| Act 1 |
Scene 1 |
- Duke Vincentio expresses his intention to leave Vienna for a time and to appoint a deputy to take his place.
- The Duke invests his authority in Angelo, with Escalus as his second-in-command, and makes his departure.
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Scene 2 |
- Evidence of the tone of Angelo's new regime is presented: all brothels are to be pulled down and Claudio is imprisoned awaiting execution for getting Juliet pregnant outside marriage.
- Claudio asks Lucio to contact his sister to get her to plead with Angelo for his life.
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Scene 3 |
- The Duke meets Friar Tomas and explains the reasons for his retirement from office, citing the laxity into which the laws have fallen.
- There is need to a new authority to implement the law's reinforcement.
- The Duke indicates his intention to remain in Vienna disguised as a friar.
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Scene 4 |
- Isabella is discussing her imminent entry into the convent with one of the nuns.
- Isabella expresses her wish for stricter rules.
- Lucio arrives to tell her of her brother Claudio's imprisonment and of his wish that she should plead with Angelo on his behalf.
- Isabella agrees to try.
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| Act 2 |
Scene 1 |
- Escalus tries to suggest leniency towards Claudio but Angelo will hear none of it, and orders Claudio's execution for the next morning.
- Elbow the constable brings before them the garbled case of immorality against Pompey and Froth.
- Angelo impatiently leaves the matter to Escalus who dismisses them with a warning to reform.
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Scene 2 |
- Encouraged by Lucio, Isabella visits Angelo to plead for Claudio's life.
- Angelo will not yeild and assers the justice of his sentence.
- Angleo wavers and tells her to return the next day.
- Angelo reflects on how she has aroused his lust.
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Scene 3 |
- The Duke, disguised as a friar, visits Juliet in prison and commends her to her repentance.
- The Duke tells Juliet of Claudio's fate.
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Scene 4 |
- Angelo tells Isabella that he will spare Claudio if she agrees to have sex with him.
- Isabella threatens to expose Angelo's hypocrisy but he taunts that no one will believe her, and she admits that truth of this.
- Isabella reflects that she cannot give up her virtue at any price.
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| Act 3 |
Scene 1 |
- The 'friar'/Duke urges Claudio to prepare himself for death.
- Isabella tells Claudio about Angelo's proposition, and while he is initially horrified, he tries to persuade her to do it to save his life.
- Isabella leaves angrily.
- The Duke tells Claudio that Angelo is only testing Isabella and there is no hope of a pardon.
- Claudio repents his treatment of his sister.
- The Duke unfolds to Isabella a plan to resolve the situation: Angelo's jilted sweetheart Mariana will take Isabella's place.
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Scene 2 |
- The disguised Duke denounces Pompey who has been rearrested.
- Lucio refuses to stand bail for Pompey, and then, in conversation with the 'friar, he slanders the absent Duke as a drunken libertine.
- Mistress Overdone, also in custody, accuses Lucio of having a child with a woman outside marriage.
- Escalus praises the Duke to the 'friar', and expresses concern for Claudio.
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| Act 4 |
Scene 1 |
- The Duke introduces Isabella to Mariana.
- The details of how Isabella has arranged to meet Angelo are revealed.
- Assured by the 'friar' that her compliance is no sin, Mariana agrees to the plan.
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Scene 2 |
- In the prison, Pompey is appointed to assist the executioner Abhorson.
- Angelo's order to execute Clausio is reiterated: his head is to be sent to Angelo in the morning.
- The disguised Duke persuades the Provost to spare Claudio and instead sends the head of Barnadine, a convicted murderer.
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Scene 3 |
- Barnadine, drunk and unrepentant, refuses to attend his execution.
- The head of Ragozine who has died of fever is to be sent to Angelo in place of that of Claudio.
- The Duke plans to summon Angelo to meet him on his 'return' the next day.
- The Duke tells Isabella that Claudio has been executed, and arranged for her to meet the Duke next day to denounce Angelo publicly.
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Scene 4 |
- Angelo and Escalus discuss the Duke's letters, which instruct them to meet him at the city gates.
- Angelo soliloquises on actions he believes he has committed in having sex with Isabella and having Claudio executed.
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Scene 5 |
- The Duke instructs Friar Peter who is helping arrange the public denunciation.
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Scene 6 |
- Isabella discusses the 'friar's' plan with Mariana.
- Isabella has misgivings about accusing Angelo of having had sex with her.
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| Act 5 |
Scene 1 |
- Back in his rightful clothes, and before a crowd of people, the Duke meets Angelo and Escalus at the city gate, and the truth about Angelo is revealed.
- Angelo is commanded to marry Mariana, and the Duke agrees to spare his life when Isabella and Mariana plead for mercy.
- Claudio is brought in and reminded to marry Juliet.
- Lucio is sentenced to death but this is commuted to marrying Kate Keepdown.
- The Duke proposes marriage to Isabella.
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