Measure for Measure

Dark Viennese comedy

Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, written around 1604, that explores themes of justice, mercy, and moral hypocrisy.

The title comes from the biblical principle of receiving punishment equal to one's offense.

The play defies easy categorization—too dark for comedy, too resolved for tragedy—and is often called a "problem play." We're reading Measure for Measure in my Shakespeare seminar.

Related

dark comedy · William Shakespeare · Pericles · social satire · eye for eye · Vienna · Isabella · Angelo · iambic pentameter · Henry VIII · disguise · Globe Theatre · Elizabethan theatre · cross-dressing · mistaken identities · marriage plots · Shakespearean tragedy · witty dialogue

Opposites
thematic focus on justice/mercy

Measure for MeasureThe Merchant of Venice

Courtroom drama about debt

Les Misérables · Crime and Punishment · turn the other cheek

tonal quality

Measure for MeasureThe Importance of Being Earnest

Victorian comedy of manners

light comedy · farce · romantic comedy · fairy tale · heartwarming

Family

measure, measures, measured, measuring, measurable, unmeasurable, measurement, measurements, measurer

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Used worldwide · Timeless · Rated PG