Application of the law and power abuse in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure

Resumo

The present work analyzes power and abuse of authority in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. It is shown how power is abused, and a comparison between the rulers – the duke and Angelo – analyzes their attitudes, showing in which sense both have failed, according to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and some of Machiavelli’s considerations in The Prince. There are some thoughts about the application of a law in disuse, its validity and implications in view of moral principles, equity, fairness and justice. The play establishes a parallel between equity and justice in the application of the law, criticizing its application without leaving considerations about mercy or human weaknesses. The idea that no one can follow the law strictly, not even those who apply it, is forwarded. Some sort of faults can be forgiven or at least have a mitigated penalty because of their nature of misdemeanor or because the law that defined them as misconduct is no longer consistent with the reality of the society that created it. Tempering the application of the law with moderate measures and considering equity and justness is showed as the answer to how to determine the measure of applying the law and its penalties.