Language (Measure for Measure)

This section explores the language used in Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare. The language of Measure for Measure is a powerful tool through which Shakespeare explores the play’s key themes, such as justice, mercy, sexual morality, and power. The use of formal and informal language, alongside religious, legal, and sexual imagery, creates a complex interplay of social and moral concerns. Through metaphors, dramatic irony, and shifts between prose and verse, Shakespeare deepens the characters’ moral struggles and the ambiguities of their actions, creating a rich and layered exploration of human behaviour and societal expectations.

Formal vs Informal Language

Shakespeare makes a clear distinction between formal and informal language in Measure for Measure, reflecting the social status and moral standing of the characters.

High-status characters: Characters like the Duke, Angelo, and Isabella often speak in formal, elevated language, using iambic pentameter and measured speech. This reflects their social status and the seriousness of the themes they discuss, such as justice, virtue, and authority.

Low-status characters: In contrast, characters from the lower classes, such as Pompey and Mistress Overdone, often speak in prose. Their language is more colloquial and humorous, contributing to the play’s exploration of vice and the bawdy underworld of Vienna.

Contrast between characters: The stark contrast in language between characters like Isabella and Angelo versus Pompey and Lucio reflects the moral and social divisions within the play. While the former group discusses abstract concepts of law and virtue, the latter provides a more grounded, sometimes cynical view of human behaviour.

Rhetoric and Persuasion

Measure for Measure is filled with rhetoric, with many characters using language to persuade, manipulate, or influence others.

Isabella’s rhetoric: Isabella’s speeches are notable for their eloquence and emotional appeal. When she pleads for her brother’s life before Angelo (Act 2, Scene 2), she uses powerful, morally charged rhetoric to appeal to his sense of mercy, relying on religious imagery and moral reasoning: “Go to your bosom; / Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know.”

Angelo’s manipulation: Angelo uses language as a tool of manipulation. He presents his proposition to Isabella in a way that makes it seem like a legitimate offer, masking his corruption with measured, legalistic speech. His rhetoric initially mirrors that of a just ruler, but as his character is revealed, his words become duplicitous, reflecting his inner hypocrisy.

The Duke’s manipulation: Like Angelo, the Duke also uses rhetoric and manipulation. Disguised as a friar, he speaks in a more informal, persuasive tone to characters like Claudio and Isabella, positioning himself as a moral guide. His ability to control the narrative through language allows him to orchestrate the play’s resolution.

Religious and Moral Language

Religious imagery and moral language permeate Measure for Measure, reflecting the play’s concern with sin, justice, and redemption.

Isabella’s moral purity: As a novice nun, Isabella’s language is often imbued with religious and moral undertones. She frequently references her faith, especially when defending her chastity or appealing to Angelo’s conscience. In her conversations with Angelo, she uses religious imagery to illustrate the sanctity of her virtue: “That I do beg his life, if it be sin / Heaven let me bear it!” (Act 2, Scene 4).

Angelo’s false piety: Angelo, too, frequently employs moral and religious language, particularly in the early acts where he appears as a figure of strict justice. However, as his character unravels, his use of religious language becomes a mask for his corruption. His outward piety contrasts sharply with his inner desires.

The Duke’s divine imagery: The Duke, both as a ruler and in his disguise as a friar, uses moral and religious language to justify his actions. He positions himself almost as a godlike figure, observing and manipulating events from a higher moral ground, which is reflected in his speech patterns.

Imagery of Law and Justice

The language of law and justice is central to the play, reflecting its thematic focus on legal and moral dilemmas.

Angelo’s legalistic speech: Angelo’s speech is often formal and filled with references to law, reflecting his role as the enforcer of Vienna’s strict moral codes. He speaks in a measured, authoritative tone, often using legal metaphors to justify his actions, such as in Act 2, Scene 1, when he condemns Claudio: “We must not make a scarecrow of the law.”

The Duke’s moderation: In contrast, the Duke’s language reflects a more balanced view of justice, advocating for mercy and temperance in governance. His language, though still authoritative, often softens the harshness of Angelo’s legal rhetoric. By the end of the play, the Duke’s speeches are full of reconciliatory language, as he seeks to restore order with compassion.

Sexual and Bawdy Language

Measure for Measure contains significant amounts of sexual and bawdy language, often used by the lower-class characters and in scenes that explore the theme of sexual morality.

Lucio’s innuendo: Lucio is the primary source of bawdy humour in the play. His language is full of sexual innuendo and double entendres, which provide comic relief but also critique the hypocrisy of those in power. His language reflects his freewheeling attitude towards sex, and he often speaks in a playful, irreverent manner.

Pompey and Mistress Overdone: The language used by Pompey and Mistress Overdone, both involved in the prostitution trade, is similarly filled with bawdy humour. Their crude speech contrasts sharply with the elevated moral discourse of characters like Isabella and Angelo, highlighting the play’s exploration of sexual hypocrisy.

Angelo’s lust: As Angelo’s sexual desire for Isabella grows, his language shifts from formal legal speech to more suggestive, predatory language. His attempts to seduce Isabella are laced with sexual undertones, revealing the darker side of his character.

Metaphor and Simile

Shakespeare employs various metaphors and similes throughout Measure for Measure to explore its complex themes.

Metaphors of corruption: The imagery of corruption and disease is prevalent in the play, reflecting the moral decay of Vienna and its leadership. Angelo, in particular, is associated with corruption, as his strict enforcement of the law is revealed to mask his own moral failings.

Clothing and disguise metaphors: The theme of appearance versus reality is often conveyed through metaphors of clothing and disguise. The Duke’s use of disguise allows him to observe the actions of his subjects without revealing his true identity, mirroring the way in which Angelo hides his inner corruption beneath a veneer of virtue.

The garden metaphor: Angelo, in Act 2, Scene 4, uses a garden metaphor to describe how virtue can be overrun by temptation: “The tempter or the tempted, who sins most? Ha! / Not she; nor doth she tempt; but it is I / That, lying by the violet in the sun, / Do as the carrion does, not as the flower, / Corrupt with virtuous season.” Here, the imagery of the "flower" (virtue) being corrupted by the "sun" (temptation) reflects Angelo’s internal struggle and moral decline.

Dramatic Irony and Wordplay

Shakespeare makes extensive use of dramatic irony and wordplay, particularly to highlight the gap between appearance and reality.

Dramatic irony with the Duke: Much of the play’s dramatic irony stems from the Duke’s disguise. The audience knows that the friar is actually the Duke, while the characters confide in him, unaware of his true identity. This irony allows Shakespeare to explore the theme of appearance versus reality, as the Duke manipulates events from behind his disguise.

Lucio’s wordplay: Lucio engages in constant wordplay, often using puns and sexual innuendos to undermine authority figures and expose the hypocrisies of the ruling class. His irreverent language provides a counterpoint to the more serious themes of the play and helps to expose the moral ambiguity of the characters.

Blank Verse and Prose

Shakespeare alternates between blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter) and prose to distinguish between characters and highlight shifts in tone.

Blank verse for serious themes: Characters such as the Duke, Angelo, and Isabella speak in blank verse during important moments, emphasising the gravity of their discussions about law, justice, and morality.

Prose for comic relief: In contrast, the lower-class characters, such as Pompey and Lucio, speak in prose. This helps to create a more casual, comic tone and distances their world of vice and bawdy humour from the elevated moral discourse of the central characters.