Measure for Measure

MEASURE FOR MEASURE

By William Shakespeare

ACT 1

Scene I

• Duke Vincentio makes a big speech about lord Escalus, whom he believes is the most knowledgeable guy in Vienna.        
• The Duke announces that he's going out of town. While he's away, Angelo's in charge.
• The Duke gives Angelo full power over people, even to punish them by a death sentence.
• Escalus will be his second in command because of his wisdom.
• Angelo wants to prove himself worthy to replace the Duke. The Duke refuses and says the needs to leave right away.
• The Duke leaves and Escalus and Angelo make plans to talk so they can work out the details of their new jobs.

SCENE II

• Lucio and two Gentlemen are talking about world politics and religion while talking which of them has syphilis.
• Mistress Overdone enters to converse with Lucio and the Gentlemen.
• Mistress Overdone spots a prisoner in the street and she recognizes him as Claudio and states how he will be sentenced to death in three days.
• Overdone explains that Claudio's been imprisoned for getting Juliet pregnant.

• Lucio and the Gentlemen run off to find out if all that is true.
• Mistress Overdone complains about the lack of customers due to plague and poverty.
• Pompey enters and announces there's more bad news for Mistress Overdone: Angelo has ordered that all the brothels in the suburbs of Vienna be torn down.
• Overdone and Pompey talk about how she can get an attorney or move business elsewhere.
• The scene shifts to conversation between Claudio and Provost, who is a prison keeper.
• Claudio complains about his public humiliation
• Provost says that he is not one to blame since he is only doing his job, Angelo is one to blame.
• Lucio arrives asking why Claudio was arrested. He explains that he lay with Juliet, who was soon to be his wife.
• Claudio explains how Angelo is enforcing the law of illegal fornication because he is new in charge.
• Claudio sends Lucio to find his sister at the nunnery. She could be able to reason with Angelo on his behalf.

SCENE III

• The Duke has gone to visit Friar in his cell in Vienna.
• The Duke explains how he wants so spy on Angelo while hiding at the monastery.
• The Duke explains how he is not enforcing the laws in Vienna properly, he calls himself the parent that always threatens and never spank anyone and his people are the naughty children.
• The Duke refuses to be the bad guy and a hypocrite and lets Angelo do his dirty work.

 SCENE IV

• Isabella and Frencesca are talking. Isabella wants to give up being a nun.
• Lucio comes knocking on the door.
• Here we learn that nuns are not allowed to talk to a men and show their faces at the same time but Isabella is a novice which means she is allowed to talk to Lucio.

• Lucio asks for Isabella and learns he is in fact talking with her. He explains her the details about her brother.
• Isabella does not trust Lucio, and Lucio confesses that he often lies to women to get them into bed but this time he is not lying.
• Isabella understands that Juliet is the girl that Lucio is talking about and she suggests simply getting married.
• Lucio explains how Duke has vanished and Angelo is strict and will only listen to a virgin since men like them best.
• Isabella agrees to talk to Angelo on her brother’s behalf.