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A* Twelfth Night Scene (Extract) Analysis Act 3 Scene 1
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A* Twelfth Night Scene (Extract) Analysis Act 3 Scene 1 for the AQA Elements of Political and Social Protest Exam
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Explore the significance of this extract (Act 3, Scene 1) in relation to the comedy of theplay as a whole
The significance of the comedy, in Act 3, Scene 1, is to allegorically represent magic as a metaphor for
unrequited love, resulting in a comparison to violent animal imagery to portray the pain it causes. This
sets up the comic resolution: Olivia’s desperation causes her to take fate into her own hands and coax
Sebastian into marriage in Act 4 Scene 3. This concludes the climatic chaos of comic disguise caused by
the misrule of the setting of Illyria. This scene also functions to discredit Orsino and Olivia’s relationship
due to their parallel experiences of hyperbolic love which align with the theme of appetite and excess.
This extract functions to continue the allegory of magic as a metaphor for falling in love. Viola and Olivia’s
earlier meeting is referred to as ‘the last enchantment’ (Act 1, Scene 5, line 97) which, with its
connotations of witchcraft, implies that Olivia has been cursed to love someone she can never have. This
hints to the misrule caused by the setting of the topsy-turvy festival of Twelfth Night which affects the
plot through its control of fate, so that the protagonists can overcome the tragedies established in the
exposition and allow the correct couples to marry in the comic resolution. The idea of a spell was set up
in Act 1, with Olivia’s metaphor: “Even so quickly may one catch the plague?” (Act 1 Scene 5, line 250)
which continues the theme of sickness in relation to love, to emphasise unrequited love as the worst
form of pain, more so than her grief of her father and brother. However, as Twelfth Night is a romantic
comedy which conforms to the structure of a well-made play, it is clear that this “plague” serves to be
cured, a resolution set up by the survival and arrival of Sebastian in Illyria in Act 2, Scene 1. This
coincidence can be viewed as magic itself, due to the unlikelihood of the two twins both surviving the
shipwreck.
Olivia’s sense of entrapment by Cesario is further conveyed through a metaphor which provides imagery
of herself as a bear “at the stake” (Act 3, Scene 1, line 103), referring to the popular Elizabethan past time
of bear baiting. This functions to hyperbolically illustrate the pain of Olivia’s unrequited love and her
resulting vulnerability, due to being reliant on marriage to survive as a woman. Perhaps this implies that a
woman’s pitifulness is more attractive than independence as supported by Park who suggests: “Feminine
assertiveness is viewed with hostility”. This idea was first set up by Orsino’s use of animal imagery with
the pun “hart” (Act 1 Scene 1, line 22) , where he refers to the pursuit of love as a formal hunt, fitting in
with Olivia’s idea of being the prey. This functions to satire Orsino and Olivia’s social and gendered
suitability through the misrule of Illyria, as despite this, both find love and comic resolution in the twins,
which then allows order to be restored.
The credibility of Olivia and Sebastian’s relationship is established through Viola and Olivia’s intimacy.
This is illustrated through their comic interchange of stichomythia which has an energy of repressed
passion, exploring the issue of gender in their unconventional relationship. There is desperation in
Olivia’s ‘I would you were as I would have you be’ (Act 3, Scene 1, line 127): having dedicated herself to
mourning, she is suddenly overwhelmed by her desires. There is dramatic irony here as Olivia wants Viola
to be something she is not, a man, suggesting that the survival and arrival of Sebastian in Illyria was
orchestrated by fate, rather than it being a coincidence, as they later marry in the comic resolution. This
passion was set up in in Act 1 Scene 1 where Orsino foreshadowed Olivia had a great capacity for love
through violent imagery, when referencing her bereavement, if she would only let herself: “How will she
love, when the rich golden shaft/ Hath killed the flock of all affections else ” (Act 1, Scene 1 ,line 37-38):.
This indicates the unsuitability of Orsino and Olivia’s relationship as they would suffocate each other with
their paralleled, hyperbolic love, creating a toxic relationship, because as Tonkin suggests, “Both are ‘sick
of self-love’".
On balance, this extract functions to establish the impossibility of Cesario and Olivia’s relationship, whilst
crediting their suitability through their intimacy in preparation for the meeting of Olivia and Sebastian.
This is significant for their marriage in the comic resolution, solidifying the play’s structure as a well-made
play.
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