Comedy · Measure for Measure

Measure for Measure Characters and Their Relationships

24 characters, 42 connections. Pick a name to read who they are and rehearse their lines.

The deputy he tests and exposesThe novice he counsels and finally courtsHis trusted co-administratorHis unwitting slandererThe novice whose virtue he desiresThe betrothed he abandoned and unknowingly wedsThe man he condemns twice overHis fellow administratorThe petitioner he misjudgesHis betrothed and the mother of his childHis sister and only hope of pardonHer ally in the bed-trickThe friend he genuinely tries to helpThe novice he coaches and accompaniesThe disguised Duke who recruits herHer confessor in prisonThe prisoner whose life he helps saveThe disguised Duke he comes to trustThe deputy whose orders he quietly resistsThe Duke he outfits with a disguiseThe Duke whose scheme he executesThe petitioner he directsThe bawd he repeatedly, unsuccessfully prosecutesThe magistrate who hears his caseThe magistrate who dismisses himA familiar face at Mistress Overdone's houseThe bawd he servesHis reluctant new colleagueThe official who enlists himThe disguised Duke he refuses and who later pardons himHis longtime jailerThe patron whose information leads to her arrestThe novice she instructsTheir companion in idle banterThe magistrate he prompts into explanationThe Duke he attendsThe lady he sings forThe master he servesThe visitor he announcesThe deputy whose order he carriesThe officer he delivers it toThe disguised Duke who mistakes his errand
Duke
Duke
The Duke of Vienna, who feigns absence and disguises himself as a friar - Friar Lodowick - to observe how his deputy governs.
Angelo
Angelo
The Duke's rigid deputy, whose strict enforcement of the law conceals a dangerous hypocrisy.
Escalus
Escalus
An elderly, moderate lord who counsels leniency where Angelo insists on severity.
Claudio
Claudio
A young gentleman condemned to death for fornication with his betrothed, Juliet.
Isabella
Isabella
A novice nun whose eloquent plea for her brother's life draws Angelo's illicit desire.
Lucio
Lucio
A dissolute gentleman whose loose tongue entangles him in slander against the disguised Duke.
Mariana
Mariana
Angelo's spurned former betrothed, recruited into the plot that exposes him.
Juliet
Juliet
Claudio's pregnant betrothed, imprisoned alongside him for their shared offense.
Provost
Provost
The prison's keeper, uneasy with Angelo's harsh sentences but bound to enforce them.
Friar Thomas
Friar Thomas
A friar who shelters the Duke's disguise and hears his plan at the play's start.
Friar Peter
Friar Peter
A friar who assists the Duke's scheme to expose Angelo publicly.
Elbow
Elbow
A muddled constable whose malapropisms complicate the prosecution of petty vice.
Froth
Froth
A foolish, well-off young gentleman caught up in Elbow's confused accusations.
Pompey
Pompey
Mistress Overdone's quick-witted servant and bawd, unrepentant about the trade he plies.
Abhorson
Abhorson
The city's executioner, proud of his grim profession.
Barnardine
Barnardine
A long-imprisoned, unrepentant murderer who refuses to be executed on schedule.
Mistress Overdone
Mistress Overdone
A bawd whose brothel business is threatened by Angelo's crackdown.
Francisca
Francisca
A nun who briefly instructs Isabella in the strict rule of her order.
Gentlemen
Gentlemen
Two idle companions of Lucio, first heard trading jokes about venereal disease.
Justice
Justice
A magistrate who briefly appears with Escalus to remark on Angelo's severity.
Varrius
Varrius
A silent attendant lord who accompanies the Duke on his return.
Boy
Boy
A boy singer at the moated grange who performs a song for Mariana as she waits.
Servant
Servant
A servant to Angelo who delivers messages during the play's central crisis.
Messenger
Messenger
Angelo's man, who brings the prison the order to execute Claudio at dawn just when a pardon is expected.
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Relationship
Family
Romantic
Friendship
Conflict
Political
Parallel

Family

1 pair

Romantic

3 pairs

Conflict

9 pairs

Political

19 pairs

Friendship

10 pairs