Measure for Measure was Shakespeare’s first Jacobean play. After acceding to the English throne in 1603, King James became the sponsor of Shakespeare’s theatrical troupe… and Shakespeare thumbed through the new monarch’s publications to see who he was dealing with. The Duke Vincentio of the play resembles King James 1. And yet Shakespeare succeeds in making this fantasticall Duke of dark corners both a problem solver and an eerily disturbing character.