Original: This deed unshapes me quite, makes me unpregnant
Modern: This action has completely unmade me, left me powerless and unable to act

Original: And dull to all proceedings. A deflower’d maid!
Modern: And numb to everything that’s happening. A virgin I’ve violated!

Original: And by an eminent body that enforced
Modern: And violated by a powerful person who is supposed to enforce

Original: The law against it! But that her tender shame
Modern: The very law against such crimes! But because her delicate shame

Original: Will not proclaim against her maiden loss,
Modern: Won’t let her publicly announce the loss of her virginity,

Original: How might she tongue me! Yet reason dares her no;
Modern: How she could accuse me! But reason tells her she dares not;

Original: For my authority bears of a credent bulk,
Modern: Because my position carries such believable weight,

Original: That no particular scandal once can touch
Modern: That no individual accusation can even touch me

Original: But it confounds the breather. He should have lived,
Modern: Without destroying the accuser. He should have been allowed to live,

Original: Save that riotous youth, with dangerous sense,
Modern: Except that his wild youth, with its dangerous passion,

Original: Might in the times to come have ta’en revenge,
Modern: Might in the future have taken revenge,

Original: By so receiving a dishonour’d life
Modern: By living with such a dishonorable existence

Original: With ransom of such shame. Would yet he had lived!
Modern: As payment for such shame. I still wish he had lived!

Original: A lack, when once our grace we have forgot,
Modern: Alas, when we have forgotten our virtue and self-control,

Original: Nothing goes right: we would, and we would not.
Modern: Nothing goes right: we want one thing, then we want the opposite.

In Act IV, Scene 4 of “Measure for Measure,” Angelo and Escalus discuss the impending execution of Claudio, which is set to take place the following morning. Angelo expresses concern about potential unrest from Claudio’s friends and seems eager to ensure the execution proceeds as planned. Escalus gently suggests that Angelo might have been too severe in his judgment, noting that Angelo himself could have been tempted by similar passions in his youth, but Angelo firmly maintains his position, insisting on the law’s strict application. He emphasizes that judges must not be swayed by mercy when enforcing justice, stating that the law would become meaningless if those who execute it were themselves guilty of the same crimes.

The scene shifts when a message arrives from the Duke (still disguised as Friar Lodowick), carried by a provost. The letter’s contents trouble Angelo, as it appears to contain instructions or information that may complicate his plans. Angelo briefly discusses the Duke’s expected return to Vienna, expressing some unease about what the Duke might know or suspect. Escalus remains respectful and dutiful throughout, while Angelo grows increasingly anxious about maintaining control of the situation. The scene concludes with Angelo departing to prepare for the Duke’s imminent arrival, leaving the audience aware of his growing discomfort as the various threads of deception begin to converge.

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.