Claudio and Isabella (1850) by William Holman Hunt

Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, written in 1603. This is one of the playwright's three problem plays, so-called because they cannot be easily classified as tragedy or comedy. Image File history File links William_Hunt_Claudio_and_Isabella_Shakespeare_Measure_for_Measure. ... Image File history File links William_Hunt_Claudio_and_Isabella_Shakespeare_Measure_for_Measure. ... William Holman Hunt - Self-Portrait. ... Romeo and Juliet by Ford Madox Brown A play, written by a playwright, or dramatist, is a form of literature, almost always consisting of dialog between characters, and intended for performance rather than reading. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... King James I of England/VII of Scotland, the first monarch to rule the Kingdoms of England and Scotland at the same time Events March - Samuel de Champlain, French explorer, sails to Canada March 24 - Elizabeth I of England dies and is succeeded by her cousin King James I of... In Shakespeare studies, the term problem plays normally refers to three comedies that William Shakespeare wrote between the late 1590s and the first years of the seventeenth century: Alls Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure and The Merchant of Venice, although some critics would extend the term to...

Performance and Publication

The earliest recorded performance of Measure for Measure took place on "St. Steven's night", December 26, 1604. The play was first published in 1623 in the First Folio. December 26 is the 360th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar, 361st in leap years. ... Events January 14 – Hampton Court conference with James I of England, the Anglican bishops and representatives of Puritans September 20 – Capture of Ostend by Spanish forces under Ambrosio Spinola after a three year siege. ... The title page of the First Folio with the famous engraved portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout The First Folio is the name given by modern scholars to the first published collection of William Shakespeares plays; its actual title is Mr. ...

During the Restoration, Measure was one of many Shakespearean 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, not Shakespeare's). John Rich presented a version closer to Shakespeare's original in 1720.^[1] King Charles II, the first monarch to rule after the English Restoration. ... William Davenant Sir William Davenant (February 28, 1606 - April 7, 1668), also spelled DAvenant, was an English poet and playwright. ... Samuel Pepys, FRS (23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament, famous chiefly for his comprehensive diary. ... February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events February 1 - The Chinese pirate Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege. ... John Rich (1682 - 1761) was an important theater manager in 18th century London. ...

Notable recent productions of Measure for Measure are Peter Brook's 1950 staging at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre with John Gielgud as Angelo, Charles Laughton as Angelo at the Old Vic Theatre in 1933, and a 1976 New York Shakespeare Festival production featuring Meryl Streep as Isabella and John Cazale as Angelo. The play has only been produced on Broadway once, in a 1973 production that featured David Ogden Stiers as Vincentio and Kevin Kline in the small role of Friar Peter. Peter Stephen Paul Brook CH CBE (born 21 March 1925) is a highly influential British theatrical producer and director. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Royal Shakespeare Theatre is a large theatre dedicated to British playwright William Shakespeare in his birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon. ... Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH (14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000), known as Sir John Gielgud, was an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Academy Award-winning English theatre and film actor, and is generally regarded as one of the great British actors in history. ... Angelo seduces Isabella in a Los Angeles production of Measure for Measure. ... Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was an English stage and film actor. ... Angelo seduces Isabella in a Los Angeles production of Measure for Measure. ... The Old Vic is a theatre in the Waterloo area of London. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... New York Shakespeare Festival is the traditional name of a sequence of shows organized by the Public Theater, most often being held at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. ... Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. ... A number of famous people in history were named Isabella: Queen Isabella of Angouleme (1187-1246), wife of John of England Queen Isabella of Castile (1451-1504), Queen regnant of Castile Queen Isabella of France (1292-1358), wife of Edward II of England Queen Isabella of Jerusalem (1170-1205), Queen... John Frank Charles Cazale (August 12, 1935 – March 12, 1978) was a distinguished Golden Globe Award nominated American film and stage actor whose brief career spanned several acclaimed films of the 1970s. ... Angelo seduces Isabella in a Los Angeles production of Measure for Measure. ... Broadway theatre is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... David Ogden Stiers (born October 31, 1942) is an American character actor, voice actor and musician, most famous for his role as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III in the television sitcom M*A*S*H, and as the role of Rev. ... Kevin Delaney Kline (born October 24, 1947) is an Academy Award- and Tony Award-winning American stage and film actor. ...

Characters

Isabella, a novice nun, is a virtuous and chaste young woman who faces a difficult decision when her brother is sentenced to death for fornication. Isabella does not approve of her brother's actions, but she pleads for his life out of loyalty and sisterly devotion. It could be noted that many of her decisions during the play go against the morality she claims to believe in, and she is very unpredictable. Ultimately she would rather her brother die and go to heaven, than she herself life a live of hell. Fornication is a term which refers to sexual intercourse between consenting unmarried partners. ...

The Duke The other central figure is the Duke, who spends most of his time dressed as a friar, Lodovic, in order to observe what is happening in his absence. He is seemingly unfailingly virtuous, good, and kind-hearted. He has tended to rule a little softly, which is why he has enlisted Angelo's help. In the First Folio, The Duke is listed in the Dramatis Personae as "Vincentio," but this name appears nowhere else in the play. Angelo seduces Isabella in a Los Angeles production of Measure for Measure. ... The title page of the First Folio with the famous engraved portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout The First Folio is the name given by modern scholars to the first published collection of William Shakespeares plays; its actual title is Mr. ...

Claudio is Isabella's brother, a young man sentenced to death for impregnating an unmarried woman. He was engaged to her by a common-law agreement, but they had sexual intercourse before the legal marriage took place.

Angelo is the villain of the play, a man who rules strictly and without mercy. He has his own weaknesses, however, and he is loathsome more for his hypocrisy than for anything else. He presents Isabella with a difficult proposition, to sleep with him in exchange for her brother's life, but then does not hold up his end of the bargain. Angelo seduces Isabella in a Los Angeles production of Measure for Measure. ...

Escalus is a wise lord who advises Angelo to be more merciful. He is loyal to the Duke and seeks to carry out his orders justly, but cannot go against Angelo's will.

Lucio, described by Shakespeare as a "fantastic," is a flamboyant bachelor who provides much of the play's comedy. He is a friend of Claudio, and tries to help him.

Mariana was intended to marry Angelo, but he called the wedding off when she lost her dowry in a shipwreck that killed her brother.

Mistress Overdone runs a brothel in Vienna.

Pompey is a clown who works for Mistress Overdone.

The Provost runs the prison, and is responsible for carrying out all of Angelo's orders.

Elbow is a dim-witted constable who arrests people for misconduct, particularly of the sexual variety. He provides some comic relief through his frequent use of malapropisms in his speech. This article or section seems to contain too many examples (or examples of poor quality) for an encyclopedia entry. ...

Barnardine is a long-term prisoner in the jail, sentenced to be executed. The Duke originally considers him hopeless and therefore dispensable but later changes his mind.

Juliet is Claudio's lover, pregnant with his child.

Synopsis

Vincentio, the Duke of Vienna, makes it known that he intends to leave the city on a diplomatic mission. He leaves the government in the hands of a strict judge, Angelo. Under Vincentio's government, the city's harsh laws against fornication have been laxly enforced, but Angelo is known to be a hard-liner on matters of sexual immorality. Angelo seduces Isabella in a Los Angeles production of Measure for Measure. ...

Claudio, a young nobleman, is betrothed to Juliet; having put off their wedding, he makes her pregnant out of wedlock. For this act of fornication he is punished by Angelo. Although he is willing to marry her, he is sentenced to death. Claudio's friend Lucio visits Claudio's sister Isabella, a postulate nun, and asks her to intercede with Angelo on Claudio's behalf.

Isabella (1888) by Francis William Topham

Isabella obtains an audience with Angelo, and pleads to him for mercy. Over the course of two scenes between Angelo and Isabella, it becomes clear that he harbours lustful thoughts for her, and he eventually offers her a deal: Angelo will spare Claudio's life if Isabella will sleep with Angelo. Isabella refuses, but she also realises that (due to Angelo's austere reputation) she will not be believed if she makes a public accusation against him. Instead she visits her brother in prison, and counsels him to prepare himself for death. Claudio vehemently begs Isabella to save his life, but Isabella refuses. Image File history File links Topham_-_Isabella. ... Image File history File links Topham_-_Isabella. ...

The Duke has not in fact left the city, but remains there disguised as a friar, in order to spy on his city's affairs, and especially the actions of Angelo. In his guise as a friar he befriends Isabella and arranges two tricks to thwart the evil intentions of Angelo:

1. First, a "bed trick" is arranged. Angelo has previously refused to fulfill the betrothal binding him to Mariana, because her dowry was lost at sea. Isabella sends word to Angelo that she has decided to submit to him, making it a condition of their meeting that it occurs in perfect darkness. In fact, Mariana agrees to take Isabella's place, and she has sex with Angelo, although he continues to believe he has enjoyed Isabella. (In some interpretations of the law, this constituted consummation of their betrothal, and so marriage.)
2. Contrary to expectation, Angelo goes back on his word, sending a message to the prison that he wishes to see Claudio's head, which necessitates the "head trick." The Duke first attempts to arrange the execution of another prisoner whose head can be sent instead of Claudio's. However the villain Barnadine refuses to be executed in his current drunken state. As luck would have it, however, a pirate named Ragozine, of similar appearance to Claudio, has suddenly died, so his head is sent to Angelo, instead.

This main plot concludes with the "return" to Vienna of the Duke in his own person. Isabella and Mariana publicly petition him, and he hears their claims against Angelo, which Angelo smoothly denies. The scene builds a sense that the friar will be blamed for the "false" accusations levelled against Angelo. The Duke leaves Angelo to be judge of the cause against the friar, but returns in disguise moments later when the friar is summoned. Eventually the friar reveals himself to be the duke, thereby exposing Angelo as a liar and Isabella and Mariana as truthful. He proposes execution for him -- with his estate going to Mariana as her new dowry, for a better husband. On Mariana's pleas for Angelo, the Duke is merciful to him, but forces him to marry Mariana. The Duke then proposes marriage to Isabella. Isabella makes no reply, and her reaction is interpreted differently in different productions: her silent acceptance of his proposal is the most common in performance. Betrothal is a formal state of engagement to be married. ... Angelo seduces Isabella in a Los Angeles production of Measure for Measure. ...

Mariana (1888) by Valentine Cameron Prinsep

A sub-plot concerns Claudio's friend 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 person. His punishment, like Angelo's, is to be forced into an unwanted marriage: in his case with the whore Kate Keepdown. Image File history File links Prinsep_-_Mariana. ... Image File history File links Prinsep_-_Mariana. ... The Queen was in the Parlour, 1860, Manchester City Art Gallery. ...

Sources

The main source of the play is George Whetstone's 1578 lengthy two-part closet drama Promos and Cassandra. Whetstone took the story from Cinthio's Hecatommithi, and Shakespeare seems to have consulted the Cinthio story as well as a dramatization of the story by Cinthio. It was in Cinthio that Shakespeare discovered the story he would adapt for his next play, Othello. George Whetstone (1544?-1587?) was an English dramatist and author. ... Events January 31 - Battle of Gemblours - Spanish forces under Don John of Austria and Alexander Farnese defeat the Dutch. ... A closet drama is a play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader or, sometimes, out loud in a small group. ... Giovanni Battista Giraldi (November, 1504 - December 30, 1573), surnamed Cynthitus, Cinthio or Cintio, was an Italian novelist and poet. ... Title page of the first quarto edition of Othello, published in 1622 The Tragedy of Othello, The Moore of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare written around 1603. ...

The title, which appears as a line of dialogue in the play, may be related to the Bible, Matthew 7:2: This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library of Congress. ...

For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Measure for Measure

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Measure for Measure

• Measure for Measure
• Measure for Measure - searchable e-text
• Measvre, For Measure - HTML version of this title.
• Measure For Measure - plain vanilla text from Project Gutenberg
• Sparknotes - Measure For Measure - Sparknotes' interpretation of key themes, scenes and characters.

	The complete works of William Shakespeare
Tragedies:	Romeo and Juliet | Macbeth | King Lear | Hamlet | Othello | Titus Andronicus | Julius Caesar | Antony and Cleopatra | Coriolanus | Troilus and Cressida | Timon of Athens
Comedies:	A Midsummer Night's Dream | All's Well That Ends Well | As You Like It | Cymbeline | Love's Labour's Lost | Measure for Measure | The Merchant of Venice | The Merry Wives of Windsor | Much Ado About Nothing | Pericles, Prince of Tyre | Taming of the Shrew | The Comedy of Errors | The Tempest | Twelfth Night, or What You Will | The Two Gentlemen of Verona | The Two Noble Kinsmen | The Winter's Tale
Histories:	King John | Richard II | Henry IV, Part 1 | Henry IV, Part 2 | Henry V | Henry VI, part 1 | Henry VI, part 2 | Henry VI, part 3 | Richard III | Henry VIII
Poems and Sonnets:	Sonnets | Venus and Adonis | The Rape of Lucrece | The Passionate Pilgrim | The Phoenix and the Turtle | A Lover's Complaint
Apocrypha and Lost Plays	Edward III | Sir Thomas More | Cardenio (lost) | Love's Labour's Won (lost) | The Birth of Merlin | Locrine | The London Prodigal | The Puritan | The Second Maiden's Tragedy | Richard II, Part I: Thomas of Woodstock | Sir John Oldcastle | Thomas Lord Cromwell | A Yorkshire Tragedy | Fair Em | Mucedorus | The Merry Devil of Edmonton | Arden of Faversham | Edmund Ironside
See also:	Shakespeare on screen | Titles based on Shakespeare | Characters | Problem Plays | Ghost characters | Reputation | New Words | Influence on English Language | Authorship Question | Chronology of Shakespeare plays | Chronology of Shakespeare's Plays - Oxfordian | BBC Television Shakespeare