How the Mighty Have Fallen

Angelo's character is first seen as "precise." He is the very definition of moral purity in human form. In his eyes the law is the law, and no extraordinary circumstances allow for an alteration of it. The law is not malleable, and no matter how virtuous one may be, any indiscretion is punished with the same severity as if they were sinners all along. The influence of power is often the strongest liquor, and one might argue that Christ himself would fall if he had been given a life long enough and a temptation strong enough. The Duke, who feels he has lost his people to the deadly sins and he himself cannot bring them back, hires Angelo to bring the sleeping laws awake. The Duke's challenge to Angelo is in part a test of strength and of virtue. In speaking to the Friar the Duke says, "Hence we shall see if power changes purpose, what our seemers be" (1.3.53-54). We discussed this line in class, and what its implications are. In my opinion, it has two meanings. Purpose may be seen as Angelo's intent, if a change in power does not change the man, it may change his justification of the law and of his actions. Purpose can also be seen as fate, if power changes one's fate. A "seemer" could be a reference to the divide where cloths are bound, held only by a feeble string, and when pulled at may unfurl. A "seemer" is also one's outward appearance, one's facade.
While Angelo acts as the embodiment of stringent law, Isabella (Claudio's sister) acts as the voice of reason, of fairness, and of a more human justice. At first, she attempts to play at Angelo's heartstrings. In reference to her brother, Isabella says to Angelo, "If he had been as you and you as he, you would have slipped like him, but he, like you, would not have been so stern" (2.2.66-68). She tries to put Angelo in Claudio's place, but her mistake is not knowing the character of Angelo, who believes that he himself would never give into unlawful temptation. The unfolding of the plot after act III will hopefully illuminate more about Angelo's character- to see if he does indeed fit the hypothetical situation that Isabella supposes in the aforementioned line. If Angelo is fooled by his former love, Isabella, and the Duke, his reaction to it will be his character’s tell.
I'm curious as to whether or not the audience is supposed to take Angelo's proposition to Isabella as his true intention. Is it as the Duke tells us, and Angelo is merely testing her character? Or is the Duke mistaken, and as Angelo himself says, "What dost thou, or what art thou, Angelo? Dost thou desire her foully for those things that make her good?" (2.3.77-79) Is Angelo tempted by her purity, her goodness, and her reason? Is he tempted to have her (in the carnal sense) or to test her?
Angelo's character is exposed as the Duke thought it might, going back to the line, "what our seemers be" in Act I when Isabella cries out, "Seeming, seeming!" (2.4.150) But is this Isabella being fooled by his proposition (a test, perhaps), or an indicator of his true character wilted by power?