Original: She, Claudio, that you wrong’d, look you restore.
Modern: Claudio, make sure you marry her—the woman you wronged.

Original: Joy to you, Mariana! Love her, Angelo:
Modern: Congratulations, Mariana! Angelo, you must love her.

Original: I have confess’d her and I know her virtue.
Modern: I’ve heard her confession and I know she’s a good person.

Original: Thanks, good friend Escalus, for thy much goodness:
Modern: Thank you, good friend Escalus, for all your kindness.

Original: There’s more behind that is more gratulate.
Modern: There’s more to come that will make you even happier.

Original: Thanks, provost, for thy care and secrecy:
Modern: Thank you, jailer, for your careful attention and keeping our secret.

Original: We shill employ thee in a worthier place.
Modern: We’ll give you a better position.

Original: Forgive him, Angelo, that brought you home
Modern: Angelo, forgive the man who brought you

Original: The head of Ragozine for Claudio’s:
Modern: Ragozine’s head instead of Claudio’s.

Original: The offence pardons itself. Dear Isabel,
Modern: That crime cancels itself out. Dear Isabel,

Original: I have a motion much imports your good;
Modern: I have a proposal that’s very important for your happiness.

Original: Whereto if you’ll a willing ear incline,
Modern: If you’re willing to listen to it,

Original: What’s mine is yours and what is yours is mine.
Modern: Everything I have will be yours, and everything you have will be mine.

Original: So, bring us to our palace; where we’ll show
Modern: Now, let’s go to my palace, where we’ll reveal

Original: What’s yet behind, that’s meet you all should know.
Modern: Everything else that remains, which you all should know about.

Act V, Scene i of Measure for Measure takes place at the city gates of Vienna, where the Duke, having returned from his supposed journey, is greeted by Angelo and Escalus. Isabella steps forward and publicly accuses Angelo of having broken his promise — he had agreed to free her brother Claudio in exchange for her sexual submission, but after she complied, he executed Claudio anyway. Angelo dismisses her accusations as the ravings of a madwoman, and the Duke initially appears to side with Angelo, sending Isabella away and placing her in the custody of the Provost. Mariana then enters and reveals that she, not Isabella, was the woman who lay with Angelo, having done so as part of the bed-trick arranged by the disguised Duke. Angelo, still unaware that the Duke himself had orchestrated these events, continues to deny all charges.

The scene reaches its climax when the Duke withdraws and returns in his friar’s disguise, only to be unmasked by Lucio, who pulls off his hood. The Duke’s true identity is revealed, and the full weight of Angelo’s deceptions is laid bare. Angelo confesses and asks for death as his punishment. The Duke, however, orders Angelo to marry Mariana immediately, and upon their return, sentences him to death — mirroring the sentence Angelo had imposed on Claudio. Mariana pleads for Angelo’s life, and Isabella, despite her grief over Claudio, joins in the appeal for mercy. The Provost then produces Claudio, alive and disguised, revealing that he had spared him. The Duke pardons Angelo, reunites Claudio with Juliet, and proposes marriage to Isabella.

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.