51 pages 1 hour read

William Shakespeare

Measure For Measure

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1604

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Character Analysis

Vincentio

Vincentio is the protagonist of Measure for Measure. He is the Duke of Vienna, although he appoints Angelo to rule the city in his place so that he can pose as a friar named Lodowick and secretly observe the common folk.

Vincentio possesses a great deal of power and he is considered virtuous and introspective by those who know him well. When he departs from Vienna, his plan to leave in secret denotes his humility. Rather than depart publicly, Vincentio states:

I’ll privily away. I love the people,
But do not like to stage me to their eyes:
Through it do well, I do not relish well
Their loud applause and Aves vehement (I.1.77-80).

Throughout the play, Vincentio prefers to act in secret, advising Isabella and Mariana how to act from behind the scenes and only taking a public role in dispensing justice in the very last scene. Vincentio solves problems in Vienna through craft rather than through force. While he could easily reveal his identity and force Angelo to spare Claudio, he instead devices a trick so that he can test both Angelo’s honesty and Isabella’s capacity for mercy.

Vincentio is considered to be a morally upstanding ruler by his advisor Escalus, although Lucio repeatedly claims that the duke was prone to vice.

Related Titles

By William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

All's Well That Ends Well

William Shakespeare

All's Well That Ends Well

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

A Midsummer Night's Dream

William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night's Dream

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Antony and Cleopatra

William Shakespeare

Antony and Cleopatra

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

As You Like It

William Shakespeare

As You Like It

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Coriolanus

William Shakespeare

Coriolanus

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary
logo

Cymbeline

William Shakespeare

Cymbeline

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Henry IV, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Henry IV, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary
logo

Henry IV, Part 2

William Shakespeare

Henry IV, Part 2

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Henry V

William Shakespeare

Henry V

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary
logo

Henry VIII

William Shakespeare

Henry VIII

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary
logo

Henry VI, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary
logo

Henry VI, Part 3

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part 3

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

Julius Caesar

William Shakespeare

Julius Caesar

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary
logo

King John

William Shakespeare

King John

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

King Lear

William Shakespeare

King Lear

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Love's Labour's Lost

William Shakespeare

Love's Labour's Lost

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

Macbeth

William Shakespeare

Macbeth

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

Much Ado About Nothing

William Shakespeare

Much Ado About Nothing

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Othello

William Shakespeare

Othello

William Shakespeare