Grace for Measure: Shakespeare and the Bible

Abstract

This article examines the connection between Shakespeare and the Bible
regarding Christian salvation focusing on one of the so-called Shakespeare’s problem plays,
namely Measure for Measure. Firstly, the readers are introduced to the plot and sources of
the play, followed by an explanation setting forth the opposition between two systems of
expiation seen in Christian theology: divine grace, the system ascribed to Protestants, and
salvation by works, traditionally associated to Catholicism. This theoretical account is applied
to Measure for Measure in order to raise awareness of the triumph of God’s mercy at the end
of the story. However, this fact does not prove Shakespeare’s Protestantism. Rather, it can
be considered as an attempt to lay out the political and religious controversies of the time.