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V

Whether the "testing" is thought to relate to political or to sexual matters, semantic analysis of the Duke's lines at 1.4.50-54 casts serious doubt on the theory of a "test." The five lines can be broken down into a description of Angelo's temperamental coldness in which the Duke elaborates on his earlier one-line depiction of him as "a man of stricture and firm abstinence," and a deduction ("hence"=therefore), or prediction ("hence"=henceforward), of what will happen once Angelo assumes the reins of power. To those who maintain that Angelo is being tested, the conditional phrase "if power change purpose"³⁵ means that the possession of power might change Angelo's purpose—that he might take advantage of his position to satisfy his repressed sexual urges. But there is no reason for the Duke or for us to think that Angelo will abuse his authority in this way. It is more likely, given that his interest in Mariana was more an interest in her dowry, that...

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1. Introduction
2. Ii
3. Iii
4. Iv
5. V
6. Vi
7. Copyright