Act V, Scene i
Summary
The Duke greets Angelo and Escalus at the city gates. He thanks them. Friar Peter enters with
Isabella and tells her to speak to the Duke. She begs him for justice. The Duke tells her to state
her complaint briefly to Angelo. Isabella says that she cannot ask Angelo for help, because he
is evil. She wants to speak to the Duke directly. Angelo interrupts, trying to tell the story
himself, but Isabella continues, calling Angelo a murderer, hypocrite, "adulterous thief," and
"virgin-violator." The Duke tries to send her away, calling her insane.
Isabella asks the Duke to reconsider, arguing that even someone who seems noble, like Angelo,
can actually be bad. The Duke realizes that Isabella is far too logical to be insane. Isabella
urges him to see reason. The Duke asks her to tell her story, and she begins by recounting how
her brother was sentenced to death for fornication, and how she was asked by Lucio to ask
Angelo for his pardon. Lucio verifies this, but the Duke tells him not to speak. Isabella goes on
to say that Angelo asked her out of lust to have sexual intercourse with him in exchange for her
brother's life. She says that she obeyed, but that Angelo sent the warrant for Claudio's execution
anyway. The Duke does not believe her, saying it is illogical that Angelo should have acted in
such a way. He asks Isabella to confess that she is lying, and to name the person who sent her.
Isabella prays to heaven to make the truth known. The Duke orders her sent to prison. He asks
her who knew of her coming, and she names Friar Lodowick. The Duke asks if anyone knows
this friar, and Lucio says that he knows him but does not like him. He also accuses the friar of
slander against the Duke and claims to have silenced him. The Duke demands to see the friar.
Friar Peter comes forth and says that he has heard everything, agreeing that Isabella is lying.
The Duke asks him if he knows Friar Lodowick, and Peter says that he does know him, and that
Lodowick is a good man who has never said anything bad against the Duke. He says that
Lodowick is sick and has sent him in his place. He is meant to share Lodowick's knowledge,
beginning with the fact that Isabella is lying. Isabella is led away by guards, and Mariana
enters, veiled, as a witness.
The Duke asks Mariana to show her face before testifying, but she says she will not lift her veil
until her husband instructs her to. He asks if she is married, and she says no. He asks if she is a
maid or a widow, and she again says no. Confused, the Duke asks Mariana to explain. She tells
him that she has had intercourse with her husband, though he does not know it, and therefore is
not a maid. The Duke says that her testimony is irrelevant to Angelo's case, but she names
Angelo as the husband she is speaking of. Angelo denies it and asks to see her face.
Mariana lifts her veil. The Duke asks if Angelo knows her, and Angelo confesses that he was
engaged to her five years before. He swears that he has not seen her since. Mariana explains
that they had sexual intercourse on Tuesday night. Angelo objects again, saying that both
women are crazy and being exploited by some other person. The Duke sends for the other friar.
Friar Peter tells him that the provost knows where he is, so the Duke sends the Friar to find
him. He then leaves, telling Escalus to continue listening to testimony.
Escalus calls for Isabella, saying that he wants to question her himself. Lucio advises him to
question her in private, suggesting that she might be ashamed to speak the truth in public.
Escalus tells Isabella that someone has denied what she said, attempting to get the truth out of
her.
The Duke enters, disguised as a friar, and Escalus begins to question him instead. Escalus asks
him if he sent Isabella and Mariana to slander Angelo, claiming that they have already accused
him of doing so. The Duke says this is untrue and asks to see the Duke. Escalus says that the
Duke has given him free reign. Escalus threatens to torture the Duke's friar alter ego, who says
that he has seen a lot of corruption during his visit to Vienna.
Angelo asks Lucio to testify against the Duke/Friar, and he claims that he heard the Duke/Friar
slander the Duke. The Duke argues that it was actually Lucio who insulted the Duke, saying
that he loves the Duke as much as he loves himself. Escalus tries to send the Duke off to prison,
but the Duke tells the provost not to obey. Lucio pulls the Duke's hood off, revealing his
identity.
The Duke turns to Angelo and asks if there is anything he would like to say in his own defense.
Angelo confesses to his crime and asks for a death sentence. The Duke sentences him to marry
Mariana instead. The Duke asks Isabella to come to him, and she says that she is ashamed to
have asked him for help. He supposes that she must be wondering why he did not disclose his
identity earlier in order to save Claudio's life, and he tells her that the death occurred sooner
than he expected, but that Claudio was now in a better place. On Isabella's behalf, the Duke
orders Angelo to be executed to pay for Claudio's death.
Mariana says, "I hope you will not mock me with a husband!" (V.i.420). She is worried that she
will be a widow instead of a married woman, and so she asks for her husband to be pardoned.
The Duke refuses, saying that at least her virtue will be preserved, and that she can find a better
husband now. Mariana asks for Isabella's help in persuading the Duke, saying that everyone has
their faults.
Isabella kneels and asks the Duke to pardon Angelo, saying that she believes he meant well in
his original plans to clean up the city. The Duke is distracted by another question and asks the
provost why Claudio was executed at such an unusual hour. He fires the provost for obeying
private orders. The provost argues that he went against private orders by saving Barnadine, and
the Duke asks to see him.
The provost brings Barnadine, along with a muffled Claudio. The Duke pardons Barnadine,
telling the friar to take care of him. He then asks who the muffled man is. The provost says he
is another prisoner meant to be executed, one that looks like Claudio. He unveils Claudio. The
Duke tells Isabella that Claudio is pardoned and asks her to marry him. He then sentences
Lucio to marry whatever woman claims to have been impregnated by him. The Duke concludes
by saying that everyone should live happily ever after, including Isabella and himself
exception. Isabella, originally on the verge of becoming a nun, finds herself about to marry the
Duke. It is interesting that she is not given a chance to respond to the Duke's marriage proposal
in the play. She is assumedly very happy to become the wife of the town's leader, particularly
since he has saved her brother's life. But at the same time this situation reinforces her loss of
sexual independence. The central conflict in the play revolves around Isabella's refusal to
follow the ways of most of the women in Vienna. Her marriage to the Duke confirms her virtue
while denying her independence.
There are no independent women in Measure for Measure. Of course, this is not strange,
considering the setting and Shakespeare's own era. But Measure for Measure gives its women
characters even less freedom than other Shakespearean plays. They are prostitutes, nuns, or
jilted lovers, given no chance to control their own lives. Isabella is the one exception in that she
refuses to respond to Angelo's advances. However, she is still obedient toward the Duke,
following all of his instructions.
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