Biblical, theological and political conceptual metaphors in “Measure for measure”

The aim of this research is to explore intertextuality between Measure for Measure and the Bible, with reference to other Renaissance plays, mainly through the use of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) and, to a lesser extent, Conceptual Blending Theory (CBT). A close analysis of biblical conceptual metaphors in this ‘problem play’ can offer new insights into Shakespeare’s reading of the Bible and a new approach to the interpretation of his most ‘problematic’ plays. Besides offering a new understanding of the peculiar hermeneutics of the Bible, which emerges from his plays, such analysis can also be a useful tool to better consider the influence played by ‘the Book’ in Shakespeare’s time. Indeed, the Bible offered a common ground for the hottest theological and political debates of the time, thus shaping the culture of a society and promoting the development of a distinct Weltanshauung in each author. As Beatrice Groves claims, “the currency and status of the Bible made it a uniquely powerful source, and a brief allusion to a biblical story could open up a fund of associations, ambiguities, and analogues”. Our aim is to explore the web of “associations, ambiguities and analogues” and the meanings which open up through reference to or quotation from the texts of the Bible.