In Vienna, public morals are under threat and prostitution is rife: under Duke Vincentio’s rule, all do as they please. To avoid having to take drastic measures, Vincentio appoints Angelo as his deputy under the pretence that he is leaving the city. Angelo, a hardliner, takes a rigid stance on the law, condemning Claudio to death because his fiancée is expecting an illegitimate child from him. When Claudio’s devout sister Isabella begs Angelo to spare him, he makes her an indecent proposal: a night of love with him in exchange for Claudio’s life. What should she do? Disguised as a monk, the Duke intervenes in the conflict.
Shakespeare’s deliberately confusing play about justice, the law, despotism, power, love and sex revolves around the following question: What does a state need to maintain the necessary balance between the social order and the right to free self-determination – both for women and men?
