Is Measure for Measure a Comedy | Genre in Shakespeare | Shakespeare Play by Play Season 1

full playlist: Measure for Measure: • Measure for Measure
Is Measure for Measure a Comedy? I hope to answer that here. This is the final episode of a full analysis of every Act of Shakespeare’s play Measure for Measure through different themes. Subscribe for future seasons of this Shakespeare Play by Play. Twitter: @Shakespearepbp
Quotations from the play come from the Folgers edition: shakespeare.fo...
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Works Consulted:
Baines, Barbara J. “Assaying the Power of Chastity in Measure for Measure.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 30, no. 2, 1990, p. 283., doi:10.2307/450518.
Bernthal, Craig A. “Staging Justice: James I and the Trial Scenes of Measure for Measure.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 32, no. 2, 1992, p. 247., doi:10.2307/450735.
Bruhn, Karen. “‘If Power Change Purpose’: Authority, Leadership, and Religion in Measure for Measure.” Leadership and Elizabethan Culture, 2013, pp. 213-227., doi:10.1057/9781137340290_13.
Diehl, Huston. “‘Infinite Space’: Representation and Reformation in Measure for Measure.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 49, no. 4, 1998, p. 393., doi:10.2307/2902235.
Knoppers, Laura Lunger. “(En)Gendering Shame: Measure for Measure and the Spectacles of Power.” English Literary Renaissance, vol. 23, no. 3, 1993, pp. 450-471., doi:10.1111/j.1475-6757.1993.tb01069.x.
Leggatt, Alexander. “Substitution in ‘Measure for Measure.’” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 39, no. 3, 1988, p. 342., doi:10.2307/2870931.
Magedanz, Stacy. “Public Justice and Private Mercy in Measure for Measure.” SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900, vol. 44, no. 2, 2004, pp. 317-332., doi:10.1353/sel.2004.0018.
Majeske, Andrew. “Equity’s Absence: The Extremity of Claudio’s Prosecution and Barnardine’s Pardon in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure.” Law & Literature, vol. 21, no. 2, 2009, pp. 169-184., doi:10.1525/lal.2009.21.2.169.
Riefer, Marcia. “‘Instruments of Some More Mightier Member’: The Constriction of Female Power in Measure for Measure.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 35, no. 2, 1984, p. 157., doi:10.2307/2869924.
Shakespeare, William, et al. Measure for Measure. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020.
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[@tim2013]

I just stumbled upon your channel (because KZbin decided to show it to me). Great analysis, well done. Looking forward to watching the rest of your videos.

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

Great to hear that. Hope you enjoy them.

[@jonathanbenjamingarciadequ7637]

I fully enjoyed reading this play. A personal favorite for some of the points you have so well articulated. A tragedy disguised as a comedy? Crossed my mind when I reached the end of the play. I followed up reading Titus Andronicus a couple of weeks later and, Lo and Behold! Seemed to me just the opposite, a comedy dressed up as a tragedy. A cynical and sarcastic view of the revenge tragedy as Measure for measure is of the idea that comedic tropes can encapsulate the messed-up reality of life. Life-and it's ugliness- forced into a comedy and being, somehow, successfully wilfully unsuccessful at that. Fantastic channel!

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

Thank you so much! that's really insightful about Titus, I think you have a good point and I'll keep that in mind when (someday) I sit down to produce a season on that play. First, though, is a Midsummer Night's Dream. I have the first video ready to go for this Sunday

[@zonaldzuck1859]

This is an amazing series and analysis

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

Thank you

[@paddymeboy]

It's very simple - if the main characters end happily, it's a comedy. If sadly, it's a tragedy or (if they're historical figures) a History.

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

So which is this?