Original: This forenam’d maid hath yet in her the continuance of her first affection:
Modern: The woman I just mentioned still loves Angelo as much as she did at first.

Original: his unjust unkindness, that in all reason should have quenched her love, hath,
Modern: His cruel and unfair treatment of her, which logically should have killed her love,

Original: like an impediment in the current, made it more violent and unruly.
Modern: has actually made her love stronger and more intense, like a rock in a stream makes the water flow harder.

Original: Go you to Angelo; answer his requiring with a plausible obedience;
Modern: Go to Angelo and respond to his demands as if you’re willing to obey him.

Original: agree with his demands to the point;
Modern: Agree to everything he asks for.

Original: only refer yourself to this advantage, first, that your stay with him may not be long;
Modern: Just make sure to insist on this condition: that your time with him will be brief.

Original: that the time may have all shadow and silence in it;
Modern: Make sure the meeting happens in complete darkness and silence.

Original: and the place answer to convenience.
Modern: And that the location works well for our plan.

Original: This being granted in course,—and now follows all,—
Modern: Once he agrees to these terms—and here’s the key part—

Original: we shall advise this wronged maid to stead up your appointment, go in your place;
Modern: we’ll tell Mariana, who he wronged, to keep your appointment and go instead of you.

Original: if the encounter acknowledge itself hereafter, it may compel him to her recompense:
Modern: If this meeting becomes known later, it might force him to make things right with her.

Original: and here, by this, is your brother saved, your honour untainted,
Modern: And this way, your brother’s life is saved, your reputation stays clean,

Original: the poor Mariana advantaged, and the corrupt deputy scaled.
Modern: Mariana gets what she deserves, and the corrupt Angelo is exposed and brought down.

Original: The maid will I frame and make fit for his attempt.
Modern: I’ll prepare Mariana and make sure she’s ready for this encounter.

Original: If you think well to carry this as you may, the doubleness of the benefit defends the deceit from reproof.
Modern: If you agree to go through with this plan, the fact that it helps two people at once justifies the trickery.

Original: What think you of it?
Modern: What do you think of this plan?

In Act III, Scene i of Measure for Measure, beginning around line 194, Isabella arrives to visit her brother Claudio in prison and delivers the devastating news that Angelo has proposed an unconscionable bargain: she must surrender her chastity to him in exchange for Claudio’s release. Isabella makes clear to her brother that she has already resolved to refuse Angelo’s proposition, fully expecting that Claudio will share her outrage and accept his death with honor rather than allow her to compromise herself. For a brief moment, Claudio responds with apparent courage, declaring that he will embrace death before asking such a sacrifice of his sister. The exchange between the siblings initially appears to confirm a shared moral resolve.

However, Claudio’s courage quickly falters as he contemplates the reality of his impending execution. He begins to speak at length about his fear of death and what may lie beyond it, and he ultimately breaks down and pleads with Isabella to accept Angelo’s terms and save his life. Isabella reacts with fierce anger and bitter disappointment, rebuking Claudio sharply and accusing him of cowardice and dishonor. She calls into question his legitimacy as her brother and expresses contempt for his willingness to purchase his life at the cost of her virtue. The scene ends with the siblings at an emotional impasse, their confrontation interrupted by the Duke, who has been listening nearby in his disguise as a friar.

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.