:

  • His tone is desperate as he beseeches the Duke not to punish him with marriage to a prostitute 

  • Here we see the shame attached to promiscuous women in a puritanical society

Justice

The play centres around the concept of mercy and fair punishments for sins. However, Shakespeare explores the complexities of carrying out justice by showing hypocrisies in the way crimes are punished. Characters with senior positions in court (the Duke, Lucio and Angelo) admit it is not possible to enforce laws; some criminals are caught and some go free. The play explores who is able to act with impunity and who is subject to merciless shaming and harsh punishment.

Paired quotations:

“Some rise by sin and some by virtue fall” Escalus, Measure for Measure, Act II Scene I

“Which is the wiser here, Justice or Iniquity?” Escalus, Measure for Measure, Act II Scene I

Meaning and context

• In an aside, after Angelo has condemned Claudio, Escalus admits that the justice system is flawed:

  • He says that some are rewarded for their sins and others are punished, however good they are

• After a confusing and humorous discussion with Pompey and Elbow, Escalus expresses his exasperation referring to "Justice" (the merciful Elbow) and "Iniquity" (the immoral but clever Pompey)

Analysis

• Once again, an oxymoron highlights the complexities of punishing sin by placing the contrasting ideas of “rise” and “fall” and “sin” and “virtue” in a single declarative statement 

• Escalus asks a rhetorical question which highlights again the ineffectiveness of the legal system:

  • He answers the question by offering a choice between justice and sinful pleasure

  • He believes the sinful often escape punishment

“The baby beats the nurse, and quite athwart/Goes all decorum.” Duke Vincentio, Measure for Measure, Act I Scene III

Meaning and context

• The Duke is concerned about the city as it is overrun with brothels 

• The analogy of a baby beating the nurse conveys the Duke’s conclusions that the city is not being disciplined strictly enough

• He laments the reversal of roles, believing the leaders are not controlling the citizens

Analysis

• The metaphor is constructed in a way to allude to the Duke’s misunderstanding of justice:

  • Here he suggests that if the nurse were to beat the baby that would make things right 

  • This is ironic as Angelo goes on to order the execution of Claudio

• The play shows the irony of the Duke’s misinterpretation of his city’s problems by clearly illustrating the real issues via the characters he meets when disguised as a friar:

  • He begins to see the lack of accountability of those in power

• In the resolution, the Duke attempts to resolve the miscarriage of justice he set in motion:

  • He dispenses punishments according to what he thinks each character deserves,  acting, yet again, as omnipotent judge

  • He punishes male characters who have abandoned female characters and illegitimate children

  • He shows mercy on Angelo, presenting the theme of measured justice

“When I that censure him do so offend,/Let mine own judgement pattern out my death” Angelo, Measure for Measure, Act II Scene I

Meaning and context 

• In the rising action, Angelo, having just condemned Claudio to death for adultery, attempts to justify his actions

• He tells the court he is willing to die if he were to commit the same crime as Claudio

• He asks to be judged equally and submits himself to ‘measure for measure’ justice 

Analysis

• Angelo’s emphatic line creates tension and foreshadows later events

• The line turns out to be ironic later in the play when Angelo’s moral superiority is mocked 

• In the resolution, Angelo is offered mercy and is not judged in the “pattern” he mentions here:

  • The Duke holds Angelo to account by wedding him to Mariana, rather than sentencing him to death for sexual deviance

Religion and virtue

The play refers to a biblical passage in its title, “Measure for Measure”. Taken from the gospel of Matthew, this phrase suggests that as one is judged so others will judge them, and whichever measure they use to punish, the same will be dealt back. The play’s protagonist and heroine, Isabella, gripped by puritanical philosophies regarding sexuality, is made to grapple over her religious ideals while morally superior characters are exposed as sinful. The play explores the fallibility of man in the delivery of heavenly justice.

Paired quotations:

“Thus can the demigod, Authority,/Make us pay down for our offence by weight

The words of heaven” Claudio, Measure for Measure, Act I Scene II

“His glassy essence, like an angry ape/Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven” Isabella, Measure for Measure, Act II Scene II

Meaning and context

• Claudio laments the punishment he has been dealt:

  • He complains that figures with authority deliver harsh justice because of their close position to God

  • Claudio demonstrates his sense of vulnerability within the justice system

• In Act II, Isabella, however, is aware of Angelo’s true nature:

  • She angrily compares him to an animal, ignorant to what heaven and God really advocate

Analysis

• Claudio is presented as a good Christian in his dialogue, yet is unable to accept his punishment from Angelo

• Claudio accepts his adultery as a sin against God, in keeping with puritanical religious ideals in Jacobean England:

  • Imagery relating to weight bearing down on the sinful conveys the harsh burden Claudio carries in his shame

• However, Claudio also reveals the power he vests in those who deliver justice on earth, signified by the capitalisation of “Authority”

• Nevertheless, throughout the play Claudio refuses to accept Angelo’s punishment and challenges the justice system

• Isabella’s character is sincere and merciful, values which are given credence in the play through her wise and sophisticated language:

  • The aliteration of “high heaven” and “angry ape” conveys the passion in her words

  • The sibilance of “glassy essence” emphasises her insult regarding Angelo’s falseness 

Paired quotations:

“I had rather give my body than my soul” Isabella, Measure for Measure, Act II Scene IV

“Might there not be a charity in sin/To save this brother's life?” Angelo, Measure for Measure, Act II Scene IV

Meaning and context

• In her confrontation with Angelo, Isabella illustrates the stock she places in her sexuality and the protection of her chastity

• Here, she tells Angelo she would rather die than have adulterous sex with him:

  • Earlier in the play, she expresses similar thoughts on adultery, confirming the consistency of her beliefs

  • This contrasts with Angelo, who earlier condemns behaviour he now wishes to indulge in

• In response, Angelo asks her to consider that the sin of adultery may be forgiven and overridden by the virtue of saving her brother’s life

Analysis

• Isabella’s speeches highlight discrepancies within puritanical ideals, specifically related to female autonomy

• Making use of binary opposites allows Shakespeare to convey the ambiguous nature of sin and virtue:

  • Here, Isabella’s oxymoronic phrase juxtaposes “body” and “soul” in order to highlight religious ideals relating to sexuality

• Angelo’s misuse of Christian values after Isabella’s plea is humorous in its hypocrisy:

  • He tries to justify his lust as an opportunity for Isabella to be charitable

  • Shakespeare pokes fun at Angelo’s confusion about what is good 

“Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful” Duke Vincentio, Measure for Measure, Act III Scene I 

Meaning and context

• In this climactic scene, the Duke tries to find a solution to Isabella’s dilemma

• He tells he her has a plan to outsmart Angelo and allow her to keep her chastity

• When Isabella says she will do anything she considers moral, the Duke, dressed as a friar, tells her that she should not be afraid to do what is right

Analysis

• Here the Duke, dressed as a friar, tries to persuade Isabella to trick Angelo 

• He repeats the same idea that goodness is the same as bravery:

  • The Duke’s confusing dialogue represents the way he deceives characters while ultimately wanting to help them

• Shakespeare often includes ‘meddling’ yet well-intentioned friars in his plays:

  • This could suggest his frustration with religious conflicts at the time

  • Other interpretations suggest the friar/the Duke represents Shakespeare’s voice

• This line is ironic as the Duke’s bold disguise instructs characters in the ways of God