Angelo quotes Flashcards
The Duke speculatively discussing with Escalus his transferral of authority to Angelo
‘lent him our terror, dressed him with our love And given his deputation all the organs of our own power.’
-Play Translation: terror=authority
-Interesting use of ‘our’ and ‘us’-self-referential at the time of prod, but Invites pluralist reading through modern lens
-Antithesis, love and terror needed to rule
Full Context and Translation:
What figure of us think you he will bear?
For you must know, we have with special soul
Elected him our absence to supply,
Lent him our terror, dress’d him with our love,
And given his deputation all the organs
Of our own power: what think you of it?
How do you think Angelo will measure up to me? You should know that I’ve especially chosen him to fill in during my absence: I’ve given him my authority, dressed him in my love, and granted him access to all the implements of my own power. What do you think about it?
Escalus about Angelo’s reputation at the beginning
’
If any in Vienna be of worth to undergo such ample grace and honour It is Lord Angelo.’
-Angelo has a good reputation
Angelo’s reluctance to take authority
‘Let there be some more test made of my mettle.’
What does Claudio call Angelo?
‘the demi-god, authority.’
Context:
Claudio is lamenting his situation and the harsh punishment he faces for his perceived sin.
“The demigod Authority”:
Claudio uses this phrase to describe Angelo, who has been entrusted with the power to enforce laws and deliver justice.
Tyrannical Rule:
By calling Angelo a “demigod,” Claudio suggests that Angelo has taken on a god-like role and is abusing his power, acting in a tyrannical way.
Biblical Reference:
The phrase “Thus can the demigod Authority” is a reference to Romans 9:16, which states, “So then it depends not on man’s will or exertion, but on God’s mercy.”
Claudio’s Acceptance and Rebellion:
While Claudio accepts the idea of a higher power, he also challenges the justice system and Angelo’s actions.
What does the Duke say about Angelo when wanting to see if the power he has received will change his puritanical ways?
‘scarce confesses that his blood flows, or that his appetite is more to bread than stone. Hence shall we see if power changes purpose, what our seemers be.’
Angelo (ostensibly) lacks sexual appetite, shown by lack of blood and the bread and stone
-Duke looks to see if Angelo’s behaviours will change/be revealed to be different/adverse.
Full Context & Translation
The duke’s first speech (1.1. 3 14) establishes Escalus as the most knowledgeable and trustworthy administrator. However, he explains to Friar Thomas, “Lord Angelo is precise,/ Stands at a guard with envy, scarce confesses/ That his blood flows or that his appetite/ Is more to bread than stone” (1.3. 50 53). Thus the Duke’s motives seem more testing than corrective as a measure.
-Link to AO3: Shakespeare examination of Puritanism in practice given Jacobean subtext/setting esp of James I’s new reign (1603)
Stands at a guard with envy; scarce confesses
That his blood flows, or that his appetite
Is more to bread than stone: hence shall we see,
If power change purpose, what our seemers be.
He keeps his jealousy in check, hardly admits that he’s flesh and blood or that he ever gets hungry. So we’ll see if he is what he truly seems to be, or if power changes him.
What does Lucio say about Angelo’s sexual desires and his ‘blood’?
‘Lord Angelo, a man whose blood is very snow broth.’
-Link to Humoral Theory
-Blood means sexual desire due to the belief in the four humours. snow is cold and thus his blood and sexual desire is non-existent
What does Angelo say about scarecrows?
‘we must not make a scarecrow of the law.’
-This metaphor is expressed by the way scarecrows do not actually enforce their fear and therefore after a while can be ineffective
What does Angelo say about being tempted to Escalus?
'’tis one thing to be tempted, Escalus, Another thing to fall.’
When Angelo and Escalus are hearing about Elbow and Pompey what does Angelo say when he gets bored and brusquely leaves the matter to Escalus?
‘Hoping you’ll find good cause to whip them all.’
-Postcolonial (/pot.Marxist) reading of ‘Othering’/’Subaltern’/authoritarian repression of the Lower Class/crust of society
-Overriding Desire to punish (dark)
How does Angelo describe Claudio to Isabella?
‘Your brother is a forfeit of the law.’
‘And you but waste your words.’
Tells Isabella that her brother Claudio has broken the law and will be punished, regardless of her pleas.
Here’s a more detailed explanation:
Context:
In the play, Claudio has been condemned to death for a crime, and his sister, Isabella, pleads with Angelo to spare his life.
“Forfeit of the law”:
This phrase means that Claudio has committed a crime that makes him subject to the legal penalty, which in this case is death.
Angelo’s response:
Angelo, who is supposed to be a just and moral man, is unmoved by Isabella’s pleas and insists that the law (which is amenable under his new complete ‘terror’/granted authority) must take its course.
The play’s themes:
This scene highlights the themes of justice, mercy, and the complexities of law and morality in Shakespeare’s play.
How does Angelo personify the law?
‘The law hath not been dead, though it hath slept.’
Regarding Full Quote: His vision for the rebalancing of crime and punishment entails enforcing the full extent of the law until all forms of criminality are eradicated. He announces this chilling vision in the second half of the quote here. Personifying the law, he describes how, now that it’s awake, it prophesies a future in which every crime of any degree that either has been or will be committed will be prosecuted. Such a vision demonstrates an idealistic and frankly extremist view of the law that cannot possibly bear out. As his vicious personification suggests, Angelo fails to comprehend the human element that is the law’s reason for being. That is, the law isn’t in place simply to correct people by punishing their every offense. The law is there to protect people from harm. For Angelo to believe otherwise indicates a significant shortcoming on his part.
What is Isabella’s speech about Angelo in Act 2 scene 2 ? (little brief authority)
‘But man, proud man, Dressed in little brief authority, Most ignorant of what he’s most assured, His glassy essence, like an angry ape Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven as would make angels weep, who with our spleens would all themselves laugh mortal.’
apes, mimic human behaviour and look ridiculous, similarly man becomes ridiculous when he tries to mimic God, Ape also implies bad tempered and petulant
assured, the passage is an attack on human arrogance
glassy essence- glass is brittle and mirror, perhaps suggesting we can’t see his inner evil essence
the angels would laugh until they become mortal
What does Angelo say when he realises Isabella has a point?
‘she speaks, and ‘tis such sense that my sense breeds with it.’
-Ambiguous, talking about sexuality or saying her argument is good. Breeds is a role reversal, meaning Isabella impregnates him with her ideas but also has sexual connotations.
Full explanation and exposition: (Act 2 scene 2 towards 3)
-She believes that his job should be to punish the sin while leaving the sinner unharmed. To support her argument, she invokes the Christian notion that all humans are born into sin. Because this condition is universal and inescapable, punishment should be wielded for the purpose of correction and repentance—not extermination.
-Isabella struggles to convince Angelo of her logic. She breaks through, however, when she shifts her rhetoric to address Angelo’s own inner life. She directs him: “Go to your bosom, / Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know / That’s like my brother’s fault” (2.2.166–68). At this point, Angelo’s mind begins to change. He says in an aside, “She speaks, and ’tis such sense / That my sense breeds with it” (2.2.172–73). His language here is suggestive. He indicates that the “sense” of her reason is so powerful that it “breeds” with his own sense. In other words, the force of her rhetoric has inspired his sensual appetite. As such, Angelo suddenly finds himself vulnerable to the same sinful desires for which he has sentenced Claudio to death.
In Angelo’s soliloquIy what rhetorical questions does he ask?
‘What’s this, what’s this? The tempter or the tempted who sins most, ha?’
is it her fault for tempting him or his fault for feeling tempted? Tempter is also a reference to the devil
rhetorical questions and repetition shows his confusion at these sexual feelings
spoken by Angelo, who is grappling with his own moral hypocrisy and temptation.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown:
Context:
Angelo, a stern and moralistic man, is confronted with the temptation of Isabella, a nun, who is pleading for her brother’s life.
The Question:
Angelo’s internal conflict is revealed in these lines as he questions whether the sin lies with the one who tempts (himself) or the one who is tempted (Isabella).
Rhetorical Device:
Angelo’s questions employ pysma (Pysma (pys’-ma): The asking of multiple questions successively (which would together require a complex reply). A rhetorical use of the question, a rhetorical device, and irony, because he is tempted not by a strumpet but by a saint.
Significance:
The line highlights Angelo’s hypocrisy and the play’s exploration of morality, power, and the complexities of human nature.
Scene:
The scene takes place in Act 2, Scene 2, where Isabella pleads with Angelo for Claudio’s life, and Angelo refuses to relent, but tells Isabella to return the following morning.
What metaphor did Angelo use about carrions and violets?
‘it is I That lying by the violet in the sun Do as the carrion does, not as the flower, corrupt with virtuous season.’
-Violet is a flower associated wit modesty chastity and fragrance
-Carrion is the decaying flesh of dead animals, also flesh of man, the evil within
-The sun and violet symbolise Isabella, oxymoronic as she is both chaste but exciting and sexually stimulating
-The heat of the sun corrupts the meat but makes the flower grow and blossom
Full Quote & Translation: Act 2 Scene 2 Solliloquy
That, lying by the violet in the sun,
Do as the carrion does, not as the flower,
Corrupt with virtuous season. Can it be
That modesty may more betray our sense
Than woman’s lightness?
Like a dead animal lying next to a sweet-smelling flower, it’s me that covers the good smells with my stink. Is it possible that modesty is more seductive to me than loose women?
How does Angelo suggest that he desires Isabella for her purity in his soliloquy?
‘What dost thou, or wha art thou, Angelo? Dost thou desire her foully for those things that make her good?’
desires her for her saintliness, her purity makes her attractive
How does Angelo question if he loves Isabella?
‘What, do I love her? That I desire to hear her speak again, And feast upon her eyes?’
feast, gluttony sinful, sexuality
How does Angelo describe the effect Isabella has on him?
‘this virtuous maid subdues me quite. Ever till now when men were fond, I smiled and wondered how.
she has awakened the sexual feelings he sees in other men
Add: ‘Never could the strumpet,
With all her double vigour, art and nature,
Once stir my temper’, but this virtuous maid subdues me quite
Translation: With all her energy, craft, and looks, a whore could never arouse me
How does Angelo express his desire to talk of Isabel?
Heaven hath my empty words;
Whilst my invention, hearing not my tongue,
Anchors on Isabel
Context:
Angelo, who is supposed to be upholding strict moral laws, is secretly lusting after Isabella.
The Line:
“Heaven hath my empty words; Whilst my invention, hearing not my tongue, Anchors on Isabel” means that Angelo’s religious prayers/devotions to God/heaven are insincere and empty, while his thoughts and desires are fixated on Isabella.
Meaning:
Angelo is struggling with the hypocrisy of his position. He outwardly upholds laws, but his true desires are focused on Isabella, creating a conflict between his words and his actions.
Further Analysis:
The phrase highlights the internal struggle Angelo is experiencing, showing his hypocrisy and the conflict between his public image and his private desires.
The play:
In the play, Angelo initially tells Isabella that her brother Claudio will be executed, but then he proposes to spare Claudio’s life if Isabella will have sex with him. Isabella refuses, and the play explores themes of justice, morality, and the corrupting influence of power.
What quote shows Angelo’s duality?
‘let’s write good angel on the devil’s horn.’
-Horn is a sexual phallic symbol, it has images of cuckoldry and sexual devilishness. He wants to disguise this inner aspect of himself by writing ‘good angel’ and thus hides himself in a pure exterior.
When Angelo meets Isabella again how is his sexual feeling shown?
‘Why does my blood muster to my heart.’
How does Angelo initially proposition Isabella?
‘make a suggestion of sex to (someone), especially in an unsubtle way.’
Angelo: ‘to redeem him, give up your body to such sweet uncleanness as she that he hath stained?’
Isabella: ‘Sir, believe this, I had rather give my body than my soul.’
oxymoronic sweet uncleanness. She would rather die that have sex
Stating that to save Claudio, she must be subjected to the same tainting that Angelo believes Juliet underwent by having pre-marital sex with Claudio
-Another sense of substitution/Measure for Measure?
How does Angelo try to convince Isabella that sleeping with him is the noble and good thing?
‘might there not be a charity in sin To save this brother’s life?’
Hypocrisy, unwilling to contravene/change the law on their behalf but will engage in pre-marital sex with Isabella since it concerns his own desires, his..
‘concupiscible, intemperate lust’
What does Angelo want Isabella to lay down?
‘you must lay down the treasures of your body To this supposed or else let him suffer.’
-Treasure, virginity= a percieved kind of wealth to Angelo
-Perhaps inadvertedly, Angelo presents to audiences as a ‘seemer’ in trying to immorally leverage Isabella through the jurisdiction of a ‘supposed’/hypothetical judge who is him in fact
this imagery also invokes discovery
Full Quote and Translation: Act 2 Scene 4
and that there were
No earthly mean to save him, but that either
You must lay down the treasures of your body
To this supposed, or else to let him suffer;
What would you do?
And what if there were no way on earth to save him except sleeping with this hypothetical judge? Otherwise you’d have to let him suffer. What would you do?
