His false virtue hides evil desire Claudio s sin of premarital love is small but Angelo s lust is far greater Hypocrisy and Double Standards Moral hypocrisy is one of the darkest parts of Vienna s life Angelo becomes the face of this evil He enforces strict laws against others but secretly breaks them himself After meeting Isabella he says Is this her fault or mine The tempter or the tempted who sins most ha This line shows his inner conflict He condemns Claudio for lust yet burns with lust himself Men like Angelo use religion and law to hide their wickedness Social Injustice and Women s Position Women in the play face injustice and humiliation Isabella Juliet Mariana and Mistress Overdone suffer because of men s power Isabella defends her purity with courage and says Sir believe this I had rather give my body than my soul Her words reveal her strength yet she is still perceived as weak Mariana is used in the bed trick to save a man s life Mistress Overdone is punished for the same act men freely commit The society judges women harshly and forgives men easily Political Power and Its Abuse The political atmosphere in Vienna is characterized by control and deception The Duke leaves the city but returns disguised as a friar to watch everything Angelo misuses power to satisfy his lust The Duke later says Haste still pays haste and leisure answers leisure Like doth quit like and measure still for measure These lines express his idea of justice every wrong will be repaid Yet the rulers themselves often break laws to maintain order Power becomes a tool of fear and trickery The bed trick and head trick show how even justice depends on manipulation Politics in Vienna thus reflects distrust and dishonesty rather than true governance Religion Justice and Mercy Religion plays a strong role in Vienna s moral life People talk of sin heaven and forgiveness But religion often becomes a cover for pride Isabella follows faith with true purity while Angelo uses faith as a mask The Duke finally restores justice by balancing mercy and punishment He saves Claudio pardons Angelo and punishes Lucio Yet his mercy also keeps the old power alive The world of Measure for Measure ends not with reform but with control under the same system In short the moral social and political world of this play is one of weakness corruption and false order Men preach morality but act against it Women suffer under power and law Religion and justice lose their purity Shakespeare shows a dark picture of Vienna where truth is lost in hypocrisy and real virtue survives only through forgiveness and moral awakening nbsp