Measure for Measure, Act 2 Scene 2 — Summary & Analysis

Could great men thunder As Jove himself does, Jove would ne'er be quiet, For every pelting, petty officer Would use his heaven for thunder; Nothing but thunder! Merciful Heaven, Thou rather with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt Split'st the unwedgeable and gnarled oak Than the soft myrtle: but man, proud man, Drest in a little brief authority, Most ignorant of what he's most assured, His glassy essence, like an angry ape, Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven As make the angels weep.

If great men could thunder Like Jove himself, Jove would never stop, Because every petty officer Would use his heaven for thunder; Nothing but thunder! Merciful Heaven, You'd rather strike the hard and twisted oak With your sharp and fiery bolt Than the soft myrtle: but man, proud man, Dressed in a little brief authority, So ignorant of what he's most certain of, His fragile nature, like an angry ape, Plays such foolish tricks before high heaven That even the angels weep.

Isabella · Act 2, Scene 2

Isabella, in her passionate plea to Angelo, denounces the arrogance of authority in one of the play's most soaring speeches. The passage is studied because it captures how small power corrupts small people more dangerously than great power corrupts the great—the petty officer becomes a tyrant. It is also Isabella at her most eloquent and human, not yet corrupted by the world's compromises.

We cannot weigh our brother with ourself: Great men may jest with saints; 'tis wit in them, But in the less foul profanation.

We can't measure our brother by ourselves: Great men can joke with saints; it's witty in them, But in others it's an ugly disrespect.

Isabella · Act 2, Scene 2

Isabella continues her argument that the same act has different moral weight depending on who commits it and in what context. The line is quotable because it exposes the hypocrisy at the heart of all justice systems—that the powerful are never judged by the same measure as the weak. It is also Isabella setting the trap for Angelo, holding up a mirror to his own philosophy.

She speaks, and 'tis such sense, that my sense breeds with it.

She speaks, and it makes sense, So much so that it stirs something in me.

Angelo · Act 2, Scene 2

Angelo, alone after Isabella's first plea for her brother's life, confesses that her virtue has awakened his lust. The line is famous because it uses a pun—sense as both reason and desire—to show a man losing himself in real time. It captures the moment when Angelo's carefully constructed self begins to crack, revealing that repression is not virtue but a ticking bomb.