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Bill Kerwin's Reviews > Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure
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Why is it that I love the universe of this "dark" comedy so much, and why does it strike me as not really being so "dark" after all? Could it be because it is presided over by a "god"--the young Duke--who is priggish, diffident and comically vain (when his reputation is attacked by Lucio), and yet is unfailingly just and honorably susceptible to the attractions of female goodness and beauty? Is it because the "villain"--Angelo--is so pathetic and small that one never seriously expects he will win? Or is it because this world is--in spite of all its lust and hypocrisy--an absurd, surprisingly malleable universe in which even a base rogue like Barnadine can simply refuse to be executed, and then be allowed to survive?
All of these contribute to my great love for the play, but above all, I admire the character of Isabella, who is virtuous and brave and filled with mercy even for the vile hypocrite who wronged her. She leaves me with the feeling that--grubby and fallen though it may be--this is a world worth living for.
by
Why is it that I love the universe of this "dark" comedy so much, and why does it strike me as not really being so "dark" after all? Could it be because it is presided over by a "god"--the young Duke--who is priggish, diffident and comically vain (when his reputation is attacked by Lucio), and yet is unfailingly just and honorably susceptible to the attractions of female goodness and beauty? Is it because the "villain"--Angelo--is so pathetic and small that one never seriously expects he will win? Or is it because this world is--in spite of all its lust and hypocrisy--an absurd, surprisingly malleable universe in which even a base rogue like Barnadine can simply refuse to be executed, and then be allowed to survive?
All of these contribute to my great love for the play, but above all, I admire the character of Isabella, who is virtuous and brave and filled with mercy even for the vile hypocrite who wronged her. She leaves me with the feeling that--grubby and fallen though it may be--this is a world worth living for.
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Reading Progress
May 12, 2007
– Shelved
June 28, 2011
–
Started Reading
June 30, 2011
– Shelved as:
16th-17th-c-brit
June 30, 2011
–
Finished Reading
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Hansaka
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Oct 24, 2015 09:16PM
this was a hard play to read through. but I surely felt there is this wierd beauty in it. I shall be rereading it soon, more attentively . :)
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Wonderful review, as always, Bill. At 64, I still have not read Measure, but I will now. Thank you
Excellent review, Bill!
This play was the Shakespeare I wanted to direct for a very long time because I love Isabella's journey from religious ideals to discovering how to maintain faith in the everyday world. The Duke has his own journey as he keeps trying to control/manipulate the situation only to discover that without the power vested in him as a ruler, life gets pretty damn messy. Angelo also gets a lesson in discovering that he is also susceptible to the temptations of the flesh - through his mind. There's serious growth and discovery in the piece that the attempt at creating a traditional comedy ending cannot erase or make to fit. That's why it's so compelling.
MK wrote: "This play was the Shakespeare I wanted to direct for a very long time because I love Isabella's journey from religious ideals to discovering how to maintain faith in the everyday world. The Duke ha..."Excellent observations. I think, though, that the inadequacy of the formulaic ending is deliberate on Shakespeare's part. He uses it to underscore how the teeming life of the play transcends its narrative bounds.
Bill wrote: I think, though, that the inadequacy of the formulaic ending is deliberate on Shakespeare's part. He uses it to underscore how the teeming life of the play transcends its narrative bounds. Thought that was what I said? :)
I love the play for all those reasons, appreciate your way of articulating them, and very much like MK’s succinct comment. I have never, alas, directed the play as a whole, but scenes from it have long been a staple of my Shakespeare acting classes. R.
Bill, I'm half way through this one. Hamlet, R&J, Macbeth, fine. Merry Wives of Windsor, surprisingly funny. Measure for Measure? Unbelievably good!
I'm currently in Act II of this play. Am I right in guessing by now that this play is a philosophical musing on justice?If it's supposed to be obvious to the reader that Angelo wants to extort sex from this virtuous woman, I didn't see it. (I have got to stop reading other people's notes on works of literature before I finish.) What I picked up is that he's trying to enforce justice bureaucratically (a contradiction). Thinks justice is nothing but a book of rules. That he would be crudely corrupt wasn't so obvious.
