Revision:Measure for Measure

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Measure for Measure

Some notes I have compiled during revision, largely thanks to the Cambridge edition of the play and my own thoughts.

The Gospel of Matthew: 'Judge not, that ye be not judged...and with what measure you mete it shall be measured to you again.'

Shakespeare's Henry VI 'Measure for measure must be answered.'

Measure for Measure An Angelo for Claudio, death for death/ Haste still pays haste, and leisure answers leisure,/ like doth quit like, and measure still for measure.

The Bible passage above will have been well known to Elizabethan audiences so they will have associated the title with this passage. At the time, however, plays could not deal with local religious or political affairs so although the play examines some of the most pressing issues of England in Shakespeare's day it is set in Vienna.

Some 16th Century extreme Puritans advocated the death penalty for offences such as Claudios even though a 'pre contract' was an acceptable form of marriage at the time.

Shakespeare reflects Puritan views in the following passage 'Which for this fourteen years we have let slip' (Act 1, Scene 3)

Puritans were accused of distorting scripture by Nashe, similar to the 'sanctimonious pirate'referred to in the play. The Duke stating 'were he mealed with that which he corrects, then were he tyrannous'.

The use of the term 'prince' may be a reference to Machiavelli's study emphasising the Divine right of King where any means could be used to enforce justice.

Elizabethan drama typically had a subplot to extend the theme of justice and government.