Measure for Measure: Act 4, Scene 2 Summary & Analysis

At the prison, the Provost asks Pompey if he would be willing to help cut off a man’s head. Claudio and another prisoner named Barnadine are scheduled to be executed the next day, and if Pompey can assist the executioner his sentence will be commuted. Pompey agrees to the task. Abhorson, the executioner, arrives and is upset to hear that a disreputable bawd will be helping him with his task, but the Provost responds that the two men are equal. After a discussion of the “mystery” of being an executioner, Abhorson agrees to train Pompey, and the two prepare to hold the execution at four o’clock the following day.

The Provost summons Claudio, whom he pities, and Barnadine, a murderer he reviles. Claudio appears, but Barnadine remains fast asleep. The Provost shows Claudio the warrant for his execution in the morning and tells the condemned man to prepare. The Duke, in disguise, enters the prison and asks if anyone has visited that evening. The Provost answers that nobody has come, not even Isabella. The Duke replies that a message to pardon Claudio may yet arrive.

A messenger appears at the jail carrying word from Angelo. Instead of a pardon, he carries the command that Claudio’s execution should proceed as planned, as should Barnadine’s; Claudio’s head should be sent to Angelo by five o’clock. The Provost promises to fulfill this charge, and the Duke privately laments Angelo’s duplicity. The Duke then asks who Barnadine is, and the Provost tells him he is a Bohemian prisoner who has been in jail for nine years. Barnadine is reckless and unrepentant, and he spends most of the day drunk. He is so slothful that he has even refused to rise when summoned for execution.

The Duke tells the Provost that he looks like an honorable man, and asks him to do the favor of delaying Claudio’s death. The Provost asks how he could do so while still delivering Claudio’s head to Angelo. The Duke suggests executing Barnadine instead, but the Provost responds that Angelo would recognize the substitution. The Duke tells the Provost to cut Barnadine’s hair and shave his beard to render his head unrecognizable. When the Provost protests that this deceit would be against his duties, the Duke shows his signet ring and promises that the Provost’s cooperation would be appreciated by the absent Duke.