When Claudio breaks the new laws against vice in Vienna by getting his financee, Julietta, pregnant, a series of ethical issues is brought under scrutiny. His sister's virtue is held to ransom by the deputy rule of the city until justice is done, mercy shown, and order restored.

This is among Shakespeare's most vivid dramatic projections of moral duplicity. The introduction discusses the origins of his treatment of the well-known story and examines his sources. The editor also sets the play in its historical context and offers the most comprehensive available account of the text's theatrical life from Restoration adaptations to present-day productions.

ABOUT THE SERIES

For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

List of illustrations
General Introduction: Measure for Measure as a Jacobean play, Sources, The Play in Performance, The Play
Textual Introduction
Editorial Procedures
MEASURE FOR MEASURE
Appendix A: Longer Textual Notes
Appendix B: Alterations to Lineation
Appendix C: John Wilson's Setting of `Take, O Take'
Index to the Commentary

William Shakespeare

N. R. Bawcutt is Reader in English Literature, University of Liverpool

`The introduction is quite informative and sensible, the text accurate and handsome, the notes solicitous enough to sustain a beginning student and deep enough to support scholarly uses ... another good edition of the play: highly learned, handsome, accurate, and fair-minded.' -- Robert N. Watson, Shakespeare Quarterly, Summer '93

'well-balanced, intelligent, and slightly detached from the play and its issues' -- J.G. Saunders, Review of English Studies, Vol. 45, No. 177, Feb, 1994