Play description

ACT I

Scene 1. Duke Vincentio prepares to leave Vienna and appoints Angelo as his deputy and Escalus as

his advisor.

Scene 2. Mistress Overdone tells Lucio how Angelo has decreed that all brothels in the suburbs of

Vienna be demolished. Claudio passes by on his way to prison where, within three days, he is to be

executed; his fault—that he has made his lover Juliet pregnant. Having explained that he is the victim

of Angelo's reforming zeal, he asks Lucio to find his sister Isabella, and to enlist her help in appealing

for mercy from the deputy.

Scene 3. The Duke reveals to Friar Thomas that he has invented a trip to Poland as an excuse for

putting Angelo in power. He hopes that his righteous deputy will reform the loose morals of the

populace. He plans to monitor events, disguised as a friar.

Scene 4. Lucio finds Isabella at the convent she is about to enter as a novice, and tells her of her

brother's arrest; he begs her to approach Angelo.