AQA A-Level English Literature A Paper 1: Love through the ages, June 2025: Question 3

Question 03

03 Measure for Measure – William Shakespeare

‘In Measure for Measure, the trust between men and women is completely broken.’

In the light of this view, discuss how Shakespeare presents relationships between men

and women in this extract and elsewhere in the play.

[25 marks]

Possible content:

Please refer to pages 4 to 7.

AO5 Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations

Students might consider:

• scenes 4 and 6 separately or conflated together as one extract; students should not be penalised

for dealing with scenes unequally

• the view that trust between men and women has been broken in different relationships – between

siblings such as Claudio and Isabella; between lovers or potential lovers such as Angelo and

Mariana; between male leaders such as the Duke and Angelo and their female subjects, Isabella

for example

• Angelo’s belief that, despite his corruption, he remains untouchable and that the Duke is seeking to

protect him

• his belief that he had to renege on the promise to save Claudio in order to protect himself

• his awareness that he may be denied grace because of his guilt as sexual predator and unlawful

killer

• the fact that Angelo continues to neglect Mariana, his betrothed

• the view that the Duke’s disguise and deception as the Friar undermines trust between men and

women even while he contrives to do good

• the view that the Duke’s return and plans do not restore trust because he merely contrives a series

of marriages at the end

• the alternative view that the Duke, as the Friar, is working to right Angelo’s wrongs and will restore

faith in authority and justice

• the Duke’s reported pledge to Isabella that she will be protected in speaking out against Angelo

• the Duke’s reported hint to Isabella that he may have to appear to support Angelo initially but that

she will be saved

• the ways in which Friar Peter is presented as a supportive figure of trust in Scene 6

• the way in which the supportive co-operation and trust between Isabella and Mariana thrives

despite Angelo’s corrupt rule

• the view that the later revelation of the bed trick, reunion and a sanctioned marriage between

Angelo and Mariana after her return mends the damage done to trust

• these two scenes as part of a coherent narrative strand at this point in the play

• other scenes where Angelo’s destructive behaviour is presented

• the use of ‘trust’ and ‘completely broken’ in the given view

• the tragicomedy/problem play genre

• the possible impact of particular production(s) on the interpretation of the question

• the possible impact of recent debates about the exploitation of women and the controlling nature of

men

• etc.

AO4 Explore connections across literary texts

Focus might be on (in the literature of love):

• representations of: characters and events that break/restore trusting relationship between men and

women, particularly lovers; unmasking the truth about infidelity/abuse

• the tragicomedy/problem play genre

• etc.

AO3 Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which

literary texts are written and received

Focus might be on:

• how attitudes to the following might have changed over time: expectations about the honour and

morality of those in positions of responsibility; unmasking the truth about infidelity/abuse;

expectations of lovers and leaders as trustworthy

• the tragicomedy/problem play context

• etc.

AO2 Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts

Focus might be on:

• the tragicomedy/problem play genre

• possible stage effects and interpretations

• structural issues relating to this stage of the plot: Angelo’s behaviour post-‘bed-trick’ and the

preparations for the Duke’s arrival bringing the play to a dramatic and morally restorative

conclusion

• the ways in which the prose at the beginning of Scene 4 and the verse of the rest of the extract

reflect the subject matter and attitude of the speakers, particularly: Angelo’s and Escalus’

complicity in preserving their corrupt and immoral power; the starkness of Angelo’s confessions in

his soliloquy; the ways in which Shakespeare presents the intertwined causes of Isabella and

Mariana; Friar Peter’s intervention to prepare for the Duke’s return

• the use of enjambement and caesurae in the verse sections of the extract to reflect the arguments

of the speakers

• the rhetorical devices used by Angelo in his soliloquy such as: abstract nouns; emotive/loaded

noun phrases; imagery of speech; the ways in which he confesses guilt and yet asserts his

arrogance that he is untouchable

• the rhetorical devices used by Friar Peter to stress the importance of the Duke’s return

• the use of short exchanges/sections/scenes/scenes-within-scenes to build narrative tension

• the various ways in which the syntax of statements, questions, exclamations and commands, along

with various forms of repetition, are used to underline thoughts, feelings and attitudes

• the roles of Escalus in Scene 4 and Friar Peter in Scene 6 to act as supporters to the adversaries

• irony and dramatic irony

• etc.

AO1 Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated

concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression

• quality of argument

• organisation of ideas

• use of appropriate concepts and terminology

• technical accuracy.

Accept any valid interpretations, any valid comments on contexts and any valid discussion of

authorial methods.