Measure for Measure

Roles

• Angelo
• Isabella
• Lucio

About this piece

Isabella tries to convince Angelo not to execute her brother Claudio

Summary

The play is set in Vienna. In the beginning of the play the Duke of Vienna pretends to leave town and leaves his authority temporarily to Lord Angelo, who starts governing very strictly, as a tyrant. One of his decisions is to arrest and sentence to death a young man, Claudio, for impregnating his girlfriend, Juliet, before marriage. In this scene Claudio's sister, Isabella, a chaste and spiritual girl who wants to become a nun, meets Lord Angelo in his house in the presence of Lucio, a friend of Claudio and a comical character (Lucio provides the comic elements in this scene as he advices Isabella on how to persuade Angelo). Throughout the scene Isabella tries to persuade Angelo to spare her brother's life but Angelo won't budge. At first she confesses that she won't approve his brother's actions but urges Angelo to condemn the action, not the person. Then she argues that her brother, if he was in his place, would spare him. At the same time, aside, Lucio tells Isabella that she is too cold, urges her to kneel before him, act warmly towards him and then to touch him more. This provides the comical elements of the scene. At the end Isabella tells him that she will bribe him. Angelo, considering the sexual innuendo in her proposal, tells her he will think about it.

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