Claudio

I love Shakespeare. I call him the great dramatist with a tremendous use of language. Tonight I'm participating in a reading of Measure for Measure. It's technically a comedy, but it's a dark piece.

Claudio has gotten a woman pregnant and is sentenced to death. He knew all along that you had to be married (he was only engaged) in order to have children, but decided to have sex anyway. With someone new in office who's interested in upholding the laws, Claudio has been selected to be made an example of. So this proud man is put in restraints, taken around the city, thrown in jail and will be beheaded in three days.

At first Claudio seems to have come to peace with his death sentence, but when he learns that there maybe a chance to save his life, he revels his true feelings of fright and horror of being beheaded. He goes so low as to ask his sister to sleep with the man that has sentenced him.

Shakespeare is brilliant with how he writes his characters and their faults. How much does it take in order for your true self to be revealed? Who do you reveal that too?