Adelman, Janet. "Marriage and the Maternal Body: On Marriage as the End of Comedy in All's Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure." In Suffocating Mothers: Fantasies of Maternal Origin in Shakespeare's Plays, "Hamlet" to "The Tempest," pp. 76-102. New York: Routledge, 1992.

Argues that the bed-trick in Measure for Measure allows the play to end as a comedy by providing a solution to the "incompatibility between marriage and male desire."

Altieri, Joanne. "Style and Social Disorder in Measure for Measure." Shakespeare Quarterly 25, No. 1 (Winter 1974): 6-16.

Studies Shakespeare's development of contrasting dramatic and linguistic patterns to ascertain the relationship between Measure for Measure and the earlier comedies. Altieri notes that the "discontinuous speech styles," which reflect the fragmented society in Measure for Measure, situate the play at the midpoint between the "social order" of the early comedies and the "metaphysical harmony" of the romances.

Bache, William B. "Measure for Measure" As Dialectical Art. Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Studies, 1969, 66 p.

Considers Measure for Measure a dialectical argument in which Shakespeare demonstrates the proper relationship between the individual and society. Bache examines the play as a learning experience through which all of the characters discover the meaning of human existence, their obligations to themselves, and their duty to society.

Bald, R. C. Introduction to Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare. In William Shakespeare: The Complete Works, edited by Alfred Harbage, pp. 400-02. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1969.

Introduction that outlines the date, text, and sources cf Measure for Measure. Bald concludes that Shakespeare recognizes human frailty in the play without despairing of mankind.

Barton, Anne. Introduction to Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare. In The Riverside Shakespeare, edited by G. Blakemore Evans, pp. 545-49. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974.

Introduction containing an overview of the date, text, and sources of Measure for Measure. Barton contends that the forced happy ending and the confusion of values in the play reveal Shakespeare's disenchantment with the comic form.

Bowden, William R. "The Bed-Trick, 1603-1642: Its Mechanics, Ethics, and Effects." Shakespeare Studies 5 (1969): 112-23.

Investigates the use and import of the "bed-trick" as a conventional plot device employed by Renaissance dramatists.

Briggs, Julia. "Shakespeare's Bed-Tricks." Essays in Criticism 44, No. 4 (October 1994): 267-314.

Describes the bed-trick in Measure for Measure as a flawed method for bringing the transgressor Angelo "back into the community."

Brown, Carolyn E. "The Wooing of Duke Vincentio and Isabella of Measure for Measure: "The Image of It Gives [Them] Content.'" Shakespeare Studies 22 (1994): 189-219.

Argues that the Duke and Isabella's rejection of a traditional courtship and their uncharacteristic involvement in the bed-trick reveal their own disturbed sexual natures.

Cacicedo, Alberto. '"She Is Fast My Wife': Sex, Marriage, and Ducal Authority in Measure for Measure." Shakespeare Studies 23 (1995): 187-209.

Discusses the play with regard to Renaissance England's ambivalence toward women and the notion of marriage as a necessary evil.

Champion, Larry S. "The Problem Comedies." In his The Evolution of Shakespeare's Comedy: A Study in Dramatic Perspective, pp. 96-153. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1970.

Views the problem comedies as carefully constructed experiments in which Shakespeare attempted to control his expanding concept of character and human emotion. Champion describes All's Well and Measure for Measure as intermediate steps in "Shakespeare's comic evolution"; he considers the two plays to be structural failures that contain a "blurring of the comic perspective."

Dollimore, Jonathan. "Transgression and Surveillance in Measure for Measure." In Political Shakespeare: New Essays in Cultural Materialism, edited by Jonathan Dollimore and Alan Sinfield, pp. 72-87. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1985.

Traces the Duke's efforts to "reposition" the citizens of Vienna back into obedience, and describes his fear of social disintegration as partly justified but taken to extremes.

Dusinberre, Juliet. "The Idea of Chastity: Virginity and Virtue." In Shakespeare and the Nature of Women, pp. 20-76. London: MacMillan Press, 1975.

Discusses Shakespeare's notion of feminism; refers to Measure for Measure and in particular Isabella's complex struggle with virtue.

Fisch, Harold. "Shakespeare and the Puritan Dynamic." Shakespeare Survey 27 (1974): 81-92.

Contends that Shakespeare's characterization of Angelo depicts the Puritan abuse of power.

Edwards, Philip. "The Problem Plays (ii)." In his Shakespeare and the Confines of Art, pp. 109-20. London: Methuen & Co., 1968.

Considers Measure for Measure a dramatic failure because it is "not strong enough to bear the weight of the human problems pressed on to it, nor the weight of their religious solution."

Frye, Northrop. "Mouldy Tales." In A Natural Perspective: The Development of Shakespearean Comedy and Romance, pp. 1-33. New York: Columbia University Press, 1965.

Argues that Measure for Measure is not an attempt at realism but is rather a "disturbing fantasy" and that the characters must be interpreted in this context.

Garber, Marjorie. "Women's Rites" and "Death and Dying." In Coming of Age in Shakespeare, pp. 116-73, 213-41. London: Methuen, 1981.

Applies Margaret Mead's anthropological findings to Shakespeare's plays, commenting in particular on the obsession with virginity display by Isabella and Angelo.

Gless, Darryl J. "Measure for Measure, " the Law, and the Convent. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1979, 282 p.

Examines contemporary political and religious documents as a guide for understanding Measure for Measure. Gless states that the nature of the play is religious, but Shakespeare "appears consistently to have selected and dramatized doctrines that are especially flexible and tolerant of adjustment to particular circumstances."

Hallett, Charles. "Is There 'Charity in Sin'?: Sexual Harassment in Measure for Measure".' Shakespeare Bulletin 11, No. 4 (Fall 1993): 23-6.

Suggests that in the 1990s an actress playing Isabella can focus on the issue of sexual harassment in order to render Isabella's conflict comprehensible to modern sensibilities.

Harvey, A. D. "Virginity and Honour in Measure for Measure and Davenant's The Law Against Lovers." English Studies 75, No. 2 (March 1994): 123-32.

Uses Sir William Davenant's 1662 reworking of Shakespeare's play to suggest that Isabella's defense of her virtue was regarded by earlier audiences as extreme.

Hayne, Victoria. "Performing Social Practice: The Example of Measure for Measure." Shakespeare Quarterly 44, No. 1 (Spring 1993): 1-29.

Examines the play in light of complex legal and social rules regarding marriage in Renaissance England.

MacFarlane, Linda. "Heads You Win Tails I Lose." Critical Survey 5, No. 1 (1993): 77-82.

Discusses the sexual politics at work in the play and the "parcel of assumptions" that the male characters hold concerning women, particularly with regard to Isabella.

McLuskie, Kathleen. "The Patriarchal Bard: Feminist Criticism and Shakespeare: King Lear and Measure for Measure." In Political Shakespeare: New Essays in Cultural Materialism, edited by Jonathan Dollimore and Alan Sinfield, pp. 88-108. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1985.

Argues that Measure for Measure can be interpreted and enjoyed from a male perspective only, and is thus closed to feminist critical assessment.

Rose, Jacqueline. "Sexuality in the Reading of Shakespeare: Hamlet and Measure for Measure." In Alternative Shakespeares, edited by John Drakakis, pp. 95-118. London: Methuen, 1985.

Examines the link between aesthetic form and sexuality. Rose refers to Measure for Measure as a "problem" play and to Isabella as a woman possessing too little sexuality.

Rossiter, A. P. "The Problem Plays" and "Measure for Measure." In Angel with Horns and Other Shakespeare Lectures, edited by Graham Storey, pp. 108-28, 152-70. London: Longmans, 1961.

Defines the problem plays as tragicomedies, and maintains that the Christian ethic intended in Measure for Measure is never fully realized because the quality of the writing "goes thin" and lacks "inner conviction."

Siegel, Paul N. "Measure for Measure: The Significance of the Title." Shakespeare Quarterly 4, No. 3 (July 1953): 317-20.

Claims that "measure for measure" is distributed according to the justice of comedy: punishment is administered, but with mercy.

Welsh, Alexander. "The Loss of Men and Getting of Children: 'All's Well That Ends Well' and 'Measure for Measure.'" Modern Language Review 73, No. 1 (January 1978): 17-28.

Examines the "problematic relations of biology and human society" which the play addresses: namely, desire for sex and procreation versus mistrust of women and reluctance to marry.

Williamson, Marilyn L. "Oedipal Fantasies in Measure for Measure. " Michigan Academician IX, No. 2 (Fall 1976): 73-84.

Presents a psychoanalytical interpretation of the main characters in Measure for Measure, concentrating on the relationship between the "father-figure" (the Duke) and his "children" (the citizens of Vienna). Williamson notes that Shakespeare clearly differentiates between intentions and actions in the play, demonstrating that only actions can be judged.