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Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare.
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Biography Essay"He was not of an age, but for all time." So wrote Ben Jonson in his dedicatory verses to the memory of William Shakespeare in 1623, and so we continue to affirm today. No other writer,...
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The English playwright, poet, and actor William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is generally acknowledged to be the greatest of English writers and one of the most extraordinary creators in human history.The ...
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Considered by critics, scholars, and the theater-going public the most important dramatist in the history of English literature, William Shakespeare occupies a unique position in the pantheon of great...
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"He was not of an age, but for all time." So wrote Ben Jonson in his dedicatory verses to the memory of William Shakespeare in 1623, and so we continue to affirm today. No other writer, in English or ...
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William Shakespeare's reputation is based primarily on his plays. With the partial exception of the Sonnets (1609), quarried since the early nineteenth century for autobiographical secrets allegedly ...
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In the following essay, Spinrad analyzes the eventual acceptance of death as a part of life by the major characters in Measure for Measure. The critic examines this acceptance in terms of sixteenth- a...
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In the following essay, McLuskie reviews several feminist approaches to Shakespeare's plays, highlighting in particular the problems with the mimetic and essentialist models of feminist critici...
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Huston Diehl, University of Iowa
Measure for Measure is a deeply dissatisfying comedy, so problematic that, as Jean Howard argues, it "puts critics under stress."1 They typically respon...
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In the following essay, Nutall examines the inconsistencies and "ethical collisions" in Measure for Measure. In particular, the critic scrutinizes the ethics of government and judgment a...
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In the following essay, Spinrad examines the correlation between the prison imagery in Measure for Measure and the concept of death as an escape from the prison of life.
In many ways, Shakespeare�...
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In the essay that follows, Stroud argues that the comic plot initiated by Lucio is intended to balance the more serious, "quasi-tragic" plot initiated by Angelo.
The title of Shakespeare...
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In the essay below, Scott discusses how the law against fornication is viewed and applied in Measure for Measure, demonstrating that throughout the play the audience is shown that the situation of Ang...
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In the essay that follows, Bawcutt explores the distinctly different attitudes of the Duke and Angelo toward the law and how it is applied in Vienna, arguing that it is oversimplifying the matter to s...
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In the following essay, Seiden analyzes the trial scene in Measure for Measure, arguing that the theatricality, trickery, and game playing of the play's final scene "creates an exhilarat...
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In the essay below, Leggatt stresses that not only is the use of substitutions pervasive in Measure for Measure, but that the substitutions are all problematic in that they fail to achieve the intende...
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In the essay that follows, Diehl maintains that Shakespeare's use of "representational strategies, " such as substitutions, in Measure for Measure reflect his experimentation �...
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In the essay below, Carlson contends that Measure for Measure presents a "fragile and unusual" alternative sexuality in which relationships for both men and women that are not endorsed &...
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In the essay that follows, Weil studies the apparent discrepancies between the form of the first and second halves of Measure for Measure, arguing that Shakespeare 's design can be viewed as co...
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Below, Hawkins discusses the discrepancies between the two halves of Measure for Measure, and maintains that as tragicomedy, the play "is a magnificent failure" in that the contradiction...
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In the following essay, Lanier presents a structural analysis of Measure for Measure, seeing in its divided form “a juxtaposition of two dramatic modes, tragedy and comedy, carefully poised to ...
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In the following essay, Carlson stresses non-traditional expressions of sexuality in Measure for Measure that stand against the male-dominated sexual order.
Measure for Measure insists on defining its...
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In the following essay, Baines studies Shakespeare's depiction of Isabella's sexual purity as a means of garnering social power in the world of Measure for Measure.
For many readers of M...
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In the following essay, Cacicedo contends that Measure for Measure dramatizes the repression of feminine freedom by state authority via the institution of marriage.
Children who stand in little awe of...
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In the following essay, Gulley reads Measure for Measure as a play about law, scripted by a legalistic Duke Vincentio, who determines its outcome through his theatrical performance and political power...
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In the following essay, McCandless emphasizes the “sadopornographic” quality of Measure for Measure and the psychological and thematic effects of sexuality and punishment in the drama.
T...
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In the following essay, Chedgzoy explores Measure for Measure's status as a “problem play,” examining stagings of the drama, particularly its final scene, from the seventeenth to ...
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In the following essay, Rappaport responds to critics who view Measure for Measure as lacking unity, contending that there is sufficient thematic coherence in the drama's resolution.
O place an...
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In the following essay, Swann examines the ambivalent ideological function of Lucio at the close of Measure for Measure, particularly in relation to the authoritarian figure of the Duke.
ELBOW
…...
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In the following essay, MacFarlane discusses the restrictions on Isabella's freedom as a woman in the Renaissance Vienna of Measure for Measure.
...
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In the following essay, Ashizu examines Duke Vincentio’s poor treatment of the prisoner Barnardine in Measure for Measure, and argues against conceptions of the Duke as an ideal or godlike auth...
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In the following review, Phillips examines David Thacker’s 1999 television adaptation of Measure for Measure for British broadcast, highlighting the cuts, transpositions, and characterization d...
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In the following review of the 1998 Oregon Shakespeare Festival production of Measure for Measure directed by Libby Appel, Taylor comments on the performance's resistance to the boundaries of c...
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In the following essay, Dollimore provides a materialist analysis of social transgression in Measure for Measure, which he sees as the result of “unregulated desire” responded to by ...
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In the following essay, Hunt investigates the theme of spiritual comfort and its complex relationship to the human capacity for love, primarily represented through the figures of Isabella, the Duke, a...
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In the following essay, Cohen contends that Measure for Measure begins as a romantic comedy and ends as a monarch play. The critic maintains that these two incompatible genres result in the play...
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In the following essay, Brown suggests that while Shakespeare used the character of Duke Vincentio to comment on King James I's abilities as a ruler, he also used his character to analyze the i...
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In the following essay, Barnaby and Wry trace various biblical allusions used in Measure for Measure, emphasizing that although it is primarily a political play, the work is also a cautionary tale abo...
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In the following essay, Yoshihara treats the themes of money and sexuality in Measure for Measure.
Measure for Measure is much concerned with substitution, exchange and replacement. Angelo is substitu...
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In the following essay, Geckle addresses Measure for Measure as a problem play, focusing specifically on the character of Isabella.
Since critics are generally persistent in terming Measure for Measur...
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In the following essay, Lewis evaluates the character of the Duke as the means through which Shakespeare examined the imperfections of the monarchy in Measure for Measure.
Unlike many Shakespearean pl...
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In the following essay, Slights and Holmes highlight the role of religion in Measure for Measure through an analysis of Isabella's character.
The symbolic centrality of religion in Measure for ...
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In the following review, Taylor comments on Libby Appel's direction of Measure for Measure for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Taylor remarks on the successful manner in which Appel was able t...
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In the following review, Bruckner praises Jerry McAllister's use and incorporation of the surrounding neighborhood in his street-stage production of Measure for Measure.
Were it not for the nei...
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In the following essay, Carlson reviews a Turkish production of Measure for Measure, lauding it as a radical, powerful, and effective staging of one of Shakespeare's most difficult comedies.
Th...
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In the following review, Brantley praises Mary Zimmerman's production of Measure for Measure at the New York Shakespeare Festival for its straightforward and simple presentation.
It is alarming...
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In the following essay, Riefer argues that Isabella highlights the negative impact of patriarchy on female characters in the play, and contends that her eventual subjugation to male authority is incom...
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In the following excerpt, Alexander considers the classification, structure, and historical context of Measure for Measure.
Shakespeare's Comic Method
In order, therefore to appreciate the natu...
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In the following review of Daniel Fish's 2003 California Shakespeare Theater staging of Measure for Measure, Hurwitt admires the setting, directorial innovations, and excellent performances and...
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In the following essay, originally published in 1951, Goddard interprets Measure for Measure as a study in the corrupting effects of power and self-righteousness on character.
“Would you know a...
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In the following essay, Bache examines the social and ethical concerns outlined in Measure for Measure and contends that the drama points to self-sacrificing love as a remedy for the excesses of human...
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In the following excerpt, Hawkins examines the problematic relationship between sex, sin, vice, and virtue depicted in Measure for Measure.
You are confusing two concepts: the solution of a problem an...
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In the following essay, Widmayer discusses themes of justice, law, and Christian mercy illustrated by Isabella's petition that Angelo's life be spared in the final scene of Measure for M...
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In the following excerpt, Bennett maintains that unlike the utopian moral framework of Shakespeare's previous festive comedies, Measure for Measure is a comic romance that highlights the parado...
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In the following excerpt, Thomas examines Isabella and Angelo in Measure for Measure and contends that these figures exhibit a realistic delineation of human character, full of nuance and convincing, ...
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In the following essay, Taylor presents a psychoanalytic examination of the major characters in Measure for Measure—the Duke, Isabella, and Angelo.
At the end of Shakespeare's Measure fo...
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In the following excerpt, Korda studies the precarious social position of the single woman—variously embodied as Isabella, Marianna, Juliet, and Mistress Overdone—in the patriarchal worl...
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In the following review of Mary Zimmerman's 2001 production of Measure for Measure at the Delacorte Theater in New York's Central Park, Isherwood praises the talented cast, but laments t...
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In the following review, Billington critiques Sean Holmes's 2003 Royal Shakespeare Company staging of Measure for Measure and finds fault with its overemphasis on the corruption of modern socie...
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In the following review of director Liz Huddle's 2003 production of Measure for Measure at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Baker remarks on the easygoing appeal of this conventional comic stagin...
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In the following review, Tucker finds director Sean Holmes's 2003 Royal Shakespeare Company production of Measure for Measure, set in the dreary, war-torn Vienna of the early mid-twentieth cent...
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In the following essay, Winston traces elements of the Tudor morality play in Measure for Measure, seeing the figure of Lucio as associated with allegorical “Vice.”
One of the most rewar...
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In the following essay, Paris applies the psychological theories of Karen Horney to Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, seeing in the character of the Duke and in the work's "impli...
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Critical Essay by G. M. Pinciss
Pinciss, G. M. “The ‘Heavenly Comforts of Despair’ and Measure for Measure.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 30, no. 2 (spring 1990...
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In the following essay, McGuire describes the way five late-twentieth-century productions of Measure for Measure depicted the muteness of Angelo, Barnardine, Claudio, Juliet, Mariana, and Isabella in ...
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In the following essay, Lyons maintains that Isabella's transformation from volubility to silence is a reverse image of the metamorphosis of Ben Jonson's Epicoene from submissiveness to ...
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Carolyn E. Brown, University of San Francisco
Shakespeare's Measure for Measure has been a source of critical contention for centuries. Rosalind Miles, for example, claims that the play �...
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It seems rare in a Shakespearean play to find a female character to whom women in this new millennium can relate. Modern women are expected to be strong, independent, educated and intelligent, and in ...
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How true is it to say that as Measure for Measure is termed a `problem play' it is therefore unsuccessful as a theatrical experience"
It is difficult to assess the extent to which Measure for Measure...
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At the time that Measure for Measure was written, England was a Protestant country, meaning that the monarch at the time, James I was the head of the Church of England. However, the England that Shak...
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Shakespeare's interpretation of women in Measure for Measure very much reflects society's opinion of women at the time, which was that men have more freedom and should be given more respect that women...
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Act I
Shakespeare first presents the character of Angelo from the perspective of Escalus, the Dukes right hand man. Escalus believes he is a worthy candidate to be entrusted with the position of depu...
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Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare is often referred to as one of the `Problem Plays', the concluding act is the play's denouement. There is intense emotion in this act as each character is j...
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CHARACTER AND ROLE OF DUKE VINCENTIO
In the world of Shakespearean comedies, most characters are gentle, merry and humorous. Here women emerge as...
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Angelo starts this scene off with a soliloquy which gives the impression that he has been struggling with is physical desires for Isabella since they first met. His speech is very troubled and he stat...
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One of the key themes we see in Measure for Measure is justice, this idea of an "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" derived from the book of Genesis. There is another saying as-well, which goes "an e...
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Question: Samuel Johnson says that in William Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure," "Angelo's crimes were such, as must sufficiently justify punishment and I believe every reader feels some indignation...
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Teaching Measure for Measure
All teaching products sold separately.
Measure for Measure Lesson Plans contain 131 pages of teaching material, including:
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
Critical Essay by Phoebe S. Spinrad
Isabella as an Independent Female in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure
