Measure for Measure: The New Oxford Shakespeare

’Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.’

Can one life be measured against another? Can a woman’s body be measured against a man’s life? Can consensual sex be measured against rape? Measure for Measure explores these questions through a series of substitutions: Angelo deputises for the Duke, who disguises himself to spy on his subjects; corrupt Angelo demands that almost-nun Isabella gives her body in exchange for her brother’s life; and the Duke substitutes living bodies and decapitated heads to bring about a ’happy ending’ in this problematic comedy. Exploring corrupt power, state surveillance, and the silencing of women by powerful men, Measure for Measure continues to resonate today.

The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare’s works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare’s work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare’s work.

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.

William Shakespeare

Emma Whipday is Lecturer in Renaissance Literature at Newcastle University. She studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, and UCL; has taught at King’s College London, Shakespeare’s Globe, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and Brasenose College, Oxford; and held a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at UCL and Newcastle. Her publications include Shakespeare’s Domestic Tragedies (2019; co-winner of Shakespeare’s Globe Book Award 2020); Teaching Shakespeare and His Sisters (2023); the co-edited essay collection Playing and Playgoing (2022); and the play Shakespeare’s Sister (2016).

Terri Bourus is Professor of Theatre and Professor of English at Florida State University. She is a General Editor of the four-part New Oxford Shakespeare (2016-2017), and the author of Young Shakespeare’s Young Hamlet (2014). She has written essays on stage directions, the performance of religious conversion, Shakespeare and Fletcher’s Cardenio, the role of Alice in Arden of Faversham, and Middleton’s female roles. Bourus is an Equity actor, and has directed and acted in, two very different productions of Hamlet, both based on Q1.