Read Act 4 for Wednesday, and answer two of the following based on Monday's reading/questions:
Q1: What do you make of the strange scene in Act 3.2, when Lucio confronts the Duke-Friar and gossips about the former Duke, saying, among other things, that "He had some feeling of the sport, he knew the service, and that instructed him to mercy" (119)? Is he merely lying to make everyone seem as bad as he is, or is ironically telling the truth to the Duke's face? How does the Duke react to this information?
Q2: A great point was made in class that Isabella's outrage in 3.1 against her brother is because he would never have to sacrifice himself to save her, yet she is asked to do the one thing she most abhors to save him. Is that how you read this scene? And if this is true, why doesn't she say words to this effect, instead of just insulting him and calling him a "faithless coward" and a "dishonest wretch"? Are we supposed to be more sympathetic with her in this scene, or with Claudio?
Q3: Why do you think the Duke is getting so involved in the intrigues of his kingdom rather than simply curing them himself? For example, he cautions Claudio to prepare himself for death when he, more than anyone, could save him with a word. And why does he offer the example of the bed-trick to Isabella, rather than simply pardoning them both at once? In short, why not see that Angelo screwed up and call it off...why does he continue to play the game?
Q4: When Angelo presses Isabella to accept his terms, she protests, "Better it were a brother died at once/Than that a sister, by redeeming him,/Should die forever" (83). Do you think she really believes that God's judgement would be so inflexible when she later told Angelo to forgive her own brother's sin? Is she being a hypocrite as much as Angelo, though to a less disgusting degree?
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