Measure for Measure · Chapter
Scene I explained
In a moated grange, Mariana listens to a melancholy song before the Duke, disguised as a friar, arrives.
What happens
In a moated grange, Mariana listens to a melancholy song before the Duke, disguised as a friar, arrives. Isabella then enters and reveals the details of her planned meeting with Angelo, including the keys and the location. The Duke introduces Mariana to Isabella, and they agree to the bed-trick, with Mariana taking Isabella's place. The Duke reassures them that the deceit is justified due to Mariana's pre-contract with Angelo.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Manipulation
The Duke and Isabella orchestrate a deceptive plan to have Mariana take Isabella's place with Angelo, justifying it as a means to achieve justice.
Justice and Mercy
The bed-trick is framed as a way to enforce Mariana's rightful claim to Angelo, blending deceit with a pursuit of marital justice.
Characters to notice
- Mariana
Mariana is at the moated grange, initially melancholy and listening to a song, then agrees to participate in the bed-trick with Angelo.
- Duke Vincentio
The Duke, disguised as a friar, orchestrates the meeting between Mariana and Isabella and encourages the bed-trick.
- Isabella
Isabella arrives to inform the Duke of the plan to meet Angelo and agrees to the substitution of Mariana.
Key passages
“Take, O, take those lips away, That so sweetly were forsworn; And those eyes, the break of day, Lights that do mislead the morn: But my kisses bring again, bring again; Seals of love, but seal'd in vain, seal'd in vain.”
Remove the lips that once promised so sweetly but lied, and the eyes that deceive like a false dawn; return my kisses, which were tokens of love but now are meaningless.
The boy's song reflects Mariana's sorrow over Angelo's broken promises and lost love.
“He hath a garden circummured with brick, Whose western side is with a vineyard back'd; And to that vineyard is a planched gate, That makes his opening with this bigger key: This other doth command a little door Which from the vineyard to the garden leads;”
Angelo has a walled garden with a vineyard on the west side, accessible through a boarded gate using a larger key, and a smaller door from the vineyard into the garden opened by another key.
Isabella describes the physical layout of Angelo's garden, crucial for the planned nighttime meeting.
“He is your husband on a pre-contract: To bring you thus together, ’tis no sin, Sith that the justice of your title to him Doth flourish the deceit.”
Angelo is already your husband by a prior betrothal, so arranging this meeting is not sinful, because your rightful claim to him justifies the deception.
The Duke reassures Mariana that the bed-trick is morally acceptable due to her pre-existing contract with Angelo.