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Measure for Measure a Problem Play

Measure for Measure is considered to be a dark play because it partly focuses on evil. The play has a seemingly cynical attitude towards two basic human concerns: sex and the ordering of society. These elements place it among Shakespeare’s problem plays like Troilus and Cressida and All’s Well That Ends Well. Theses are problems plays because the realistic characters do not readily mesh with the artificial plot provided by the author. Measure for Measure is a tragicomedy that combines tragic development with a comic resolution, utilizing irony to distance the story line. The play addresses the issues of good governing and personal morality according to the teachings of the Bible. The difficulty with Measure for Measure lies in the misunderstandings, manipulation, and hidden identities woven into the plot and not in the real moral question of the play. No character comes to reconsider his or her beliefs about freedom, justice, sexual relationships, or morality. The play Measure for Measure offers that the power of good can untangle all plots, right all wrongs, and lead to martial happiness in traditional comedic style.

In Luke and Matthew the ‘measure for measure’ passages are closely


theological matters and had raised the issues himself. In the 17th century it was believed that a ruler’s authority came from God, and a good ruler was expected to attempt to be like God in justice and mercy alike. The ruler was specifically required to use his power to punish wrongdoers and preserve social order, but to act as God’s weapon in the fight against evil. Thus, the ruler could use extraordinary methods, which might in others be immoral. Thus, the Duke’s disguise and other deceptions, including the bed trick, were entirely acceptable to Shakespeare’s audiences.

Shakespeare uses his own personal philosophy on life to instruct his fellow man to help better one another. It is in the strange play Measure for Measure that Shakespeare pours out his deepest thoughts concerning injustice. There is no doubt the William Shakespeare was full of creativity, but even he borrowed information from everything he saw around him. “George Whetstone’s play on the same theme, Promos and Cassandra, had been published in 1578, and was Shakespeare’s principal source”(Holzknecht, 67). Shakespeare also used current political events to connect to his audiences. In Measure for Measure’s first scene there is an allusion to the new king James I’s nervous dislike of

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Approximate Word count = 1657
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)


  

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