Sep 5, 2008

Measure for Measure | Claudio (Character Analysis)

He is Isabella's brother and Juliet's fiancé. On orders from the newly deputized Angelo, Claudio is arrested and sentenced to death for having sex with Juliet out of wedlock. As he is being led to prison, Claudio bitterly observes that the law under which he has been arrested has not been enforced for nineteen years and suggests that Angelo has revived "the drowsy and neglected" statute simply to make a name for himself (I.ii.170). In I.ii.176-86, Claudio asks Lucio to inform Isabella of his plight so that she will persuade Angelo to be lenient with her brother. Claudio thus sets in motion...