Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare
Character Spotlight: Lord Angelo
Flawed man or villainous tyrant?
Lord Angelo is the ironically monikered antagonist of Shakespeare’s play Measure for
Measure. He is far from angelic, rather a mortal man of flesh and blood and complex
human desires. He comprises one-third of the difficult power dynamic alongside the
Duke and the innocent Isabella. Though initially presented as a paragon of virtue and
strict morality, this morality crumbles when overcome with desire (some may say
lust) for the virtuous Isabella. A fascinating dichotomy exists within Angelo, a conflict
between the public and the private. This is a man who intends to do well, but stumbles
as soon as temptation stands in his way. Thus Shakespeare uses Angelo to explore
themes of power, corruption and the oppressive patriarchy, as well as the complexities
of human nature.
In the opening scene, the Duke describes Angelo as ‘a man of stricture and firm
abstinence’. The Duke also employs a complex metaphor comparing Angelo’s good
nature to the light of a torch, arguing that it is selfish for Angelo to hide his virtuous
nature from the world when so many can benefit from it. It is for these reasons
apparently that the Duke decides Angelo will serve as deputy in his absence, even
though Angelo is clearly inexperienced and ill-prepared to wield such power and
authority over the Viennese people. It is quickly revealed by the Duke that he is using
Angelo’s so-called good character to enforce the city’s strict laws against fornication,
the same laws the Duke has allowed to lapse. Angelo is just as much of a player in the
Duke’s complex game of wits as the other characters.
Angelo swiftly reveals a harsh and inflexible interpretation of the law. Claudio is
sentenced to death for impregnating his fiancée, even though the whole of society was
aware of their serious intent to marry. It is this decision that brings Isabella, Claudio’s
sister, to court to beg for her brother’s life. Isabella, a chaste and pious novice, presents
an eloquent and impassioned argument to Angelo to save her brother’s life. Yet any
sense of decency in Angelo evaporates as soon as he meets Isabella.
‘When I would pray and think, I think and pray
To several subjects. Heaven hath my empty words.’ (II.iv)
Shakespeare’s use of soliloquy reveals Angelo as a complex man, foiled by his own
private desire and conflicted by his increasing sense of public duty. He is not a
straightforward antagonist because the audience are allowed insight into his psyche;
he is aware of his burgeoning hypocrisy, acknowledging that his words are ‘empty’
because he is not practising what he preaches.
Meeting Isabella changes Angelo. His language becomes darker and more sexualised,
showing his internal battle. He speaks of ‘filthy vices’, ‘saucy sweetness’, ‘sweet
uncleanness’. The use of oxymorons relays the internal struggle; Angelo’s public
persona says sex is bad, but the devil on Angelo’s shoulder is singing a very different
tune. The contrasting imagery continues in his proposition; he speaks of ‘sin and
charity’, as these concepts become increasingly intertwined in Angelo’s mind.
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Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare
Angelo’s moral decline is swift, which implies that he was never truly as virtuous as
the Duke proclaimed. When he propositions Isabella – her virginity for her brother’s life
– he coolly responds to her furious threat of blackmail:
‘Who will believe thee, Isabel?
My unsoiled name, the austereness of my life,
My vouch against you, and my place i’ the state,
Will so your accusation overweigh.’ (II.iv.)
In this moment, Angelo personifies patriarchal oppression, confidently believing he
wields greater power than Isabella. The outright abuse of power, using his ‘place i’
the state’, threatens societal norms; it is not just Isabella that Angleo threatens but the
laws of decency and fairness themselves. Angelo trades on his reputation, a motif that
recurs throughout the play, using his public persona as a currency to trade off against
his terrible behaviour in private. Despite his despicable actions towards Isabella,
Angelo continues to maintain a public façade of righteousness. He even attempts to
justify his behaviour in another soliloquy, rationalising it as a momentary lapse:
‘This deed unshapes me quite, makes me unpregnant
And dull to all proceedings.’ (IV.iv.)
Shakespeare’s language here reveals a man who has become unrecognisable even
to himself, the very idea that he is ‘unshaped’ and ‘unpregnant’, the use of the
negative prefix ‘un’ changing him from something he knew to something other. It is
both vocalisation and recognition of his moral disintegration, but the very fact that he
recognises it implies that Angelo is not without some saving grace.
Angelo has been enmeshed in the Duke’s Machiavellian plotting for the entirety of
the play, failing a sort of character test. He submits to the ‘bed trick’, happily sleeping
with a woman in the belief it is Isabella and she has given in to him. However, the
audience are in on the trick; he is really sleeping with his former fiancée, Mariana, a girl
he callously jilted when she lost her dowry. This implies that Angelo’s mercurial nature
is not a new characteristic.
His punishment is to marry Mariana, now that he has taken her maidenhead and
rendered her unmarriable. Only Mariana, out of the pair, seems happy with this
arrangement. Angelo begs for death, a sign that he can apply his severe moral
judgement to his own actions:
‘But let my trial be mine own confession.
Immediate sentence then and sequent death
Is all the grace I beg.’ (V.i)
At first, the Duke is happy to condemn such a weak and morally corrupt man to death.
In a dramatic reversal of power, the same women who have been mistreatred and
abused by Angelo save his life. Mariana and Isabella drop to their knees and beg for
his salvation; Mariana does so because she sincerely does love Angelo, for her own
reasons, and Isabella because she is staying true to her good and pious nature. It is
also symbolic of women overthrowing patriarchal oppression.
Thus, at the end of the play, all is restored. Angelo is now a married man – what is
his is now his wife’s. The Duke orders Angelo to treat his wife well. This ‘happily ever
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Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare
after’ is what stops the play from being a tragedy, but it leaves the audience feeling
uncertain due to the moral ambiguity of the ending. Does Angelo deserve such a wife?
Does any man? What should have been his punishment for such abuse of power? Or
is Shakespeare suggesting that there must be balance in law and inside man; that to
deny one’s most base instincts will only lead to downfall?
Key themes Key terms
Power Antagonist
Corruption Patriarchy
Desire Dilemma
Justice Conflict
Oppression
Sexuality
Reputation
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