= Measure_for_Measure =

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= Measure_for_Measure =
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Introduction
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'Measure for Measure' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to
have been written in 1603 or 1604 and first performed in 1604. It was
published in the First Folio of 1623.

The play centres on the despotic and puritan Angelo, a deputy
entrusted to rule the city of Vienna in the absence of Duke Vincentio,
who instead disguises himself as a humble friar to observe Angelo's
regency and his citizens' lives. Angelo persecutes a young man,
Claudio, for the crime of fornication, sentencing him to death on a
technicality. Angelo then attempts to exploit Claudio's sister
Isabella, a chaste and innocent nun, when she comes to plead for her
brother's life.

'Measure for Measure' was printed as a comedy in the First Folio and
continues to be classified as one. Though it shares features with
other Shakespearean comedies, such as word play, irony and disguise
and substitution as plot devices, it also features tragic elements
such as executions and soliloquies, with Claudio's speech "Ay, but to
die, and go we know not where..." in particular having been favourably
compared to those of tragic heroes like Prince Hamlet. Because of this
ambiguous tone, it is often cited as one of Shakespeare's problem
plays.

Characters
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* Vincentio - the Duke of Vienna, who also appears disguised as Friar
Lodowick
* Angelo - the Duke's deputy, who rules in the Duke's absence
* Mariana - Angelo's ex-lover
* Escalus - an ancient lord working under Angelo
* A Justice - friend of Escalus
* The Provost - runs the prison
* Abhorson - the executioner
* Barnardine - a prisoner
* Claudio - a young man imprisoned for impregnating a woman out of
wedlock
* Juliet - Claudio's lover, pregnant with their child
* Isabella - Claudio's sister and a novice nun
* Francisca - a nun
* Mistress Overdone - the manager of a brothel
* Pompey - a pimp
* Lucio - a "fantastic"
* Two gentleman - friends of Lucio
* Froth - a foolish gentleman
* Elbow - a simple constable
* Thomas - a friar
* Peter - a friar
* Varrius (silent) - friend of the Duke

Synopsis and themes
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Vincentio, the Duke of Vienna, must leave the city on a diplomatic
mission. He instates a strict judge, Angelo, to act as his deputy
until he returns.

Lucio and a group of soldiers banter about religion, prostitution, and
venereal disease as they walk along a Viennese street, hopeful that
they will soon find work when war breaks out with Hungary. Mistress
Overdone, the operator of a nearby brothel, interjects to scold them
for their flippant talk. She compares their behaviour to that of the
relatively upstanding Claudio who is, she tells them, soon to be
executed for the crime of sleeping with a woman out of wedlock. One of
the gentlemen, Claudio's friend Lucio, a "fantastic", is astonished at
this news and rushes off. Pompey Bum, an employee of Mistress
Overdone, enters as he leaves, bringing more distressing news: Angelo
has issued a proclamation that all the brothels in the suburbs are to
be torn down.

The Provost leads Claudio past Pompey and Overdone as they speak, and
explains to Lucio what has happened to him. Claudio was engaged to be
married to his lover, Juliet, but, as they had not yet completed the
legal technicalities, they were still considered unmarried when Juliet
became pregnant by him. As the interim ruler of the city, Angelo has
enforced laws that Vincentio had let slide, including an outdated
legal clause stating that fornication is punishable by death. Hearing
this, Lucio leaves to visit Claudio's sister Isabella, a novice nun,
and asks her to intercede with Angelo on Claudio's behalf.

Isabella quickly obtains an audience with Angelo, and pleads for mercy
on Claudio's behalf. As they exchange arguments, Angelo is
increasingly overcome by desire for Isabella, and eventually offers
her a deal: he will spare Claudio's life if Isabella yields to him her
virginity. Isabella refuses and threatens to publicly expose his
lechery, but he points out that no one would believe her given his
reputation. She leaves to visit Claudio in prison, and counsels him to
prepare himself for death. Claudio desperately begs Isabella to save
his life, but Isabella, though torn, ultimately repeats her refusal to
yield to Angelo, on the ground that it would be wrong for her to
sacrifice her own immortal soul (and that of Claudio, if his
entreaties were responsible for her loss of her virtue) to save
Claudio's transient earthly life.

Subterfuge
============
Vincentio, meanwhile, has not truly left the city. Instead, he has
disguised himself as a friar named Lodowick, wanting to secretly view
the city's affairs and the effects of Angelo's temporary rule. In his
guise as a friar, he befriends Isabella and arranges two tricks with
her to thwart Angelo's intentions:
# First, a "bed trick" is arranged. Angelo has previously refused to
fulfill a betrothal binding him to the lady Mariana, despite her love
for him, because her dowry was lost at sea. Isabella comes to an
agreement with Mariana, then sends word to Angelo that she has decided
to submit to him with the condition that their meeting occur in
darkness and silence. Mariana takes Isabella's place and has sex with
Angelo, who believes she is Isabella. On some interpretations of the
law, this constitutes consummation of their betrothal, and therefore
their marriage; notably, this interpretation would also make Claudio's
and Juliet's marriage legal.
# After having sex with Mariana (believing her to be Isabella), Angelo
goes back on his word. He sends a message to the prison that he wishes
to see Claudio beheaded, necessitating the "head trick". Vincentio
attempts to arrange the execution of another prisoner whose head could
be sent in place of Claudio's. But the dissolute criminal Barnardine
refuses to be executed in his drunken state. Instead, the head of
Ragozine the pirate is sent to Angelo; Ragozine recently died of a
fever, and was of similar appearance to Claudio.

Resolution
============
The plot comes to a climax with Vincentio's "return" to Vienna.
Isabella and Mariana publicly petition him, and he hears their claims
against Angelo, which Angelo smoothly denies. As the scene develops,
it appears that Friar Lodowick will be blamed for the accusations
levelled against Angelo. Vincentio leaves Angelo to judge the cause
against Lodowick, returning in his disguise when Lodowick is summoned
moments later. When Angelo attempts to seal the case against Lodowick,
Vincentio reveals himself, exposing Angelo as a liar and confirming
Isabella's and Mariana's allegations. He proposes that Angelo be
executed, but first compels him to marry Mariana, so that his estate
may go to Mariana as compensation for her lost dowry.

Mariana pleads for Angelo's life, even enlisting the aid of Isabella
(who is not yet aware her brother Claudio is still alive). Vincentio
pretends not to heed the women's petition until he reveals that
Claudio has not, in fact, been executed, at which point he relents. He
then proposes marriage to Isabella. Isabella does not reply. For
Shakespeare's audiences, silence would have been interpreted as an
unequivocal "yes", meaning that additional dialogue was unnecessary.
This is one of the "open silences" of the play, and has been variously
interpreted in different adaptations.

A subplot concerns Lucio, who frequently slanders the duke to the
friar, and in the last act slanders the friar to the duke, providing
opportunities for comic consternation on Vincentio's part and landing
Lucio in trouble when it is revealed that the duke and the friar are
one and the same. Lucio's punishment is to be forced to marry Kate
Keepdown, a prostitute he impregnated and abandoned.

Analysis
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The play's main themes include justice, "morality and mercy in
Vienna", and the dichotomy between corruption and purity: "some rise
by sin, and some by virtue fall". Mercy and virtue prevail, as the
play does not end tragically, with virtues such as compassion and
forgiveness exercised at its end. While the play focuses on justice
overall, the final scene illustrates that Shakespeare intended for
moral justice to temper strict civil justice: several of the
characters receive understanding and leniency instead of the harsh
punishment to which they, according to the law, could have been
sentenced.

Vincentio's reappearance is considered an early use of the deus ex
machina in English literature.

Source texts
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The play draws on two distinct sources. The original is "The Story of
Epitia", from Cinthio's 'Gli Hecatommithi', first published in 1565.
Shakespeare was familiar with this book; it contains the original
source for his 'Othello'. Cinthio also published the story with some
small differences as a play, of which Shakespeare may have been aware.
The original story is an unmitigated tragedy: Isabella's counterpart
is forced to sleep with Angelo's counterpart, and her brother is
killed.
The play's other main source is George Whetstone's 1578 two-part
closet drama 'Promos and Cassandra', itself sourced from Cinthio.
Whetstone adapted Cinthio's story by adding the comic elements and the
bed and head tricks.

The title of the play appears as a line of dialogue:

This is generally understood to be a reference to the Sermon on the
Mount in Matthew 7:
* For the biblical verse, refer

Peter Meilaender has argued that 'Measure for Measure' is largely
based on biblical references, focusing on the themes of sin,
restraint, mercy, and rebirth.
Amongst such Gospel comparisons, the Gospel of Matthew has been
viewed as a source.

A 2016 essay by the literary critic Giuseppe Leone analyses parallels
between the episode of Claudio's supposed beheading and that of John
the Baptist, as narrated in Matthew 14:1-12. Leone argues that in
Shakespeare's treatment of the perpetrator's demand for Claudio's head
there is an expression of Angelo's pleasure in his power to have his
will enacted, and to reap satisfaction from that power through the
tangible token: he orders the severed head be brought "for my better
satisfaction". The demand for the Baptist's head from Herodias,
through her daughter, fulfils a similar function. Herod Antipas'
public oath of providing Herodias' daughter with whatever she demanded
ensured the Baptist's execution, without necessitating the production
of his remains. In Leone's view, his stepdaughter's demand, "Give me
here John Baptist's head on a platter", serves the same purpose of
allowing for self-satisfied gloating in power over others. Neither
Cinthio's nor Whetstone's source text has anything similar. The
executed victim in those works is ordered to be sent to the sister,
without either of the perpetrators, Iuriste and Promos, showing any
interest in obtaining or viewing the remains. Their satisfaction comes
solely from their sister's mistreatment. For Leone, this divergence
from 'Measure's' literary precursors and concurrence with the Gospel
text is a strong case for Matthew's Gospel as a source.
* For the biblical verse, refer:

Date, text and authorship
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'Measure for Measure' is believed to have been written in 1603 or
1604. The play was first published in 1623 in the First Folio.

In their book 'Shakespeare Reshaped, 1606-1623', Gary Taylor and John
Jowett argue that part of the text of 'Measure' that survives is not
in its original form, but rather the product of a revision by Thomas
Middleton after Shakespeare's death. They present stylistic evidence
that patches of writing are by Middleton, and argue that Middleton
changed the setting to Vienna from the original Italy.Gary Taylor and
John Jowett, 'Shakespeare Reshaped, 1606-1623' (Oxford University
Press, 1993).
* See also: "Shakespeare's Mediterranean 'Measure for Measure'", in
'Shakespeare and the Mediterranean: The Selected Proceedings of the
International Shakespeare Association World Congress, Valencia, 2001',
ed. Tom Clayton, Susan Brock, and Vicente Forés (Newark: University of
Delaware Press, 2004), 243-269. Braunmuller and Watson say their
suggestion should be seen as "an intriguing hypothesis rather than a
fully proven attribution". David Bevington suggests an alternate
theory: that the text can be stylistically credited to the
professional scrivener Ralph Crane, who is usually credited for some
of the better and unchanged texts in the Folio, including 'The
Tempest'.

It is generally accepted that a garbled sentence during the Duke's
opening speech (lines 8-9 in most editions) represents a place where a
line has been lost, possibly due to a printer's error. Because the
folio is the only source, the line cannot be recovered.

Performance history
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During the Restoration, 'Measure' was one of many Shakespeare plays
adapted to the tastes of a new audience. Sir William Davenant inserted
Benedick and Beatrice from 'Much Ado About Nothing' into his
adaptation, called 'The Law Against Lovers'. Samuel Pepys saw the
hybrid play on 18 February 1662; he describes it in his diary as "a
good play, and well performed"; he was especially impressed by the
singing and dancing of the young actress who played Viola, Beatrice's
sister (Davenant's creation). Davenant rehabilitated Angelo, who is
now only testing Isabella's chastity; the play ends with a triple
marriage. This, among the earliest of Restoration adaptations, appears
not to have succeeded on stage. Charles Gildon returned to
Shakespeare's text in a 1699 production at Lincoln's Inn Fields.
Gildon's adaptation, entitled 'Beauty the Best Advocate', removes all
of the low-comic characters. Moreover, by making both Angelo and
Mariana, and Claudio and Juliet, secretly married, and by removing the
scene in which the Duke propositions Isabella, he eliminates almost
all of the illicit sexuality that is so central to Shakespeare's play.
In addition, he integrates into the play scenes from Henry Purcell's
opera 'Dido and Aeneas', which Angelo watches sporadically throughout
the play. Gildon also offers a partly facetious epilogue, spoken by
Shakespeare's ghost, who complains of the constant revisions of his
work. Like Davenant's, Gildon's version did not gain currency and was
not revived. John Rich presented a version closer to Shakespeare's
original in 1720.

In late Victorian times, the subject matter of the play was deemed
controversial, and there was an outcry when Adelaide Neilson appeared
as Isabella in the 1870s. The Oxford University Dramatic Society found
it necessary to edit it when staging it in February 1906, with Gervais
Rentoul as Angelo and Maud Hoffman as Isabella, and the same text was
used when Oscar Asche and Lily Brayton staged it at the Adelphi
Theatre in the following month. William Poel produced the play in 1893
at the Royalty and in 1908 at the Gaiety in Manchester, with himself
as Angelo. In line with his other Elizabethan performances, these used
the uncut text of Shakespeare's original with only minimal
alterations. The use of an un-localised stage lacking scenery, and the
swift, musical delivery of dramatic speech, set the standard for the
rapidity and continuity shown in modern productions. Poel's work also
marked the first determined attempt by a producer to give a modern
psychological or theological reading of both the characters and the
overall message of the play.

Notable 20th-century productions of 'Measure for Measure' include
Charles Laughton as Angelo at the Old Vic Theatre in 1933, and Peter
Brook's 1950 staging at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre with John
Gielgud as Angelo and Barbara Jefford as Isabella. In 1957 John
Houseman and Jack Landau directed a production at the Phoenix Theatre
in New York City that starred Nina Foch and Richard Waring (Jerry
Stiller appeared in the minor role of Barnardine). In 1962, the Royal
Shakespeare Company staged a production directed by John Blatchley
starring Marius Goring as Angelo and Judi Dench as Isabella. The play
has only once been produced on Broadway, in a 1973 production also
directed by Houseman that featured David Ogden Stiers as Vincentio,
Kevin Kline in the small role of Friar Peter, and Patti Lupone in two
small roles. In 1976, a New York Shakespeare Festival production
featured Sam Waterston as the Duke, Meryl Streep as Isabella, John
Cazale as Angelo, Lenny Baker as Lucio, Jeffrey Tambor as Elbow, and
Judith Light as Francisca. In 1981, director Michael Rudman presented
a version with an all-black cast at London's National Theatre. Rudman
restaged his concept at the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1993,
starring Kevin Kline as the Duke, André Braugher as Angelo, and Lisa
Gay Hamilton as Isabella.

In 2013, Robert Falls directed a version at Chicago's Goodman Theatre
set in seedy 1970s Times Square, New York. It was available for
streaming in April to May 2021. Between 2013 and 2017, the theatre
company Cheek by Jowl staged a Russian-language version of the play in
association with the Pushkin Theatre, Moscow, and the Barbican Centre,
London. It was directed by Declan Donnellan and designed by Nick
Ormerod. In 2018, Josie Rourke directed a gender-reversal production
at the Donmar Warehouse in London, in which Jack Lowden and Hayley
Atwell alternated in the roles of Angelo and Isabella. In 2025, the
Royal Shakespeare Company's production directed by Emily Burns, with
Isis Hainsworth as Isabella, Adam James as the Duke, Oli Higginson as
Claudio, and Tom Mothersdale as Angelo, dispensed with the comic
subplots, one glowing review noting its underlining of 'Measure for
Measure's' contemporary political relevance.

Film adaptations
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* The 1979 BBC version, shot on videotape and directed by Desmond
Davis, is generally considered a faithful rendition of the play. Kate
Nelligan plays Isabella, Tim Pigott-Smith plays Angelo and Kenneth
Colley plays the Duke. It was shown on PBS in the United States as
part of the 'BBC Television Shakespeare' series.
* A 1994 TV adaptation was set in the present day, and starred Tom
Wilkinson, Corin Redgrave and Juliet Aubrey.
* In a 2006 version directed by Bob Komar the play is set in the
British Army in the present day. It starred Josephine Rogers as
Isabella, Daniel Roberts as Angelo, and Simon Phillips as the Duke.
* The 2015 film 'M4M: Measure for Measure' recontextualises Isabella's
character by changing her gender from female to male, making this
version the first to incorporate homosexual interactions.
* A 2019 Australian feature film adaptation, directed by Paul Ireland,
is set in contemporary Melbourne.

Radio adaptations
===================
* In 1950, Peter Brook directed a BBC Home Service birthday tribute to
Shakespeare with John Gielgud as Angelo, Leon Quartermaine as Lucio,
Harry Andrews as Vincentio, Barbara Jefford as Isabella, and Robert
Hardy as narrator.
* In 1951, AE A Harding arranged and produced a BBC Third Programme
version, with Stephen Murray as Angelo, Dennis Arundell as Lucio,
Laidman Browne as Vincentio, Claire Bloom as Isabella.
* In 1955, Raymond Raikes adapted and produced a BBC Third Programme
version with Michael Hordern as Angelo, Heron Carvic as Lucio, Deryck
Guyler as Vincentio, Hermione Hannen as Isabella, and John Gabriel as
narrator. An off-air recording exists.
* In 1964, Raymond Raikes adapted and produced a BBC Third Programme
version with William Squire as Angelo, David March as Lucio, Anthony
Nicholls as Vincentio, and Barbara Jefford as Isabella.
* In 1976, Jane Morgan produced a BBC Radio 3 version with Philip Bond
as Angelo, Norman Rodway as Lucio, Michael Gough as Vincentio, and
Marian Diamond as Isabella.
* In 1994, Peter Kavanagh adapted and directed a BBC Radio 3 version
with John Shrapnel as Angelo, Simon Russell Beale as Lucio, Ronald
Pickup as Vincentio, and Saskia Reeves as Isabella.
* In 2004, BBC Radio 3's 'Drama on 3' broadcast a production directed
by Claire Grove, with Chiwetel Ejiofor as The Duke, Nadine Marshall as
Isabella, Anton Lesser as Angelo, Adjoa Andoh as Mariana, Jude
Akuwudike as Claudio, Colin McFarlane as the Provost, and Claire
Benedict as Mistress Overdone.
* On 29 April 2018, BBC Radio 3's 'Drama on 3' broadcast a new
production directed by Gaynor Macfarlane, with Paul Higgins as The
Duke, Nicola Ferguson as Isabella, Robert Jack as Angelo, Maureen
Beattie as Escalus, Finn den Hertog as Lucio/Froth, Michael Nardone as
the Provost, Maggie Service as Mariana, Owen Whitelaw as Claudio/Friar
Peter, Sandy Grierson as Pompey, and Georgie Glen as Mistress
Overdone/Francisca.

Musical adaptations
=====================
* Richard Wagner's opera 'Das Liebesverbot', with the libretto by the
composer
* The musical 'Desperate Measures' (2004), with book and lyrics by
Peter Kellogg and music by David Friedman

In popular culture
====================
* The character of Mariana inspired Tennyson's poem "Mariana" (1830).
* Alexander Pushkin used the play's plot in his poetic tale 'Angelo'
(1833). He had begun to translate the play, but arrived at a generally
non-dramatic tale with some dialogue.
* Joyce Carol Oates's short story "In the Region of Ice" contains the
dialogue between Claudio and his sister and parallels the same plea
with the student, Allen Weinstein, and his teacher, Sister Irene.
* Bertolt Brecht's play 'Round Heads and Pointed Heads' was originally
an adaptation of 'Measure for Measure'.
* Thomas Pynchon's early short story "Mortality and Mercy in Vienna"
was inspired by this play and takes its title from a verse in it.
* In Aldous Huxley's novel 'Eyeless in Gaza', Mr Beavis expresses a
"tingling warmth" he feels while listening to Mrs Foxe reading the
last scene of 'Measure for Measure'.
* The title of Huxley's 1948 novel 'Ape and Essence' comes from a line
spoken by Isabella, act 2 scene 2: "His glassy essence, like an angry
ape".
* Lauren Willig's 2011 novel 'Two L' is based on 'Measure for
Measure'.

External links
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*
*
*
* [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/565149/index.html 'Measure for
Measure'] - BFI Shakespeare on Screen
* [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0834931/ 'Measure for Measure' feature
film, on IMDB]
*
[http://measureformeasurecomic.smackjeeves.com/comics/1225355/mfmcintroduction/
'Measure for Measure' Comic] - a parody webcomic adaptation of the
play
* [http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/measure/ Sparknotes -
'Measure For Measure'] - Sparknotes' interpretation of key themes,
scenes and characters
* [http://www.crossref-it.info/textguide/Measure-for-Measure/3/0
Crossref-it.info - 'Measure For Measure'] - Synopsis, key themes,
characters, literary and cultural background

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=========
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Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measure_for_Measure