Twelfth Night or What You Will - A1/S1 to A1/S5
The title of the play refers to the topsy-turviness of the Twelfth Night after Christmas Day - the
night before epiphany. “What you will” suggests that the play adopts multiple forms of
perception - connecting with the original idea that the Twelfth Night after Christmas Day is a
day when people can manipulate perception and reality.
KEY THEMES:
Orsino: If music be the food of love, play on;
● “Topsy-turvy” - for one night only Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
● Appearance and reality The appetite may sicken, and so die.
● Love/desire That strain again! it had a dying fall:
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound,
● Deception and disguise
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
● Madness Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more:
'Tis not so sweet now as it was before.
Scene 1: Opening Soliloquy - pg.5 O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou,
That, notwithstanding thy capacity
● A paradoxical (statement that goes Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there,
against common sense) opening - Of what validity and pitch soe'er,
by using personification through But falls into abatement and low price,
the motif of music to suggest that Even in a minute: so full of shapes is fancy
That it alone is high fantastical.
love is a living object that wilts/dies
● Iambic pentameter (unstressed syllable followed by stressed - dum de dum de dum etc)
has religious connotations - church sermons/hymns took the form of iambic pentameter.
-> familiar to an Elizabethan audience
○ Shakespeare uses Iambic Pentameter (“narrower” paragraphs) for important
dialogues, and prose (fills the page) for subtextual/comedic purposes.
● Melancholic love - personification of the noun “love”, needs to be fed by noun “music”
● “Excess” hyperbolised, likening love to disease, suggesting he will overdose on love
● Orsino’s love for Olivia = unhealthy and borderline-obsessive
Scene 1: Hunting Imagery - pg.6
Curio. Will you go hunt, my lord? Subversion of stereotypes - Orsino is
Orsino. What, Curio? acting like a flamboyant, emotive mistress
Curio. The hart. - not like the Duke he is supposed to be.
Orsino. Why, so I do, the noblest that I have: This is because of the play being set on
the “Twelfth Night” of post-christmas
O, when mine eyes did see Olivia first, celebrations.
Methought she purged the air of pestilence!
That instant was I turn'd into a hart; Instead, Orsino’s servants (Curio and
And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds, Valentine) are acting more like how
E'er since pursue me.
[Enter VALENTINE] “Like fell and cruel hounds” - zoomorphic
How now! what news from her? imagery relating to the ‘desires’ mentioned in
the soliloquy - makes the desires seem
dangerous & unhealthy.
, Scene 2: Introduction of VIOLA
“Hart” = play on words for “heart” ● Viola asks where she is - the sea captain states
referencing his (Orsino’s) feelings that she is in Illyria.
for Olivia. Also means “deer”, the ● Viola chooses to dress up as a male eunuch in
order to work for the melancholic Duke of Illyria
- Orsino.
● Opens ‘in media res’ with Viola asking “What country, friends, is this?” - introduction of
geographical boundaries.
● “Conceal me what I am” - introduction of the motif of appearance and reality
● The captain references “eunuchs” - men who have been castrated at a young age to
keep the pitch of their voices high
○ These men were used in theatre/music in the place of women, as they had a
similar vocal range to a young woman
○ Only males were casted to perform in Shakespeare’s plays - the idea of gender
confusion wasn’t as unusual as it otherwise might’ve been
Scene 3:
● In this scene, we meet Sir Toby (Olivia’s uncle), Sir Andrew, and Maria (Olivia’s
servant). Maria states that Olivia is fed up of Sir Toby’s drinking (“that quaffing and
drinking will undo you: I heard my lady talk of it yesterday”).
● Sir Toby has brought Sir Andrew (described as “a fool, a great quarreller”) to court Olivia
- he claims that Sir Andrew is a perfect gentleman because he is very intelligent and
“speaks three or four languages” etc.
● Maria doesn’t care because she sees him as a foolish drunk - “he’s drunk nightly in your
company”
● Sir Andrew enters, and calls Maria by the wrong name. He then says that Olivia will
probably choose Orsino over him, because “Olivia will never marry above her degree”
● Aguecheek is a foil character for Belch (a character that contrasts/reflects another
character). He asks Maria “What’s your metaphor?” and “What’s your jest?” - which
shows that he doesn’t understand Toby and Maria’s wit.
● Crude humour “legs and thighs” (pg.13) juxtaposes our true perception of Belch as a
character.
Scene 4: Boundaries of youth, gender and sexuality crossed
● Viola adopts the name “Cesario” and has already become a favourite of Orsino. “If the
Duke continues these favours towards you, Cesario, you are likely to be much
advanced” - shows the developing relationship between Orsino and Viola/Cesario.
● Orsino asks Viola/Cesario to carry a note confessing the Duke’s love for Olivia.
Viola/Cesario reluctantly accepts this proposition because she is in love with Orsino
(“whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife”)
● Orsino already appears to be in love with Cesario (“I have unclasped / To thee the book
even of my secret soul”) beyond what was considered normal between two male friends
at the time. - GENDER, SEXUALITY
● Orsino compares Cesario to “Diana’s lip”, where Orsino is favourably comparing Cesario
to the goddess Diana - the virgin goddess of hunting. This suggests that Orsino finds
Cesario (Viola) attractive because (s)he reminds him of a beautiful young woman.
