Measure for Measure

Measure for Measure by Edith Nesbit

Duke Vicentio of Vienna, troubled that years of leniency have let lawbreaking flourish, resolves to enforce the old strict laws but shrinks from the blame of suddenly turning harsh. He tells his Privy Council he must travel to Poland and leaves the deputy Angelo to rule in his stead, while secretly obtaining a friar's habit from Friar Thomas so he can remain in Vienna, disguised, to observe. Angelo, outwardly virtuous but secretly mean-spirited, had abandoned his betrothed Mariana when her dowry was lost, leaving her to pine for him. On his first day in power Angelo condemns young Claudio to death for a minor act of rash selfishness. Claudio's friend Lucio urges Claudio's sister Isabella, a novice about to enter a nunnery, to plead for her brother's life. Old Escalus argues for mercy, but Angelo insists on the letter of the law. Isabella petitions Angelo, moving him with eloquent arguments about mercy, but he refuses, and in doing so discovers he desires her. He tells her Claudio can be freed only if she yields her body to him. Isabella refuses absolutely, telling her brother she would rather he die than she lose her honor; Claudio, fearful of death, begs her to save him, and she denounces him as a coward. The disguised Duke, as "Friar Lodowick," intervenes, revealing to Isabella that Angelo was once engaged to Mariana. He devises the "bed trick": Mariana, veiled, will go to Angelo in Isabella's place, take his ring as proof, and so fulfill his demand without Isabella's dishonor. Isabella agrees, and the substitution is carried out at Mariana's moated grange. In the street, the disguised Duke encounters Lucio, who slanders the absent Duke to his face without recognizing him. Despite the bargain, Angelo orders Claudio executed anyway, fearing revenge. The Duke-as-friar persuades the Provost to delay, using the Duke's own letter and signet, and substitutes the head of a pirate who died that morning for Claudio's, deceiving Angelo. The Duke then stages his public return to Vienna, received amid rejoicing. Isabella publicly accuses Angelo before the Duke, who feigns disbelief and has her arrested, then questions the supposed "Friar Lodowick." Mariana unveils herself, revealing her claim on Angelo, who denies and discredits her. Escalus examines the Duke in his friar's disguise harshly, and Lucio exposes the "friar" as a slanderer of the Duke—until the Duke throws off his hood and stands revealed. Angelo, confronted, begs immediate death. The Duke orders him to marry Mariana at once, then condemns him to execution on Claudio's block, despite Mariana's and Isabella's pleas for mercy. The Provost, pressed, finally brings forward Claudio alive, having spared him earlier. The Duke pardons Angelo for Claudio's sake, promotes the Provost, offers himself to Isabella in marriage, and sentences Lucio to marry a disreputable woman he had wronged.

By Edith Nesbit · First published 1907 · Genre: Drama, Political Drama, Moral Drama · 2,665 words

First lines

More centuries ago than I care to say, the people of Vienna were governed too mildly. The reason was that the reigning Duke Vicentio was excessively good-natured, and disliked to see offenders made unhappy.

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Vienna · medieval setting · justice versus mercy · moral corruption · hypocrisy · abuse of power · virtue and honor · sexual coercion · disguise · bed trick · hidden identity · substitution plot

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Measure for Measure is listed on Textopian as a short story by Edith Nesbit, dated 1907 CE.

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