The ‘old fantastical duke of dark corners’. The tradition of the Italianate disguised ruler and Measure for Measure’s questioning of divine kingship-

My paper analyses the godlike figure of the duke in Shakespeare’s "Measure for Measure," drawing from the tradition of the Italianate disguised ruler. On the basis of a stylistic approach to the topic word grace in the play, I attempt to demonstrate how the structurally dialectical motion of the tragicomedy pertains to the same character of the disguised duke, who does not fulfill a definite role, neither dramatically nor politically, within the problem of divine kingship.