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Mistress Overdone: ‘There’s one yonder arrested and carried to prison, was worth five thousand of you all’
Hyperbolic→ evoking sympathy, passion
Elevating Claudio’s status, Who is this great man?
Held in high standing by someone of a low standing→ Themes of value and worth
Stark contrast to how society views Angelo
Introduction to the main dramatic conflict
1st Gentleman: ‘thou art good velvet; thou’rt a three-piled piece’
‘as be piled, as thou art pilled, for a french velvet’
‘French velvet’ was used to disguise syphilis
Play on words ‘piled’ means with a long nap like velvet and ‘pilled’ means bald
The Gentleman is suggesting that Lucio is layered in french velvet. Therefore he is he accusing Lucio of having syphilis
This is a humorous piece of dialogue with the gentleman clearly using exaggerated language to insult and banter with Lucio
Shakespeare demonstrates how corrupt and uninhibited Viennese society is. They are extremely lewd and bawdy.
Lucio: ‘like the sanctimonious pirate, that went to sea with the Ten Commandments, but scraped one out of the table’
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