act 2 : scene 1

Question 1

who speaks the most? why? what does this suggest about that character and their relationship with the other characters in the extract?

Answer 1

Escalus speaks the most - Angelo left him to sort out a problem

Question 2

is the extract in blank verse or rhyming couplets or prose? is this consistent throughout? if not, where does it change and why?

Answer 2

Blank verse but changes to prose when Elbow and the others join - less proper - state of Vienna is not top notch

Question 3

are imperatives used?

Answer 3

yes

Question 4

word placement

Answer 4

malapropisms from Elbow - comic relief, also shows state of Vienna : shambles

Question 5

repetition of a word/phrase - is the repetition from the same character or does one character repeat another character’s words?

Answer 5

Elbow repeats words he says as well as other characters to understand what he means - shows Elbow can not be depended upon

Question 6

how does the extract connect to the themes of the play? - disguise, power, religion, appearance/reality etc?

Answer 6

power

Question 7

sentence length

Answer 7

varied but long

Question 8

asides

Answer 8

none

Question 9

contrasts/opposites

Answer 9

Malapropisms from Elbow

Question 10

is there a soliloquy?

Answer 10

no

Question 11

what is the tone of the extract? does the tone change? if so, what words indicate the change?

Answer 11

Tone changes from serious at the beginning to still being serious but with a bit of humour

Question 12

imagery - simile, metaphor, personification

Answer 12

scarecrow and birds of prey - law and citizens of Vienna

Question 13

sibilance, alliteration

Answer 13

come back to

Question 14

what is happening in the scene:

Answer 14

1. Escalus tries to suggest leniency towards Claudio but Angelo will hear none of it, and orders Claudio’s execution for the next morning
2. Elbow the constable brings before them the garbled case of immorality against Pompey and Froth
3. Angelo impatiently leaves the matter to Escalus who dismisses them with a warning to reform

Question 15

key point of this scene: 1

Answer 15

Angelo’s comparison of the law to ‘a scarecrow’ is a measure of his wisdom. If it is not actively enforced, it will defeat the purpose for which it was designed and make a mockery of itself - he must kill Claudio to prove this

Question 16

key point of this scene: 2

Answer 16

Escalus is a man of even wider ethical vision and points out that the law exists both to deter and to exact retribution

Question 17

key point of this scene: 3

Answer 17

Escalus points out that Angelo might have once ‘erred in this point,’ in which Angelo says lines 17-18 and that he would want to be punished in the same way if he committed the same crime

Question 18

key point of this scene: 4

Answer 18

Angelo makes allowances for the Original Sin and recognises that if justice is to be done to all, they will have to put up with a thief or two - people might have done the same thing and got away with it, but it doesn’t make them less guilty

Question 19

key point of this scene: 5

Answer 19

Angelo has no problems about working within an imperfect legal system if it will bring about the kind of justice he wants to see

Question 20

key point of this scene: 6

Answer 20

The inadvertent oxymoron ‘notorious benefactors’ and Elbow’s use of ‘benefactors’ highlight the situation in Angelo’s Vienna: a state in which those who do good (Claudio) can become ‘notorious’ wrong-doers - Angelo himself cannot tell benefactors from malefactors

Question 21

key point of this scene: 7

Answer 21

Angelo resembles Duke Vincentio when he delegates responsibility to Escalus . This shows that even he can not be bothered to discipline Pompey and prepares the audience for his (Angelo’s) fall into temptation

Question 22

key point of this scene: 8

Answer 22

Which is wiser here, Justice or Iniquity? - jurisprudence lies at the heart of the play: what is just? what is iniquitous?

Question 23

key point of this scene: 9

Answer 23

Man makes up his laws as he goes along

Question 24

key point of this scene: 10

Answer 24

Lines 195-200 - people will still want to have sex and have sex whether it is legal or not

Question 25

key point of this scene: 11

Answer 25

Escalus tries to see it from Angelo’s point of view - only option to make a statement. His remark confirms that Angelo is a man of reason and prepares us for the following scene in which this man of pure reason is shown to be inadequate

Question 26

points to include: 1

Answer 26

Does the Duke know that Escalus is too soft and that’s why he didn’t appoint him as the next Duke? - we can see why Escalus is not the next Duke as he is too lenient

Question 27

points to include: 2

Answer 27

The ‘confessor’ is the Duke disguised as a friar

Question 28

points to include: 3

Answer 28

Lines 37-40 : Some always do the right thing, some do the wrong thing. Wrong place, wrong time

Question 29

points to include: 4

Answer 29

Lines 216-217 : Law is a joke - will not change human behaviour nor cure human weakness

Question 30

points to include: 5

Answer 30

Escalus tries to find a reason to replace Elbow as he is inept and therefore, not a reliable source of information

Question 31

points to include: 6

Answer 31

First time seeing Angelo since his few words in the first scene - we can see how he is set in his opinion

Question 32

points to include: 7

Answer 32

Using an image of animals to refer to the populace could be seen as demonstrating a lack of human concern for the people

Question 33

points to include: 8

Answer 33

Elbow and prisoners bring in prose comedy as opposed to bank verse