Second read, and I found this Shakespeare play easier to read than the others, I think it’s because it has a smaller cast. I found this to be a fascinating read, and in some ways brave but then (to me anyway) it lost its nerve. But this is okay, in how the plot unfolds I’m thinking back in Shakespeare’s day the audience would have related to this play as a comedy.

The main action that moves the plot are the Duke’s tricky plans to test Angelo and dupe Isabella and Lucio. The Duke is a good man through and through, he just wants to cleanup his city, and does everything with just very good intentions. If Shakespeare was highlighting the hypocrisy of virtue, then it was done gently as this play ends on an upbeat note that says no offence was meant. Overall, I like this play but I would have liked it a lot more if the Duke had more flaws, but I imagine this would have gotten Shakespeare into a lot more trouble.

موضوعش خیلی خوب و حتی چالش برانگیز بود و دیالوگ‌های بی‌نظیر و عمیقی داشت.
از جهت تغییر هویت و ظاهر که یکی از شاخص‌ترین موارد کمدی‌های شکسپیر هست عالی عمل کرده بود. نمایش پایانی‌اش دوست‌داشتنی بود. کارکتر دوک و ایزبلا

YouTube kanalımda Shakespeare'in hayatı, mutlaka okunması gereken kitapları ve kronolojik okuma sırası hakkında bilgi edinebilirsiniz: https://youtu.be/rGxh2RVjmNU

Kısasa kısas ne demektir?
"Yapılan bir kötülüğün aynısını, karşılık olarak, o kötülüğü yapan kimseye yapma."

Hayatımızın pek çok evresinde kısasa kısas yapmak isteriz. Birileri bizim ayağımızı kaydırır ve biz de onun ayağını kaydırmak isteriz. Birileri bize fiziksel şiddet uygular ve biz de etki-tepki kanununca ona fiziksel şiddet uygulamak isteriz. İşte, bence aşk da kısasa kısas demektir.

Aşk ve birisine karşı tutku hissetmek, belki de karşımızdakine yapıp yapabileceğimiz en büyük kötülük de olabilir. İşte o zaman kısasa kısasın tanımı karşılıklı sevginin ta kendisi olmaz mı? Yani Marcel Proust'un aşkı karşılıklı işkence olarak tanımlaması belki de Shakespeare'in Kısasa Kısas eserindeki aşkın da bir işkence halini almasından dolayıdır.

Bütün bu olaylar hepimizin başından bir kez olsun geçer ve en sonunda bir şekilde olayların hepsi tatlıya bağlanır ya, işte bu kitap da öyle bir kitaptır. Dükün gelip her şeyi adalete bağlaması da sanki bir yazarın Tanrısal bakış açısıyla bütün karakterlerine biçtiği rolün gerçekleşmesi gibidir. Bütün karakterlerin üstünde bir dükün ve bir dükün üstünde de bir Shakespeare iktidarının olduğunu hatırlatmak istercesine bir kitap okumak isterseniz Kısasa Kısas her zaman sizi bekliyor olacak.

A fascinating insight to Shakespeare's often-overlooked didacticism, in regards to morality. Duke seems to me to be an embodiment of Shakespeare's own intentions as an architect of narrative, trying to hold up a mirror to his reader and encourage them to objectively judge their own moral mistakes.

Shakespeare answers the question: what is self-righteousness and how do we deal with it? He answers the question with grace and humor.

The plot revolves around this good and "just" man who signs up for Ashley Madison never realizing his employer is monitoring his computer. In the end he is punished by having to marry his betrothed. Fair dealing for the betrothed in that culture. It always seems to me that Shakespeare has a fair amount of respect for women and even goodness and a fair assessment of humanity to boot.

Ein eher dröges und anstrengendes Stück als Lektüre. Habe aber eine sehr gelungene Aufführung davon gesehen in Zürich am Schauspielhaus, welches ich wärmstens empfehlen kann. Ein Heidenspass und zum Nachdenken anregend.

Around the Year Challenge 2018: A book related to one of the 7 deadly sins.

I usually do a bit of research before reading one of Shakespeare’s plays. Y’know, read over a brief summary and go through the characters and stuff. Measure for Measure being the last play in my intense catch-up effort I decided to skip all usual preamble and just go in blind. And I absolutely adored it. Measure for Measure is one of my ultimate favourite plays of this challenge. Claudio is arrested for getting a prostitute pregnant and is sentenced to be executed. Meanwhile, the Duke has left town (but in reality he has just disguised himself as a Friar in order to spy on his own people) and the evil Angelo is put in charge of the town. Meanwhile, Claudio’s sister Isabella goes to Angelo to beg of him not to execute her brother. Angelo hesitates but comes up with a deal, if Isabella gives him her virginity he won’t execute Claudio. BAM. This play is fucking brilliant.

Measure for Measure balances on the threshold of tragedy and comedy. One scene may have the brilliantly evil Angelo doing something brilliantly evil and the next scene may contain a barrage of Pompey’s utterly hilarious one-liners. This is just such a perfect play. I have no idea why this is one of Shakespeare’s least popular works. We get 1,001 different film versions of Romeo and Juliet every year but yet there is still to be a major production of Measure for Measure. I cannot praise this play any higher, it’s an utter masterpiece.

geçen yine erkeklerden nefret ediyoruz... shakespeare oyunlarını erkek karakterlerden nefret etme seviyeme göre sıralasam en tepeye bu yerleşirdi herhalde.

nobel ödülünü 2021 yılında alan tanzanyalı yazar abdulrazak gurnah'ın kumdan yürek'inin bu oyundan ilhamla yazıldığını öğrendiğim için önce bunu okudum, yoksa alıp okumadığım bir araba shakespeare oyunu var elimde. pişman da etmedi aslında, keyifli ve kolay okunan bir oyun ama tüm erkek karakterleri tokatlamak istedim açıkçası.

Moral corruption, justice, and what I (among others, though not the Bard) call karma.

These play the true starring roles in "Measure for Measure."

BUT WHATTA BOUT ALL THE ROLES FOR PROFESSIONAL ACTORS?

True, viewers and readers (self included) pay more attention directly to the enigmatic Duke, virtuous Isabella, frequently flawed Angelo, unrepentantly immoral Lucio, and erggg, Isabella's brother.

Really, why not pay attention to all these characters? Shakespeare writes them in such a way that we care about them, and through caring about them we plunge ourselves into the play's progression of moral dilemmas.

If I had to choose a favorite among Shakespeare's plays, this one would be it.

Everyday life, not only high drama, is replete with moral choices... if only we're curious enough to learn from them.

Finally, here's one of my favorite quotes from "Measure for Measure":

"O, it is excellent
To have a giant’s strength;
but it is tyrannous
To use it like a giant."

I really didn't like this when I read it, but after seeing it performed live, I do. Even though the performing company made some questionable casting choices. So, this confirms my belief that Shakespeare simply must be seen (or at least read aloud) to be understood. I will need to reread it someday to actually have substantive thoughts about its language and structure, but I appreciated the questions it is asking (about faithfulness, love, vows, sin, equality) as portrayed onstage very much. I don't like the ending, but I am not sure if I am meant to.

A Tale of Forgiveness
30 October 2016

tWhen I was recently in London I picked up a box set at The Globe containing a collection of plays that they had filmed and kindly decided to release. As such when I sat down on the train and began reading this play I half expected to be able to then go and watch it at a later date. As it turned out one of the plays that wasn’t included in the box set was this one, which was a real shame because when I was at the Globe I did see a number of plays that weren’t included that could be purchased alongside it (which I had done with Merchant of Venice). Before I continue I probably should make mention that The Globe is one of the most uncomfortable, and annoying, theatres that I have had the displeasure of visiting. When the seat is labled as ‘restricted view’ the view is actually really restricted (I was sitting in front of a pillar). I’m not going to go as far and say that it is ‘the most uncomfortable’ theatre since there are some in Greece (such as the Theatre of Dionysius, though that isn’t actually used, but the Theatre of Herod Antipas just down the road is) that are probably somewhat more uncomfortable.



tAnyway, you are no doubt going to hear me harp on about how uncomfortable the Globe is again, which does surprise me a little because they still seem to regularly sell out their plays. I ended up waiting too long to purchase tickets for A Midsummers Night Dream (namely twelve weeks before the show I wanted to see) only to discover that there were no longer any available. That meant that I had to put up with just seeing Macbeth, which really isn’t one of my favourite Shakespearian plays, but still, it was at the Globe, and it was Shakespeare done well, so I’m not complaining about that (though I am complaining about the hard seats and the pillar that was in front of me).

tEnough of my experience at the Globe because I’m sure you are more interested in my take on this play. The problem is that like many of the other plays that I have read I would have really liked to have seen this one performed (even if it is on screen) because it actually seems to be one of those really cool plays. One of the things that I particularly like about the version that I read is that it contains essays on the play itself at the end, and these essays can be really engaging. Anyway, the thing about this play is that there are so many Christian allegories in it that it doesn’t actually seem to be very Shakespearian. For instance we have the main plot of the Duke going on a holiday and handing over the rulership of the city to Angelo, who then begins to rule it with an iron fist. We also have the concept of forgiveness permeating throughout the play, and not the form of forgiveness that we see in the Tempest where Prospero decides that he has had enough fun with his captives, reveals himself, and says all is forgiven, but rather more Christlike forgiveness where the guilty party is forgiven without any form of revenge being taken out, and not deserving it one bit.

tYou have probably guessed the story already, but as I mentioned before the Duke decides to go on a holiday (well, not really, but that is what he tells everybody) and appoints Angelo in his place. However Angelo is a bit of a purist and realises that Vienna is a pretty sleazy place and decides to clean it up a bit (actually a lot). The thing is that it isn’t as if the sleaze is permitted, it’s illegal, it’s just that nobody particularly cares (or at least the Duke didn’t). So, he basically decides that since the laws are on the books they should be enforced, which creates a few problems because Claudio, another protagonist in the play, has got his girlfriend pregant, which is a big no-no, and he has him arrested and sentanced to death. Mind you, it isn’t as if Angelo is all that pure either, namely because he ended up dumping his fiancee because her dowery was lost when the ship that was carrying it sunk in a storm.

tThe parable of Jesus that automatically comes to mind is the parable of the vineyard where the master goes off on a journey and leaves his plantation to his servants, and the servants basically run amok causing all sorts of problems. However this is slightly different in that the duke doesn’t actually go anywhere, he just disguises himself as a monk and watches to see what happens. Also, Angelo isn’t actually running amok, but rather he is trying to clean the place up. However there is a little catch – it seems as if there is actually an ulterior motive – get rid of Claudio and thus marry Isabella. This was the plot in the original story. However they decide to get around the problem by executing a pirate instead and passing it off as Claudio, and then having Angelo’s old flame pretend to be Isabella.

tIn fact now that I think about it it seems as if Angelo is playing the hypocrite in this play – while he is insisting that everybody live moral and upstanding lives, he himself is doing the complete opposite. Sure, maybe it was well within the law to execute Claudio for being a little randy (and it is interesting that it is the man that is being punished here as opposed to the woman because it seems that in our day and age the holier than thou lot seem to want to punish the women), but the fact is that Angelo wants the opportunity to be randy himself, and almost gets himself into no end of trouble in doing so. The thing is that he effectively gets away with it in the end, which some have found to be a little unsatisfactory – here we have a guy that is pretty much throwing his weight around and executing people for minor indiscretions and effectively getting away with it, while commiting those same indiscretions himself.

tIn the end I guess it is one of those plays that we need to sit down and chew on a bit, and one that I would like to visit again in the not too distance future, though this time I would like to see it performed as opposed to reading it in a book. At least there is a modern, non-BBC version on Youtube (I really don’t like the BBC performances – they were so dry, dull, and completely lacked any life).

dude.

(also stfu... "date started 22. AUGUST 2021 (!?!?!)")