er to Vienna but does not know how to do it himself so therefore he appoints Angelo. However he does not wish to have him free reign, knowing that he is very strict. Possibly the Duke feels that he is weak in power himself in maintaining order and in his heart he feels the only way to truly see how the people of his city will act is to be in disguise. And this is considered to be true when he discloses his identity because many problems are resolved. We can see this in Act 3 scene 2 when the Duke encounters Lucio and shows himself to be mildly vengeful, trying to protect his honor despite his disguise. This perhaps, suggests an ulterior motive in disguising himself: he ants to see how his subjects rule, and he can only do so through making himself functionally invisible to them. Not only does the Duke have a false identity, technically so does Lord Angelo. He is only appointed to take the Dukes place he himself is not a real Duke. Throughout the play because of his strict ways he himself likes the idea of all the power and the ways that he can enforce it. He keeps hidden his contract to marry Mariana and in the end is faced with his secret. Angelo is told to marry Mariana, and he escapes death at her request. The Duke probably does not intend to execute Angelo but wants it made clear that his crime deserves such a punishment. The Duke, in his disguise, also advises other characters to carry out two other secret plans involving mistaken identity. He has Mariana take Isabellas place ( Act 3 scene ) , and he also has the head of a dead pirate is sent in the place of Claudios. Throughout the play in keeping with characters false identity and so his own identity the Duke some time must reveal his own. He does not immediately do this because his is still enjoying the intrigue which he can only understand. To some extent his is playing with his subjects, making them believe that they act of their own violation while manipul...
