act 2 : scene 4

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

Angelo and Isabella have an even amount of words. This shows how even the power dynamic is. He has the power but she has the power over him

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 throughout

Question 3

are imperatives used?

Answer 3

yes

Question 4

word placement

Answer 4

“pleasure” mistakenly seductive

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

Words like ‘sin’ and ‘charity’ as well as others

Question 6

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

Answer 6

religion, power, appearance/reality

Question 7

sentence length

Answer 7

varied, but overall long

Question 8

asides

Answer 8

none

Question 9

contrasts/opposites

Answer 9

contrast in opinions

Question 10

is there a soliloquy?

Answer 10

Angelo has one in the beginning. Shows conflicting thoughts about Isabella. Isabella has one at the end when realising no one will believe her

Question 11

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

Answer 11

serious

Question 12

imagery - simile, metaphor, personification

Answer 12

many throughout (lines 96 and 101-102)

Question 13

sibilance, alliteration

Answer 13

come back to

Question 14

what is happening in the scene:

Answer 14

1. Angelo tells Isabella that he will spare Claudio if she agrees to have sex with him
2. Isabella threatens to expose Angelo’s hypocrisy but he taunts that no one will believe her, and she admits the truth of this
3. Isabella reflects that she cannot give up her virtue at any price

Question 15

key point of this scene: 1

Answer 15

Begins with a long soliloquy in which Angelo registers an incredulous self-realisation ie. Isabella has awoken him to the fact that she is the woman who can fulfill his wants

Question 16

key point of this scene: 2

Answer 16

Angelo’s blood was previously ‘snow broth’ and it now flows. Symbolises his previous persona was a form of false ‘seeming’ and that in order to become a whole man, he must come to terms with his aroused sexuality

Question 17

key point of this scene: 3

Answer 17

He wants to know why he can no longer keep control of his own body. ‘Necessary fitness’ - he has got an erection because of Isabella

Question 18

key point of this scene: 4

Answer 18

Line 16 - expresses his self-disgust at his realisation that his body (‘devil’s horn - penis) is letting him down. His metonyms for his penis (lines 6 and 16) betrays him and leads him to temptation

Question 19

key point of this scene: 5

Answer 19

Angelo’s soliloquy provides an ironic context for Isabella’s first remark: ‘I am come to know your pleasure.” Meant to be as a courteous cliché but we know Angelo hears it as an ulterior meaning

Question 20

key point of this scene: 6

Answer 20

Shakespeare deliberately makes Isabella use the provocative term “pleasure” innocently, which sets the tone for their exchanges - dramatic irony at Isabella’s expense

Question 21

key point of this scene: 7

Answer 21

Angelo may sound like he is toying with her emotions, yet he is actually preparing the context in which Isabella may give her consent to sex with him as Isabella does not know his ulterior motive, thinks they are purely hypothetical questions and sounds as if he is talking in general terms

Question 22

key point of this scene: 8

Answer 22

Line 54 - ‘you’ is used to personalise the argument. Angelo uses a hygienic way of speaking which underlines his squeamish reluctance to come straight out with the indecent proposal. Oxymoron ‘sweet uncleanness’ shows this, which betrays his puritanical attitude to sexual intercourse

Question 23

key point of this scene: 9

Answer 23

Lines 55-56 illustrate the extent to which the two protagonists remain at cross-purposes and articulates the position of fornication in Renaissance theology: a mortal sin for which a fornicatress would be consigned to eternal damnation. ‘I’ is not a response to the question but a general reflection from Isabella

Question 24

key point of this scene: 10

Answer 24

He uses another question which is an impossible dilemma by adopting an alternative attitude to the mortal ‘sin.’ If the ‘sin’ were an act of charity, to save a life, would it compensate. Isabella agrees that such a pardon would not be a sin. Angelo uses this against her

Question 25

key point of this scene: 11

Answer 25

The dramatic irony continues through lines 96-98 in which Isabella replies with (lines 102-104 and lines 107-109) that there is a fate worse than death (eternal damnation for having committed the mortal sin of fornication). She still thinks this is all hypothetical

Question 26

key point of this scene: 12

Answer 26

Now that Angelo is aware that he is in fact just like other men, he suggests that Isabella should stop pretending to be a nun and be a woman and tells her to dress like a woman ( lines 136-139). As Angelo has just been converted, he automatically assumes that she has been pretending to find sex so distasteful

Question 27

key point of this scene: 13

Answer 27

Line 142 - she originally overlooks his directness, but in her response it goes to the heart of Angelo’s dilemma. Isabella finally sees his purpose is pernicious

Question 28

key point of this scene: 14

Answer 28

Angelo begins to act like a tyrant and and wilfully confuses his social rank (Deputy Governor of Vienna) with his cosmic rank (below God and the Angels). because of his appointed place in the state, he ignores his appointed place in the universe. He is letting his appetitive element predominate

Question 29

key point of this scene: 15

Answer 29

Shakespeare’s aim is to show how powerful and ruinous a force a man’s appetite can be if it is not controlled by compassion. Signifies the lengths to which a man will go in order to satisfy his sexual needs

Question 30

key point of this scene: 16

Answer 30

In her soliloquy (her only one in the play), Isabella accepts that Angelo is in an impregnable position and has opened up such a wide gap of credibility between private and public knowledge that it is pointless to complain. Isabella goes to tell Claudio the good news that he will die

Question 31

key point of this scene: 17

Answer 31

Shakespeare wants us to see this decision as self-indulgent. Isabella is playing God with her brother’s life and there is an imbalance in her soul too. Lines 185-186 (couplet) (scales weighing up the deal) show her triumphant tone suggesting that this is right. NOT measure for measure

Question 32

points to include: 1

Answer 32

In his soliloquy, Angelo asks for forgiveness from God and reflects on how everything he has been doing until now seems unappealing. He wishes he could change who he is and be like everyone else (find it meaningless). When Isabella arrives he finds it overwhelming

Question 33

points to include: 2

Answer 33

At first, Isabella accepts Angelo’s decision of her brother’s death as everyone must die eventually, but Angelo realises she’ll leave if he doesn’t continue

Question 34

points to include: 3

Answer 34

Isabella would die for Claudio, but not have sex. Better if he dies but repents than if she had sex and died (goes to hell)

Question 35

points to include: 4

Answer 35

Lines 101-103 - sexual kink. Not best line to use in front of Angelo. Sexual sado-masochism: how she rejects his proposition

Question 36

points to include: 5

Answer 36

Line 141 ‘conceive’ - connotations of sex. Angelo does not love her, he is blackmailing her into having sex and likes the idea of her purity (that he will take away)

Question 37

points to include: 6

Answer 37

The “hidden concept” the Duke knew Angelo had is this side to him

Question 38

points to include: 7

Answer 38

Isabella “knows” that if she asked her brother if she should have sex he would say no

Question 39

points to include: 8

Answer 39

Angelo’s last appearance ended with a soliloquy, showing that he has been struggling with his desires ever since

Question 40

points to include: 9

Answer 40

Line 15 anticipates line 150 and both echo the Duke’s plan of ‘what seemers be’ in act 1 scene 3

Question 41

points to include: 10

Answer 41

This scene is full of tense formulations of equivalence and exchange as both of them explore and assert their individual moral codes: soul vs the body, sin vs charity, swift death vs eternal damnation, Isabella’s ignorance vs her sexual teasing. All of these are versions of the central exchange of sex vs life

Question 42

points to include: 11

Answer 42

In previous scenes, Angelo was always adamant and inflexible. Here it is Isabella

Question 43

points to include: 12

Answer 43

Isabella relies on Claudio agreeing with her decision in her soliloquy. She resolves on absolutes (line 180 and 185). The final four lines fall into couplets, emphasising the finality of her moral decision