tangentially on-topic
I cannot quite bring myself to use this in an academic paper. But because it is hard to murder one's darlings:
[Measure for Measure] portrays a Vienna which has become a wretched hive of scum and villainy under the lax rule of Duke Vincentio, who’s let anti-fornication laws go unenforced.
(Also, man, I'd forgotten how much of a bitch everyone in this play is! For some reason, I remembered Isabella and Vincentio as being vaguely sympathetic, but I hate them too on reread. It's pretty glorious really.)
[Measure for Measure] portrays a Vienna which has become a wretched hive of scum and villainy under the lax rule of Duke Vincentio, who’s let anti-fornication laws go unenforced.
(Also, man, I'd forgotten how much of a bitch everyone in this play is! For some reason, I remembered Isabella and Vincentio as being vaguely sympathetic, but I hate them too on reread. It's pretty glorious really.)