51 pages 1 hour read

William Shakespeare

Measure For Measure

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1604

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Important Quotes

Quotation Mark Icon

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses sexual coercion, which features in Measure for Measure.

“Let there be some more test made of my metal,

Before so noble and so great a figure

Be stamp’d upon it.”


(Act I, Scene 1, Lines 56-58)

When Duke Vincentio appoints Angelo as governor of Vienna while he is away, Angelo expresses concern that his own virtue and worthiness has never been tested before. Angelo uses a metaphor, comparing himself to metal that will be stamped, like a coin at a mint, with the image of a ruler’s head. Angelo’s desire to be tested foreshadows that Vincentio does actually intend to secretly remain in the city and observe him.

Quotation Mark Icon

“There’s not a soldier of us all, that, in

the thanksgiving before meat, do relish the petition

well that prays for peace.”


(Act I, Scene 2, Lines 111-113)

When Lucio talks to some other gentlemen who serve as soldiers in Duke Vincentio’s army, the men bring up the point that people will always act in the interest of their own survival and their own livelihood, even when it goes against morality. While it might be common to pray for peace, soldiers would rather pray for war so that they can be paid for their services. This conversation sets up a central conflict in the play—the ways in which Christian morality does not align with human instincts.

Quotation Mark Icon

“Nay, not as one would say, healthy; but so sound as

things that are hollow: thy bones are hollow;

impiety has made a feast of thee.”


(Act I, Scene 2, Lines 147-149)

Lucio jokes that the soldiers he is speaking with are not “sound” because they are infected with venereal diseases, using a

Related Titles

By William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

All's Well That Ends Well

William Shakespeare

All's Well That Ends Well

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

A Midsummer Night's Dream

William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night's Dream

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Antony and Cleopatra

William Shakespeare

Antony and Cleopatra

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

As You Like It

William Shakespeare

As You Like It

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Coriolanus

William Shakespeare

Coriolanus

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary
logo

Cymbeline

William Shakespeare

Cymbeline

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Henry IV, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Henry IV, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary
logo

Henry IV, Part 2

William Shakespeare

Henry IV, Part 2

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Henry V

William Shakespeare

Henry V

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary
logo

Henry VIII

William Shakespeare

Henry VIII

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary
logo

Henry VI, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary
logo

Henry VI, Part 3

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part 3

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

Julius Caesar

William Shakespeare

Julius Caesar

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary
logo

King John

William Shakespeare

King John

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

King Lear

William Shakespeare

King Lear

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Love's Labour's Lost

William Shakespeare

Love's Labour's Lost

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

Macbeth

William Shakespeare

Macbeth

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

Much Ado About Nothing

William Shakespeare

Much Ado About Nothing

William Shakespeare

Study Guide
logo

Othello

William Shakespeare

Othello

William Shakespeare