Measure for Measure/YMMV

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Like every other Shakespearean play, there's a lot of ways to read the characters.
  • Is the Duke a benign (but lazy) Magnificent Bastard, or is he just doing it for the lulz?
  • Is Angelo a Knight Templar who Jumped Off the Slippery Slope and then got horny, or was he always an asshole who finally accepted his ugly nature?
  • Is Isabella a shy but sweet Chaste Hero who learns about chaste love in the end, or the play's other Knight Templar who's so obsessed with her saintly image that she'd sacrifice her brother to maintain it?
  • And does Isabella's silence at the Duke's proposal mean that she modestly accepted him because they were meant to be? Does she reject him? Or does she silently acknowledge that she actually had no choice at all, and must, like before, break her vow of chastity either way?
• Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: 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.
• Ensemble Darkhorse: Mariana has had a great deal of Romantic art composed for her, including a famous poem by Tennyson.
• Esoteric Happy Ending, thanks in large part to Strangled by the Red String.
• Strangled by the Red String: Some see the Duke's proposal to Isabella as this, seeing as how their interactions up to that point have no romantic chemistry whatsoever, and it almost seems like Shakespeare addressing the awkwardness of a Pair the Spares happy ending.
• True Art Is Angsty: This is one of the darkest of Shakespeare's comedies.