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VI

The theory of a "test" is, I conclude, highly suspect: each part of it has been arrived at by extrapolating, retrospectively, elements which occur at a later stage of the play. One of these is the revelation about Angelo's conduct toward Mariana; another is the prominence given to Angelo and the effects of his actions on other characters, a prominence which usurps the stated aim of the Duke's departure: to facilitate the clampdown on sexual license in Vienna. Perhaps what has most misled critics is the impression that in his words to Friar Thomas, the Duke is offering not just a refinement of a motive but an additional one. I take him to be saying, first, that Angelo, being the kind of man the Duke thinks he is, is the right man to prevent future offenses from occurring, and second, as an elaboration of his first position, that Angelo is also the right man to detect and punish offenses committed in the past and since concealed. However arbitrary and unfair we may...

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