Claudio: Sweet sister, let me live.
What sin you do to save a brother’s life,
Nature dispenses with the deed so far
That it becomes a virtue.Isabella: Oh, you beast!
O faithless coward, o dishonest wretch,
Wilt thou be made a man out of my vice?
Is’t not a kind of incest to take life
From thine own sister’s shame? (3.1.138-145)
This exchange between Isabella and her brother Claudio encapsulates the central dilemma of Measure for Measure: should Isabella, a novice nun, surrender her virginity to Angelo in order to save Claudio’s life? The play is full of similar sexual, religious, moral and socio-political questions, such as the importance of virginity, whether chastity or charity is the most important Christian virtue, and whether pre-marital sex...
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Citation: Harrington, Louise, Alexandra Katherine Harrington. "Measure for Measure". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 April 2004; last revised 07 June 2020. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3651, accessed 09 June 2026.]
