Key Characters

Question 1

Isabella

Answer 1

Isabella, a trainee nun, is a very virtuous and chaste young woman who faces a difficult decision when her brother is sentenced to death for fornication. Isabella does not approve of her brother’s actions, but she pleads for his life out of loyalty and sisterly devotion.

Question 2

The Duke

Answer 2

The Duke is the ruler of Vienna who, from the outset, ‘leaves’ the city for Angelo to rule. He spends most of his time dressed as a friar in order to observe what is happening in his absence.

Question 3

Claudio

Answer 3

Isabella’s brother Claudio is a young man sentenced to death for impregnating an unmarried woman. He was engaged to her by a common-law agreement, but they had sexual intercourse before the legal marriage took place. Claudio depends less on the guidance of laws and religious practices than on his sister.

Question 4

Lord Angelo

Answer 4

Angelo is the villain of the play, a man who rules strictly without mercy. He has his own weaknesses, however, and he is loathsome more for his hypocrisy than for anything else. He presents Isabella with a difficult proposition and then does bot even hold up his end of the bargain.

Question 5

Escalus

Answer 5

Escalus is a wise lord who advises Angelo to be more merciful. He is loyal to the Duke and seeks to carry out his orders justly, but cannot go against Angelo’s will.

Question 6

Lucio

Answer 6

Lucio, described by Shakespeare as a ‘fantastic’ is a flamboyant bachelor who provides much of the play’s comedic content. He is a friend of Claudio’s and tries to help him.

Question 7

Mariana

Answer 7

Mariana is supposed to marry Angelo, but he called the wedding off when she lost her dowry in a shipwreck that killed her brother.

Question 8

Mistress Overdone

Answer 8

Mistress Overdone runs a brothel in Vienna.

Question 9

Pompey

Answer 9

Pompey is a clown who also works for Mistress Overdone.

Question 10

Provost

Answer 10

The provost runs the prison and is responsible for carrying out all of Angelo’s orders.

Question 11

Elbow

Answer 11

Elbow is a dim-witted constable who arrests people for misconduct, particularly of the sexual variety. He speaks in malapropisms and provides comic-relief throughout the play.

Question 12

Barnadine

Answer 12

A long-term prisoner in the jail, Bernadine is sentenced to be executed together with Claudio. The Duke originally considers him hopeless and therefore dispensable but later changes his mind.

Question 13

Abhorson

Answer 13

The prison executioner.

Question 14

Friar Thomas and Friar Peter

Answer 14

Franciscan friars.

Question 15

Juliet

Answer 15

Claudio’s lover, she is pregnant with his baby.