Shakespeare, William (1564–1616) Reference library
Oxford Reader's Companion to George Eliot
...his defence, he calls on the aptly named Froth as an alibi. Though amusing, the scene parallels Claudio's serious plight: he is arrested on similar charges and then condemned to death by Angelo. The ‘truth’ that Pompey refers to can be summarized this way: if Escalus punishes him for sinful behaviour, he will have to punish most of Vienna; and if that happens, in ten years there will be no one left to punish (cf. ii. i. 227–40). In this case, common sense prevails and he is let off. In Middlemarch , the ‘truths’ arrived at by Bambridge, Hawley, Mrs Dollop,...
