Customer Reviews

Measure for Measure (Wordsworth Classics) (Classics Library (NTC))

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Measure for Measure is seldom read, and not often performed in the United States. Why? Although many of Shakespeare's plays deal bluntly with sexual issues, Measure for Measure does so in an unusually ugly and disgusting way for Shakespeare. This play is probably best suited for adults, as a result.

I see Measure for Measure as closest to The Merchant of Venice in its themes. Of the two plays, I prefer Measure for Measure for its unremitting look at the arbitrariness of laws, public hypocrisy and private venality, support for virtue, and encouragement of tempering public justice with common sense and mercy.

The play opens with Duke Vincentio turning over his authority to his deputy, Angelo. But while the duke says he is leaving for Poland, he in fact remains in Vienna posing as a friar. Angelo begins meting out justice according to the letter of the law. His first act is to condemn Claudio to death for impregnating Juliet. The two are willing to marry, but Angelo is not interested in finding a solution. In despair, Claudio gets word to his sister, the beautiful Isabella, that he is to be executed and prays that she will beg for mercy. Despite knowing that Isabella is a virgin novice who is about to take her vows, Angelo cruelly offers to release Claudio of Isabella will make herself sexually available to Angelo. The Duke works his influence behind the scenes to help create justice.

Although this play is a "comedy" in Shakespearean terms, the tension throughout is much more like a tragedy. In fact, there are powerful scenes where Shakespeare draws on foolish servants of the law to make his points clear. These serve a similar role of lessening the darkness to that of the gravediggers in Hamlet.

One of the things I like best about Measure for Measure is that the resolution is kept hidden better than in most of the comedies. As a result, the heavy and rising tension is only relieved right at the end. The relief you will feel at the end of act five will be very great, if you are like me.

After you read this play, I suggest that you compare Isabella and Portia. Why did Shakespeare choose two such strong women to be placed at the center of establishing justice? Could it have anything to do with wanting to establish the rightness of the heart? If you think so, reflect that both Isabella and Portia are tough in demanding that what is right be done. After you finish thinking about those two characters, you may also enjoy comparing King Lear and Claudio. What was their fault? What was their salvation? Why? What point is Shakespeare making? Finally, think about Angelo. Is he the norm or the exception in society? What makes someone act like Angelo does here? What is a person naturally going to do in his situation?

Look for fairness in all that you say and do!

I was very satisfied with this version of William Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure." As far as Shakespeare goes, different editions of the plays can be drastically different, not generally in actual Shakespearian context, but in the quality and quantity of footnotes and helpful information. Throughout this book the footnotes are on the left-hand page while the actual play is on the right-hand page. There are also scene summaries in the footnotes at the beginning of each scene, which I found very helpful in understanding. There are also longer notes on some topics at the back of the book. As far as the footnotes go, I have been very satisfied with the amount of information and the layout of the book. My one complaint is that I purchased this book for a class and everyone else is using a different edition and for some reason the line numbers are different in my book from the ones that they are using. Mine are always higher, so I'm assuming I have some additional lines that were edited out in their version, but it causes some problems and I wonder which version is more widely accepted. Either way, I'm very satisfied with this edition and all the supplementary information it provides.

In this somewhat disturbing classic, we have characters in almost as much a dilemma as Hamlet himself. Claudio, a young man, has gotten his fiance pregnant before their wedding. Unfortunately for Claudio, the local Duke is out of town finding himself, and in his stead is Angelo - a stickler for the rules, although he's far from squeaky clean himself. The said rules in this case, although obscure, call for execution.

Enter Isabella, Claudio's sister - a novice nun - to plead his case. Incredibly, Angelo starts to have some not-very-nice thoughts, and soon enough he's telling her he'll let Claudio go - if she spends the night with him!

In modern times one might think this reprehensible but a no-brainer - most sisters aren't going to let their brothers die young if there's anything they can do about it even if they are convent bound. But consider that in Shakespeare's time Isabella's soul would have been very much at issue.

So we have Isabella's soul and Claudio's life at stake, and there's still no word from the deadbeat Duke! Will something happen before time runs out?

Angelo is one of Shakespeare's most interesting villains, knowing that he's setting himself up to go straight to hell but still not able to stop himself. Isabella has to deal with a problem that makes those of many other Shakespearean heroines seem like child's play. As for Claudio - his prison monologue, where he starts off trying to be brave for Isabella but ends up as frightened as anyone in his predicament would be when human nature kicks in - is as powerful a tour de force as Clarence's scene in Richard III.

Not to be missed by Shakespeare fans.

Measure for Measure was reportedly written just before King Lear and while typically identified as a comedy it has some elements in common with Lear, most notably the Duke's voluntary abdication of power that sets the play in motion. The theme of hypocrisy is explored through the character of Angelo who on assuming power begins to enforce long dormant laws that he himself cannot ultimately comply with. I once saw an RSC production of this in which the Duke was played to great effect as a tragi-comic figure who was incredibly longwinded and self-absorbed in the opening act. This completely changed the way I read this play, and reinforced for me the important difference that good direction and interpretation on stage can make when dealing with Shakespeare.

This play is the work of a mature and self-confident Shakespeare at the height of his powers and is well worth the effort. There are so many memorable lines that my copy is marked up and underlined on every other page.

As for the edition- The Folger Library paperbacks are wonderful. The facing pages have notes and interpretations of obscure phrasing that are very useful allowing for easy reference without interrupting the flow of the play.

This is an uncommonly read play within academic circles. Yet, it is a genius of a play. Shakespeare creates three-dimensional characters who perpetually play pi comically balancing God's purpose for man and man's own mad-made measures on morality.

This book was purchased for a class I am enrolled in at an adult school, each year the teacher chooses one or two plays by Shakespeare and offers us a chance to view both plays at Ashland, Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In addition he shows films of the plays and sometimes encourages readings of the play. This play is one of Shakespeare's most complex plays, seldom taught and often not performed. This version of the play is easy to read, and has a wonderful vocabulary of Shakespeare words and phases. This book is a most for any student, actor or someone who loves words. Thiis is the Folger Library edition.

While not one of Shakespeare's transcendent achievements, "Measure for Measure" is very much a masterwork. While easy to read and to follow, it actually has a vast number of moral complexities that challenge us to think about our own humanity, our sense of justice and charity, and the ways in which even the best among us are so easily compromised.

The title, of course, comes from the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 7:2 says: For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. While the surface reading of this verse seems to be talking about judging righteousness or evil (and it is that), it goes much deeper. It is also choosing one thing over another and the necessity of harvesting what those choices unavoidably bring.

This play is inhabited by many strange characters that exhibit all sorts of self-contained contradictions. The Duke of a very decadent Vienna who decrees that extra-marital relations will be punished by death, who is uncomfortable with public adulation, who spends most of the play disguised as a Friar. He is not called the Duke of Dark Corners for nothing. Poor Claudio is arrested and sentenced to die because is beloved Juliet is about to give birth to their child. This while the bawd Pompey is arrested and let off without even being whipped. Angelo, who is certainly no angel, is put in temporary power by the Duke during his time away from court. It is Angelo who has Claudio arrested and sentenced.

Isabelle, Claudio's sister, is about to take her vows as a nun, but comes to plead for her brother. Angelo says he will spare Claudio if she will let Angelo take her chastity. She refuses, but consents to the Friar's plan to ensnare Angelo. This is says nothing about Lucio and his being on all sides of every situation in the play.

While I admire all the Arden editions, this play has a particularly fine opening essay especially when it comes to the character and qualities discussed in the play. The editor provides us insight to how our modern sensibilities will mislead us and keep us from seeing the Elizabethan issues being worked out during the play.

The Appendices offer multiple versions of the source material for this play. Some of which it is suspected that Shakespeare used or was used by those who created the materials that Shakespeare used. It is a fascinating subject, especially when one notes the differences between the sources and the shape Shakespeare finally gave the plot. It is indeed a very different play.

I think the editor, J.W. Lever, makes a great point that this should be considered a drama of ideas rather than being included in that cloudy category of "Problem Plays" that so many scholars use as a catch all for those plays that aren't completely comedies and are certainly not tragedies like Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, or Lear.

Strongly Recommended

One pleasure of reviewing books on Amazon is going back and looking again at books read years ago, seeing how I understood or misunderstood them, answering now questions I had in my mind then and left unanswered at the time.
'Measure for Measure' is clearly not one of Shakespeare's great plays, but is also not in the category of the leanest. It is classified as a problem play. This means a certain question or problem is raised in the beginning that sets the action under way and dominates it. The problem here results from the ban on all sexual activity in Vienna, and the specific case in which Claudio is to be tried for having had sexual relations with his soon-to-be wife(The trial is to be conducted by the second-in- command, the villain of the play, Angelo who is the delegate of the more merciful Duke of Vienna.The Duke spends much of the action in disguise and hiding, though he eventually brings about the play's 'happy ending') . The other central character Isabella the sister of Claudio comes to plead his case, and is propositioned by Angelo. He offers to save her brother's life if she will have sexual relations with him. The 'problem' is whether she should violate her virtue to save her brother's life.
The problem which is at the center of the action plays itself out to the generous Duke's providing a kind of happy ending. But the philosophical and moral questions which the problem raised are not deeply probed by Shakespeare.
Cleverness, wit , humor , disguise are all parts of the play as is of course the poetic greatness of Shakespeare's language.
But of course it does not grip us as the great tragedies do. And the play is always a play merely.
Again , Shakespeare is Shakespeare, but this is not the greatest Shakespeare of all.

This play is very funny (Shakespeare is one of the greatest comedians of all time), but it is also a problem play--which causes problems. It is difficult to decide whether to laugh or not, or whether you like the characters or not. However, Shakespeare touches on some important issues that I find fascinating--justice/mercy, the responsibility of political leaders, and others. I recommend reading this play, laughing, and then really try to determine your own views on issues that are still pertinent today.

this book was a little bit hard. i'm a sophomore, and read this for columbia summer program. characters, plot, issues of mercy, justice, morality....background... even biblical relationship... overall... i think it's worth reading ONLY when you fully understand the book.