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    The Complete Measure for Measure: An Annotated Edition of the Shakespeare Play
    The Complete Measure for Measure: An Annotated Edition of the Shakespeare Play
    The Complete Measure for Measure: An Annotated Edition of the Shakespeare Play
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    The Complete Measure for Measure: An Annotated Edition of the Shakespeare Play

    By Donald J. Richardson

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    About this ebook

    Measure for Measure is usually considered one of [Shakespeares] unpleasant comedies (Asimov, 635) since mercy is offered to the villain (Asimov). The duplicity of the Duke is debatable too, along with the final resolution that offers mercy toward the guilty. Like Alls Well That Ends Well, the play should foster discussion about the paternalistic and somewhat insensitive treatment of women and their right to control their own bodies. Critics have often debated both the quality of the justice the play delivers and its attempt to balance the respective claims of Law and Mercy (Crewe, xlvii). Such debates continue today.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateNov 4, 2015
    ISBN9781504959131
    The Complete Measure for Measure: An Annotated Edition of the Shakespeare Play
    Author

    Donald J. Richardson

    Although he has long been eligible to retire, Donald J. Richardson continues to (try to) teach English Composition at Phoenix College in Arizona. He defines his life through his teaching, his singing, his volunteering, and his grandchildren.

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      Book preview

      The Complete Measure for Measure - Donald J. Richardson

      © 2015 Donald J. Richardson. All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

      Published by AuthorHouse 11/03/2015

      ISBN: 978-1-5049-5914-8 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-5049-5915-5 (hc)

      ISBN: 978-1-5049-5913-1 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2015918024

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

      and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Contents

      ACT I

      ACT II

      ACT III

      ACT IV

      ACT V

      Works Cited

      Other Books by Donald J. Richardson

      Dust in the Wind, 2001

      Rails to Light, 2005

      Song of Fools, 2006

      Words of Truth, 2007

      The Meditation of My Heart, 2008

      The Days of Darkness, 2009

      The Dying of the Light, 2010

      Between the Darkness and the Light, 2011

      The Days of Thy Youth, 2012

      Those Who Sit in Darkness¸ 2013

      Just a Song at Twilight, 2014

      Covered with Darkness, 2015

      The Complete Hamlet, 2012

      The Complete Macbeth, 2013

      The Complete Romeo and Juliet, 2013

      The Complete King Lear, 2013

      The Complete Julius Caesar, 2013

      The Complete Merchant of Venice, 2013

      The Complete Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2013

      The Complete Much Ado About Nothing, 2013

      The Complete Twelfth Night, 2014

      The Complete Taming of the Shrew, 2014

      The Complete Tempest, 2014

      The Complete Othello, 2014

      The Complete Henry IV, Part One, 2014

      The Complete Antony and Cleopatra, 2014

      The Complete Comedy of Errors, 2014

      The Complete Henry IV, Part Two, 2014

      The Complete Henry V, 2014

      The Tragedy of Richard the Third, 2015

      The Complete Two Gentlemen of Verona, 2015

      The Complete Richard the Second, 2015

      The Complete Coriolanus, 2015

      The Complete As You Like It, 2015

      The Complete All’s Well That Ends Well, 2015

      The Complete Love’s Labors Lost, 2015

      ABOUT THE BOOK

      Measure for Measure is usually considered one of [Shakespeare’s] unpleasant comedies (Asimov, 635) since mercy is offered to the villain (Asimov). The duplicity of the Duke is debatable, too, along with the final resolution which offers mercy toward the guilty. Like All’s Well That Ends Well, the play should foster discussion about the paternalistic and somewhat insensitive treatment of women and their right to control their own bodies. Critics have often debated both the quality of the justice the play delivers and its attempt to balance the respective claims of Law and Mercy (Crewe, xlvii). Such debates continue today.

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      Donald J. Richardson is still trying to teach English Composition at Phoenix College.

      MEASURE FOR MEASURE

      ACT I

      SCENE I. An apartment in the DUKE’S palace.

      Enter DUKE VINCENTIO, ESCALUS, Lords and Attendants

      DUKE VINCENTIO

      1 Escalus.

      ESCALUS

      2 My lord.

      DUKE VINCENTIO

      3 Of government the properties to unfold,

      Of … unfold: to expound the qualities required for governing well (Riverside, 584); properties: characteristics (Nagarajan, 35)

      4 Would seem in me to affect speech and discourse;

      Seem … discourse: i.e. make me appear to be fond of talking for its own sake (Riverside, 584; to affect: to have an affection for (Mowat, 6)

      5 Since I am put to know that your own science

      Put to know: forced to recognize; science: expert knowledge (Riverside, 584)

      6 Exceeds, in that, the lists of all advice

      In that: i.e., in this area (Mowat, 6) lists: boundaries (Riverside, 584)

      7 My strength can give you: then no more remains,

      Strength: capability (Riverside, 584)

      8 But that to your sufficiency as your worth is able,

      But … work: "A crux that has inspired many emendations, none satisfactory. To provide a reference for them, commentators have explained sufficiency … worth as ‘authority … qualifications’ (or ‘qualifications … authority’), but in fact both words probably mean ‘qualifications.’ There is now wide agreement that a lacuna exists after sufficiency, or, less probably, after able." (Riverside, 584); worth: high personal merit (Mowat, 6)

      9 And let them work. The nature of our people,

      The nature … justice: "i.e. our social, political, and judicial usages. Terms probably means ‘modes of procedure.’ The Duke shifts in this sentence to the ‘royal’ plural." (Riverside, 584)

      10 Our city’s institutions, and the terms

      Institutions: laws and customs; terms / For common justice: i.e., legal procedures (Mowat, 6)

      11 For common justice, you’re as pregnant in

      Pregnant: ready, i.e. well versed (Riverside, 584)

      12 As art and practice hath enriched any

      Art: study, theory (Riverside, 584)

      13 That we remember. There is our commission,

      We: i.e., I (Mowat, 6)

      14 From which we would not have you warp. Call hither,

      Warp: deviate, turn aside (Mowat, 6)

      15 I say, bid come before us Angelo.

      Exit an Attendant

      16 What figure of us think you he will bear?

      What … bear: i.e. how do you think he will represent me as my deputy. The figure is of the royal likeness stamped on wax or metal, to validate a seal or a coin (Riverside, 584); figure: image (Nagarajan, 36)

      17 For you must know, we have with special soul

      With special soul: i.e., using all of my mental powers (Mowat, 6); soul: conviction (that the choice is right) (?) (Riverside, 584)

      18 Elected him our absence to supply,

      Elected … supply: chosen him to fill my place in my absence (Riverside, 584)

      19 Lent him our terror, dress’d him with our love,

      Lent … love: "i.e. bestowed on him the royal attributes that inspire terror and those that inspire love. Cf. the list of the ‘servants’ of kings in Henry VIIII, V.v.48: ‘peace, plenty, love, truth, terror.’" (Riverside, 584); dress’d him … love: perhaps, transferred to him the love that usually comes to me; or, perhaps, gave him my love in giving him the office (Mowat, 6); terror: awesome power Crewe, 3)

      20 And given his deputation all the organs

      His deputation: to him as my deputy; organs: instruments (Riverside, 584)

      21 Of our own power: what think you of it?

      ESCALUS

      22 If any in Vienna be of worth

      23 To undergo such ample grace and honor,

      Undergo: sustain, bear up (Riverside, 584); enjoy (Mowat, 8)

      24 It is Lord Angelo.

      DUKE VINCENTIO

      25 Look where he comes.

      Enter ANGELO

      ANGELO

      26 Always obedient to your grace’s will,

      27 I come to know your pleasure.

      DUKE VINCENTIO

      28 Angelo,

      29 There is a kind of character in thy life,

      Character: writing, i.e. clear indication (Riverside, 584); i.e., behavior (literally, written sign or symbol) Today’s meaning of the words as a combination of characteristics that distinguish the individual is a later development of the word. (Mowat, 8)

      30 That to the observer doth thy history

      To … unfold: i.e. enables an observer to predict what your future behavior will be (Riverside, 584)

      31 Fully unfold. Thyself and thy belongings

      Unfold: reveal, disclose (Mowat, 8); belongings: "qualities, attributes (the virtues of line 33)" (Riverside, 585)

      32 Are not thine own so proper as to waste

      Proper: exclusively; waste: expend (Riverside, 585); waste / Thyself … virtues: i.e. use up your powers in making yourself virtuous (Mowat, 8)

      33 Thyself upon thy virtues, they on thee.

      They on thee: i.e., exhaust your virtues on perfecting yourself (Mowat, 8)

      34 Heaven doth with us as we with torches do,

      Heaven … them not: See Luke 8.16: ‘No man when he lighteth a candle covereth it under a vessel … but setteth it on a candlestick that they enter in may see the light.’ See also Matthew 5.15-16. (Mowat, 8)

      35 Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues

      36 Did not go forth of us, ’twere all alike

      Did … us: i.e., were not active in the world (Bevington, not paginated); forth of: i.e., out of (Mowat, 8); all alike: precisely the same (Riverside, 585)

      37 As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touch’d

      Spirits: souls (Bevington; finely touch’d: nobly stirred (Crewe, 4); excellently endowed (with play on testing gold for fineness by means of a touchstone) (Riverside, 585); touch’d: stirred, motivated (Mowat, 8)

      38 But to fine issues, nor Nature never lends

      But … issues: i.e., unless something fine comes from them (Crewe, 4); issues: purposes, ends (Riverside, 585); actions, deeds (Mowat, 8)

      39 The smallest scruple of her excellence

      Scruple: tiny amount (literally, the twenty-fourth of an ounce) (Mowat, 8)

      40 But, like a thrifty goddess, she determines

      But … determines; i.e., without … demanding (Mowat, 8); determines: allots (to) (Riverside, 585); assumes (Bevington)

      41 Herself the glory of a creditor,

      Herself: i.e., for herself (Mowat, 8); glory: proud due (Riverside, 585); privileges (Bevington)

      42 Both thanks and use. But I do bend my speech

      Use: interest (Riverside, 585); bend: direct (Mowat, 8)

      43 To one that can my part in him advertise;

      Can … advertise: "can instruct that part of me now vested in him, i.e. knows more about how to govern than I can tell him (cf. lines 5-7). Advertise is accented on the second syllable." (Riverside, 585); advertise: display prominently" (Nagarajan, 37)

      44 Hold therefore, Angelo—

      Hold: i.e. maintain your worthiness (?) or take this (the document, as in lines 13, 49) (?) (Riverside, 585)

      45 In our remove be thou at full ourself;

      Remove: absence; at full: "perhaps with play on part in line 43" (Riverside, 585); i.e., fully myself (Mowat, 10); in every respect; ourself: i.e., myself (Bevington)

      46 Mortality and mercy in Vienna

      Mortality and mercy: "i.e. authority to pronounce sentence of death and freedom to temper justice with mercy. Cf. terror … love in line 19." (Riverside, 585)

      47 Live in thy tongue and heart: old Escalus,

      Tongue and heart: "with reference to Mortality and mercy respectively" (Riverside, 585)

      48 Though first in question, is thy secondary.

      First in question: i.e. first appointed (Riverside, 585); secondary: subordinate (Mowat, 10)

      49 Take thy commission.

      ANGELO

      50 Now, good my lord,

      Good my lord: i.e., my good lord (Mowat, 10)

      51 Let there be some more test made of my mettle

      Mettle: "In Elizabethan English mettle and metal were variants of the same word, with primary meaning ‘substance.’ Here the sense now spelled metal carries on the coining imagery… . (Riverside, 585); spirit" (Mowat, 10)

      52 Before so noble and so great a figure

      53 Be stamp’d upon it.

      Stamp’d: i.e., as on a coin blank (Crewe, 5)

      DUKE VINCENTIO

      54 No more evasion:

      55 We have with a leaven’d and prepared choice

      Leaven’d: i.e. pervaded by the gradual working of judgment (like the action of yeast in dough) (Riverside, 585); well-considered (Crewe, 5)

      56 Proceeded to you; therefore take your honors.

      57 Our haste from hence is of so quick condition

      So quick condition: so urgent a nature (Riverside, 585)

      58 That it prefers itself and leaves unquestion’d

      Prefers: advances, give priority to; unquestion’d: undiscussed, uninvestigated (Riverside, 585)

      59 Matters of needful value. We shall write to you,

      Of needful value: i.e., highly important; needful: indispensable (Mowat, 10)

      60 As time and our concernings shall importune,

      Our concernings: matters of concern to us; importune: urge, require (Riverside, 585)

      61 How it goes with us, and do look to know

      Look to know: expect to be informed of (Riverside, 585)

      62 What doth befall you here. So, fare you well;

      63 To the hopeful execution do I leave you

      To … commissions: i.e., I leave you to carry out your commissions, no doubt successfully (Mowat, 10); hopeful: a transferred modifier, rightly describing the Duke’s expectations (Riverside, 585)

      64 Of your commissions.

      ANGELO

      65 Yet give leave, my lord,

      Leave: permission (Mowat, 10)

      66 That we may bring you something on the way.

      Bring … way: escort you some distance on your way (Riverside, 585)

      DUKE VINCENTIO

      67 My haste may not admit it;

      Admit: i.e., allow (Mowat, 10)

      68 Nor need you, on mine honor, have to do

      Have to do / With any scruple: i.e., have any doubts or hesitations (Mowat, 10)

      69 With any scruple; your scope is as mine own

      Scruple: detail (Evans, 422); hesitation (Crewe, 5); misgiving; scope: freedom to act; here, breadth of authority (a word that occurs five times in this play) (Riverside, 585)

      70 So to enforce or qualify the laws

      Enforce or qualify: i.e. apply with greater or lesser severity (Riverside, 585); qualify: mitigate (Crewe, 5)

      71 As to your soul seems good. Give me your hand:

      72 I’ll privily away. I love the people,

      I … it: Usually taken to allude to King James’s dislike of effusive English crowds. See II.iv.24-30. 585); privily: secretly (Crewe, 5)

      73 But do not like to stage me to their eyes:

      Stage me: make public show of myself (Riverside, 585)

      74 Though it do well, I do not relish well

      Though … do well: even if it is fitting (Crewe, 5); do well: i.e. show their good will (Riverside, 585); i.e., is appropriate (Mowat, 12)

      75 Their loud applause and aves vehement;

      Aves: "acclamations (Latin ave, ‘hail,’ connected with acclaim of Caesar) (Riverside, 585); shouts of welcome (Mowat, 12); salutations" (Nagarajan, 38)

      76 Nor do I think the man of safe discretion

      Safe discretion: sound judgment (Riverside, 585)

      77 That does affect it. Once more, fare you well.

      Does affect: is fond of (Riverside, 585)

      ANGELO

      78 The heavens give safety to your purposes!

      Give safety to: protect, safeguard (Riverside, 585)

      ESCALUS

      79 Lead forth and bring you back in happiness!

      DUKE

      80 I thank you. Fare you well.

      Exit

      ESCALUS

      81 I shall desire you, sir, to give me leave

      82 To have free speech with you; and it concerns me

      Free: frank (Riverside, 585)

      83 To look into the bottom of my place:

      Look … place: determine how far my duties and authority extend (Riverside, 585); place: official position (Mowat, 12); bottom: full extent (Crewe, 6)

      84 A power I have, but of what strength and nature

      A power: i.e., legal or delegated authority (Mowat, 12)

      85 I am not yet instructed.

      ANGELO

      86 ’Tis so with me. Let us withdraw together,

      87 And we may soon our satisfaction have

      Our satisfaction have: i.e., have our questions fully answered (Mowat, 12); satisfaction: dispelling of uncertainty (Riverside, 585)

      88 Touching that point.

      Touching: concering (Mowat, 12)

      ESCALUS

      89 I’ll wait upon your honor.

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