Would you tell me whether I am right with my interpretation of the expression in bold in the following sentence?
…but man, proud man!
Drest in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he’s assured.
His glassy essence – like an angry ape,
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven,
As make the angels weep who, with our spleens,
Would all themselves laugh mortal. (W. Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”)
enough to make the angels weep = that’s enough to move, touch, affect
Shakespeare means us to read this more literally than you indicate. Here Isabella is speaking about Angelo and his unjust decision to execute her brother.
Forgetting his “glassy essence”—the fragility of his soul, and its ultimate appointment with the Creator—this arrogant man’s actions are enough to make angels weep. If the angels had our “spleens” (self-regarding passions), they’d only laugh themselves to death.
The idiomatic phrase later derived from this is ‘It’s enough to make the angels weep’ which indicates something so distressing that it causes one to lose hope and faith.