Yukon College Papers by Murray Lundberg, 1993-1994

A Modern "Measure for Measure"

Murray Lundberg

(with Angus and Werner)

English 101
Eve D'Aeth
Yukon College
March 28, 1994

Scene 5 Act 1 (cont'd.)

ISABELLA

    Your highness, I demand justice!

    You've got a reputation as a fair judge - I've been

    taken advantage of. Please listen to my story -

    things have got to be straightened out.

DUKE

    Tell us what happened. Who did what? Be brief.

    Here is Lord Angelo; tell him, and he will give you justice.

ISABELLA             Your highness,

    the devil doesn't know what justice is.

    Please hear me yourself - if you don't believe me, punish me.

    If you do, then help me. Please listen!

ANGELO

    My lord, this woman is apparently not emotionally stable.

    She tried to get me to change the sentence which I imposed

    on her brother following a fair trial. a

ISABELLA             A fair trial!

ANGELO

    And she may come up with all sorts of strange stories

    to get even with me.

ISABELLA

    In this case truth is even stranger than fiction.

    Isn't it strange that Angelo is engaged?

    Isn't it strange that Angelo is a murderer?

    And isn't it strange that Angelo is an adulterer,

    a common thief, a hypocrite, and a rapist?

DUKE             I would say that calling that strange

    would be an understatement.

ISABELLA

    Maybe so, but it's all true - as true as his name is Angelo.

DUKE             I believe I've heard enough;

    Sheriff, please arrange for a psychological analysis

    for this unfortunate young woman.

    And arrange for grief counselling for her as well.

ISABELLA

    Please, if you have any mercy, listen to me!

    What I've said sounds crazy, I know, but I'm not crazy.

    You don't think that Angelo could do these things,

    but at least admit that it could be possible.

    You think that he's a shy, serious, honest person - that he's

    perfect, and in all his fancy duds, he does look it.

    But he's a devil, a monster - I don't even have the words

    to describe what he is.

DUKE

    I swear that she definitely has some type of anti-social

    disorder, but I have never seen anything quite like it.

    There is usually some degree of confusion

    or even disocciative reaction, but her stories

    are definitely not typical -

    they might even be described as sounding logical.

ISABELLA             Your honour,

    how many times do I have to tell you, I'm not crazy!

    Look at this the way it really is, not the way

    you'd like it to be. Once you hear my story,

    you'll realize that things are the way the way I say they are,

    and that I'm not the liar.

DUKE             Many people who are not crazy

    have temporarily lost their social equilibrium because they 70

    are in a particularly stressful situation. Do you think that

    may be what has happened here?

ISABELLA

    I'm Claudio's sister - Angelo sentenced him to be beheaded

    just for shacking up with Julietta. Claudio asked a guy called

    Lucio to come to the convent to get me - I'm a novice there -

LUCIO             That's me, M'Lord.

    I went to see her because her brother figured that maybe she

    could convince Lord Angelo to let him off.

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Instructor's comments:

    Excellent!

The verse works too.

A+

See a pdf of the paper.