History YMMV / MeasureForMeasure

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Mariana has had a great deal of Romantic art composed for her, including a famous poem by Tennyson.

** Is the Duke a [[GuileHero benign]] ([[BrilliantButLazy but lazy]]) MagnificentBastard, or [[ItAmusedMe is he just doing it for the lulz]]? Consider that he poses as a friar and consoles men condemned to death (whom he plans to ultimately pardon, of course). In the time the play was written, the eternal damnation of the soul and the right of priests, and priests alone, to grant absolution were taken very, ''very'' seriously. In modern terms, the Duke's deception would be like some unqualified meddler pretending to be a surgeon and performing life-or-death surgery.
*** Unless, considering this play was written and performed in Protestant England, the faith that Catholics put in priests and friars is meant to be a big joke, and the audience should laugh along with the Duke as he merrily dupes one schmuck after another.

* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: Mariana is pleading for her new husband Angelo's life, and asks Isabella to get on her knees before the Duke to help her. Angelo tried to rape Isabella, broke his promise to spare her brother in exchange for sex, and has been Isabella's enemy for the whole play. Increasingly hysterical, Mariana begs Isabella to get on her knees, and none of the bystanders think she will...And then Isabella gets on her knees beside Mariana and begs for Angelo's life despite all he tried to do. A beautiful example of the Christian mercy that as a future nun (maybe), Isabella should be practicing.
** What makes this doubly heartwarming is that she now shows genuine mercy, not the cold, distant mercy she showed her brother earlier.

** 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. 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.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: This is one of the darkest of Shakespeare's comedies. But it's also one of his less popular plays. Perhaps that fact averts the trope, ultimately.

** 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 and all the sexual innuendos in Act II Scene I. 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 and all the sexual innuendos in Act II Scene I. Directors and actors often have to work quite hard to get the humour across to a contemporary 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, particularly the HurricaneOfPuns about haemorrhoids and syphilis in Act I Scene II and all the sexual innuendos in Act II Scene I. Directors and actors often have to work quite hard to get the humour across to a contemporary 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 hard for a modern viewer to understand what the characters are even talking about, particularly the HurricaneOfPuns about haemorrhoids and syphilis in Act I Scene II and all the sexual innuendos in Act II Scene I. Directors and actors often have to work quite hard to get the humour across to a contemporary audience, assuming they don't just cut these jokes altogether.

** Due to the passage of time and changes in slang and culture, a ''lot'' of the jokes in the play haven't aged well and it can be hard for a modern viewer to understand what the characters are even talking about, particularly the HurricaneOfPuns about haemorrhoids and syphilis in Act I Scene II and all the sexual innuendos in Act II Scene I. Directors and actors often have to work quite hard to get the humour across to a contemporary audience, assuming they don't just cut these jokes altogether.

** The Duke's offer of marriage at the end would also be more acceptable to a contemporary audience, since 'comedy' plays usually ended in marriages and the union with the Duke is explicitly Isabella's 'reward'. Modern audiences are often put off by the StrangledByTheRedString problems, to say nothing of the way he's manipulated her throughout the play.
** Due to the passage of time of time and changes in language and culture, a lot of the jokes in the play haven't aged well and it can be hard for a modern viewer to understand what the characters are even talking about, particularly the HurricaneOfPuns about haemorrhoids and syphilis in Act I Scene II and all the sexual innuendos in Act II Scene I. Directors and actors often have to work quite hard to get the humour across to a contemporary audience, assuming they don't just cut these jokes altogether.

** Due to the passage of time of time and changes in language and culture, most of the jokes in the play haven't aged well and it can be hard for a modern viewer to understand what the characters are even talking about, particularly the HurricaneOfPuns about haemorrhoids and syphilis in Act I Scene II and all the sexual innuendos in Act II Scene I. Directors and actors often have to work quite hard to get the humour across to a contemporary audience, assuming they don't just cut these jokes altogether.

** Due to the passage of time of time and changes in language and culture, most of the jokes in the play haven't aged well, particularly the HurricaneOfPuns about haemorrhoids and syphilis in Act I Scene II and all the sexual innuendos in Act II Scene I. Directors and actors often have to work quite hard to get the humour across to a contemporary audience, assuming they don't just cut these jokes altogether.

** Is Isabella a {{sh|rinkingViolet}}y [[SugarAndIcePersonality but sweet]] {{Chaste Hero}}ine who learns about chaste love in the end, or the play's ''[[NotSoDifferent other]]'' KnightTemplar who's so obsessed with her saintly image that she'd sacrifice her brother to maintain it?

** At the time the play was first performed, even though all the nunneries in England had been dissolved decades before in the Reformation and people had been encouraged to dismiss the traditions of the Catholic Church, audiences would still understand the importance of Isabella's desire to become a nun and her refusal to give up her virginity in order to save her brother. To modern eyes, though, she can come off as rather cold-blooded and callous.

* ValuesResonance: Angelo's sexual harassment (and in some stagings actual assault) of Isabella, and the agony of her being unable to complain for fear of not being believed, rings very true in the modern day; particularly after the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the flurry of revelations about other celebrities that followed.

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

** Unless, considering this play was written and performed in Protestant England, the faith that Catholics put in priests and friars is meant to be a big joke, and the audience should laugh along with the Duke as he merrily dupes one schmuck after another.

** At the time the play was first performed, even though all the nunneries in England had been dissolved decades before in the Reformation, audiences would still understand the importance of Isabella's desire to become a nun and her refusal to give up her virginity in order to save her brother. To modern eyes, though, she can come off as rather cold-blooded and callous.

** At the time the play was first performed, even though all the nunneries had been dissolved decades before in the Reformation, audiences would still understand the importance of Isabella's desire to become a nun and her refusal to give up her virginity in order to save her brother. To modern eyes, though, she can come off as rather cold-blooded and callous.

** The Duke's offer of marriage at the end would also be more acceptable to a contemporary audience, since 'comedy' plays usually ended in marriages and the union with the Duke is explicitly Isabella's 'reward'. Modern audiences are often put off by the StrangledByTheRedString problems.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: This is one of the darkest of Shakespeare's comedies. But it's also one of his less popular plays. Perhaps that fact averts the trope, ultimately.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Like every other Shakespearean play, there's a lot of ways to read the characters.

** Is Angelo a KnightTemplar who JumpedOffTheSlipperySlope and [[SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny then got horny]], or was he [[StrawHypocrite always an asshole who finally accepted his ugly nature]]?
** Is Isabella a [[ShrinkingViolet shy]] [[SugarAndIcePersonality but sweet]] ChasteHero who learns about chaste love in the end, or the play's ''[[NotSoDifferent other]]'' KnightTemplar who's so obsessed with her [[PuritySue saintly image]] that she'd sacrifice her brother to maintain it?

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: Mariana is pleading for her new husband Angelo's life, and asks Isabella to get on her knees before the Duke to help her. Angelo tried to rape Isabella, broke his promise to spare her brother in exchange for sex, and has been Isabella's enemy for the whole play. Increasingly hysterical, Mariana begs Isabella to get on her knees, and none of the bystanders think she will...And then Isabella gets on her knees beside Mariana and begs for Angelo's life despite all he tried to do. A beautiful example of the Christian mercy that as a future nun (maybe), Isabella should be practicing.
** What makes this doubly heartwarming is that she now shows genuine mercy, not the cold, distant mercy she showed her brother earlier.

* EsotericHappyEnding, thanks in large part to StrangledByTheRedString.

** Is the Duke a [[GuileHero benign]] ([[BrilliantButLazy but lazy]]) MagnificentBastard, or [[ItAmusedMe is he just doing it for the lulz]]?

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: Mariana is pleading for her husband's life, and asks Isabella to get on her knees before the Duke to help Mariana. Mariana's husband tried to rape Isabella and kill her brother, and has been Isabella's enemy for the whole play. Increasingly hysterical, Mariana begs Isabella to get on her knees, and none of the bystanders think she will...And then Isabella gets on her knees beside Mariana and begs for Angelo's life despite all he tried to do. A beautiful example of the Christian mercy that as a future nun (maybe), Isabella should be practicing.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: This is one of the darkest of Shakespeare's comedies.

** Is Isabella a [[ShrinkingViolet shy]] [[{{Kuudere}} but sweet]] ChasteHero who learns about chaste love in the end, or the play's ''[[NotSoDifferent other]]'' KnightTemplar who's so obsessed with her [[PuritySue saintly image]] that she'd sacrifice her brother to maintain it?