Measure for Measure

Shakespeare’s First Folio labels Measure for Measure a comedy, but by the end of the 19th century critics considered it, along with such plays as All’s Well that Ends Well, Troilus and Cressida, and Hamlet, a problem play. Although much of the plot is tragic--Isabella, after all, is trying to save the life of her brother--many of the scenes are written comically, and the ending leaves contemporary critics uneasy. Does the ending leave any of the couples happy with their match? Do Claudio and Julietta actually marry? Does Isabella accept or deny the Duke proposal? The characters’ reactions remain unvoiced as their fates are handed to them, and thus the questions persist.

Since the ending causes confusion, perhaps the beginning can bring clarity. The title itself refers to the Old Testament’s "eye for eye" in meaning, while the word choice is from the New Testament: "judge not, that ye be not judged. And with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." The New Testament advises against judgment at the risk of receiving the same judgment in return. When the Duke uses the phrase, he means an "eye for eye," specifically "an Angelo for Claudio." The play itself takes the view that it is important to weigh both punishment and mercy, balancing between them and avoiding absolutes. From this standpoint Measure for Measure becomes a seesaw of binaries on which the characters must learn to balance.

The performance tonight will display the efforts of balance. The set design balances the female and male perspectives, and the walled and the exposed; the costumes balance the Elizabethan age with today, and restraint and sexuality; the staging also balances. Scene changes fade to nothing when characters hurry to replace the characters who are leaving the stage. In the plot absolutes lead to punishment where none is due (Claudio’s imprisonment) and unhappiness where happiness should exist (marriage). Although no absolute answer can be found for the characters nor any absolute form described for the play, it is better, the play seems to suggest, to teeter uneasily in the space between absolutes.

--Abby Manzella, dramaturg