80,000+ Books in-stock in NZ 📚

Auckland Bookstore open Saturday & Sunday 🎉

Measure for Measure

By William Shakespeare
Series: Folger Shakespeare Library
0.0 (0 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Measure for Measure follows a duke who temporarily steps away from ruling his city-state, appointing Angelo to enforce the laws with strict severity. Angelo condemns Claudio to death for impregnating Juliet before marriage. Claudio's sister, Isabella, preparing to join a convent, pleads for her brother's life. Angelo attempts to coerce her into a sexual favour, but Isabella resists, maintaining her chastity. The duke, disguised, observes and offers support to Isabella as they confront Angelo's abuse of power.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3599

International Supplier

This title is in-stock with overseas suppliers. While it is not available locally, we fly books in weekly from the US and UK to our Auckland warehouse for immediate dispatch.

AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 2-3 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for students, general readers, and anyone interested in Shakespearean drama, moral questions of power and justice, or exploring themes of sexual ethics and authority within classic literature.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Features a duke who is so anxious about the decline in the moral quality of his subjects' lives that he temporarily removes himself from the government of his city-state and deputizes a member of his administration.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The authoritative edition of Measure for Measure from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers.

Measure for Measure is among the most passionately discussed of Shakespeare’s plays. In it, a duke temporarily removes himself from governing his city-state, deputizing a member of his administration, Angelo, to enforce the laws more rigorously. Angelo chooses as his first victim Claudio, condemning him to death because he impregnated Juliet before their marriage.

Claudio’s sister Isabella, who is entering a convent, pleads for her brother’s life. Angelo attempts to extort sex from her, but Isabella preserves her chastity. The duke, in disguise, eavesdrops as she tells her brother about Angelo’s behaviour, then offers to ally himself with her against Angelo.

Modern responses to the play show how it can be transformed by its reception in present culture to evoke continuing fascination. To some, the duke (the government) seems meddlesome; to others, he is properly imposing moral standards. Angelo and Isabella’s encounter exemplifies sexual harassment. Others see a woman’s right to control her body in Isabella’s choice between her virginity and her brother’s life.

This edition includes:

  • Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
  • Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play
  • Scene-by-scene plot summaries
  • A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases
  • An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language
  • An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
  • Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books
  • An annotated guide to further reading

Essay by Christy Desmet

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programmes. For more information, visit Folger.edu.

Series: Folger Shakespeare Library

View all

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781982157418

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 07 July 2020

Country: United States

Imprint: Simon & Schuster

Contributors:

  • Edited by Dr. Barbara A. Mowat
  • Edited by Paul Werstine
  • Edited by Dr. Barbara A. Mowat
  • Edited by Paul Werstine

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 18.0mm

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 213.0mm

Weight: 392g

Pages: 336

Collections

Arts & Culture Classic Poetry Non-Fiction Series: Folger Shakespeare Library William Shakespeare

About the Author

William Shakespeare was born in April 1564 in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, on England’s Avon River. When he was eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway. The couple had three children—an older daughter Susanna and twins, Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet, Shakespeare’s only son, died in childhood. The bulk of Shakespeare’s working life was spent in the theater world of London, where he established himself professionally by the early 1590s. He enjoyed success not only as a playwright and poet, but also as an actor and shareholder in an acting company. Although some think that sometime between 1610 and 1613 Shakespeare retired from the theater and returned home to Stratford, where he died in 1616, others believe that he may have continued to work in London until close to his death.

Barbara A. Mowat is Director of Research emerita at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Consulting Editor of Shakespeare Quarterly, and author of The Dramaturgy of Shakespeare’s Romances and of essays on Shakespeare’s plays and their editing.

Paul Werstine is Professor of English at the Graduate School and at King’s University College at Western University. He is a general editor of the New Variorum Shakespeare and author of Early Modern Playhouse Manuscripts and the Editing of Shakespeare and of many papers and articles on the printing and editing of Shakespeare’s plays.

Also by William Shakespeare

View all

More from Arts & Culture

View all

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 80,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

The Latest at Book Hero

View all