Sin and vice are genuinely synonymous with disease in Measure for Measure. An infectious sickness that runs rampant in the Duke’s city specifically, for which there is no known cure. Angelo believes that the only vaccine for such a tempting disease is imprisonment and ultimately death.

However viral this sin is, it seems to have one definite attribute – it’s common. Whether it be a Duke, a Gentleman, or even a women contemplating her place in a convent, temptation runs amidst them all. The Duke echoes this notion when he says, “None, but that there is so great a fever on goodness, that the dissolution of it must cure it…”(3.2.225-226). Somehow goodness has now become a tangible organ or vital component in human beings that can be infected. Sin has taken the form of a virus, causing symptoms such as fever that subsequently force good-natured people to act ill-natured.

Despite the destructive qualities of vice, its wrath seems unavoidable. Infecting people from all types of life, this common cold it would seem, does not discriminate. This might be the reason for the civil absolving of all crimes and action the Duke imposes at the end of the play. The commonality of sin saves its victims from blame. This salvation comes in the form of wit when the Duke says, “Craft against vice I must apply” (3.2.280). Knowledge takes the form of anti-bodies and heals the sick.