crossref-it.info - AS/A2 English Literature Study Guides - texts in context.Themes and significant ideas » Judgement on earth and in heaven
Death and life after death: the soul
Death is not the end
Christians believe that they have an immortal soul. In other words, a human being does not simply consist of a body which will die, but also has a spirit which will live on for eternity after the death of the body. They also believe that, after death, all humans will be judged by God according to their actions on earth. This belief is seen throughout Measure for Measure, even by such reprobate characters as Barnardine, who declares (Act IV sc iii) that he ‘is not fitted’ for death - a judgement with which the disguised Duke agrees:
A creature unprepar’d, unmeet for death;
And to transport him in the mind he is
Were damnable
And to transport him in the mind he is
Were damnable
We see awareness of eternal life particularly in Isabella, who is more concerned for her soul than her body; as she tells Angelo, ‘I had rather give my body than my soul’ (Act II sc iv). She shows, too, that she feels the same concern for Claudio, telling Angelo that she wants to ensure ‘he may be so fitted / That his soul sicken not.’
Getting the balance
However, her attitude is not shared by all the other characters, and one of the questions with which Shakespeare faces his audience is how to balance enjoyment of life on earth with an awareness that there is also another existence after death. (See also Themes and significant ideas: The nature of humanity). The Duke, disguised as a friar, advises Claudio (Act II sc i) that life is not worth living- it is ‘a thing / That none but fools would keep’ – yet Claudio is desperate to save his life
Judgement, justice and mercy
Judge as you will be judged
Measure for Measure takes its title from a passage in the New Testament of the Bible (Matthew 7:1-2; see also Introduction) which warns people not to judge one another harshly, since after death they too will be judged by God, and judged according to the ‘measure’ of their judgements of their fellow human beings.
Shakespeare examines this idea in depth, showing his audience the difference between heavenly judgement, which is always tempered with mercy, and earthly judgement, where too much mercy or lenity can lead to chaos in the state. God will forgive the penitent sinner, but an earthly judge has to tread carefully when deciding how to apply the laws and penalties.
Too much leniency
What we see in Measure for Measure is that the Duke has failed to apply the ‘strict statutes and most biting laws’ which exist in Vienna:
- Consequently there is a situation verging on anarchy, where
‘Liberty plucks Justice by the nose … and quite athwart goes all decorum.’ (Act I sc iii)
- Showing too much leniency has proved more harmful to the state and its citizens than too much severity; as Escalus remarks (Act II sc i)
‘Mercy is not itself that oft looks so.’
The God-like ruler
The Duke, however, is seen in some respects as God-like in his powers, and when speaking of the murderer Barnardine, the Duke asks:
‘How came it that the absent Duke had not either delivered him to his liberty or executed him? I have heard that it was ever his manner to do so.’
This idea of clear-cut judgement could well have reminded Shakespeare’s audience of the biblical account of God’s judgement of humans in Matthew 25:34-41, where God rewards the righteous but condemns the wicked.
Then the King will say to those on his right,
'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world’
... Then he will say to those on his left,
'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’ (TNIV
'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world’
... Then he will say to those on his left,
'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’ (TNIV
The problem of human justice
Shakespeare shows that while God’s justice is based upon His thorough knowledge and understanding of the individual soul, applying human justice may be more problematic:
- In Measure for Measure we see that Angelo, having decided to apply rigorously the law whereby fornication (sexual intercourse outside marriage) is punished by death, arrests Claudio as the first offender.
- Yet although Claudio is guilty by the letter of the law, he is not guilty under what is nowadays called ‘common justice’, or the spirit of the law, since he regards Juliet as his wife.
- The audience may well feel that he is essentially innocent.
- On the other hand, rogues such as Lucio and Pompey, who are clearly guilty, seem to manage to wriggle out of the due penalties for their offences.
Redemption
The possibility of rescue
In her debate with Angelo in Act II sc ii, Isabella points out to Angelo that God operates in more than one aspect - as both judge and redeemer. She outlines the Christian belief that, because of human sin, beginning with Adam and Eve, all people deserve punishment. However, God came to earth in human form as Jesus Christ, and through his crucifixion and resurrection, offered redemption (which literally means ‘buying back’) from sin to all who are penitent.
Why, all the souls that were, were forfeit once,
And He that might the vantage best have took
Found out the remedy. How would you be,
If He, which is the top of judgement, should
But judge you as you are? O think on that,
And mercy then will breathe within your lips,
As man new made.
And He that might the vantage best have took
Found out the remedy. How would you be,
If He, which is the top of judgement, should
But judge you as you are? O think on that,
And mercy then will breathe within your lips,
As man new made.
As a result of God’s mercy, sinners can be saved and allowed to enter heaven. This is redemption through grace.
Human rescue?
By contrast, the offer Angelo makes is to save Claudio physically if Isabella gives up her body. As she retorts (Act II sc iv):
Ignomy in ransom and free pardon
Are of two houses: lawful mercy
Is nothing kin to foul redemption.
Are of two houses: lawful mercy
Is nothing kin to foul redemption.
Heaven and Hell
Heaven
Christians believe that heaven is a place of eternal joy, where God is surrounded by angels – creatures of pure spirit who act as God’s messengers to earth. (It is ironic that Angelo, whose name suggests that he is such a creature, and who wishes to be seen as virtuous, is in fact corrupt.)
Heaven is depicted as a place of shining light and great beauty: the most famous vision of the Christian heaven is in the last book of the Bible, Revelation. The Bible teaches that those who:
- repent of their wrong attitudes and actions
- accept the forgiveness won through Christ’s death on the Cross
- seek to live in obedience to God while on earth
will spend eternity in heaven with him.
Hell
However, those who are not repentant, and are condemned by their own actions before God, go to Hell. This has been depicted as a place of torment.
It is the fear of such an eternity of pain and misery which is behind Claudio’s anguished appeal to Isabella in Act III sc i, where he imagines ‘what we fear of death’:
To bath in fiery floods, or to reside
In thrilling region of thick-ribbed ice:
To be imprison’d in the viewless winds
And blown with restless violence round about
The pendent world: or to be worse than worst
Of those that lawless and incertain thought
Imagine howling,- ‘tis too horrible.
In thrilling region of thick-ribbed ice:
To be imprison’d in the viewless winds
And blown with restless violence round about
The pendent world: or to be worse than worst
Of those that lawless and incertain thought
Imagine howling,- ‘tis too horrible.
Grace
God’s grace
No human being deserves to enter heaven because all are guilty of sin. However, salvation is possible through grace. Grace is closely associated with mercy, since one of its most significant meanings is ‘the undeserved mercy of God given to sinners’.
Human grace
Grace also has a wider meaning, signifying the blessing or favour of God; by extension, it also comes to mean a favour bestowed by a human, or a pleasing human quality. Isabella uses it in both senses when she compares human mercy to God’s:
No ceremony that to great ones longs,
Not the king’s crown, nor the deputed sword,
The marshal’s truncheon, nor the judge’s robe,
Become them with one half so good a grace
As mercy does.
Not the king’s crown, nor the deputed sword,
The marshal’s truncheon, nor the judge’s robe,
Become them with one half so good a grace
As mercy does.
Angelo, too, seems to imply both God’s grace and human virtue when he comments in soliloquy on his own evil (Act IV sc iv):
Alack, when once our grace we have forgot,
Nothing goes right; we would, and we would not
Nothing goes right; we would, and we would not
Thanksgiving prayer
‘Grace’ also comes to be used as the term for a prayer of thanks to God before a meal. It is punned on in this way by the reprobate Lucio and his friends when they joke (Act I sc ii) about soldiers disliking the prayer for peace:
‘I think thou never wast where grace was said ... Grace is grace, despite of all controversy; as for example, thou thyself art a wicked villain, despite of all grace.’
A noble title
Throughout Measure for Measure people of high rank are addressed by courtesy titles such as ‘My Lord’ and ‘Your honour’. Another such title is ‘Your Grace’. In one sense it is merely equivalent to saying ‘My Lord,’ but because of the many references in Measure for Measure to the nature of divine and earthly justice and mercy, it comes to have added significance.
When Angelo calls the Duke by this title in the last Act,
‘Your Grace, like power divine, hath looked upon my passes’
the word is used as a deliberate reminder to the audience that the Duke is able to show God-like mercy.
- Today's New International Version
- 1'Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
- King James Version
- 1Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
- Today's New International Version
- 34'Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was ill and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37'Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you ill or in prison and go to visit you?' 40'The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' 41'Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
- King James Version
- 34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Name originally given to disciples of Jesus by outsiders and gradually adopted by the Early Church.
A being who is not mortal ' that is, who will never die; living forever.
The spirit which gives life to a human being; the part which lives on after death; a person's inner being (personality, intellect, emotions and will) which distinguishes them from animals.
A non-physical being, or the non-physical but vital and intelligent part of a being, not limited by physical constraints.
Lasting forever, throughout all ages.
1. Genesis indicates that death was not part of the orginal plan for human beings but is one of the consequences of the Fall.
2. The death of Jesus is presented as opening up the possibility of reconciliation with God.
1. Someone given authority to preside in a court of law. 2. In the Old Testament, name given to leaders of Israel before the period of the kings.
The Bible describes God as the unique supreme being, creator and ruler of the universe.
1. Wisdom.
2. A decision about guilt, and / or the passing of sentence by the person presiding over a court of justice.
3. In the Bible, God's verdict on human behaviour especially on the Day of Judgement at the end of time.
A new quality of life, beginning in the present but continuing after death, which Jesus is said to offer to those who believe in him.
A man belonging to a Christian religious group who, instead of living within an enclosed religious house, travelled round teaching the Christian faith, and sustaining himself by begging for charity.
A 'testament' is a covenant (binding agreement), a term used in the Bible of God's relationship with his people. The New Testament is the second part of the Christian Bible. Its name comes from the new covenant or relationship with God.
The Christian Bible consists of the Old Testament scriptures inherited from Judaism, together with the New Testament, drawn from writings produced from c.40-125CE, which describe the life of Jesus and the establishment of the Christian church.
1. Genesis indicates that death was not part of the orginal plan for human beings but is one of the consequences of the Fall.
2. The death of Jesus is presented as opening up the possibility of reconciliation with God.
Heaven is presented in Christianity and other faiths as the dwelling place of God and the future home of those who believe in and obey him. Heaven described as a place of joy, beauty and peace.
The showing of pity and compassion; in particular, the grace and forgiveness offered by God to sinful humans if they repent of their wrong-doings.
An individual who confesses guilt and desires to seek forgiveness, especially the forgiveness of God.
Someone who disobeys God's will by their actions or failure to act. The Bible regards all human beings as predisposed to sin.
Right in the sight of God.
1. The quality of being just. 2. Fairness. 3. The administration of the law.
One who pays the price to secure the release of a convicted criminal, slave, or previously owned article. In the New Testament Jesus is known as the Redeemer.
According to Genesis (the first book of the Old Testament), Adam is the first human being, made in the image / likeness of God, placed in the Garden of Eden and given dominion over the earth.
According to the book of Genesis in the Bible the first woman, said to have been created by God out of Adam's rib, to be his companion.
(c. 4 BCE- c. 30 CE). The founder of Christianity, whose life and teaching are described and interpreted in the New Testament. Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew 'Joshua'. He was also given the title 'Christ', meaning 'anointed one' or 'Messiah'.
Execution by nailing or binding a person to a cross.
Literally, rising to life again. In the Bible it is specifically applied to Jesus Christ's coming to life after his crucifixion; and from thence, to the hope of all believers that after death, they will be raised to a new life in heaven.
In Christian belief, the redemption of humanity was achieved by Jesus who in his death on the cross made a complete sacrifice sufficient to pay for the sins of the world.
An individual who confesses guilt and desires to seek forgiveness, especially the forgiveness of God.
Someone who disobeys God's will by their actions or failure to act. The Bible regards all human beings as predisposed to sin.
In many religions, the place where God dwells, and to which believers aspire after their death. Sometimes known as Paradise.
Undeserved favour. The Bible uses this term to describe God's gifts to human beings.
Name originally given to disciples of Jesus by outsiders and gradually adopted by the Early Church.
In many religions, the place where God dwells, and to which believers aspire after their death. Sometimes known as Paradise.
The Bible describes God as the unique supreme being, creator and ruler of the universe.
Supernatural beings closely linked with the work of God; his messengers, traditionally portrayed as having a winged human form.
Relating to irony, in which a comment may mean the opposite of what is actually said.
The act of turning away, or turning around from, one's sins, which includes feeling genuinely sorry for them, asking for the forgiveness of God and being willing to live in a different way in the future.
1. Instrument of execution used in the Roman Empire.
2. The means by which Jesus Christ was put to death and therefore the primary symbol of the Christian faith, representing the way in which he is believed to have won forgiveness for humankind.
Lasting forever, throughout all ages.
Being sorry for one's actions and desiring to act differently in the future.
1. Genesis indicates that death was not part of the orginal plan for human beings but is one of the consequences of the Fall.
2. The death of Jesus is presented as opening up the possibility of reconciliation with God.
In many religions, the place where God dwells, and to which believers aspire after their death. Sometimes known as Paradise.
Disobedience to the known will of God. According to Christian theology human beings have displayed a pre-disposition to sin since the Fall of Humankind.
In the Bible, salvation is seen as God's commitment to save or rescue his people from sin (and other dangers) and to establish his kingdom.
Undeserved favour. The Bible uses this term to describe God's gifts to human beings.
The giving of divine favour by God which can be in material or spiritual terms; declaration of God's favour; the act of giving thanks to God.
The opposite of goodness; thoughts and actions which are in opposition to God's will and result in wrongdoing and harm. That which opposes God.
To communicate, either aloud or in the heart, with God.
A play on the meaning of words, often for comic effect.
The image of God on his throne in heaven surrounded by his angels and ministers to whom he makes announcements and where he may be petitioned.
This is an example of apocalyptic literature, full of colourful imagery and symbolism. It contains seven letters to churches in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) who are commended for their zeal or criticised for lack of it. The overall message is that God's kingdom will triumph in the battle against evil and the book ends with a beautiful description of the Heavenly Jerusalem as the symbol of God's presence among humankind in a new heaven and earth.
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