In Acts IV and V of Measure for Measure, all hell breaks loose. The Duke makes the entire situation of Claudio’s death very complicated and frustrating as he continues to play tricks….and finds joy in his tricks. He prolongs the fact that he knows Claudio is alive to make Isabella reach the deep end of depression just to tell her that her brother is alive so she can be happy again. He attempts to give Angelo a taste of what “strict” law is when he threatens to execute him but again, he grants him mercy by allowing him to marry Mariana instead of punishing him with death.

I did not like the ending of the play because it was very unsatisfactory. It ended with The Duke forcing Isabella to marry him–which I thought was a form of rape–because she was a nun in progress and her virginity was a big deal to her. Even though Angelo was an evil character who obeyed the law very harshly, he was a hypocrite who realized his hypocrisy. The Duke on the other hand, I thought, was worse than Angelo because he knew all of his faults and completely tried to run away from the flaws in law that he caused. It was his fault that the law did not work so even when Angelo tried to enforce the law, it did not work because the characters went to The Duke to consult about mercy and he got in the center of the law anyway. He was also worse because even though he saved Claudio, he played games throughout the play and dragged on a situation he could have ended and he forced Isabella to marry him against her wish.

In my opinion, I thought Angelo and The Duke were evil characters who made the play extremely frustrating. The law was a complete joke in the play. None of the characters took it seriously, even ones who were in the process of being executed. Even a minor character like Barnardine did not take his punishment seriously and talked his way out of execution because he knew talking his way out would work. The law does not work when there is mercy involved, they don’t mesh together. The law does not exist if there is mercy.

“The very mercy of the law cries out” (Act V Scene I)

I found an image of Isabella kneeling on her knees to The Duke at the end of the play when she is begging him:

To me this is such a pathetic scene because The Duke is not any better of a character than anyone else in the play. None of the characters are extremely likable.