Measure for MeasureSince the rediscovery of Elizabethan stage conditions early this century, admiration for Measure for Measure has steadily risen. It is now a favorite with the critics and has attracted widely different styles of performance. At one extreme the play is seen as a religious allegory, at the other it has been interpreted as a comedy protesting against power and privilege. Brian Gibbons focuses on the unique tragi-comic experience of watching the play, the intensity and excitement offered by its dramatic rhythm, the reversals and surprises that shock the audience even to the end. The introduction describes the play's critical reception and stage history and how these have varied according to prevailing social, moral and religious issues, which were highly sensitive when |
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Common terms and phrases
actor add a stage agree with Ff allow altered Angelo Barnardine Bawd bring brother character choice Claudio Clowne compositor create death Duke Elbow Elizabethan ENTER entry Escalus example exit F1 sets Ff and print finde Folio follow footnote Frier give gloss Grace hand hath heare heaven heere honor Isabella Juliet Justice leave letter Looke Lord Lucio Mariana mark Measure modern texts add modern texts agree modern texts set morrow offered original passage perhaps period phrase play Pompey possible prison problem prose Provost punctuation reader reading referred scene script seems selfe sentence separate Shakespeare short lines single sometimes speake speech split line stage direction suggest syllables tell thee thing thinke thou thought true verse