| Enter ISABELLA and FRANCISCA |
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ISABELLA.
And have you nuns no farther privileges?
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FRANCISCA.
Are not these large enough?
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ISABELLA.
Yes, truly; I speak not as desiring more;
But rather wishing a more strict restraint
Upon the sisterhood, the votarists of Saint Clare
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LUCIO.
[Within] Ho! Peace be in this place!
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ISABELLA.
Who's that which calls?
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FRANCISCA.
It is a man's voice. Gentle Isabella,
Turn you the key, and know his business of him;
You may, I may not; you are yet unsworn.
When you have vow'd, you must not speak with men
But in the presence of the prioress:
Then, if you speak, you must not show your face,
Or, if you show your face, you must not speak.
He calls again; I pray you, answer him.
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ISABELLA.
Peace and prosperity! Who is't that calls
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LUCIO.
Hail, virgin, if you be, as those cheek-roses
Proclaim you are no less! Can you so stead me
As bring me to the sight of Isabella,
A novice of this place and the fair sister
To her unhappy brother Claudio?
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This section of Folio raises a number of issues. First, we have Lucio's first line delivered from "within." This suggests that Lucio enters from upstage through one of the two doors or the curtained area. And even more troubling is the fact that there is no specific stage direction for Lucio to "appear." At what point does the audience see him? At what point does Isabella? Also note that there is no stage direction for Francisca to exit. Does Francisca exit, and, if so, at what point in the scene? If Sister Francisca remains on stage throughout the rest of the scene, where does she stand and in what posture? This is problematic because she is not allowed to speak to men or to show her face "But in the prefence of the Prioreffe."
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