In Scene 2, the reader learns that Angelo will be a stern deputy. In the duke's absence, he has revived laws governing sexual morality that have not been enforced for nineteen years, by Claudio's count. Not only are all whorehouses surrounding the city to be destroyed, but Claudio, having gotten Juliet with child, is to suffer the full measure of the law.
Claudio, introduced in Scene 2, speaks with sensitivity and wisdom of his imprisonment, causing Lucio to quip that he "had as lief have the foppery of freedom as the morality of imprisonment" (137-39). Claudio is also eloquent in his description of his sister. Altogether, the impression he leaves is that of a calm, intelligent young man.
Although Juliet is mentioned in the stage directions as entering with Claudio in Scene 2, the subsequent dialogue makes her presence seem unlikely. It would be odd of Claudio to speak so openly before her of his crime. Further, in discussing the matter with Lucio, he speaks of Juliet as if she were not present:
Thus stands it with me: upon a true contract
I got possession of Julietta's bed:
You know the lady: she is fast my wife,
Save that we do the denunciation lack
Of outward order.
(149-53)
Possibly the inclusion of Juliet in the stage directions is an error, or she may have had some part in the scene in an earlier version.
