Measure for Measure: Act 3

by William Shakespeare
In this comedy, Vincentio, Duke of Vienna, leaves his realm in the hands of Angelo. The Duke then disguises himself as a friar to observe how things will change in his absence. Read the full text here

Here are links to our lists for the play: Act 1, Act 2, Act 3, Act 4, Act 5
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. servile
    submissive or fawning in attitude or behavior
    A breath thou art,
    Servile to all the skyey influences
    That doth this habitation where thou keep’st
    Hourly afflict.
  2. shun
    avoid and stay away from deliberately
    Merely, thou art death’s fool,
    For him thou labor’st by thy flight to shun,
    And yet runn’st toward him still.
  3. valiant
    having or showing heroism or courage
    Thou ’rt by no means valiant,
    For thou dost fear the soft and tender fork
    Of a poor worm.
  4. effusion
    flow under pressure
    Friend hast thou none,
    For thine own bowels which do call thee sire,
    The mere effusion of thy proper loins,
    Do curse the gout, serpigo, and the rheum
    For ending thee no sooner.
    The noun also means "an unrestrained expression of emotion," which describes the Duke's long speech. He is supposed to be a friar preparing Claudio to die, but he sounds more like he's talking about himself (gout, serpigo, and rheum are diseases that he's likely to suffer from). The phrase "effusion of thy proper loins" refers to children; this might be a general complaint (there's no other mention of heirs) or rationalization for not having or disowning his children.
  5. rheum
    a watery discharge from the mucous membranes
    Friend hast thou none,
    For thine own bowels which do call thee sire,
    The mere effusion of thy proper loins,
    Do curse the gout, serpigo, and the rheum
    For ending thee no sooner.
  6. alms
    money or goods contributed to the poor
    Thou hast nor youth nor age,
    But as it were an after-dinner’s sleep
    Dreaming on both, for all thy blessèd youth
    Becomes as agèd and doth beg the alms
    Of palsied eld; and when thou art old and rich,
    Thou hast neither heat, affection, limb, nor beauty
    To make thy riches pleasant.
  7. remedy
    act of correcting an error or a fault or an evil
    CLAUDIO: Is there no remedy?
    ISABELLA: None but such remedy as, to save a head,
    To cleave a heart in twain.
    The Latin verb mederi means "to heal" and often involves "a medicine or therapy that cures disease or relieves pain." Both definitions apply to Claudio's question, since he needs a remedy for Angelo's error (enforcing a long-dead, severe law) and for his pain (impending execution).
  8. cleave
    make by cutting into
    CLAUDIO: Is there no remedy?
    ISABELLA: None but such remedy as, to save a head,
    To cleave a heart in twain.
  9. implore
    beg or request earnestly and urgently
    Yes, brother, you may live.
    There is a devilish mercy in the judge,
    If you’ll implore it, that will free your life
    But fetter you till death.
  10. fetter
    restrain with shackles
    Yes, brother, you may live.
    There is a devilish mercy in the judge,
    If you’ll implore it, that will free your life
    But fetter you till death.
  11. apprehension
    fearful expectation or anticipation
    The sense of death is most in apprehension,
    And the poor beetle that we tread upon
    In corporal sufferance finds a pang as great
    As when a giant dies.
  12. corporal
    affecting the body as opposed to the mind or spirit
    The sense of death is most in apprehension,
    And the poor beetle that we tread upon
    In corporal sufferance finds a pang as great
    As when a giant dies.
  13. conserve
    keep in safety and protect from harm, loss, or destruction
    Thou art too noble to conserve a life
    In base appliances.
  14. visage
    the human face
    This outward-sainted deputy—
    Whose settled visage and deliberate word
    Nips youth i’ th’ head, and follies doth enew
    As falcon doth the fowl—is yet a devil.
  15. abhor
    feel hatred or disgust toward
    This night’s the time
    That I should do what I abhor to name,
    Or else thou diest tomorrow.
  16. deliverance
    recovery or preservation from loss or danger
    O, were it but my life,
    I’d throw it down for your deliverance
    As frankly as a pin.
    This noun was coined to differentiate from delivery, which also refers to "the event of giving birth." This meaning is not intended by Isabella here, but it is seen in this line: "I had rather my brother die by the law than my son should be unlawfully born." The odds of one night with Angelo resulting in pregnancy, death in childbirth, or shameful motherhood are not high, but they are factors in her decision. To seem more moral, she focuses on how the sin would affect her soul.
  17. clod
    a compact mass
    Ay, but to die, and go we know not where,
    To lie in cold obstruction and to rot,
    This sensible warm motion to become
    A kneaded clod
  18. penury
    a state of extreme poverty or destitution
    The weariest and most loathèd worldly life
    That age, ache, penury, and imprisonment
    Can lay on nature is a paradise
    To what we fear of death.
  19. dispense
    grant an exemption
    What sin you do to save a brother’s life,
    Nature dispenses with the deed so far
    That it becomes a virtue.
    The given definition can be traced to the medieval practice of religious figures granting dispensations, which often gave people permission to do what was forbidden or not do what was required. When the Duke/Friar says "might you dispense with your leisure," he is asking Isabella to do without her free time so he could speak with her.
  20. faithless
    having the character of a traitor; disloyal
    O, you beast!
    O faithless coward, O dishonest wretch,
    Wilt thou be made a man out of my vice?
  21. vouchsafe
    grant in a condescending manner
    Vouchsafe a word, young sister, but one word.
  22. superfluous
    more than is needed, desired, or required
    I have no superfluous leisure. My stay must be stolen out of other affairs, but I will attend you awhile.
  23. fallible
    likely to fail or make errors
    Do not satisfy your resolution with hopes that are fallible.
  24. amiss
    not functioning properly
    That shall not be much amiss. Yet, as the matter now stands, he will avoid your accusation: he made trial of you only.
  25. wrack
    smash or break forcefully
    Between which time of the contract and limit of the solemnity, her brother Frederick was wracked at sea, having in that perished vessel the dowry of his sister.
  26. lamentation
    a cry of sorrow and grief
    Left her in her tears and dried not one of them with his comfort, swallowed his vows whole, pretending in her discoveries of dishonor; in few, bestowed her on her own lamentation, which she yet wears for his sake; and he, a marble to her tears, is washed with them but relents not.
  27. recompense
    make payment to
    If the encounter acknowledge itself hereafter, it may compel him to her recompense; and here, by this, is your brother saved, your honor untainted, the poor Mariana advantaged, and the corrupt deputy scaled.
  28. reproof
    an act or expression of criticism and censure
    If you think well to carry this as you may, the doubleness of the benefit defends the deceit from reproof.
  29. grange
    a farm or farmhouse with outbuildings
    There at the moated grange resides this dejected Mariana.
  30. dejected
    affected or marked by low spirits
    There at the moated grange resides this dejected Mariana.
  31. usurp
    seize and take control without authority
    It was a mad fantastical trick of him to steal from the state and usurp the beggary he was never born to. Lord Angelo dukes it well in his absence. He puts transgression to ’t.
  32. transgression
    the violation of a law or a duty or moral principle
    It was a mad fantastical trick of him to steal from the state and usurp the beggary he was never born to. Lord Angelo dukes it well in his absence. He puts transgression to ’t.
  33. kindred
    group of people related by blood or marriage
    Yes, in good sooth, the vice is of a great kindred; it is well allied, but it is impossible to extirp it quite, friar, till eating and drinking be put down.
  34. extirpate
    destroy completely, as if down to the roots
    Yes, in good sooth, the vice is of a great kindred; it is well allied, but it is impossible to extirp it quite, friar, till eating and drinking be put down.
  35. beget
    have children
    Some report a sea-maid spawned him; some, that he was begot between two stockfishes.
  36. ducat
    formerly a gold coin of various European countries
    Yes, your beggar of fifty; and his use was to put a ducat in her clack-dish.
  37. superficial
    only concerned with what is apparent or obvious
    A very superficial, ignorant, unweighing fellow.
  38. helm
    take control of
    The very stream of his life and the business he hath helmed must, upon a warranted need, give him a better proclamation.
  39. forswear
    formally reject or disavow
    But indeed I can do you little harm; you’ll forswear this again.
  40. eaves
    the overhang at the lower edge of a roof
    Sparrows must not build in his house eaves, because they are lecherous.
  41. admonition
    cautionary advice about something imminent
    Double and treble admonition, and still forfeit in the same kind?
  42. scarce
    deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand
    There is scarce truth enough alive to make societies secure, but security enough to make fellowships accursed.
  43. temperance
    the trait of avoiding excesses
    Rather rejoicing to see another merry than merry at anything which professed to make him rejoice—a gentleman of all temperance.
  44. sinister
    wicked, evil, or dishonorable
    He professes to have received no sinister measure from his judge but most willingly humbles himself to the determination of justice.
  45. ponderous
    having great mass and weight and unwieldiness
    How may likeness made in crimes,
    Making practice on the times,
    To draw with idle spiders’ strings
    Most ponderous and substantial things.
Created on Fri Mar 03 11:36:51 EST 2017 (updated Thu Jun 23 15:51:07 EDT 2022)

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