Measure for Measure

Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure follows the adventures of the Duke of Vienna, who announces he is leaving on a foreign mission, handing power temporarily over to his deputy, Angelo. Instead of leaving, however, the Duke remains in Vienna, watching as Angelo focuses his reformatory zeal on a young man named Claudio, arresting him for fornication and condemning him to death. When Claudio’s sister Isabella, a novice nun about to take her vows, comes to Angelo to plead for her brother’s life, the deputy’s own moral corruption is revealed. The Duke, in disguise, stage-manages the action that follows, and arranges his own form of justice for all parties involved in a suspenseful denouement.