Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare (Illustrated)

By William Shakespeare

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘Measure for Measure’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of William Shakespeare’.

Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Shakespeare includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.

eBook features:
* The complete unabridged text of ‘Measure for Measure’
* Beautifully illustrated with images related to Shakespeare’s works
* Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook
* Excellent formatting of the textPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Jul 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781786562944

William Shakespeare

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.

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The Complete Works of

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

VOLUME 26 OF 74

Measure for Measure

Parts Edition

By Delphi Classics, 2012

Version 6

COPYRIGHT

‘Measure for Measure’

William Shakespeare: Parts Edition (in 74 parts)

First published in the United Kingdom in 2017 by Delphi Classics.

© Delphi Classics, 2017.

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

ISBN: 978 1 78656 294 4

Delphi Classics

is an imprint of

Delphi Publishing Ltd

Hastings, East Sussex

United Kingdom

Contact: [e-mail]

www.delphiclassics.com

William Shakespeare: Parts Edition

This eBook is Part 26 of the Delphi Classics edition of William Shakespeare in 74 Parts. It features the unabridged text of Measure for Measure from the bestselling edition of the author’s Complete Works. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. Our Parts Editions feature original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of William Shakespeare, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.

Visit here to buy the entire Parts Edition of William Shakespeare or the Complete Works of William Shakespeare in a single eBook.

Learn more about our Parts Edition, with free downloads, via this link or browse our most popular Parts here.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

IN 74 VOLUMES

Parts Edition Contents

The Plays

1, Henry  VI, Part 2

2, Henry  VI, Part 3

3, Henry  VI, Part 1

4, Richard  III

5, The Comedy of Errors

6, Titus Andronicus

7, Taming of the Shrew

8, The Two Gentlemen of Verona

9, Love’s Labour’s Lost

10, Romeo and Juliet

11, Richard II

12, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

13, King John

14, The Merchant of Venice

15, Henry IV, Part I

16, Henry IV, Part II

17, Much Ado About Nothing

18, Henry V

19, Julius Caesar

20, As You Like It

21, Twelfth Night

22, Hamlet

23, The Merry Wives of Windsor

24, Troilus and Cressida

25, All’s Well that Ends Well

26, Measure for Measure

27, Othello

28, King Lear

29, Macbeth

30, Antony and Cleopatra

31, Coriolanus

32, Timon of Athens

33, Pericles

34, Cymbeline

35, The Winter’s Tale

36, The Tempest

37, Henry  VIII

38, The Two Noble Kinsmen

The Lost Plays

39, The Lost Plays

The Sources

40, The Plays’ Sources

The Apocryphal Plays

41, Arden of Faversham

42, The Birth of Merlin

43, King Edward  III

44, Locrine

45, The London Prodigal

46, The Puritan

47, The Second Maiden’s Tragedy

48, Sir John Oldcastle

49, Thomas Lord Cromwell

50, A Yorkshire Tragedy

51, Sir Thomas More

52, Fair Em

53, Mucedorus

54, The Merry Devil of Edmonton

55, Edmund Ironside

56, Thomas of Woodstock

57, Vortigern and Rowena

The Adaptations

58, Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb

The Poetry

59, The Sonnets

60, Venus and Adonis

61, The Rape of Lucrece

62, The Passionate Pilgrim

63, The Phoenix and the Turtle

64, A Lover’s Complaint

The Apocryphal Poetry

65, To the Queen

66, A Funeral Elegy for Master William Peter

67, Sonnets to Sundry Notes of Music

The Criticism

68, The Criticism

The Biographies

69, Some Account of the Life of Mr. William Shakespear by Nicholas Rowe

70, Shakespeare: His Life, Art, and Characters by Henry Norman Hudson

71, Life of William Shakespeare by Sir Sidney Lee

72, Shakespeare’s Lost Years in London by Arthur Acheson

73, The People for Whom Shakespeare Wrote by Charles Dudley Warner

Resources

74, Resources

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Measure for Measure

This problem comedy is believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. The play deals with issues of mercy, justice, and truth and their relationship to pride and humility. A virtuous maiden is given the ultimatum of surrendering her chastity in return for saving her brother’s life, thus revealing the play’s controversial and problematic dilemma.  The plot deals with Vincentio, the Duke of Vienna, who makes it known that he intends to leave the city on a diplomatic mission. He leaves the government in the hands of a strict judge, Angelo.

The play draws on two distinct sources. The original is The Story of Epitia, a story from Cinthio’s Hecatommithi, first published in 1565.  Shakespeare was familiar with this book as it contains the original source for Othello. Cinthio also published the same story in a play version with some small differences, which Shakespeare may have been aware of.

Shakespeare’s main source text for this play is available via this link.

The First Folio, published in 1623

Claudio and Isabella by William Holman Hunt, 1850

CONTENTS

Dramatis Personæ

Act I. Scene I.

Act I. Scene II.

Act I. Scene III.

Act I. Scene IV.

Act II. Scene I.

Act II. Scene II.

Act II. Scene III.

Act II. Scene IV.

Act III. Scene I.

Act III. Scene II.

Act IV. Scene I.

Act IV. Scene II.

Act IV. Scene III.

Act IV. Scene IV.

Act IV. Scene V.

Act IV. Scene VI.

Act V. Scene I.

The cast of the 2004 production of the play at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre

Dramatis Personæ

VINCENTIO, the Duke.

ANGELO, Lord Deputy in the Duke’s absence.

ESCALUS, an Ancient Lord, joined with Angelo in the deputation.

CLAUDIO, a young Gentleman.

LUCIO, a Fantastic.

Two other like Gentlemen.

VARRIUS, a Gentleman attending on the Duke.

PROVOST.

THOMAS, PETER, two Friars.

A Justice.

ELBOW, a simple Constable.

FROTH, a foolish Gentleman.

POMPEY, Tapster to Mistress Overdone.

ABHORSON, an Executioner.

BARNARDINE, a dissolute Prisoner.

ISABELLA, sister to Claudio.

MARIANA, betrothed to Angelo.

JULIET, beloved of Claudio.

FRANCISCA, a Nun.

MISTRESS OVERDONE, a Bawd.

Lords, Officers, Citizens, Boy, and Attendants.

SCENE. — Vienna.

Act I. Scene I.

An Apartment in the DUKE’S Palace.

Enter DUKE, ESCALUS, Lords, and Attendants.

Duke.  Escalus.

Escal.  My lord?

Duke.  Of government the properties to unfold,   5

Would seem in me to affect speech and discourse,

Since I am put to know that your own science

Exceeds, in that, the lists of all advice

My strength can give you: then no more remains,

But that, to your sufficiency, as your worth is able,   10

And let them work. The nature of our people,

Our city’s institutions, and the terms

For common justice, you’re as pregnant in,

As art and practice hath enriched any

That we remember. There is our commission,  [Giving it.   15

From which we would not have you warp. Call hither,

I say, bid come before us Angelo.  [Exit an Attendant.

What figure of us think you he will bear?

For you must know, we have with special soul

Elected him our absence to supply,   20

Lent him our terror, drest him with our love,

And given his deputation all the organs

Of our own power: what think you of it?

Escal.  If any in Vienna be of worth

To undergo such ample grace and honour,   25

It is Lord Angelo.

Duke.        Look where he comes.

Enter ANGELO.

Ang.  Always obedient to your Grace’s will,

I come to know your pleasure.   30

Duke.        Angelo,

There