Measure for Measure / The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.]

The play follows a ruler who temporarily delegates authority to a strict deputy charged with enforcing moral laws, triggering a crisis when the deputy condemns a young man for sexual transgression. The condemned man’s sister, a novice, pleads for mercy and confronts the deputy, who offers a coercive bargain; the ruler, disguised as a friar, observes and orchestrates a counterplan that reveals hypocrisy. The action combines a substitution in a private encounter, legal hearings, and comic episodes to untangle punishments and settlements. Central concerns include the tension between justice and mercy, the abuse of power, sexual morality, and public versus private conduct.