Measure for Measure

Characters:

• Isabella
• virtuous and chaste young woman
• pleads for brother's life out of sisterly love
• The Duke
• spends most of his time dressed as friar in order to observe what is happening in his absence
• virtuous, good and kind-hearted
• Claudio
• Isabella's brother
• sentenced to death for impregnating an unmarried woman
• Lord Angelo
• temporary leader of Vienna who rules strictly and without mercy
• hypocrite who presents Isabelle with difficult proposition and then does not hold up his end of the bargain
• Escalus
• wise lord who advises Angelo to be more merciful
• loyal to the Duke
• Lucio
• flamboyant bachelor
• friend of Claudio's
• Mariana
• supposed to marry Angelo but he called the wedding off when she lost her dowry in a shipwreck which killed her brother
• Mistress Overdone
• runs a brothel in Vienna
• Pompey
• clown who works for Mistress Overdone
• Provost
• runs the prison
• carries out all of Angelo's orders
• Elbow
• dim-witted constable who arrests people for misconduct
• speaks in malapropisms
• Barnadine
• long-term prisoner in the jail
• sentenced to be executed together with Claudio
• Juliet
• Claudio's lover
• pregnant with his baby

Plot summary:

• Angelo is left in charge by the Duke who pretends to leave town but instead dresses as a friar to observe whatever is happening in his absence
• Angelo decides to rid the city of brothels and unlawful sexual activity
• Claudio is arrested for impregnating Juliet before they were married and sentenced to death to serve as an example for other Viennese citizens
• Isabella is about to enter a nunnery when her brother is arrested
• She goes to Angelo to plead for his mercy. Angelo says he will let Claudio live if she agrees to have sex with him. 
• The Duke dressed as a friar forms a plan in which Mariana, Lord Angelo's former lover, will go in Isabella's stead to have sex with Angelo. The next morning, Angelo will pardon Claudio and be forced to marry Mariana according to the law.
• Everything goes accordingly, except that Angelo does not pardon Claudio, fearing revenge.
• The provost and the Duke send Angelo the head of a dead pirate, claiming that it belonged to Claudio in order to convince Angelo that his orders were carried out
• Isabella is told that her brother is dead and that she should submit a complaint to the Duke accusing Angelo of immoral acts
• The Duke returns in his normal clothes and he pretends not to believe Isabella. Eventually he reveals his dual identity and Angelo confesses to his misdeeds. Claudio is pardoned and the Duke asks Isabella for her hand in marriage.