Measure for Measure | Criticism

  • Overview
    In this essay, Northrop Frye uses the title of Measure for Measure to organize his essay around some fundamental components of the play: characterization, theme, and genre.
  • Gender Roles and Sexuality
    In the first selection, David Sundelson focuses on the male characters' insecurity regarding their masculinity in Measure for Measure. Sundelson argues that in the play, there is the fear that loss of power can cause a man to lose his sexual identity. Ronald Huebert, in the second excerpt, looks at Shakespeare's definition of manliness in his plays in general and in Measure for Measure in particular. In the last essay, Linda Macfarlane argues that in the world of Measure for Measure, women are effectively powerless because the only power they supposedly possess—sexual—is defined and limited by men. Men, on the other hand, are seen to possess the power to govern, accumulate wealth, and set moral standards. Macfarlane suggests that this discussion of the nature of men and women is relevant to today's society.
  • Justice and Mercy
    In this excerpt from her study of the pervasiveness of revenge "as a useful social instrument in Shakespeare's comedies," Linda Anderson reminds us that the Duke temporarily leaves Vienna in Angelo's hands not only to correct the city's excessive vices but also to test Angelo's ability to wield power fairly. In the second excerpt, Joel Levin clarifies the distinction between "law" and "equity"—explaining that while law gives a civilization a set of impartial rules by which to govern its people, equity allow for the subjective but necessary qualities of mercy, fairness, and tolerance. Levin then examines how Measure for Measure treats the issues of law and equity by revealing through the course of the action that each is inadequate without the other.
  • Structure
    Anthony Caputi argues against the idea that an "ethical pattern" or set of rival themes such as justice, mercy, or Christianity organizes Measure for Measure. Instead, he asserts that the play is intentionally structured for dramatic effect around "long slowly developing scenes" which clearly resolve themselves in the last act into a positive view of civilization. In the second excerpt, Gregory Lanier disagrees with those critics who see Measure for Measure as a structural failure wth an unsatisfying, tacked-on ending. By contrast, he contends that Shakespeare intentionally divided the play into halves, with the first eight tragics scenes linked to the last eight comic scenes by one intermediary scene.
  • Angelo
    Leo Kirschbaum suggests that the change in the structure of Measure for Measure is the result of a change in the characterization of Angelo. At the beginning of the play, Kirschbaum notes, Angelo is cruel and inflexible, but this is tempered somewhat by the fact that he is also noble in his consistent adherence to the law. But in the end he is a character who is no longer noble but who is instead "small-minded, mean, calculating (and) vindicitive."
  • Duke Vincentio
    William Freedman refutes the commonly held view of the Duke as inconsistent and inhuman, countering this viewpoint with the argument that Vincentio is in fact consistently "concerned with . . . his reputation and public image." Freedman remarks that reputation serves as an important theme in the play along wth mercy and justice, so that appropriately as the most powerful character in the play, the Duke brings these themes to the forefront at the close of Measure for Measure. In the second excerpt, Melvin Seiden identifies two different and contradictory personalities of the Duke: one, a "shy and diffident" scholar who shuns contact wth his people; and the other, a "man who relishes both the hidden power of the dramatist and the excitement of acting."
  • Isabella
    In this essay, Amy Lechter-Siegel observes that scholarly assessments of Isabella as morally rigid and therefore fortunate to have been "saved" from the convent through "moral education'' and by the Duke's marriage proposal are inaccurate because they stem from each critic's personal "value judgments" rather than from Renaissance history or the play itself. By contrast, Lechter-Siegel argues that Isabella does not in fact change her moral views, nor does she agree to marry the Duke.

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