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Title: Measure for Measure (New Variorum Edition of Shakespeare, Vol 29) by William Shakespeare, Mark Eccles ISBN: 0-87352-284-2 Publisher: Modern Language Association of America Pub. Date: June, 1980 Format: Hardcover List Price(USD): $40.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.17 (12 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A great edition to help with the language
Comment: I am a senior in high school and have found the Pelican Shakespeare series to be very helpful in translating words used in Shakespearean times to modern English in footnotes. The introductions are also very helpful in understanding Shakespeare's intentions.
MEASURE FOR MEASURE is a dark comedy in which Angelo, a virtuous man, takes over the kingdom of Vienna while the Duke secretly disguises himself as a friar and goes around the country to see what condition his country is in. Angelo is sick of all the immorality in the country, so he inforces an old law that prostitution is illegal. He destroys all of the homes that were used as brothels, and he imprisons Claudio because he had sex with his soon-to-be wife Juliet. Claudio is to be executed by beheading for his lechery, and he gets a friend to go tell his sister Isabel, who is soon to be a nun, to convince Angelo to free Claudio. When Angelo sees Isabel, he is overcome with lust and tells her that the only way she can free her brother is to sleep with him, which she refuses.
The good thing is that there is a happy ending because no one dies. You'll end the play wondering how this can be a comedy, but it is actually quite good. It shows the weaknesses and strengths of human nature and the hypocrisy of government.
Rating: 5
Summary: Base Look at Love, Honor, Morality, Reputation, and the Law!
Comment: 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!
Rating: 3
Summary: Mediocre or slightly below for Shakespeare.
Comment: When rating Shakespeare, I generally rate it as compared to other Shakespearean plays; otherwise, the almost unrelieved 4 and 5 star ratings would not be very informative. This book barely rates three stars as compared to other Shakespeare; compared to the general run of books in the world, it would certainly rate somewhere between four and five.
The problem is that by Shakespeare's standards, it's sloppy. There are numerous places in which the language varies from folio to folio, and in various later editions, as the notes in this (the Dover Thrift Edition) make clear. And these are not just superficial alterations, but actual changes in the apparent meaning of the lines, or even attempts to insert meaning where it is almost impossible to find any in the original lines.
Other than that, the story itself is interesting, better than many of Shakespeare's more famous works, and if there are no immortal lines that leap out at the reader on a par with "My kingdom for a horse" or "To be or not to be", that says more about the quality of his other works than about any lack of quality here.
As with all of Shakespeare's plays, this is worth the read, although even more than with some of his others, it is imperative that the modern reader get an edition with good notes; otherwise, some of the sense is sure to be lost.
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Title: HENRY IV PART 1 by William Shakespeare ISBN: 0671722638 Publisher: Washington Square Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 1994 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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Title: The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare ISBN: 0671722972 Publisher: Washington Square Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 1998 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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Title: The TEMPEST by William Shakespeare ISBN: 0671722905 Publisher: Washington Square Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 1994 List Price(USD): $3.99 |
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Title: Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare, Barbara A. Mowatt, Paul Werstine, Barbara A. Mowat ISBN: 0671039164 Publisher: Washington Square Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $3.99 |
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Title: Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare ISBN: 0671722778 Publisher: Washington Square Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 1992 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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