SHAKESPEARE’S MEASURE FOR MEASURE A CHRISTIAN ALLEGORY

We all know that Shakespeare s plays are not basically set in Christian milieu; however, Christian influence is clearly discernible in his works. The elements in The Holy Bible are perceived almost everywhere in Shakespeare’s works. Thus, Shakespeare s debt to Scripture is profound. The Christian ideas seem to be the body and soul of his great works. Without them his works would be lack of their original vitality. Due to his connection with Christianity, the classical work of Christianity, The Holy Bible, deeply influenced all of Shakespeare’s works, one of which is his Measure for Measure, a tragicomedy. The play dramatizes Christian doctrine in a prominent form of an allegory; in other words, Measure for Measure is a summation of Christian teaching offered as a Christian allegory by Shakespeare. The pictures given of a symbolised God, Fallen Angles, Devil, and The Last Judgement in the play have parallel and symmetrical equivalents in The Holy Bible. There are numerous biblical images in the play. In particular, Shakespeare invokes the concepts of sin, atonement, moral conflict, judgment, and mercy as the clues, analyses, the behaviours and the fates of the characters in the play. The title, Measure for Measure, comes from the Gospel of Matthew and this biblical passage also informs the main plot of the play. This article aims to explore the essential symmetrical propositions of Christianity and Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. In brief, it may be said that Shakespeare s view of human life in Measure for Measure is neither more nor less than the biblical view with the imperfections of the Old Testament supplemented by the teaching and life of Christ in the New Testament

Keywords:

Christian Allegory , Justice of Symmetry , Last Judgement , Moral Conflict