I actually really enjoyed this one. Isabella struck me as one of the strongest heroines that I’ve read from Shakespeare so far. She’s smart, passionate, and loving, with faults all her own that only strengthen her character. Angelo makes for a awfully good villain, and Lucio for a phenomenal comic relief.

I wish it had a stronger ending though. I was anticipating a far better AHA moment from the disguised Duke’s unmasking. Though the way he is unmasked is funny, what he chooses to do once everyone knows that he’s both the friar and the duke, fell short of what I was hoping for.

Finding out after reading all of this, that this play was a jab at the queen that he made legal by setting it in Vienna is too good. That’s what really did it for me.

Would have been 5 stars with a slightly stronger end, but I did enjoy my time with this one very much.

A couple quotes that I noted down:

Isabella?: Go to your bosom; knock there; and ask your heart what it doth know

Angelo: Dost thou desire her foully for those things that make her good?

Lucio: No,—pardon;—‘it’s a secret must be locked within the teeth and the lips