Add your review
Avg. Rating: 4.5
If music be the food of love, play on
One pleasure of reviewing books on Amazon is going back and looking again at books read years ago, seeing how I understood or misunderstood them, answering now questions I had in my mind then and left unanswered at the time.
'Measure for Measure' is clearly not one of Shakespeare's great plays, but is also not in the category of the leanest. It is classified as a problem play. This means a certain question or problem is raised in the beginning that sets the action under way and dominates it. The problem here results from the ban on all sexual activity in Vienna, and the specific case in which Claudio is to be tried for having had sexual relations with his soon-to-be wife(The trial is to be conducted by the second-in- command, the villain of the play, Angelo who is the delegate of the more merciful Duke of Vienna.The Duke spends much of the action in disguise and hiding, though he eventually brings about the play's 'happy ending') . The other central character Isabella the sister of Claudio comes to plead his case, and is propositioned by Angelo. He offers to save her brother's life if she will have sexual relations with him. The 'problem' is whether she should violate her virtue to save her brother's life.
The problem which is at the center of the action plays itself out to the generous Duke's providing a kind of happy ending. But the philosophical and moral questions which the problem raised are not deeply probed by Shakespeare.
Cleverness, wit , humor , disguise are all parts of the play as is of course the poetic greatness of Shakespeare's language.
But of course it does not grip us as the great tragedies do. And the play is always a play merely.
Again , Shakespeare is Shakespeare, but this is not the greatest Shakespeare of all.
Measure for Measure--A Must Read
This is an uncommonly read play within academic circles. Yet, it is a genius of a play. Shakespeare creates three-dimensional characters who perpetually play pi comically balancing God's purpose for man and man's own mad-made measures on morality.
Be absolute for death!
"Measure for Measure" is an absolutely brilliant play and the Arden edition provides an excellent presentation and more than adequate notes.
It seems galling that someone would give "Measure For Measure" less than 5 stars but that's only because such reviewers probably end up comparing Shakespeare on his A++++++++ game ("King Lear", "Macbeth", "Hamlet") vs. merely his A game.
I won't go into detail talking about "Measure for Measure". What I will say is that Shakespeare's genius is evident right from the start and that the careful reader would benefit by boning up on The Bible, Plato and Aristotle before reading it. You may even want to acquaint yourself with Protagoras, a biography of Shakespeare, and historical accounts of the reign of Elizabeth and James.
The bard's constantly used coin metaphors evoke the Platonic forms and much of the play concerns itself with the Aristotelian median. Indeed, if one were to put on a scale "measure for measure", one would end up in balance. See? Shakespeare is the mack for a reason. Not only is this Aristotelian, it's also a very important bible reference in a play that has much to do with Christianity and the play has been read by many as a Christian allegory. The Platonic forms are turned into Christian arguments here and Shakespeare even has his fun with a pun on the fallen Angel(o). I'm not completely sold that this play is a Christian allegory but who am I to argue with Mircea Eliade or Roy Battenhouse? If it is, then it's not a particularly kind account of Christianity as neither the Duke nor Isabella evoke the sort of Christian virtues one would expect from them. And that's just two readings. I haven't even talked about the opening line of the play "Of government the properties to unfold" which should serve as a clue to the reader that they will read a play that has something to do with the way governments work.
You should pay close attention to certain "mirroring" and "trading". Notice how one man gets switched with another (a pirate's severed head will be exchanged for Claudio's), how one woman gets switched with another (Isabella for Mariana), how Angelo gets switched with Vincetio once the Duke leaves, etc. This trading happens probably hundreds of times in the play. Notice how that goes hand in hand with the title of the play.
Also pay close attention to the word "issue" as it's a flippin' sweet pun. It's used to portray both offsprings and money. Notice how cool it is that children will have certain characteristics that they inherit from their issuers (parents) and coins will have certain characteristics inherited from the mater coin set - the one from which all coins are pressed.
A clever - pardon the pun, coinage - made triply clever by the fact that old english coins used to be referred to as "angels".
The reason the Arden edition is a particularly good version is because of the extensive notes at the bottom of the pages as well as the excellent essays in the beginning and the end of the book. This is not mere capriciousness regarding editions, by the way. This edition will help you understand the play in a way others cannot. It is not perfect - for example, they miss that the first iterative stamp imagery happens in the line "There is our commission", not two lines later, but that's nitpicking.
Enjoy the play! It's not Shakespeare's best, but it's still mind blowing.
Review this book
|
