‘Come fear not you’
The prospect of a solution to Mistress Overdone’s problem intrigues the audience and makes them pay more attention to what he had to say,
“Though you change your place, you need not change your
trade. Ill be your tapster still,’
Here Pompey shows his influence over Mistress Overdone, and his devious nature which is shown by his ability to talk his way out of, and come up with a solution to a difficult situation, in this case Angelo’s plans to remodel the City. His obvious presence, as a larger than life character, grabs the audience’s attention and draws the audience into the play.
Already at this early stage in the play we see Shakespeare portraying Angelo as a remote and cold character, with no care for the poorer people of the city. Clearly he has distanced himself from the “goings on,” of the ordinary people, if he thinks all sex before marriage will stop; and cold if he didn’t take into account the circumstances of Claudio and Juliet’s relationship and still arrests Claudio.
Shakespeare brings us to our first meeting with Claudio and Lucio. Here the Audience is given an impression of Angelo and his character, Claudio says that Angelo is treating the populous as if it were:
“A horse whereupon the governor doth ride,
Who, newly sat in the seat, that it may know
He can command, let it straight feel the spur.”
In this quote we see what Claudio thinks Angelo has made a rash decision. The image of Angelo riding a new horse and having him treat it hard showing that he can command, ‘let it feel the spur,’ to show the horse who is in charge.
It’s interesting because we can see this reflected in Angelo’s action against Claudio. The promotion is like riding a new horse and treating it hard, this can be paralleled with Angelo having a new position of power and making examples of people to show his authority.
Claudio continues to comment on Angelo, this quote shows how Angelo seems to be playing at being God,
Claudio: ‘ Thus cant the demi-god, Authority,
Make us pay down for our offence by weight,
The words of Heaven; on whom it will not; so; yet still ‘tis just.’
Here Claudio is commenting on Angelo, saying that he is playing at God by using the phrase ‘Demi-God,’ and that he has unjustly combined divine and human justice resulting in the condemning of him (Claudio) alone of many in Vienna who have committed this sin. The phrase ‘Make us pay down for our offence by weight,’ has a very old meaning which is it’s not the amount of coins you pay with it’s the weight/quality of them which really matters. By saying this he is being made an example of and that it’s the quality/harshness of the punishment that matters not the amount of people punished for the sin. The pre-contracted agreement of marriage between Claudio and Juliet his sweetheart was common between people in the Elizabethan period, so Shakespeare’s contemporary audience would not have looked upon Claudio’s ‘crime,’ nearly as harshly as Angelo had done.
Here Shakespeare is influencing the audience’s opinion of Angelo making them side with Claudio thereby adding greater dramatic effect to anything Angelo does, increasing the dramatic interest not only in the scene but in the play also.
The speeches of Lucio, the two Gentlemen, Pompey and Mistress Overdone are all in prose, giving the early part of the scene, where these characters appear a common tone, an example of this is the conversation between Lucio and the Two Gentlemen,
“Behold, behold, where Madam Mitigation comes. I have
purchased many diseases under her roof.”
This quote gives an example of the kind of people Lucio mixes with and also, what kind of a person Lucio is. Joking about ‘purchasing many diseases,’ doesn’t give the audience a positive reflection on Lucio’s character, and certainly gives a firm impression of the kind of ‘house,’ Mistress Overdone runs. Shakespeare lowers the character of Lucio when we see him involved in some bawdy jesting with the two Gentlemen, this shows how Shakespeare’s humour would have appealed to the audiences of his day,
First Gentleman: ‘I had as lief be a list of an English kersey, as be piled, as
thou art piled, for a French velvet,’
Here we can see Shakespeare’s humorous play on words. The contrasting images of Kersey and Velvet initially imply that one does not favour the lifestyle of the other. The phrase ‘French velvet,’ is a euphemism for a moral degenerate such as Lucio. The coupling of piles and baldness, shown earlier in the phrase, suggests that Lucio suffers from syphilis, this is confirmed when Lucio is compared to French Velvet because Syphilis was commonly known as the ‘French disease.’ Clearly here Shakespeare is influencing the audiences’ impression of Lucio, consequently establishing an uncertainty about his morality (or his moral values.) Calling Mistress Overdone ‘Madam Mitigation,’ shows that she smoothes out the wrinkles between people and brings them together. The quote above contrasts the type relationship between Lucio and Mistress Overdone have, and the friendly relationship between Lucio and Claudio.
‘Why, how now Claudio? Whence comes this restraint’…
‘I thank you, good friend Lucio.”
After seeing him talking with Claudio in such an affectionate way one wonders why Lucio would want to associate himself with the lower order of society when he could mix with the upper class like Claudio.
The quote above highlights the apparent friendship between Claudio and Lucio. Claudio’s speech is a contrast to the previous prose used, he speaks in blank verse a device often used by Shakespeare to indicate a characters social status, therefore separating himself from the lower characters but we must ask why does Lucio lower himself to the likes of Pompey, the Pimp, and Mistress Overdone when he can mix with people of influence e.g. Claudio.
As an onlooker I feel that this brings an element of distrust to the character of Lucio. Lucio’s use of prose seems very inappropriate when used next to Claudio’s iambic pentameters, and the jovial nature of his speech seems to be quite shocking,
‘thy head stands so tickle on thy shoulders,’
This is an example of Lucio’s inappropriate use of language and tone. Shakespeare changes the tone of Lucio’s character in act1 scene4 almost immediately after this meeting with Claudio; it changes to quite a serious tone,
‘Under whose heavy sense your brother’s life falls into forfeit.
He arrests him on it’
I feel the affect of the contrast of these quotes on the audience will be to make them feel that Lucio is an un-trustworthy character. He chooses to mix with the lower class when any other self respecting member of the upper class would try to separate themselves from the lower class, and Lucio’s failure to do this suggests to me even at this early point that he has something to hide, and I’m sure the audience in Shakespeare’s day would feel the same.
At the end of the scene Shakespeare has Claudio urge Lucio to find his Sister, who is about to enter a Convent, and ‘acquaint her with the danger of,’ his situation, Lucio is to implore her to intercede with Angelo for mercy on Claudio’s behalf. Isabella, Claudio’s sister, is a symbol of morality and integrity. Here Shakespeare is establishing one of the sub-plots in the play. Lucio promises to enact this wish of Claudio but the audience is left debating whether we should trust Lucio, or not.
Also we don’t know if Isabella is going to side with Claudio. She knows that Claudio wasn’t strictly married to Juliet and according to the rules of the Church she is about to enter sex before Marriage is forbidden, so the moral standing of Isabella may come into question. The prospect of a confrontation between Isabella and Angelo at this point creates an element of anticipation for the audience, thereby enhancing the dramatic tension in the scene.
This scene, so early in act1 and therefore the play, is I believe pivotal in establishing many of the characters with the audience. It also introduces the plight of the condemned Claudio and an indication of the type of ruler Angelo is going to be. An important question that becomes apparent to the audience at this point is whether Claudio has been given ‘Measure for Measure?,’ does his punishment fit the crime he has committed.
Not only does this bring into question Angelo’s suitability to govern but also it throws up doubts as to whether the other characters in the play will receive ‘Measure for Measure,’ and if Angelo will obey his own rules and judgements. Furthermore the audience must question the motivation of the Duke, to abandon his people to the harsh judgements of a leader such as Angelo; without any apparent reason or explanation. The confrontation between Angelo and Isabella is another subplot where Shakespeare leaves the conclusion till the very end.
We are also allowed to make suppositions about how the characters will relate to each other in the future, for example how will the morally upright Isabella fairs with the bawdy nature of Lucio, and where is the Duke? What are his intentions, all of these plots and scenarios increase the dramatic tension. This heightens the drama because we can see, as the play unfolds, whether our initial suppositions prove to be true.
