Original: Who will believe thee, Isabel?
Modern: Who’s going to believe you, Isabel?

Original: My unsoil’d name, the austereness of my life,
Modern: My spotless reputation and my strict, moral way of living,

Original: My vouch against you, and my place i’ the state,
Modern: My word against yours, and my powerful position in the government,

Original: Will so your accusation overweigh,
Modern: Will so outweigh anything you accuse me of,

Original: That you shall stifle in your own report
Modern: That you’ll be suffocated by your own story

Original: And smell of calumny. I have begun,
Modern: And be known as a liar. I’ve already started down this path,

Original: And now I give my sensual race the rein:
Modern: And now I’m letting my sexual desires run free:

Original: Fit thy consent to my sharp appetite;
Modern: Match your agreement to my intense craving;

Original: Lay by all nicety and prolixious blushes,
Modern: Put aside all your modesty and excessive blushing,

Original: That banish what they sue for; redeem thy brother
Modern: Which only push away what they’re begging for; save your brother

Original: By yielding up thy body to my will;
Modern: By giving your body to me and doing what I want;

Original: Or else he must not only die the death,
Modern: Or else he won’t just be executed,

Original: But thy unkindness shall his death draw out
Modern: But your refusal will make his death drag on

Original: To lingering sufferance. Answer me to-morrow,
Modern: Into long, drawn-out suffering. Give me your answer tomorrow,

Original: Or, by the affection that now guides me most,
Modern: Or, I swear by this passion that’s driving me right now,

Original: I’ll prove a tyrant to him. As for you,
Modern: I’ll be a cruel torturer to him. As for you,

Original: Say what you can, my false o’erweighs your true.
Modern: Say whatever you want—my lies will be believed over your truth.

In this section of Act II, Scene 4, Angelo continues his attempt to seduce Isabella, becoming increasingly direct in his proposition. He tells her that he desires her physically, not her brother’s life, and that she must yield her body to him if she wants to save Claudio from execution. Angelo frames his demand by stating that her brother will die the next day unless she complies with his wishes, and he emphasizes that he is speaking plainly and without ambiguity about what he expects from her.

Isabella initially struggles to comprehend Angelo’s meaning, asking him to clarify his words and expressing confusion about his intentions. When Angelo makes his demand explicit—that she must lay down the treasures of her body to save her brother—Isabella finally understands the corrupt bargain he is proposing. She responds with moral outrage, declaring that she would rather her brother die than submit to such dishonor. Isabella tells Angelo that she will expose his wickedness publicly, threatening to reveal his corrupt proposition to the world, though Angelo counters that his reputation and position will protect him and no one will believe her word against his.

Measure for Measure opens in Vienna, where Duke Vincentio announces he must leave the city on urgent business and appoints his deputy Angelo to govern in his absence, with the elder lord Escalus as Angelo’s advisor. The Duke actually remains in Vienna disguised as a friar to observe how Angelo will rule. Angelo immediately begins strictly enforcing long-neglected laws against sexual immorality, ordering the demolition of brothels and condemning Claudio to death for getting his betrothed Juliet pregnant before their official marriage ceremony.

Claudio’s sister Isabella, a novice nun, pleads with Angelo for her brother’s life. Angelo, struck by Isabella’s beauty and virtue, propositions her: he will spare Claudio’s life if she will sleep with him. Isabella refuses and tells her brother of Angelo’s corrupt bargain. When Claudio, desperate to live, begs Isabella to sacrifice her chastity for his life, she angrily rejects the idea. The disguised Duke, who has been counseling prisoners, overhears this conversation and devises a plan.

The Duke arranges for Mariana, Angelo’s former betrothed whom he abandoned when her dowry was lost, to take Isabella’s place in a secret nighttime encounter with Angelo - a “bed trick” that Angelo believes is with Isabella. Despite this fulfillment of the bargain, Angelo still orders Claudio’s execution. The Duke, still disguised, arranges for another prisoner’s head to be sent to Angelo instead of Claudio’s, saving Claudio’s life while letting Angelo believe his order was carried out.

In the final act, the Duke returns publicly to Vienna, and Isabella openly accuses Angelo of corruption before the Duke (not knowing he already knows everything). The Duke pretends to disbelieve her until he reveals his true identity and Angelo’s crimes. Angelo confesses and is sentenced to marry Mariana and then be executed, though Mariana and Isabella both plead for his life. The Duke pardons Angelo, reveals that Claudio is alive, and proposes marriage to Isabella, leaving her response ambiguous in the text.