How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line). Line numbers correspond to the Riverside edition.
Quote #4
DUKE, as Friar
...we shall advise this wronged maid
to stead up your appointment, go in your place. If
the encounter acknowledge itself hereafter, it may
compel him to her recompense; and here, by this, is
your brother saved, your honor untainted, the poor
Mariana advantaged, and the corrupt deputy
scaled. The maid will I frame and make fit for his
attempt. If you think well to carry this as you may,
the doubleness of the benefit defends the deceit
from reproof. What think you of it? (3.1.276-285)
As the Duke describes how they will trick Angelo into sleeping with Mariana, we can't help but notice that he acts a lot like a playwright who is directing the cast of a stage play. This isn't the last time Shakespeare will fashion a character after himself. In The Tempest, Prospero acts a lot like a director as well.
Quote #5
LUCIO
Some report a sea-maid spawned him; some,
that he was begot between two stock-fishes. But it is
certain that when he makes water his urine is
congealed ice; that I know to be true. And he is a
motion generative, that's infallible. (3.2.109-113)
Lucio has serious penchant for telling outrageous lies. Here, he spreads a rumor that Angelo is an impotent spawn of a mermaid and urinates ice. Elsewhere, he spreads a rumor that Duke Vincentio likes hanging out in brothels. As ridiculous as this behavior is, we're not sure Lucio's deception is much different than the kind of deceit we see in other characters, like the Duke and Angelo.
Quote #6
DUKE, as Friar
O, death's a great disguiser, and you
may add to it. Shave the head, and tie the beard, and
say it was the desire of the penitent to be so bared
before his death. You know the course is common. (4.2.189-192)
When Angelo demands that Claudio's head be delivered to him, the Duke convinces the Provost to execute another prisoner, Barnardine, in Claudio's place. If they shave Barnardine's head and trim his beard, nobody will know it's not Claudio because "death's a great disguiser." Gee. Are we supposed to notice that this substitution plan sounds a lot like the Duke's bed trick? See what we have to say about this in "Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory" if you want to know more about this.