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erickibler4's review against another edition
5.0
A play for our time.
Hypocrisy and the pretense of morality in high office, sexual harassment, the problem of capital punishment, it's all here. Probably the most relevant Shakespeare play at this moment in time.
Hypocrisy and the pretense of morality in high office, sexual harassment, the problem of capital punishment, it's all here. Probably the most relevant Shakespeare play at this moment in time.
absent_o_minded's review against another edition
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
themis_biblos's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I do find your hangman is / a more penitent trade than your bawd; he doth / oftener ask forgiveness.
What a criminally underrated play. Isabella's holding on to her morals till the end. Pompey's rebuke that to execute Vienna's sinners would decimate its populace. The corruption of new-found authority. And Pompey's bum.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
anastasiadreaming's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A complicated, compelling, and genre-bending play full of substitutions and deceit.
reintje69's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.75
joshknape's review against another edition
2.0
I am not even finished with Measure for Measure yet, and I still find it one of the most interesting and complex Shakespearean plays I have read. Not so much the plot or the characters, it--the play itself. The characteristics I see in it. Review to elaborate later.
Naturally, the play I have read that it feels reminiscent of is The Merchant of Venice, the other "dark" play I have read. (I don't like describing them with the word "dark" when they're simply serious, but I don't see a more appropriate term.)
I'm reading it quite slowly, because I hardly have sufficient concentration recently to digest poetry.
Naturally, the play I have read that it feels reminiscent of is The Merchant of Venice, the other "dark" play I have read. (I don't like describing them with the word "dark" when they're simply serious, but I don't see a more appropriate term.)
I'm reading it quite slowly, because I hardly have sufficient concentration recently to digest poetry.
rainbow1218's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
willardk's review against another edition
3.0
Sunday, I will see this play performed in Russian with French subtitles. I think it'll still make more sense then than it does to me reading it in English.
alexpdf's review against another edition
3.0
non me soen gustar as persoaxes coas que non estou de acordo moralmente independentemente do ben escritas que estejam mais lucio my beloved un chaotic evil de libro non fixo nada mal un bico para el
sheherlock_holmes's review against another edition
3.0
A problem play it certainly is! the lack of agency of Isabella and the sexuality and gender politics make it an incredibly frustrating read at some points but it's interesting to see some of the attitudes and points of view from the time that wouldnt quite occur today. The duke is a perverse games master setting out elaborate schemes to display his superiority to the detriment of all around him, Angelo never should of had power, Claudio never should of been under threat of death and the duke could have stopped it at any time but was too busy playing smartest boy for his big moment, then he does the exact thing that Angelo does in coercing Isabella into marriage, I guess it's more moral because it's marriage and not making her a whore personally I think that's worse. it works very well as a story about abuse of power by those that wield it and the interplay of that power with sexual relationships in the formal sense and sexuality itself however the interesting points it shows are not the ones intended by the author! all in all fantastic text to critique