Back to the Renaissance and Shakespeare PageAct I. Duke Vincentio of Vienna, who is about to leave for Poland, appoints Angelo as his deputy and names old Escalus to serve as his advisor. Angelo begins his administration by ordering the closure of all the bawdy houses in the suburbs of Vienna, to the discomfiture of Mistress Overdone, who wonders what is to become of her. Another victim of Angelo's zeal is young Claudio, who is condemned to die for getting Juliet, his betrothed, with child in defiance of a long-neglected statue against lechery. As he is led off to prison, Claudio explains to his loquacious friend Lucio that his marriage to Juliet has been delayed because of complications over her dowry. At Claudio's request, Lucio goes to the convent of St. Clare, where Isabella, sister of the doomed man, has just become a novice, and persuades her to intercede for her brother with Angelo.
The Duke, meanwhile, has not left Vienna but has retired to a nearby monastery. There he reveals to one Friar Thomas the reason for his deception. During the 14 years of his permissive rule, he says, the city's laws have been universally flouted, and since he himself is too lenient to effect a change, he has entrusted the task to Angelo, "a man of stricture and firm abstinence." So that he may observe Angelo's conduct in office, the Duke plans to remain in Vienna disguised as a friar.
Act II. Escalus urges Angelo to spare Claudio, but the deputy is adamant: the laws must be enforced. Next they interview a constable called Elbow, who brings before them "two notorious benefactors," one Pompey Bum and a Master Froth, and accuses them of abusing his wife. Pompey, a bawd and tapster in Mistress Overdone's establishment, gives a lengthy explanation of the affair, after which Escalus lets them both off with a warning. Pompey, however, has no intention of giving up his trade.
Accompanied by Lucio, who whispers encouragement to her, Isabella calls on Angelo and beseeches him to show mercy to her brother. Her maidenly modesty stirs an unfamiliar passion in Angelo's breast. "O cunning enemy," he exclaims, "that, to catch a saint,/ With saints dost bait thy hook." When she returns the next day, he tells her that he will save Claudio only if she gives herself to him. Isabella angrily rejects his proposal and threatens to expose him, but he replies that no one will believe her. Isabella then decides to disclose Angelo's shameful demand to her brother, in the belief that his outraged honor may reconcile him to death. Meanwhile, the Duke, visiting the prison in the guise of Friar Lodowick, has learned from the repentant Juliet the nature of Claudio's offense.
Act III. When Isabella enters her brother's cell, she finds him accompanied by Friar Lodowick, who has been preparing him to meet death with tranquility. After the friar leaves, she informs Claudio of Angelo's proposal only to learn that her brother is afraid of dying and would prefer the most wretched earthly existence to the unknown terrors that lie beyond the grave. He begs his sister to bow to Angelo's will, adding that she would not be guilty of sin. As she berates him for his cowardice, she is called aside by Friar Lodowick, who has overheard their conversation and sets forth a plan whereby she may save her brother without besmirching her honor. He explains that Angelo had once been formally betrothed to a lady called Mariana but had abandoned her when her dowry was lost. The friar proposes that Isabella feign compliance with Angelo's terms; at the time of the assignation, however, Mariana will take her place. Isabella readily agrees to the scheme.
On the street before the prison, the Duke, still disguised as Friar Lodowick, encounters Elbow and some officers guarding Pompey, who is accused of being a procurer. Pompey hopes that Lucio will provide him with bail, but that gentleman refuses. Catching the friar's ear, Lucio makes indelicate jests at Angelo's expense and slanders the absent duke, with whom he claims to be well acquainted.
Act IV. Isabella and Mariana put the Duke's plan into execution, but the faithless Angelo orders the provost of the prison to execute Claudio that very afternoon and send him his head. Friar Lodowick, who is present when the provost receives Angelo's instructions, prevails upon him to execute another condemned man, the bibulous Barnardine, in his place. When Abhorson, the executioner, and his new assistant, who is none other than Pompey, summon Barnardine, he stoutly refuses to die that day and is saved by the timely demise of another prisoner, a pirate who resembles Claudio. The friar, however, tells Isabella that Claudio is dead and asks her to accuse Angelo before the Duke, who is to return on the morrow.
Act V. When the Duke makes his entrance to Vienna, he is greeted at the city gate by Angelo and Escalus. Isabella comes forward and accuses Angelo of fornication, but the Duke, feigning disbelief, orders her taken to prison. Mariana supports Isabella's charges and, removing the veil that hides her features, forces Angelo to admit that she is the woman he had deserted five years earlier, though he maintains that he has not seen her since then. Still professing to believe in Angelo's innocence, the Duke leaves and returns a moment later as Friar Lodowick in the company of Isabella. Escalus taxes the friar with having suborned the women to make false charges against Angelo and through him against the Duke. The friar retorts that he is not a subject of the Duke but merely a temporary resident of Vienna, where he has "seen corruption boil and bubble/ Till it o'er-run the stew." Accusing the friar of having libeled the Duke in their conversation at the prison, Lucio pulls off his hood, only to discover the Duke himself. The Duke then orders the penitent Angelo to wed Mariana immediately and, after the ceremony has been performed, condemns him to death for the same transgressions that had brought Claudio to the block. Both Mariana and Isabella plead for Angelo's life, but the Duke remains obdurate until Barnardine and Claudio are brought in, and Isabella realizes that her brother has been saved after all. The Duke pardons Angelo, admonishing him to love his wife, and commands Lucio to marry a whore whom he had got with child. After ordering Claudio to wed Juliet, he himself commences a suit for Isabella's hand.
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