ABSTRACT
Friar Francis in Much Ado About Nothing premises his counter-hoax on the expectation that the emotional pain inflicted on Claudio by Hero’s death will enable him to comprehend the virulence of his initial indignation. This comprehension does not occur in the play, but the Friar’s expectations are ironically realized in Beatrice and Benedick, who overhear his plan. In their central conversation in Act 4, Benedick brings Beatrice to comprehend her love for him, and she brings him to realize the need to pair his love for her with indignation toward Hero’s slanderers. The arousal and satisfaction of their balanced indignation in turn provides the audience with a model of how it should respond to Claudio by play’s end. In Measure for Measure, the Friar-Duke’s hoaxes on Angelo and Isabella are meant to bring each to balance indignation with rational judgement. The Duke’s aim is partly realized in Angelo, who recognizes his malice, yet he judges it too severely in asking for death. That aim is exceeded in Isabella, who not only recognizes the excess of her indignation toward Angelo and Claudio, but concludes the play by carefully arguing against the Duke’s judgement of Angelo. Her catharsis functions as a model for the catharsis the play aims to effect in its audience.
