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A dark and difficult play, Measure for Measure has been a popular play since the latter half of the 20th century for its prescient dramatisation of the issues of sexual and political hypocrisy, and the ways in which the state interferes in the private lives of its citizens. Set in Duke Vincentio's Vienna, where poverty, disease and prostitution are rife, Claudio and his fiancée Juliet are arrested for having sex before marriage, and Claudio is sentenced to death. Angelo, the Duke's deputy, who stands in for the Duke whilst he ostensibly goes off on a pilgrimage, enthusiastically endorses the sentence. In fact the Duke remains behind the scenes, watching Angelo as he falls for Claudio's sister Isabella, who comes to beg for her brother's life. Angelo is a wonderful creation, loathsome yet fascinating as he struggles with the double standards of his enforcement of draconian laws whilst lusting after the sister of the man he is prepared to execute, debating "The tempter or the tempted, who sins most?".

No one is spared Shakespeare's withering look at the mores of early 17th-century life, not even the pimps and madams who try to get by in the midst of the Duke's bizarre and coercive disguises and performances. The deeply ambiguous ending of Measure for Measure confirms it as one of Shakespeare's most ambivalent and arguably despairing plays. --Jerry Brotton
 
Used availability for William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure


See all available used copies of this book at: Abebooks UK or Abebooks US
 

 

Hardback Editions

May 1999 : Hardback
Cover of ISBN: 1929142161Title: Measure for Measure
Author(s): William Shakespeare
ISBN: 1-929142-16-1 / 9781929142163 (USA edition)
Publisher: One Page Book Company
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December 1997 : Library Binding
Cover of ISBN: 0833511491Title: Measure for Measure (Folger Ed.)
Author(s): William Shakespeare
ISBN: 0-8335-1149-1 / 978-0-8335-1149-2 (USA edition)
Publisher: Tandem Library
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December 1964 : Hardback
Cover of ISBN: 0416475302Title: Measure for Measure (Arden Shakespeare S.)
Author(s): William Shakespeare
ISBN: 0-416-47530-2 (UK edition)
Publisher: Routledge,an imprint of Taylor & Francis Books Ltd
Availability: Amazon UK   
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Paperback Editions

June 2005 : Mass Market Paperback
Cover of ISBN: 0743484908Title: Measure for Measure (Folger Shakespeare Library)
Author(s): William Shakespeare, Paul Werstine
ISBN: 0-7434-8490-8 / 978-0-7434-8490-9 (USA edition)
Publisher: Washington Square Press
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June 2000 : Paperback
Cover of ISBN: 0746308493Title: Measure for Measure (Writers and Their Work)
Author(s): William Shakespeare
ISBN: 0-7463-0849-3 / 978-0-7463-0849-3 (UK edition)
Publisher: Northcote House Publishers
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October 1997 : Paperback
Cover of ISBN: 014062256XTitle: Measure for Measure (Penguin Popular Classics)
Author(s): William Shakespeare
ISBN: 0-14-062256-X (UK edition)
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Availability: Amazon UK   
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December 1996 : Paperback
Cover of ISBN: 0174434774Title: Measure for Measure (Arden Shakespeare S.)
Author(s): William Shakespeare
ISBN: 0-17-443477-4 (UK edition)
Publisher: Arden Shakespeare
Availability: Amazon UK   
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February 1989 : Paperback
Cover of ISBN: 0415026970Title: Measure for Measure (Arden Shakespeare S.)
Author(s): William Shakespeare
ISBN: 0-415-02697-0 (UK edition)
Publisher: Routledge,an imprint of Taylor & Francis Books Ltd
Availability: Amazon UK   
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August 1983 : Paperback
Cover of ISBN: 0671496123Title: Measure for Measure
Author(s): William Shakespeare
ISBN: 0-671-49612-3 / 978-0-671-49612-8 (USA edition)
Publisher: Washington Square Press
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April 1969 : Paperback
Cover of ISBN: 0140701257Title: Measure for Measure
Author(s): William Shakespeare
ISBN: 0-14-070125-7 / 978-0-14-070125-8 (UK edition)
Publisher: Penguin
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Other Editions

October 2000 : Turtleback
Cover of ISBN: 0606192212Title: Measure for Measure (New Folger Library Shakespeare (Turtleback))
Author(s): William Shakespeare
ISBN: 0-606-19221-2 / 978-0-606-19221-7 (USA edition)
Publisher: Turtleback Books Distributed by Demco Media
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December 1996 : Unknown
Cover of ISBN: 0174435797Title: Measure for Measure (Arden Shakespeare S.)
Author(s): William Shakespeare
ISBN: 0-17-443579-7 (UK edition)
Publisher: Arden Shakespeare
Availability: Amazon UK   
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