Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

Take him hence, to the rack with him! We’ll touse you

Joint by joint, but we will know his purpose.

 

-Escalus

Measure For Measure             Act V Scene i, Line 313

Well, it almost sounds like a continuation of yesterday’s line. Bind him to the chair! Send him to the rack! But not quite. This fellow’s not going to end up going to the rack or anywhere else. It’s the Duke, still in disguise, that they’re talking about sending to the rack. He’s seeing just exactly how the town is being run since he left Angelo in charge, and he’s telling them so. The Duke claims he’s just a visitor in Vienna,

 

        Where I have seen corruption boil and bubble

        Till it o’errun the stew – laws for all faults,

        But faults so countenanced that the strong statutes

        Stand like the forfeits in a barber’s shop,

        As much in mock as mark.

 

The forfeits in a barber’s shop are the teeth that the barber has pulled. Remember if you will, back in those pre-dentistry days the barbers were also tooth pullers, and they’d display these pulled teeth with pride, for people to see. The Duke is comparing the laws of Vienna to those teeth which could be as much in mock as mark, that is to say, mocked as well as simply observed.

For the umpteenth time I’ll say it and I’ll say it quite simply: The relevance of Will’s words is timeless.

Rather than give you a really appropriate pic (because I couldn't come up with one), here's sleeping Nutsy. 

She's oblivious to laws, teeth, and pretty much everything else, but she's cute; totally irrelevant to today's line, but cute.