Measure for Measure Act 1 Analysis | Shakespeare Play by Play Season 1

[@loaf_bubbles8a880]

Thank you! You make me fascinated by the play for once over the past two years of my A levels!

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

Glad to hear it!

[@shadow3199]

Hi! I found this channel today and might I say this is absolutely amazing, you are engaging and the analysis is insightful as well as the summary being full of content and quotes! I'm studying this text for my As Level and this is very useful tor revise and get ahead! You sir, are very underrated. Thank you for these videos :)

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

This warms my heart. Thank you so much for these kind words. These seasons take me a really long time to write and edit and this comment is so validating for me. Thank you🙏

[@shadow3199]

@@shakespeareplaybyplay Aw thank you sir, but I should really be thanking you! For the effort and content you put into these videos :)

[@SuperJmao]

I'm currently directing a production of Measure for Measure in Seoul, Korea. Your videos are insightful and have been a great resource for me and the actors as we navigate the themes and language of this gorgeous play. Thank you so much!

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

This comment made my day. Thank you for taking the time to leave it. This is exactly the motivation I had for making these videos and the impact I hoped they would have. Thank you.

[@SuperJmao]

@@shakespeareplaybyplay Likewise! If you find yourself in Seoul between May 13 - 28, send me a message and I'll get you into the show. A big "if", I know, but it's the least I can do.

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

I'll be teaching my high school classes, but the invitation warms my heart

[@tim2013]

There are so many great lines in Shakespeare it's easy to breeze over some of them, especially in a "second tier" play like MFM. I'd never really sat and thought about that "our doubts are traitors" line but it's brilliant.

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

I also love how many of those great lines are put in the mouths of morally dubious characters

[@antigonemerlin]

Your analysis is extremely insightful and your channel is underrated. As someone just reading Shakespeare for fun, I really do appreciate someone having done the hard work of predigesting the work for me. As someone else once said, it's like a video game walkthrough, only for literature. Have you ever considered doing Sondheim analysis?

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

Thanks! You're exactly the type of person I'm making them for. I'm glad the algorithm found you.

[@calmeplat4912]

Wonderful video, your insightful comments add a lot to an already excellent summary! Thank you for sharing that with us

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

Thanks! Thank you for taking the time to make a comment like this. It means a lot

[@raeesadhorat2170]

Youre brilliant in explaining sir, thank you

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

Aw thank you. I'm a teacher, so I have a lot of practice

[@leila9139]

thanks so much! these are great and super helpful

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

You're so welcome. Thanks for the taking the time to leave this comment. I'm editing videos about Othello right now and this comment helped me remember why this is useful

[@saltlickbeau]

this is such a useful video thanks so much

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

Thanks for taking the time to say so. I'm really happy you found value in it I hope the rest of the series proves as useful.

[@sansan0123]

Thank you for this video!

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

You're so welcome. Thanks for the sub

[@rafaella3410]

Thank youu, helps a lot!!

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

Oh! Seems like you're watching the set

[@alinaanguiano4541]

which characters would you say had a downfall?

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

Keep watching these videos and you'll get a few answers to that question. In particular watch the final two videos on the Measure for Measure playlist

[@pridearinda7203]

could you please make a video for act 3

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

I did. I have videos for all the acts. Link is in the description

[@InvaderSyd]

There is no explicit evidence of Isabella's reasons for why she wants to enter an extremely strict nunnery. It could be she is a very faithful and pious Catholic who desires to become an utmost example of nunhood. Wanting to escape "the male gaze" is your subjective view of her possible motivations, so I think you should more explicitly state that.

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

This is what is on offer: "When you have vowed, you must not speak with men But in the presence of the Prioress. Then, if you speak, you must not show your face; Or if you show your face, you must not speak." And she wants it to be more strict. That explicitly states she wants to escape the world of men.

[@InvaderSyd]

@@shakespeareplaybyplay I don't mean to be argumentative, but that line you quote comes *after* Isabella's statement that she desires "a more strict restraint". Additionally, that line comes from the unnamed nun *in response* to Lucio's appearance. It is an explanation of the nunneries rules and serves as a reason for Isabella to answer him rather than the unnamed nun (which Isabella does w/o protest, I may add). I just think you ought to be clear that this view of Isabella's motivations is subjective. The original text does not make her motivations for strictness explicit, which I think is purposeful. The most likely answer is that Shakespeare intended her motivations toward strictness to be a personality trait that parallels Angelo's strictness towards executing the law precisely as it is written w/no room for mercy.

[@nicolehungg]

has anyone ever told you that you look like lin manuel miranda? btw very helpful video thank you!

[@FrancescaHawkes]

Has anyone ever told u you look like Lin Manuel Miranda

[@nicolehungg]

waittt thats literally what i said!

[@shakespeareplaybyplay]

Hah. Yes. I get it all the time in person, but these are literally the first two times I've heard it from a KZbin audience