21st out of 34 books
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331 voters
Measure for Measure
Folger Shakespeare Library
The world's leading center for Shakespeare studies
• Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
• Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play
• Scene-by-scene plot summaries
• A key to famous lines and phrases
• An introduction to reading Shakespeare's lang
...moreFolger Shakespeare Library, 336 pages
Published
August 23rd 2011
by Washington Square Press
(first published 1604)
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Measure for Measure, as the title suggests, is all about weighing out appropriate portions – of love, of mercy, of justice. The plot is simple enough. The Duke of Vienna, concerned that his people have thrown off restraint and have sunk too far into liberty, leaves the city in the hands of Angelo, a man notorious for his strictness and inhuman discipline. As Lucio observes in two instances (once to Isabella and again to the Duke):
“…Upon his place,...more
Governs Lord Angelo; a man whos
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While I am not the biggest Shakespeare fan, he does have an understanding of the human heart and, when I can understand him, portray it well; both on paper and stage. Although a well known or commonly known piece well worth at least a read.
Measure for Measure is another classic example of why Shakespeare is still so popular today. In this play, he combines the elements of disguise, suspense, hypocrisy, love, revenge, secrecy, mercy, and humor to create yet another of his complete thorough masterpieces. Beginning with a pseudo-Robin Hood twist, the play commences with the departure of the Duke Vincentio, who passes his authority to Lord Angelo. Shakespeare seems to have put a play on Angelo's name, for he is once described as being...more
This is a much more troubling play than a comedy really has a right to be. To be honest, it is very hard to call this play a ‘comedy’ – unlike Much Ado or Twelfth Night, the laughs don’t exactly come thick and fast. In general outline this could easily enough be considered a romantic comedy – girl in trouble, boy cleverly rescues girl, girl marries boy; a perfect description of the genre? But the central story to this one is a very strange idea for a comedy.
Here’s the main story-lin...more
Here’s the main story-lin...more
MEASURE FOR MEASURE is considered to be a "problem play". That may be true, butit's certainly an entertaining one about a creepy Duke who disguises himself and goes underground to find out what people really think of him and his kingdom, the assumption being that you never get the truth from your underlings, the ones who depend upon you for jobs or favors. Another scheme of his is to put his trusted friend, Angelo, in charge while he's gone. Angelo is a Puritanical hypocrite ...more
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review #1
Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare
The Duke of Vienna commissions Angelo, who is appointed his deputy, and he secretly investigates the immoral acts of the duke's people. Fonification is agaisnt the law, and Angelo persecutes whoever breaks it to the highest degree...death. Which is where Claudio and his fiancee Juliet come in. I read 16 pages.
Each of the characters introduced so far each have a specifc set of duties which add to who they are. Take for instanc...more
Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare
The Duke of Vienna commissions Angelo, who is appointed his deputy, and he secretly investigates the immoral acts of the duke's people. Fonification is agaisnt the law, and Angelo persecutes whoever breaks it to the highest degree...death. Which is where Claudio and his fiancee Juliet come in. I read 16 pages.
Each of the characters introduced so far each have a specifc set of duties which add to who they are. Take for instanc...more
Mia Cozad
is currently reading it
Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare
-This book so far is about a kingdom that is ruled by the Duke. Who suddenly has to mysteriously leave so he leaves Angelo in charge with all his powers. While in charge he becomes very strict on rules, which cause a young man Claudio to go to jail for impregnating his girlfriend before wedlock and he is to be executed the next morning. Word spreads around town fast and his sister, Isabella finds out, who happens to be coming a nun, but leaves ...more
-This book so far is about a kingdom that is ruled by the Duke. Who suddenly has to mysteriously leave so he leaves Angelo in charge with all his powers. While in charge he becomes very strict on rules, which cause a young man Claudio to go to jail for impregnating his girlfriend before wedlock and he is to be executed the next morning. Word spreads around town fast and his sister, Isabella finds out, who happens to be coming a nun, but leaves ...more
Love everything but Isabella's silence at the end. Would love to see a production that somehow turns her silence into a denial of the Duke. She almost let her brother be killed for the sake of her virtue and his; why would she, a novice, so easily marry? Unless she's been completely changed by the course of events? Doesn't seem like Shake gives us any text to support that.
Still, the scene between Isabella and Claudio will always be near and dear to my heart... no surprise there...
Still, the scene between Isabella and Claudio will always be near and dear to my heart... no surprise there...
This play is about the corruption of power, the nature of morality, and the tension between restraint and indulgence. In examining these issues, Shakespeare asks, "Does the state have the right to impose standards of morality on its citizens, and if so, does it also have the right to punish them if these standards are broken?" He also asks questions about the nature of justice and judgement not only as it relates to secular culture but also in how it relates to Biblical standards. T...more
Bizarrely, I loved Measure for Measure, even though I'd never heard of it, it seems unpopular for a Shakespeare play, and for some reason what I glean of the criticial opinion surrounding it is something like "distasteful problem play, not a masterpiece."
If I could revive and bring back into popularity any of Shakespeare's works this would be it. I found it far better than the surprisingly terrible Twelvth Night, which everyone goes on and on about yet is so clearly slappe...more
If I could revive and bring back into popularity any of Shakespeare's works this would be it. I found it far better than the surprisingly terrible Twelvth Night, which everyone goes on and on about yet is so clearly slappe...more
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There's a Problem at the Heart of This
A romantic comedy built around saving someone from capital punishment is going to have to work double-time to be anything approaching funny. Okay, this isn't a 'comedy' in the traditional sense - but it's filed as one of Shakespeare's comedies. I think the problem here is that Shakespeare himself didn't know what he was aiming for when he wrote this, and it reads as a smattering of well-trodden plot devices shoved together in a bizarre and incohe...more
A romantic comedy built around saving someone from capital punishment is going to have to work double-time to be anything approaching funny. Okay, this isn't a 'comedy' in the traditional sense - but it's filed as one of Shakespeare's comedies. I think the problem here is that Shakespeare himself didn't know what he was aiming for when he wrote this, and it reads as a smattering of well-trodden plot devices shoved together in a bizarre and incohe...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Of William Shakespeare's comedies that I've read, this is one of the ones I enjoyed the most. The plot was not difficult to follow, but it wasn't predictable, either. (At least, not to me.) I didn't get the characters mixed up with each other--unlike Grumio and Gremio in The Taming of the Shrew, and Solario and Solanio is The Merchant of Venice.
In a nutshell, the story goes like this: a man has had premarital sex with his betrothed. The justice, who is serving as the Duke's substitute ...more
In a nutshell, the story goes like this: a man has had premarital sex with his betrothed. The justice, who is serving as the Duke's substitute ...more
This play truly reads like an 18th century Gothic romance! A lover’s to be executed for impregnating his ladylove outside of the sanctity of wedlock. To save said lover from the chopping block, the evil and covetous deputy of justice blackmails the man’s sister to surrender her “virtue” to him. Quite risqué! This is especially true since the events turn in a direction that you’d least expect. Suffice it to say that I was quite shocked, since this wasn’t something that I expected, given the other...more
Rather different from the more well known plays. As a "problem play," it deals with both comedy and drama but doesn't read strongly of either. There is a lot going on -- a man sentenced to death, his pregnant girlfriend and his soon-to-be-a-nun sister, the duke pretending to leave town and then staying as a disguised friar, his replacement going crazy with power, something about a brothel, a random friend who ends up being killed for saying bad things to the wrong guy, and then in the ...more
I have no idea why I liked this one so much...maybe b/c I found the main female lead (whose name I've forgotten) to be incredibly saucy. I less than three'd her for sure!
No one I know has read this version of Shakespeare before, and I'm talking Johnnies and High-school English teachers as the people I know. The fact that I don't know anyone who's read this speaks to the plain and simple fact that it sucks. This was an awful Shakespeare play. The characters did not interest me, their dilemmas didn't even get me slightly interested, and when it ended I was filled with a strange feeling comprised of "What the hell was that?" and "This is NOT a goo...more
I was really looking forward to this since I enjoyed Alls Well That Ends Well, and that play was a warm-up to this one. Perhaps I just enjoyed the former because it was light and had an interesting female character. Either way, this play's issues of morality and the Biblical parable were interesting in concept but not in the context of the story.
If you're not a die-hard Shakespeare fan, this might be worth picking up so that you can read the analysis and context, which are more inte...more
If you're not a die-hard Shakespeare fan, this might be worth picking up so that you can read the analysis and context, which are more inte...more
Next to Titus Andronicus, this little tale is Shakespeare's second worst play. While it's classified as a dark comedy, what that translates into the vernacular is this is Shakespeare's transition play from comedy to tragedy, so it doesn't know what it wants to incorporate, so everything is thrown in. Vengeance! The bed trick! Disguised characters (a male disguised as a male, for once)! Whores! Clowns! If only there were a dancing bear . . . Ah, if only he had a great editor/publisher (alas, my ...more
The book was generally entertaining and I was understanding of the basics of the plot and character structure. What I don't get is that in all of the comedies I've read so far, a figure who is high in society leaves the town or city or country and whatever, then they come back disguised as someone else so they can spy. They play around and manipulate situations for the improvement of the situations in the play but as the truth bubbles up, as it always has, they figure of higher standing likes to...more
Zwei Wochen zum Lesen dieses Stück gebraucht. Beste Szene: Der Wüstling Lucio stachelt wie ein wahnsinniger Theaterregisseuer Isabella zu immer hingebungsvollerer Performance an, als sie Angelo um das Leben ihres Bruders bittet.
Recht&Gnade, durch Sex-Gier korrumpierte Macht. Wie ich erst jetzt erfahre: Eines der "Problemstücke" von Shakespeare.
Die Dialoge nicht ganz so geschmeidig wie etwa in Macbeth. Und Shakespeare scheint der Story nicht ganz vertraut zu haben, oder waru...more
Recht&Gnade, durch Sex-Gier korrumpierte Macht. Wie ich erst jetzt erfahre: Eines der "Problemstücke" von Shakespeare.
Die Dialoge nicht ganz so geschmeidig wie etwa in Macbeth. Und Shakespeare scheint der Story nicht ganz vertraut zu haben, oder waru...more
An excellent play where one accused of getting his girlfriend pregnant prior to marriage is to be executed. He has been judged guilty by one who is far and away worse. The judge tries to use his power to get the same thing he accuses the other of committing.
"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt."
"Go to your bosom; Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know. "
"It is exce...more
"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt."
"Go to your bosom; Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know. "
"It is exce...more
This was a good play, but not one of Shakespeare's best in terms of development. While the overall plot was good and both dark and humorous at times, I felt that he rushed to the ending. There were also some conversations that I would have loved to have overheard, but Shakespeare seems to skip over or divert our attention away from. Also, the plot theme seemed to rehash the themes from "The Merchant of Venice." But, it is still a decent play that should be read and studied, like all of...more
“O, IT IS EXCELLENT / To have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous / To use it like a giant.” Act II, Scene 2.
MEASURE FOR MEASURE was originally considered a comedy, but has recently been categorized as a problem play or tragicomedy. The play deals with serious subjects. The Duke of Viena who feels the kingdom has become disorderly, transfers temporary control to a patron, Angelo. The Duke disappears to resurface as a good and wise friar to observe how Angelo is handling the kingdom.
Ange...more
MEASURE FOR MEASURE was originally considered a comedy, but has recently been categorized as a problem play or tragicomedy. The play deals with serious subjects. The Duke of Viena who feels the kingdom has become disorderly, transfers temporary control to a patron, Angelo. The Duke disappears to resurface as a good and wise friar to observe how Angelo is handling the kingdom.
Ange...more
It is a strange play. It all revolves around sex – well, not sex exactly, but sexual morality. The Duke of Vienna (the dodgy and amoral Lucio calls him “the old fantastical Duke of dark corners”) has become dissatisfied with the loose ways of his subjects. So he does the Shakespearean trick of officially disappearing and unofficially returning in disguise. He leaves his sidekick, the noble Lord Angelo, in charge, with a remit to get Vienna cleaned up, and even Angelo’s name tells us trouble is n...more
Uneven. A strange comedy (one of the "problem plays") at once very dark (the plot is trying to get death-row prisoner pardoned) and very comic (rulers disguised as monks, jokes about whores).
As it is Shakespeare, there are of course moments of sublime beauty. Here's a little "to be or not to be," five years later:
Ay, but to die, and go we know not where;
To lie in cold obstruction and to rot;
This sensible warm motion to become
A knead...more
As it is Shakespeare, there are of course moments of sublime beauty. Here's a little "to be or not to be," five years later:
Ay, but to die, and go we know not where;
To lie in cold obstruction and to rot;
This sensible warm motion to become
A knead...more
One of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, his “farewell to the comedy form” (quoting everyone). The claustrophobia-level of Measure for Measure is near that of the overrated Tempest, but M4M’s sense of entrapment is urban and more grounded.
Every scene has something great in it. As in many of Shakespeare’s plays, in M4M there’s one character (Duke Vincentio) who directs the action of others through disguise and/or the manipulation of situations. But unlike other such Shakespearean emcees,...more
Every scene has something great in it. As in many of Shakespeare’s plays, in M4M there’s one character (Duke Vincentio) who directs the action of others through disguise and/or the manipulation of situations. But unlike other such Shakespearean emcees,...more
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1170959. html[return][return]The Duke of Vienna takes some time off, leaving the government in the hands of his deputies, Escalus and Angelo. They enforce the sexual purity laws which had fallen into disuse; the brothels all close (leading to much grumbling from former staff and clients) and one Claudio is condemned to death for impregnating his girlfriend. Claudio's sister Isabella pleads for his life: Angelo promises to spare him in return for sexual favours from ...more
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William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. Hi...more
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“Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.”
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“Go to your bosom; Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know. ”
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