Measure by Measure by William Shakespear

 

 
1. Did you enjoy the play? What, specifically, pleased or displeased you about what was expressed and how
it was expressed?

2. What is the significance of the play’s title? How does it suggest the author’s overall emphasis?

3. What information do the stage directions provide about the characters, action, and setting? Are these
directions primarily descriptive, or are the interpretive?

4. How is the exposition presented? What does it reveal? How does the playwright’s choice not to dramatize
certain events on stage help to determine what the focus of the play is?

5. In what ways is the setting important? Would the play be altered significantly if the setting were
changed?

6. Are foreshadowings used to suggest what is to come? Are flashbacks used to dramatize what has already
happened?

7. What is the major conflict the protagonist faces? What complications constitute the rising action?
Where is the climax? Is the conflict resolved?

8. Are one or more subplots used to qualify or complicate the main plot? Is the plot unified so that each
incident somehow has a function that relates it some other element in the play?

9. Does the author purposely avoid a pyramidal plot structure of rising action, climax, and falling
action? Is the plot experimental? Is the plot logically and chronologically organized, or is it fantastical or
absurd? What effects are produced by the plot? How does it reflect the author’s view of life?

10. Who is the protagonist? Who (or what) is the antagonist?

11. By what means does the playwright reveal character? What do the characters’ names, physical qualities,
actions, and words convey about them? What do the characters reveal about each other?

12. What is the purpose of the minor characters/ Are they individualized, or do they primarily represent
ideas or attitudes? Are any character foils used?

13. Do the characters all use the same kind of language, or is their speech differentiated? Is it formal or
informal? How do the characters’ diction and manner of speaking serve to characterize them?

14. Does your response to the characters change in the course of the play? What causes the change?

15. Are words and images repeated in the play so that they take on special meanings? Which speeches seem
particularly important? Why?

16. How does the playwright’s use of language contribute to the tone of the play? Is the dialogue, for
example, predominantly light, humorous, relaxed, sentimental, sad, angry, intense, or violent?

17. Are any symbols used in the play? Which actions, characters, settings, objects, or words convey more than
their literal meanings?

18. Are any unfamiliar theatrical conventions used that present problems in understanding the play? How does
knowing more about the nature of the theater from which the play originated help to resolve these problems?

19. Is the theme stated directly, or is it developed implicitly through the plot, characters, or some other
element? Does the theme confirm or challenge most people’s values?

20. How does the play reflect the values of the society in which it is set and in which it was written?

21. How does the play reflect or challenge your own values?

22. Is there a recording, film, or videocassette of the play available in your library or media center? How
does this version compare with your own reading?

23. How would you produce the play on a stage? Consider scenery, costumes, casting, and characterizations.
What would you emphasize most in your production?

24. How might biographical information about the author help the reader to grasp the central concerns of the
play?

25. How might historical information about the play provide a useful context for interpretation?

26. To what extent do you own experiences, values, beliefs, and assumptions inform your interpretation?

27. What kinds of evidence from the play are you focusing on to support your interpretation? Does your
interpretation leave out any important elements that might undercut or qualify your interpretation?

28. Given that there are a variety of ways to interpret the play, which one seems the most useful to you?

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