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. 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 his citizens' lives. Angelo persecutes a young man, Claudio, for the crime of fornication, sentencing him to death on a technicality, only to fall madly in love with Claudio's sister Isabella, a chaste and innocent nun, 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 word play, irony, and 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 those of tragic heroes like Prince Hamlet.^[1][2] Because of this ambiguous tone, it is often cited as one of Shakespeare's problem plays.