Measure for Measure: A Requiem for Humanity
Measure for Measure: A Requiem for Humanity

Author(s): Małgorzata Grzegorzewska
Subject(s): Theatre, Dance, Performing Arts, Cultural history, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, Philology, Theory of Literature, British Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Shakespeare; Measure for Measure; philosphy; Soren Kierkegaard; Emmanuel Levinas; Giorgio Agamben
Summary/Abstract: The author of the article proposes to view one of William Shakespeare’s “dark” comedies, "Measure for Measure", through the philosophical writings of Søren Kierkegaard, Emmanuel Lévinas and Giorgio Agamben. The principle of “commanded” love formulated in Kierkegaard’s original existentialist reformulation of the Christian commandment to love one’s neighbour, as presented in his "Works of Love", and the corresponding Levinasian concept of unconditional responsibility imposed on an individual by the appeal articulated in the “face of the other”, provide suitable grounds for reviewing the ethical implications of the play, which focuses on and juxtaposes the claims of “selfish” love with the demands of self-denial and sacrifice. Giorgio Agamben’s reflection on the tension between law and mercy, formulated in the apocalyptic, post-Auschwitz context, additionally highlights the manoeuvres of the hidden author(s) of martial law in the city of Vienna, as portrayed in Shakespeare’s drama.

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