Measure Essay: The Errors Of Human Nature

The play Measure for Measure is concerned with the errors of human nature and is central to how these actions impact the external environment. But it also focuses on the inner world, the intuitive aspect of the individual which functions according to values: the person’s moral center. In other words, the central conflict of the play is a battle between seeming and being, and noting the congruence between the two is crucial towards the theme of the play. This can even be seen when the Duke himself tells the difference between appearance and reality as he speaks about his deputy, Angelo, stating that “Angelo is precise; stands at a guard with envy; scarce confesses that his blood flows, or that his appetite Is more to bread than stone: hence shall we see, if power change purpose, what our seemers be,” (1.3.4). Seemingly, Angelo appears to be the perfect deputy and the disciplined character. Although Angelo is highly introspective and genuine with himself, he continuously deceives people in his every day interactions. So, it does not surprise us to find that Angelo is frequently compared to counterfeit money throughout the course of the play. This motif is initiated when the Duke announces that Angelo will be his deputy, to which Angelo responds with the

Prevalent theology, at the time Shakespeare wrote Measure for Measure, reminded people that each person was tainted with evil: this is not to say that everyone was born inherently bad, but instead that no individual could claim to be entirely pure. The fact that Angelo fell victim to temptation and sin was not surprising. His pride, however, was largely undeserved, and it was a major sin in itself. Moreover, his self-appointed arrogance was like a threshold into even less favorable circumstances: it made him especially vulnerable to committing the acts of temptation and