Measure for Measure

Measure for Measure, comedy by English playwright William Shakespeare. Written in 1604, the play is Shakespeare’s last comedy, and it is considered by many to be the best-known and most controversial comedy of the author's tragic period. It contains many dark, somber elements more typical of the tragedies to come.

Shakespeare’s immediate source for Measure for Measure was most likely English author George Whetstone's two-part play Promos and Cassandra (1578). In Whetstone’s story, a lady sacrifices her honor to save the life of her brother, who has been condemned to death by a wicked judge. After he has taken advantage of the lady, the judge orders the brother's death anyway, but the brother's jailer permits the brother to escape. The king of the region, upon hearing the lady's story, forces the judge to marry her and then orders the judge’s execution. The lady's intercession for her husband secures a pardon for him, and they live happily ever after. Shakespeare introduced several twists to this plot. In his version, the lady, Isabella, is not forced to compromise herself, but the threat remains. Shakespeare also changes the judge to a deputy, called Angelo, and the king to a duke. In the most notable twist, Angelo is reunited with his betrothed, Mariana, while Isabella is wooed by the beneficent duke.

Scholars have long debated the outcome of Shakespeare’s plot. Perhaps he was aware that the sacrifice of Isabella’s honor, followed later by her marriage to the man who had evilly betrayed her trust to gratify his own desires, as portrayed in the sources, would offend the sensibilities of his audience. Shakespeare’s play ends neatly with two marriages: one performed, between Mariana and Angelo, the other in prospect, between Isabella and the duke.

This manipulation of events to induce a happy ending belongs to comedy, but there is startling contrast between the light-hearted intrigue in this last act and the serious, tragic tone of earlier scenes. In fact, the improbability of the love matches has led some scholars to criticize the last act’s tidiness as mere deference to strict comic form. But in its mixture of comic and tragic traits, Measure for Measure serves as an appropriate end to Shakespeare’s comic output, and as a gateway to a long succession of tragedies.