History YMMV / MeasureForMeasure

** Due to the changes in slang and culture over the centuries, a lot of the jokes in the play haven't aged well and it can be tricky for a modern viewer to understand what the characters are even talking about ''or'' why they're supposed to find it funny; particularly the HurricaneOfPuns about haemorrhoids and syphillis in Act I Scene II/Act IV Scene III and the many sexual innuendos in Act II Scene I. Plus there's the whole character of Constable Elbow; the babbling constable was a fairly common device in plays of the time, commenting on the fact that it was difficult to get competent people to fill law enforcement positions due to the low pay, but to viewers who aren't familiar with the trope he's often seen as redundant and irritating. [[note]]Compare with Dogberry in ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'', who's far more appealing to a 21st century audience by dint of being in an officilally comedic play and having an actual ''role'' in the plot.[[/note]] Directors and actors often have to work quite hard to get the humour across to a present day audience, assuming they don't just cut these jokes altogether.

** Due to the changes in slang and culture over the centuries, a lot of the jokes in the play haven't aged well and it can be tricky for a modern viewer to understand what the characters are even talking about ''or'' why they're supposed to find it funny; particularly the HurricaneOfPuns about haemorrhoids and syphillis in Act I Scene II/Act IV Scene III and the many sexual innuendos in Act II Scene I. Plus there's the whole character of Constable Elbow; the babbling constable was a fairly common device in plays of the time, commenting on the fact that it was difficult to get competent people to fill law enforcement positions due to the low pay, but to viewers who aren't familiar with the trope he's often seen as redundant and irritating. (Compare with Dogberry in ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'', who's far more appealing to a 21st century audience by dint of being in an officilally comedic play, and having an actual role in the plot). Directors and actors often have to work quite hard to get the humour across to a present day audience, assuming they don't just cut these jokes altogether.

** Due to the changes in slang and culture over the centuries, a lot of the jokes in the play haven't aged well and it can be tricky for a modern viewer to understand what the characters are even talking about ''or'' why they're supposed to find it funny; particularly the HurricaneOfPuns about haemorrhoids and syphillis in Act I Scene II/Act IV Scene III and the many sexual innuendos in Act II Scene I. Plus there's the whole character of Constable Elbow; the babbling constable was a fairly common device in plays of the time, commenting on the fact that it was difficult to get competent people to fill law enforcement positions due to the low pay, but to viewers who aren't familiar with the trope he's often regarded as redundant and irritating. (Compare with Dogberry in ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'', who's far more appealing to a 21st century audience by dint of being in a play that's much more recognisable as a comedy, and having an actual role in the plot). Directors and actors often have to work quite hard to get the humour across to a present day audience, assuming they don't just cut these jokes altogether.

** Due to the changes in slang and culture over the centuries, a lot of the jokes in the play haven't aged well and it can be tricky for a modern viewer to understand what the characters are even talking about ''or'' why they're supposed to find it funny, particularly the HurricaneOfPuns about haemorrhoids and syphilis in Act I Scene II/Act IV Scene III and all the sexual innuendos in Act II Scene I. Plus there's the whole character of Constable Elbow; the babbling constable was a fairly common device in plays of the time, commenting on the fact that it was difficult to get competent people to fill law enforcement positions, due to the low pay. Directors and actors often have to work quite hard to get the humour across to a present day audience, assuming they don't just cut these jokes altogether.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: It's one of the less performed plays from Shakespeare's mature period, and the premise is a big reason. On the one hand, a plot centred on a sympathetic man awaiting execution, and his sister being given a SadisticChoice between [[ScarpiaUltimatum being raped]] or letting him die, makes for sobering viewing, and Isabella can come off as cold and unsympathetic for valuing her own sexual integrity over her brother's life. On the other hand, those who come into the play expecting a grim but satisfying tragedy about rape and abuse of authority may be put off by the comedy elements, the fact that the attempted rapist Angelo is EasilyForgiven, and the Duke's (unresolved) marriage proposal to Isabella in the end (which, if played as being accepted, would nullify the value she placed on her chastity in the first place).

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: It's one of the less performed plays from Shakespeare's mature period, and the premise is a big reason. On the one hand, a plot centred on a sympathetic man awaiting execution, and his sister being given a SadisticChoice between [[ScarpiaUltimatum being raped]] or letting him die, makes for sobering viewing, and Isabella can often come off as cold and unsympathetic for valuing her own sexual integrity over her brother's life. On the other hand, those who come into the play expecting a grim but satisfying tragedy about rape and abuse of authority may be put off by the comedy elements, the fact that the attempted rapist Angelo is EasilyForgiven, and the Duke's marriage proposal to Isabella in the end (which, if played as being accepted, would nullify the value she placed on her chastity in the first place).

** Many performances, and public opinion, actually seem to have swung back around on Isabella's refusal to submit to Angelo, even to save her brother's life. [[http://www.stratford-herald.com/100520-interview-rsc-actor-lucy-phelps.html Lucy Phelps, who played Isabella in the 2019 Royal Shakespeare Production, says as such:]]

** The Duke's offer of marriage at the end would be more acceptable to a contemporary audience, since 'comedy' plays usually ended in marriages and an illustrious union with the Duke is explicitly Isabella's 'reward', plus FourthDateMarriage was hardly a rare trope in Elizabethan theatre. Modern audiences are often put off by the StrangledByTheRedString problems, to say nothing of the way he's manipulated her throughout the play.