Original: Most strange, but yet most truly, will I speak:
Modern: This is very strange, but I will speak the absolute truth:

Original: That Angelo’s forsworn; is it not strange?
Modern: Angelo has broken his oath; isn’t that strange?

Original: That Angelo’s a murderer; is ‘t not strange?
Modern: Angelo is a murderer; isn’t that strange?

Original: That Angelo is an adulterous thief,
Modern: Angelo is an unfaithful thief,

Original: An hypocrite, a virgin-violator;
Modern: A hypocrite, someone who violates innocent women;

Original: Is it not strange and strange?
Modern: Isn’t that incredibly strange?

Original: It is not truer he is Angelo
Modern: It’s no more true that he is Angelo

Original: Than this is all as true as it is strange:
Modern: Than all of this is as true as it is strange:

Original: Nay, it is ten times true; for truth is truth
Modern: No, it’s ten times more true; because truth is truth

Original: To the end of reckoning.
Modern: Until the end of time.

Original: O prince, I conjure thee, as thou believest
Modern: Oh prince, I beg you, as you believe

Original: There is another comfort than this world,
Modern: There is another comfort beyond this world,

Original: That thou neglect me not, with that opinion
Modern: Don’t ignore me with the opinion

Original: That I am touch’d with madness! Make not impossible
Modern: That I’ve been touched by madness! Don’t make impossible

Original: That which but seems unlike: ‘tis not impossible
Modern: What only seems unlikely: it’s not impossible

Original: But one, the wicked’st caitiff on the ground,
Modern: That one person, the most wicked villain alive,

Original: May seem as shy, as grave, as just, as absolute
Modern: May appear as modest, as serious, as fair, as perfect

Original: As Angelo; even so may Angelo,
Modern: As Angelo; and just as well, Angelo,

Original: In all his dressings, characts, titles, forms,
Modern: With all his clothes, characteristics, titles, and appearances,

Original: Be an arch-villain; believe it, royal prince:
Modern: May be a master villain; believe it, royal prince:

Original: If he be less, he’s nothing; but he’s more,
Modern: If he’s anything less than that, he’s nothing; but he’s even worse,

Original: Had I more name for badness.
Modern: If I had stronger words for evil.

In Act V, Scene 1 of “Measure for Measure,” the Duke, disguised as a friar, orchestrates the final resolution of the play’s central conflicts in a public setting before the city gates. Isabella appears before the Duke (who pretends not to know her) to accuse Angelo of corruption, claiming he promised to spare her brother Claudio’s life in exchange for her chastity, then broke his word by executing Claudio anyway. The Duke initially appears to dismiss her claims as incredible, leading to Isabella’s arrest. Mariana then arrives, veiled, to support Isabella’s accusations and reveals that she, not Isabella, actually slept with Angelo, as she was his former betrothed whom he had abandoned.

The scene builds to its climax when the Duke reveals his true identity, having shed his friar’s disguise. Angelo’s crimes are fully exposed, and he is forced to marry Mariana as punishment, though he expects to be executed afterward. However, the Duke reveals that Claudio is actually alive - the Provost had substituted another prisoner’s head to save him. The Duke pardons Angelo and proposes marriage to Isabella. All the play’s romantic pairings are resolved: Angelo marries Mariana, Claudio is reunited with the pregnant Juliet whom he will marry, and Lucio is forced to marry the prostitute Kate Keepdown, whom he had made pregnant, before being pardoned for his slanders against the Duke.

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.