SF wrote: "I'm wondering if any of you bright lights
have thoughts or suggestions about source: How/why does Duke
Vincentio know/care about Mariana? We keep returning to the
fact that he brings her up awfully fast when he hears of Isabella's
dilemma and suggests the bed trick. We struggle with thinking
through how much/if/why he's thinking about her from the beginning."
(7/27/2005)
Here's a possible one: the Duke has an interest-- possibly
as a distant relation, or the friend of her father, or a shared
interest in religious pilgrimage, or (scandal!) a sexual one--
and it was he who brought Mariana & Angelo together. A
rumor gets about that the Mariana is the Duke's cast-off lover
(one of Lucio's morsels of gossip). The insufficient dowry
is Angelo's excuse for repudiating the betrothal, or at most
a minor factor, but not the real deal breaker: Angelo now
distrusts and disapproves of the Duke, and both men recognize
it. Mariana's marriageability is gone. The Duke can't deny
the rumor---- nor can he give Mariana a bigger dowry.
Either course would make the rumor seem more rather than
less likely. Perhaps this readiness on Angelo's part to believe
ill of others is what gives the Duke the idea of going under
cover in the first place. If Angelo falls for the bed trick
he will discover during it that Mariana is still a virgin
and that he was wrong about her and the Duke-- as well as
that he is a sinner himself and in need of forgiveness and
mercy.
SF replies: "Yes, we're exploring some of these ideas
for sure. The director keeps saying that he feels the Duke is
in spiritual crisis and that Mariana just seems to be so close
to the top of his mind.... it's quite fascinating!"
by 
