Measure for Measure

by

The Following dialogue is spoken by Duke Vicentio in Shakespeare’s ‘Measure for Measure’, Act 3, scene 1. Duke Vicentio makes Lord Angelo the leader of Vienna temporarily and pretends to leave but instead dresses as a friar to observe the goings in his absence. Angelo is strict, moralistic, and unwavering in his decision-making; he decides that there is too much freedom in Vienna and takes it upon himself to rid the city of brothels and unlawful sexual activity. Claudio is arrested for impregnating Juliet, his lover, before they were married. Claudio is sentenced to death in order to serve as an example to the other Viennese citizens.
Vienna already has strict rules against these unlawful activities. But the rules were not being followed strictly. It is true that whoever enforces these rules will obviously become unpopular with the public. Hence the Duke cleverly arranges Angelo to do this enforcement. Hence he tells Friar Thomas, ‘We have strict statutes and most biting laws. The needful bits and curbs to headstrong weeds, Which for this nineteen years we have let slip;’
He refer to ‘o’ergrown lion in a cave’ which is actually a reference to himself. The words like ‘lion’, ‘prey’ are significant here as they denote the extreme measure the Duke has in his mind. The punishment given by Angelo is already in the mind of the Duke. But fearing unpopularity he makes the latter the scapegoat and achieves his objective.The Duke refers to ‘terror’, which is a little more that what Angelo is capable of. In the following passage,  ‘For terror, not to use, in time the rod Becomes more mock’d than fear’d; so our decrees, Dead to infliction, to themselves are dead; And liberty plucks justice by the nose; the baby beats the nurse, and quite athwart Goes all decorum’, one can understand that the Duke has accessed his town’s situation thoroughly. In spite of knowing all this, what would have made the Duke pretend to leave Vienna under the care of Angelo in the first place? The next question would be why Angelo. This particular passage answers these questions.
The Duke is a clever man who knows his moves precisely. He uses Angelo because he is strict and a Moralist. He has judged Angelo’s credential well enough to know that this man would bring havoc by over stressing on following the rules. The Duke expected an uproar in the town and in the opportune moment he would come and release those in Angelo’s captivation. This way the Duke plans to enforce the rule  and at the same time not get into the bad books of his subject. As per his plan everything turned out well and he gained popularity by releasing Claudio. He also utilized the women to heighten the seriousness of the situation.
The passage is also significant in showing the intensity of feeling of the Duke about Justice prevailing in his town. It is an indication that he may take to deception or any other means to make Justice prevail. This passage forms the essence of the attitude of the Duke.
Approximate price: $22
We value our customers and so we ensure that what we do is 100% original..

With us you are guaranteed of quality work done by our qualified experts.Your information and everything that you do with us is kept completely confidential.You have to be 100% sure of the quality of your product to give a money-back guarantee. This describes us perfectly. Make sure that this guarantee is totally transparent.The Product ordered is guaranteed to be original. Orders are checked by the most advanced anti-plagiarism software in the market to assure that the Product is 100% original. The Company has a zero tolerance policy for plagiarism.The Free Revision policy is a courtesy service that the Company provides to help ensure Customer’s total satisfaction with the completed Order. To receive free revision the Company requires that the Customer provide the request within fourteen (14) days from the first completion date and within a period of thirty (30) days for dissertations.The Company is committed to protect the privacy of the Customer and it will never resell or share any of Customer’s personal information, including credit card data, with any third party. All the online transactions are processed through the secure and reliable online payment systems.By placing an order with us, you agree to the service we provide. We will endear to do all that it takes to deliver a comprehensive paper as per your requirements. We also count on your cooperation to ensure that we deliver on this mandate.

Never use plagiarized sources. Get Your Original Essay on
Measure for Measure
Hire Professionals Just from $11/Page
Order Now Click here