Measure for Measure: Plot Summary (OCR A Level English Literature)
Revision Note
Plot Summary
Examiners always praise students who clearly know the plot of the texts they are studying, as having this base of knowledge leads to the best exam responses. Below you will find:
Overview
Measure for Measure is a dramatic comedy written by the playwright William Shakespeare and first performed in 1604. Although the play includes comedic elements such as disguise, tangled romantic plots and trickery, the play is also considered to have darker, tragic elements as well. In Measure for Measure, Shakespeare raises questions about morality, social justice and sexuality which are not entirely resolved at the end. While the play ends conventionally with marriage, it leaves the future of the protagonist, Isabella, ambiguous.
Examiner Tip
There is not an expectation that you learn dozens of quotations by heart. Although examiners do reward the use of memorised words or lines in your essay, you are also rewarded for reference to the play’s dramatic, structural and linguistic techniques. In other words, the term “evidence” is not limited to quotations. The mark scheme rewards your ability to mention audience responses at various points of the play and how these convey thematic ideas. These are called “textual references”, and do not have to include direct quotations, but, for the highest marks, must be “precise”.
A good example of a precise textual reference would be: “In Act I, Scene I, Shakespeare sets up the comedic element of disguise as the duke dresses as a friar in order to become anonymous in his city’. In order to make these precise textual references, therefore, it is vital that you know the plot inside-out.
Act-By-Act Plot Summary
Act I
Shakespeare sets the play in Vienna, a city overcome with sin and loose morals:
The play opens in the Duke’s court
The Duke, professing to hate “loud applause” and scared to be perceived as a tyrant, chooses to leave a deputy, Angelo, in charge of sorting out the city’s moral decline:
He asks Escalus, a wise lord, for advice and Escalus recommends Angelo for the task
The duke decides to disguise himself as a friar so he can observe Angelo and learn more about the people of the city
Angelo decides to revive any laws which will outlaw casual sex, including shutting down all the brothels
He takes charge by finding someone to make an example of:
He chooses Claudio, a man whose fiancée, Juliet, is pregnant
Using an ancient law which prohibits sex outside of marriage, he arrests Claudio and sentences him to death
Claudio is paraded through the streets to shame him
Lucio, Claudio’s friend, sees him and is shocked at his harsh punishment
He decides to ask Claudio's sister, Isabella, to help, but she has decided to join a convent and become a nun
Act II
The scene opens in a courtroom where Escalus, a provost, and Angelo discuss Claudio’s crime
Escalus and the provost ask Angelo to show mercy
Angelo says that he would expect the same treatment had he committed such a sin
An officer of the law, Elbow, arrives with two men accused of frequenting brothels:
Froth confesses to working for Mistress Overdone, the brothel owner
Escalus tells him that prostitution is against the law and warns him not to go back
The duke, disguised as a friar, visits the distraught Juliet, Claudio’s pregnant fiancée, in prison:
He asks her to repent her sins and she asks for forgiveness
He tells her Claudio is to be executed the next morning
Isabella arrives at the court and pleads with Angelo to spare her brother, but he does not relent
Lucio persuades her to try harder, to touch him, to speak more passionately
Eventually, Angelo agrees to think about it
In a soliloquy, Angelo debates his lustful feelings for Isabella
The next day, he asks her to give up her virginity in exchange for her brother’s life
Isabella threatens to expose his hypocrisy, but he tells her nobody will believe her
Examiner Tip
Examiners want to see that you can contextualise the events in the plot looking at scenes with a wider lens and in the context of the whole play. If you know what comes before and after scenes, you can better explain its wider significance and what important developments have happened, or will happen. Therefore, alongside knowing the plot accurately, it is just as important to revise what order things happen in, especially for Measure for Measure, in which an array of confusing events take place one after the other.
It is crucial to analyse structure, in order to see how Shakespeare contrasts scenes, creates tension and conveys ideas across the plot.
Act III
Disguised as a friar, the Duke visits Claudio in prison and tries to prepare him for death with the promise of everlasting life
Isabella arrives and tells Claudio of Angelo's demands, expecting his outrage:
Claudio is, at first, appalled, but soon begs her to save him, even if it means giving in to his demands
The Duke (disguised as a friar) overhears their conversation:
He tells Isabella in secret that he has a plan to trick Angelo and save her virginity, as well as her brother’s life
He plans to ask Angelo’s mistreated and abandoned ex-fiancée, Mariana, to pretend to be Isabella:
If Mariana sleeps with Angelo, their marriage would be consummated and lawful
In Scene II, the duke and Lucio show no mercy for Pompey, who has been sent to prison for pickpocketing and lechery
The duke, disguised as a friar, asks Lucio if Angelo is taking control of the moral depravity in the city:
Lucio says Angelo could be more merciful, but the friar (the Duke) advocates for strict moral conduct and punishments
Lucio, unaware the friar is the Duke, insults the Duke for his hypocrisy, saying he himself has had unlawful sex
Mistress Overdone is brought into the prison for her associations with the brothel:
She reveals Lucio, too, has an illegitimate child with a woman he abandoned
Act IV
Isabella and the friar (the Duke in disguise) speak with Mariana and she agrees to the plan
The duke arrives at the prison and is told that Claudio’s execution has been brought forward:
He decides to send Angelo someone else’s head instead of Claudio’s
Pompey is offered a job as assistant executioner and accepts, saying this will redeem him for his crimes as a pickpocket:
The duke suggests he execute a prisoner called Barnardine, but Barnadine refuses to leave his cell
They find another ‘head’ to send to Angelo
When Isabella arrives, the Duke tells her her brother has been executed:
The disguised Duke says all will be revealed and revenged once the duke has returned
Lucio is distressed at the harsh punishment towards his friend, Claudio:
He blames the absent Duke for the terrible events
The Duke meets with Friar Peter outside of town:
He arranges for a gathering at the gates and asks the friar to deliver some letters
In the court, meanwhile, Angelo is nervous about the meeting with Isabella (which the Duke has arranged)
Isabella and Mariana practise their speech to Angelo:
Isabella is reluctant to voice her concerns with Angelo, but Mariana urges her to follow the friar’s instructions
Act V
At the city gates, the ‘returned’ Duke greets Angelo and Escalus
Isabella speaks passionately to Angelo, calling for justice and insulting his cruelty
Angelo accuses her of madness and the Duke, not in disguise anymore, sends her to prison
Mariana, veiled, enters as a witness, and reveals her relationship with Angelo
Angelo confesses he knows Mariana and explains their broken engagement, but says she and Isabella must be “instruments” in someone else’s plot
The Duke leaves, and then returns disguised as the friar again, claiming he has seen what has been happening in the city
He reveals his true identity and arrests Lucio for his slander against him:
Soon after, he decides simply to make him stay married to the woman he abandoned, Kate
The Duke also decides that instead of death, Angelo’s punishment will be his marriage to Mariana
The Duke reveals that Claudio is still alive and asks Isabella to marry him
The play ends, unresolved, without revealing Isabella’s reply
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