# Mariana — Measure for Measure character guide

> Mariana in Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mariana Good friar, Exeunt Mariana, Mariana Isabel, Mariana Merely

**First appearance:** 0015-act-iv-scene-i

## Snapshot

Angelo's discarded betrothed, left weeping when her dowry drowned at sea, she waits in a moated grange for a justice only a disguised friar can arrange.

## Who they are

Mariana belongs to the play's hidden ledger of wrongs: a gentlewoman whose brother Frederick and whose fortune both sank with one ship, taking her marriage with them. Her enduring grief and her stubborn claim to a pre-contract make her the hinge on which the Duke's bed-trick turns, and her quiet willingness to enter it shows a woman more pragmatic, and more wounded, than her few lines suggest. She matters because she converts Isabella's moral crisis into an actionable plan, and because her patience tests whether Angelo's severity can survive meeting the woman he wronged.

## Relationships

### [Duke Vincentio](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/measure_for_measure_se/characters/duke_vincentio)

_psychological_

The Duke manipulates Mariana, using her as a pawn to expose Angelo's treachery and secure her marriage.

### [Lord Angelo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/measure_for_measure_se/characters/lord_angelo)

_romantic_

Angelo was betrothed to Mariana but abandoned her, leading to a forced reunion orchestrated by the Duke.

### [Friar Peter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/measure_for_measure_se/characters/friar_peter)

_professional_

Friar Peter assists Mariana in the bed-trick plot, acting as a spiritual and practical guide.

### [Friar Peter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/measure_for_measure_se/characters/friar_peter)

_professional_

Friar Peter assists Mariana in the bed-trick plot, acting as a spiritual and practical guide.

### [Duke Vincentio](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/measure_for_measure_se/characters/duke_vincentio)

_psychological_

The Duke manipulates Mariana, using her as a pawn to expose Angelo's treachery and secure her marriage.

## In the story

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/measure_for_measure_se/chapters/act-iv-scene-i)

Mariana is at the moated grange, initially melancholy and listening to a song, then agrees to participate in the bed-trick with Angelo.

### [Scene VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/measure_for_measure_se/chapters/act-iv-scene-vi)

Urges Isabella to be ruled by the Duke's advice and participates in the scheme.

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/measure_for_measure_se/chapters/act-v-scene-i)

Veiled at first, she reveals her face and confirms the bed-trick, stating she slept with Angelo as his wife by pre-contract.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/measure_for_measure_se/characters/mariana
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/measure_for_measure_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/measure_for_measure_se/characters