Neither a full-scale tragedy nor a full-fledged comedy, William

Shakespeare's Measure for Measure is a category-defying "problem

play" which has baffled critics and audience alike for centuries.

Shakespeare's last, unfestive comedy, one of his most debated and

misread plays, has become a favourite among (post) modern

spectactors, after years of comparative neglect and disfigurement.

Despite the title's symmetry, drawing from the formulation of

Talionic law, there is no such thing as "measure for measure", if

only because the source of measure or judgment is itself biased.

The present text-centered study aims at testing the validity of this

axiom on a thematic, dramatic and linguistic level, and at providing

lines of enquiry into a play which can ultimately be read as a

celebration of drama - drama being the sole force to escape from

the grip of this black, threatening comedy and come out strenghtened.