MMV "Mortality and Mercy in Vienna"

[Dave Monroe]

DUKE VINCENTIO 

Angelo, 
There is a kind of character in thy life, 
That to the observer doth thy history 
Fully unfold. Thyself and thy belongings 
Are not thine own so proper as to waste 
Thyself upon thy virtues, they on thee. 
Heaven doth with us as we with torches do, 
Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues 
Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike 
As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touch'd 
But to fine issues, nor Nature never lends 
The smallest scruple of her excellence 
But, like a thrifty goddess, she determines 
Herself the glory of a creditor, 
Both thanks and use. But I do bend my speech 
To one that can my part in him advertise; 
Hold therefore, Angelo:-- 
In our remove be thou at full ourself; 
Mortality and mercy in Vienna 
Live in thy tongue and heart: old Escalus, 
Though first in question, is thy secondary. 
Take thy commission.  (MM I.i.29-50)

http://the-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/measure/measure.1.1.html

http://ise.uvic.ca/Annex/DraftTxt/MM/MM_FScenes/MM_F1.1.html

http://ise.uvic.ca/Annex/DraftTxt/MM/MM_FPages/MM_FF1.html

Identifying himself with God through a paraphrase of
Jesus (Matt: 5: 14–16), the Duke selects Angelo to
shine forth in virtue: 'Heaven doth with us as we with
torches do' (1.1.33). He makes him the dispenser of
'mortality and mercy' in Vienna and hastily departs.
The Duke's secret purpose, revealed to the audience in
the third scene, is 'to strike and gall' the unruly
citizens by appointing a harsh deputy to enforce the
laws that he himself has allowed to 'let slip', and at
the same time to test the Deputy's integrity once he's
been given the Duke's authority, in order to 'see | If
power change purpose, what our seemers be' (1.3.53–4).
Friar Thomas—named after the doubting disciple (John
20: 25)—is extremely dubious about this plan, as have
been many critics, for it seems both politically
impractical as well as ethically compromised.
Nevertheless, the Duke's plan resembles the strategy
of God the ruler trying to govern recalcitrant
humanity with prophets, judges, kings, and a nation of
priests while at the same time testing his chosen
deputies.

http://cla.calpoly.edu/~smarx/courses/431/TrueLies.html

This imagery of darkness and light is inverted when
one turns to Angelo, who hides the darkness of his
nature initially from himself, in self-righteous
piety, and then from the world, through a cynically
hypocritical manipulation of the authority entrusted
to him. The inner and outer dimensions of the person
are thus perceived to be intimately connected; an
association enunciated by the Duke in his original
commission: ‘Mortality and mercy in Vienna/ Live in
thy tongue and heart,’ (1.1.44-5). James utilises
exactly the same mechanism in an attempt to ground the
justice, authority, and mercy of the state in the
actual person of the sovereign.

http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/publications/philament/issue1_AlisonOHarae.htm

    In the obscure opening lines of Measure for
Measure, Duke Vincentio, the ruler of Vienna, takes as
his topic, "of government the properties to unfold,"
and the prominence of this phrase at the play's outset
suggests a message for those who wield the proper
powers of government, most notably the power to charge
and punish for crime. Vincentio has decided to depart
Vienna for a time, and rather than invest his
authority in the learned Escalus--"For common justice
y'are as pregnant in / As art and practice hath
enriched any / That we remember."--he leaves in charge
the younger Angelo: "Hold therefore, Angelo. / In our
remove be thou at full ourself; / Mortality and mercy
in Vienna / Live in thy tongue and heart. Old Escalus,
/ Though first in question, is thy secondary. Take thy
commission."
    Although the Duke professes a high opinion of
Angelo, as someone whose life advertises his virtue,
others in Vienna are more dubious, especially after
they have gotten a taste of Angelo's regime....

http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/lpop/etext/okla/batey26.htm

But why Angelo? The duke’s first speech (1.1.3­14)
establishes Escalus as the most knowledgeable and
trustworthy administrator. However, he explains to
Friar Thomas, “Lord Angelo is precise,/ Stands at a
guard with envy, scarce confesses/ That his blood
flows or that his appetite/ Is more to bread than
stone” (1.3.50­53). He has earlier told Angelo that
Nature does not give us virtues to waste on ourselves,
but to use, “for if our virtues/ Did not go forth of
us, ‘twere all alike/ as if we had them not”
(1.1.34­36). Angelo protests that a “test [should be]
made of my mettle” (1.1.49) before being entrusted
with such responsibility. Nevertheless, the duke
charges him, “[B]e thou at full ourself,/ Mortality
and mercy in Vienna/ Live in thy tongue and heart”
(1.1.44­46), twenty lines later adding, “Your scope is
as mine own,/ So to enforce or qualify the laws/ As to
your soul seems good” (1.1.65-67, emphases mine).

http://www.bard.org/Education/Shakespeare/measurepay.html


		
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