Measure for Measure

by William Shakespeare

"Measure for Measure" by William Shakespeare is a play written in 1603 or 1604. When Vienna's Duke leaves the city in disguise to observe his deputy's rule, the puritan Angelo enforces forgotten laws with brutal severity. A young man faces execution for fornication, and his sister Isabella, a novice nun, pleads for mercy. Angelo makes a shocking proposition that tests her virtue and faith. Through deception, disguise, and moral dilemmas, this darkly comic work explores justice, hypocrisy, and the corrupting nature of power.