Since more than one character in the play Measure for Measure  has a brush with death, a deeper inquiry into the code of conduct that went into the job of executioner provides worthwhile insight for the reaction the audience would have about said topic.

Though the play takes place in Vienna, the audience would be familiar with the great symbol of power that stood during their time: The Tower of London. This site, in itself, offers pages and pages of history on how power is exhibited. Drownings, tortures, marriages, imprisonments and executions all took place there.

Executions had their own code of conducts, one of which was the class divide for the process of how an individual would be “dealt with”. The question of how was resolved through class: The upper class were deemed worthy of beheading, as apparently it was considered the least brutal ( accounts of beheadings gone wrong prove otherwise. The source for this information.

Other factors that sealed the fate of the accused included (of course) gender and the nature of the crime. Traitors were deemed especially malicious and had a list of execution methods set all to themselves.

What I found particularly interesting in the executions presented up till now (Act 3) of the play is that almost all the characters had some form of say in their ill fate. Claudio, for example, was handed a reprieve at the hands of his sister’s maiden status. In some way, he had a choice in his death sentence. Barnardine, another example, got to push off his quickened beheading with pure luck, even though his death was long coming and he seemed ready.

With the continuous mentions of birth, pregnancy and life, it’s worthy to pay attention to how death is presented in the play. While pregnancy, or giving life, seems to be met with harsh consequences (for man and woman) and great dispute, death becomes an answer and even a greater indicator of character in the play.