William Shakespeare
Measure for Measure
The full script in Final Draft, Word & PDF
A duke hands his city to a strict deputy and watches in disguise as the law, desire and mercy collide in Shakespeare's darkest comedy.
PDFs Only
$4.99
- ✓ Stageplay PDF (107 pp.)
- ✓ Screenplay PDF (98 pp.)
- ✓ Instant download
Full Package
$12.99
- ✓ Final Draft (.fdx)
- ✓ Microsoft Word + RTF
- ✓ Screenplay + Stageplay PDFs
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All 37 plays in every format cost $99, less than 8 single Full Packages. PDFs only: $55 for all 37.
- Genre
- Problem play
- Written
- c. 1603–1604
- Setting
- Vienna
- Scenes
- 17
- Speaking roles
- 28
- Uncut running time
- ~2h 40m
What happens in Measure for Measure
Duke Vincentio of Vienna announces a journey abroad and leaves the city to his deputy, Angelo. In fact he stays, disguised as a friar. Angelo revives a long-ignored law against fornication and condemns the young Claudio to death. Claudio's sister Isabella, about to enter a convent, pleads for his life, and Angelo answers with a proposition: her chastity in exchange for her brother's pardon.
Isabella refuses, and the disguised Duke steers events from the shadows, using a substitution in Angelo's bed and a stand-in head for the execution. Around them, the brothels, prisons and street characters of Vienna, led by the talkative Lucio and the tapster Pompey, supply the play's comedy. The Duke finally returns in his own person and stages a public reckoning in which every thread is pulled tight.
See the formatting
The first page of Act I, exactly as it appears in the files you download.
The biggest roles
Share of the play's spoken words, counted from the script. 28 characters speak; 16 of them have under 1% of the text — natural candidates for doubling.
| Role | Share of the text | Speeches |
|---|---|---|
| Duke Vincentio | | 208 |
| Isabella | | 130 |
| Angelo | | 88 |
| Lucio | | 112 |
| Escalus | | 84 |
| Pompey | | 59 |
| Provost | | 74 |
| Claudio | | 35 |
For directors
The Duke carries 29.9% of the spoken words, so you are casting a lead who is on stage for much of the evening, with Isabella (14.1%), Angelo (11.1%) and Lucio (11.0%) as strong supporting parts. Twenty-eight speaking roles across 17 scenes, with 16 of them under 1% of the text, leaves plenty of room for doubling among citizens, officers and prisoners. Uncut, the text runs about 2 hours 40 minutes, so expect to trim for a standard evening.
Cutting notes
- The Pompey, Elbow and Froth courtroom comedy in 2.1 is often shortened, since much of its humour depends on dense wordplay.
- Some of the Duke's longer disguised-friar speeches and the prison-scene business with Barnardine are trimmed for running time.
- How the ending is staged, in particular the Duke's proposal to Isabella and her silence, is a director's decision rather than a cut.
For teachers
Typical study topics include justice versus mercy, abuse of power, hypocrisy, and the way authority is tested by private desire. The play is usually taught as a problem play or dark comedy, and students often debate the Duke's motives and the unscripted ending. Commonly examined passages include Isabella's confrontations with Angelo in 2.2 and 2.4, and Claudio's fear of death in 3.1.
Questions
Is this the complete, uncut text of Measure for Measure?
Yes. Every file contains the full play — 17 scenes and about 21,400 spoken words. Cut it yourself in Word or Final Draft to fit your running time.
What is the difference between the stageplay and screenplay layouts?
The stageplay layout indents stage directions and sets dialogue full-width, like a theatre script. The screenplay layout follows film conventions: scene headings and action flush left, character names centred, dialogue in a narrower column. Both tiers include both layouts as PDFs; the Full Package adds editable Final Draft and Word files of each.
Can I use this Measure for Measure script for a production or a class?
Yes. Shakespeare's plays are in the public domain, so there are no royalties to pay for staging them. Edit, stage, film or teach with these files.
How do I receive the files?
Right after checkout you land on a private download page, and the link is also emailed to you. It keeps working, so you can re-download any time.
