Duke Vincentio is ruler of Vienna. He leaves
his younger, much stricter deputy, Angelo,
in his stead while he adopts the disguise
of a monk in an undercover operation to learn
more about the lives of his people and to
test the abilities of his deputy, Angelo.
The Duke has been rather lax in his enforcement
of the law, so Angelo - in an attempt to rectify
this - chooses to make an example of a young
gentleman named Claudio.
Claudio has been sentenced to death by Angelo
for having broken the law by getting his fiancee,
Julietta, pregnant.
Claudio's sister, Isabella, is keen to take
her vows as a nun and enter into the sisterhood
of St.Clare's. When she is told of her brother's
plight, she goes to Angelo and begs for his
life to be spared.
Stern at first, Angelo begins to yield to
her virtue, The next day he turns nasty and
decides to offer Claudio freedom in exchange
for Isabella's virginity. Mortified, she concludes:
'more than our brother is our chastity', and
goes to tell Claudio that he must die.
Unsurprisingly, Claudio isn't very keen to
die, especially when his sister can so 'easily'
save his life.
Isabella is outraged and accuses her brother
of being wicked and even incestuous with his
demands.
The Duke, who is still disguised as a Friar,
overhears this exchange. He proposes that
Isabella consent to Angelo's demands, and
send one Mariana - who is Angelo's ex fiancee
- in her stead to perform the deed. If it's
dark, the idea is that Angelo won't notice
the difference.
Despite thinking that he has bedded Isabella,
Angelo gives orders to have Claudio executed
anyway. The Duke orders the jailer or Provost
to send the head of a pirate to Angelo instead
of Claudio's as proof of his death. Once again,
the idea is that Angelo won't know the difference.
The Duke officially returns to the city and
is immediately accosted by Isabella who complains
about Angelo's hypocrisy.
Mariana shows up, and claims to be Angelo's
official wife.
Everyone gets very confused until the Duke
finally reveals that he had been disguised
as a monk all along! And he reveals that Claudio
is, in fact, alive!
He makes Angelo marry Mariana; re-unites Claudio
with his sister, who is also re-united with
Julietta and their new baby; and he proposes
marriage to Isabella, twice.
The play famously ends with silence and no
clarity on whether or not Isabella accepts
the Duke's offer.
