Measure for Measure

Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604 and first performed in 1604, according to available records. It was published in the First Folio of 1623.

The play centers on the despotic and puritan Angelo, a deputy entrusted to rule the city of Vienna in the absence of Duke Vincentio, who instead disguises himself as a humble friar to observe Angelo's regency and the lives of his citizens. Angelo persecutes a young man named Claudio for the crime of fornication, sentencing him to death on a technicality, only to fall madly in love with Claudio's sister, a chaste and innocent nun named Isabella, when she comes to plead for her brother's life.

Measure for Measure was printed as a comedy in the First Folio and continues to be classified as one. Though it shares features with other Shakespearean comedies, such as the use of word play and irony, and the employment of disguise and substitution as plot devices, it also features tragic elements such as executions and soliloquies, with Claudio's speech "Ay, but to die, and go we know not where..." in particular having been favorably compared to the speeches of tragic heroes like Prince Hamlet.^[1][2] It is often cited as one of Shakespeare's problem plays due to its ambiguous tone.