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Read Twelfth Night.
- Do a close-reading of the Duke’s opening monologue, discussing how it specifically sets up the tone and themes of the play.
- Discuss the alternate title of the play, What You Will, as it is relevant to the play as a whole, then point to 1 scene in detail that supports your ideas.
- Notice how Shakespeare uses different types of language (rhymed verse, blank verse, prose, etc.) to differentiate between characters (ie. serous/comical; nobility/social climbers) or to create other effects (increased solemnity or silliness; poetic effects; song). How does the type of language in 1 scene add to the meaning(s) Shakespeare is attempting to convey?
- How does the comic relief of drag in Twelfth Night — the comical effect of mistaken identity which produces the error plot — dispel ideas of gender (or other identity categories)? Considering that (gender) identity is a social performance, discuss who has identity in the play? Discuss 1 scene closely.
- Write down 1 critical question you have about the play, and be prepared to share it in class.
NOTE: All responses must be brief but detailed.
1. The Duke’s opening monologue introduces the omnipresent theme of love’s trickery and potency in the Twelfth Night. The Duke is so occupied with love in his monologue that he asks for it to overtake all the bad things in the world. Illness, hunger, and insatiability all fall to the wayside in the presence of love. The irony is that the Duke’s monologue is cut short by an attendant asking for his attention to the hunt, a foreboding sign that love will drive dialogue but often be incomplete in the play.
2. What You Will supports the looming notion throughout the play that characters are freely envisioning and making of their lives what they will. Twelfth Night is clearly a comedy, and most of its characters are fallacious. Few characters conform to any grave tone in the show, through their obsession with love, belief of others in disguise, and comical dialogue. In Scene 5 of Act I, when Viola meets with Olivia while in disguise, she cryptically speaks about the adoration the Duke has for her. Though the audience clearly knows Viola is in drag, Olivia is oblivious to this. She makes Viola to be an operative for the Duke and envisions her doting words to be directly from the Duke. Her take on the scene is different from Viola’s, who is insinuating drama through the very conversation, as she wants to mar the Duke’s chances with Olivia. Each makes of the scene what they will, and also exercises their will over the scene, in line with the alternate title that suggests the hilarity of multiple actors exerting their own thinking in each scene.
3. Shakespeare artfully manipulates the dialogue in the show to reflect certain roles of each character. When the noble ladies, like Olivia or Viola, speak, along with the Duke and other high-ranking men, the text is near entirely in verse, conforming to the iambic pentameter scheme. When the ladies are not present, the dialogue is much more crass, reflecting these characters’ lower social standing. In Act I, Scene 4, Valentine and Viola speak in free verse until the arrival of the Duke. Upon his arrival, the two switch near-immediately to a higher register of speaking, reflecting the gravity of a conversation with him. This is a conscious effort by Shakespeare to write in legitimacy to the Duke and further emphasize the comedic role Viola plays outside of her nobility.
4. In historic context, the comic relief of drag doubly dispels expectations of gender. In the Shakespearean era of playwriting, men played all the roles, even female characters, and simply dressed in drag for such roles. With Viola’s cross-over to dress as a man, an actor is changing from one disguise to a deeper one. In Act I, Scene 2, Viola remarks about how man’s personal character, characterized by great morals, can be copied by her; she believes her own character to be on-par with man’s. She is able to command her aides into supporting her crossdressing, showing her agency, and the widely-upheld belief in her disguise clearly shows a rigid adherence to gender roles is largely unnecessary and ironic, as one can so easily dispel such a creation.
5. Did Shakespeare include any writing from Twelfth Night in other works of his? Can you trace some of the soliloquies on love in the show to sonnets he wrote?
Noah Long
Professor Cassarino
Reading Literature 103: The “Body Electric”
March 12, 2019
Twelfth Night Response
1. Do a close-reading of the Duke’s opening monologue, discussing how it specifically sets up the tone and themes of the play.
• In the opening fifteen lines of the play, Duke Orsino uses specific word choice to foreshadow many of Twelfth Night’s themes and overall tone. This monologue is used to give the audience a brief summary of what they should expect to see in the play. He playfully warns the audience that there will be countless images of love to the point that the audience may have their, “appetite sicken and so die” (I.i.3). This excess amount of love is supposed to be comedic: Orsino recognizes that some of the love will seem childish and more like infatuation, but this type of love is used for the amusement of the spectators. He also uses dramatic irony, referring to a bank of violets. This image is a reference to the main character of the play: Viola. Although he does not know of her love for him for a majority of the play, the connection between the two characters is sweet and grows wildly much like a bed of wild violets.
2. Discuss the alternate title of the play, What You Will, as it is relevant to the play as a whole, then point to 1 scene in detail that supports your ideas.
• Shakespeare’s alternative title of the play What You Will is a proposition that the play is entirely based on the interpretation of the audience (whatever you want to make of the play). This play is supposed to be a comedy, yet there are several scenes which are very uncomfortable and invoke pity towards certain characters. For example, Malvolio’s character is manipulated and embarrassed to show how misinterpretation of love can be “funny”. In act two scene five, Malvolio is tricked by Toby, Maria and Sir Andrew trick the butler into thinking his lady Olivia loves him. This drives Malvolio insane; he uses his imagination and feelings of affection twist his mind into falsely interpreting this obviously counterfeited love letter. The audience is supposed to find joy in this; Malvolio is a grumpy old man who comes from wealth. They are supposed to side with the jealous Toby, Andrew and Maria and accept the torture they cause as comedy.
3. Notice how Shakespeare uses different types of language (rhymed verse, blank verse, prose, etc.) to differentiate between characters (ie. serous/comical; nobility/social climbers) or to create other effects (increased solemnity or silliness; poetic effects; song). How does the type of language in 1 scene add to the meaning(s) Shakespeare is attempting to convey?
• During the last monologue of the play, the Clown addresses the audience consciously, breaking the fourth wall. Although this fool is viewed as being goofy and inferior to many characters throughout the play, he is not a “foolish wit” (I.v.33-34). His last monologue is insightful and well said; he is a witty fool. Sung in rhymed verse directly following the positive conclusion of the play, this monologue is very upbeat and cheery. The clown desrcibes the constant rain that he remembers from his childhood as a means to express how love itself is constant and can be both beautiful and devastating. The last stanza of song however is almost sung in an apologetic/humble tone (V.i. 398-401). Here, the clown explains that the main purpose of these characters is to amuse the audience, inferring that this is more important than the love expressed by the characters in the play.
4. How does the comic relief of drag in Twelfth Night — the comical effect of mistaken identity which produces the error plot — dispel ideas of gender (or other identity categories)? Considering that (gender) identity is a social performance, discuss who has identity in the play? Discuss 1 scene closely.
• In the earlier stages of act five scene one, when all conflict is being resolved, the ideas of gender and social status are widely dispelled. Shipwrecked and forced to start a new life, both Sebastian and Viola are not as socially hierarchal as they once were. When it is revealed that Viola is Sebastian’s sister and not his clone, countess Olivia swiftly takes Sebastian’s hand in marriage. She has no idea who this person is, other than the fact that he looks practically identical to her love Cesario. At the same time, when it becomes apparent that the Duke can now marry Viola he claims that he will marry her without asking her. Although it is apparent that she is in love with him, it is interesting that Shakespeare uses this conclusion to poke fun at the fact that those with more power (socially) tend to always get what they want.
5. Write down 1 critical question you have about the play, and be prepared to share it in class.
• At the end of the play, it is revealed that despite being tricked into looking like an idiot, Malvolio was also physically beaten and tortured by Toby and Sir Andrew. Why would the audience think this was funny/why is there no recognition of Malvolio’s humanity?
Orsino’s opening monologue sets the stage for the audience by showcasing the motifs of love, song, sorrow and misunderstanding. The monologue begins with Orsino being emotional about a song that is being played as it reminds him of his love for a lady called Olivia. He tells the singer to keep playing but states “’Tis not so sweet now as it was before/O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou.” This means that his love has been bitter foreshadowing that his quest for love with Olivia will be left incomplete. He is very poetic in his language to the singer, alluding to the beauty of love as a breeze that comes fast and leaves him stranded. He is head over heels for Olivia and the central motif of love and chase is set through his analogies of love being intangible things he himself cannot contain.
2. What You Will would’ve been an appropriate title for the play as the double meaning of the phrase being both “what you will make of things” and “what you desire” are present throughout the whole play. The play is filled with characters making their own assumptions about situations such as Malvolio taking Maria’s letter to mean Olivia was in love with him, Olivia/Orsino thinking Voila was Cesario, Antonio believing Sebastian betrayed him, and the two twins believing the other one perished. That aspect of the duality of the phrase is certain, but the “what you desire” part is most clearest to me in Act 2, Scene 2, when Cesario is walking away from Olivia’s house;
he states “
one of my lord’s ring? Why, he sent her none.
I am the man….
My master loves her dearly,
And I, poor monster, fond as much on him,
And she, mistaken, seems to dote on me.
What will become of this?”
This moment reflects the desires of three characters: Olivia, Viola and Orsino. Olivia, is taken by Viola’s beauty and wants to pursue him as a lover. Orsino, on the other hand is in love with Olivia who wants nothing to do with him and Voila, is in love with Orsino. Everyone’s desires are coming out and this love triangle furthers a complicated error plot which only serves to prove the saying “the heart wants what the heart wants.”
3. Act 2 Scene 3, with the meeting of Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and the Jester highlighted three characters in three different social structures that use different ways of speaking. The simple minded Knight similar to Malvolio, speaks in an assertive manner with to no rhymes because he is a social climber wanting to be taken more seriously in the kingdom. Sir Toby, who is established noverlity provides comedy in a collected manner though he is drunk because he is confident in his place and does not need to impress anyone. On the other end of the spectrum, the Jester speaks in light hearted tones and sings in rhymes “O mistress mine, where are you roaming?O, stay and hear! Your true love’s coming,That can sing both high and low:Trip no further, pretty sweeting.Journeys end in lovers meeting,Every wise man’s son doth know.” The Jester creates silliness but not in the same sense as Sir Toby, his is outlandish because that’s what he is hired to do. Much like the rhymes, the songs he is forced to sing seemed forced by people in a higher class structure.
4. Drag creates the opportunity for misunderstanding within the play as well as adding some comedic relief to the play, but also creating identity for the people in drag as well as their love interests. Voila dresses in drag to be close to Orsino but Orsino comments on how beautiful his servant is, citing his soft lips and gentle touch to be reason he has chosen Cesario for the job of wooing Olivia. in Act 1, Scene 4 and 5, Olivia describes Cesario by saying
Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions, and spirit,
Do give thee fivefold blazon. Not too fast! Soft, soft!
Unless the master were the man. How now?
Even so quickly may one catch the plague?
270 Methinks I feel this youth’s perfections
With an invisible and subtle stealth
To creep in at mine eyes. Well, let it be.—
What ho, Malvolio!
Citing Viola’s beauty as the culprit for her affection towards the character. In both of these instances we know that Olivia and Orsino are falling for the “wrong sex” (in the context of the play) implying that they fell in love with a person not a female or male. This affection shows that Orsino’s and Olivia’s love for their counterparts transcended gender which makes me think that Shakespeare was hinting at a pansexual character base.
5. If given the parameters of Viola’s true sex in the play; would Olivia still fall in love with Sebastian and Orsino with Voila. Was there love gendered as well as shallow?
1. The Duke’s opening monologue sets up the Twelfth Night’s themes of love being capricious, inconsistent, and subject to appearances rather than reality. The Duke says, “So full of shapes is fancy / That it alone is high fantastical” (Shakespeare, 1.1 14-15). This forebodes the shape shifting nature of the eventual object of his desire, Viola. His tone is almost despairing, presaging the woes that most of the characters experience and voice as they struggle with unrequited love right up to the play’s conclusion. Finally, he says:
O spirit of love, how quick and resh art thou
That, notwithstanding thy capacity
Receiveth as the sea, naught enters there
Of what validity and pitch soe’er
But falls into abatement and low price
Even in a minute
(Shakespeare, 1.1 9-14).
This foreshadows the rapid shifting of his fancy from Olivia to Viola, and the many other sudden changes in perception that the characters experience.
2. The alternate title of the play, What You Will, is fitting because most of the play’s characters are caught up in a world of their own fancy, interpreting life not as it is, but as what they will. The failure to to see things as they truly are, whether due to illusions or their own ignorance leads to misery and dissatisfaction. In Act 3, Scene 1, Malvolio’s over-eagerness on reading the supposed love letter from Olivia to him leads him to leap to ridiculous conclusions. The letter was composed of meaningless nonsense, yet he makes sense of it in exactly the way he would dream of it. He comes to the inscrutable acronym “M.O.A.I.”, and unable to come up with suitable words for it to stand for, says “‘M.O.A.I. This simulation is not as the former. And yet to crush this a little, it would bow to me, for every one of those letters are in my name”(Shakespeare, 2.5 122-124). Instead of being dismayed by confusion, and reevaluating his premise that Olivia loves him, he is even more emboldened to stick with his version of reality, what he wills.
3. Shakespeare’s characters are recognizable by their distinct vocabularies, style of diction, and the type of prose they use. He is able to communicate emotional state just by varying the type of language, irrespective of the meaning of what is said. In Act 1, Scene 5, these different types of language can be seen in the contrast between the speech of Clown and that of Malvolio:
OLIVIA What think you of this fool, Malvolio? Doth he not mend?
MALVOLIO Yes, and shall do, till the pangs of death shake him. Infirmity that decays the wise doth ever make the better fool.
CLOWN God send you, sir, a speedy infirmity, for the better increasing your folly. Sir Toby will be sworn that I am no fox, but he will not pass his word for twopence that you are no fool.
(Shakespeare, 1.5 70-74).
Malvolio’s speech could hardly be more solemn and melodramatic. He uses words and phrases such as “shall”, “pangs of death”, and “doth” which nearly always carry connotations of grandiloquence and seriousness. On the other hand, the clown’s language is light and airy, corresponding with the clown’s jovial mood. The three pauses in quick succession of the clown’s first sentence add a lilting, lighthearted tone to his speech.
4. In Twelfth Night, drag dispels gender categories when Viola proves herself to be more competent a man than any male characters. In Act 5, Scene 1, Viola has totally won Olivia’s affections, to the dismay of Duke Orsino. Not only that, she has gotten the better in combat of Sir Andrew and Sir Toby, two characters who embody masculine buffoonery. Sir Andrew laments, “We took him for a coward, but he’s the very devil incarnate” (Shakespeare, 5.1 172-173). She has won the heart of the prized maiden, and defeated two knights in conflict. Her success in these masculine endeavours demonstrates that it is not innate characteristics that make up gendered identity, but assumed characteristics, in the case of Viola, her disguise as a man.
5. Is Malvolio a villain or a tragic exemplar of what happens when life is taken too seriously?
1. The Dukes opening monologue discusses how music can make people fall in love and that he wants more love but soon he has had enough. The themes introduced in the monologue are love, music, fantasy, and death. The tone is that of happiness but at the same time desire.
2. I think the alternate title What You Will, is Shakespeare way of allowing people to interpret how they would the romantic relationships that occur and Viola disguising herself as a man. It’s Shakespeare’s way of letting the reader know that this is not going to be a “traditional” romantic play in which a man and women fall in love.
The first scene that stood out to me was when Viola pays the Captain to disguise her as a man so that she can be the Dukes’ servant.
“(I’ll pay thee bounteously)
Conceal me what I am and be my aid
For such disguise as haply shall become
The form of my intent. I’ll serve this duke.” (I.2: 52-55)
I thought this was important to the alternative title because it is the point in the play where identities change, and gender starts being blurred.
3. Through Shakespeare’s use of language, we are able to get a better understanding of the persons character and class. For instance, when Andrew meets Maria he thinks her name is “Good mistress Mary Accost-“(I.3: 52). What is interesting about Shakespeare having Andrew call Maria this is that it first makes the reader think that Andrew is not a bright individual and is rude but on deeper thought did Andrew decide to do this as a way for mocking Maria for being a maid. Did Andrew decide to mock Maria because Toby told him to approach Maria and Andrew thought that because of his class Maria was not good enough for him?
4. The scene in which Olivia starts to realize she might be falling in love with Viola makes one think about how identity and gender are going to be portrayed in the play.
“Unless the master were the man. How now?
Even so quickly may one catch the plague” (I.5: 283-284)
Olivia after Viola leaves wonders if she is feeling something for Viola and how she could have possibly fallen so quickly. She thinks about how if the Duke was Viola then she would be in love with him. This raises the issue of identity and gender because Viola is a woman and Olivia is falling in love with a woman. She then brings up the idea that if Duke was Viola, she would be in love with him. If that was the case, then the Duke would have a different identity. I think throughout the play there are going to be numerous lies about identity and people are going to miss lead others.
5. What made Shakespeare decided to have Viola disguise herself as a man and have Olivia fall in love with her. Was Shakespeare hiding something?
William Oppenheim
The opening monologue sets up themes in the rest of the play by placing an immense focus on love and its complexities, doing so in a sort of over the top yet lighthearted tone. I believe that the alternative title is called “What you Will,” as sort of a comical response to the play; it is almost like Shakespeare saying “Make what you will of the play, you either like it or you don’t.” One example of this that I found sort of funny was Viola’s dialogue with Orsino, when she says:
“Too well what love women to men may owe.
In faith, they are as true of heart as we.
My father had a daughter loved a man
As it might be, perhaps, were I a woman,
I should your Lordship.”
Viola, who is pretending to be a man, clearly implies that she is a woman who holds a love for Orsino. But because this play is quite ridiculous at points, Orsino simply brushes this off, not at all recognizing the irony in this statement.
I believe the scene where Orsino is threatening to execute Viola (Cesario) to somehow get Olivia to be with him implements a rhyme scheme in order to highlight the irony and importance of the scene. The lines by Orsino,
“I’ll sacrifice the lamb that I do love
To spite a raven’s heart within a dove,”
have great significance here. Shakespeare clearly wants this scene to be memorable, so he adds a rhyme scheme in with a metaphor here that helps uncover Orsino’s thought process at this point. This scene is incredibly ironic because of the three way love triangle that has erupted, where no one loves the other person back, so the use of rhyme schemes here help exemplify its silliness and ridiculous complexity.
In this play, gender is dispelled because of the fact that Olivia is in love with Viola, a woman who she suspects is a man, and Viola is in love with Orsino even though she has taken on the persona of a man. This only goes to show that gender, if concealed, means nothing in the universe of love according to Shakespeare. One specific scene that encapsulates this message is where Viola and Olivia are speaking in the garden.
“VIOLA : Then think you right. I am not what I am.
OLIVIA: I would you were as I would have you be.”
Viola clearly suggests that she is not what she appears to be (a man), but Olivia responds by saying that she would not have her change in any way. There is a dispulsion of the ideas of gender by Shakespeare as Olivia clearly loves Viola despite the fact that she is secretly a woman, confirming that stereotypical genderedness is not required for love. While this scene is incredibly ironic because Olivia has no idea she has fallen in love with another woman, it adds to the identity of Viola. She is someone who, despite not having a true gender identity do to the fact that she is pretending to be a man, has enough identity, trustworthiness, and realness to win the love of Olivia, and create a strong bond with her master, Orsino.
Question: Was this deceitful love triangle representative or symbolic of something greater in British society at the time? And was this play ever considered controversial was it always looked at in a lighthearted way?
1. Duke Orsino’s opening monologue is a well-suited introduction that serves as an overview for the themes and writing techniques that remain constant throughout the play. Orsino’s monologue is focused on the great happiness that comes from love as well as the difficulty and pain that arises during the weary pursuit. In terms of the play, Orsino experiences this pain when he is trying to woo Olivia, yet, has no success. However, in the final scene of the play, Orsino finally achieves the great happiness that comes from love as he and Viola declare their mutual love for each other. Additionally, the monologue talks about music and love being mutually dependent on each other when the duke states, “If music be the food of love, play on”. This line not only presents the themes of music and love, but it also introduces the symbolic nature of Shakespeare’s writing.
2. The alternate title of the play, What You Will, represents the plethora of foolery that occurs throughout the play, whether it be Viola pretending to be a man or the seemingly gullible supporting cast that can’t differentiate Sebastian from Viola. An example of this naivety occurs when Antonio sees Viola for the first time and mistakes her for her brother, Sebastian: “This youth that you see here/I snatch’d one half out of the jaws of death, /Relieved him with such sanctity of love” (3.4.1913-1915). Although this mistake may be possible to occur once or twice, several characters including Sir Andrews, Sir Toby Belch and Olivia all are unable to differentiate Viola from Sebastian. Thus, I believe the alternate title, What You Will, is Shakespeare’s way of acknowledging to the audience that the play is not entirely realistic, yet the audience can interpret the play individually to find its meaning.
3. Shakespeare varies the type of language used, whether it be rhymed verse, blank verse or prose in order to establish social class as well as make subtle comments about the context of the words being spoken. For example, when Duke Orsino is offering advice to ‘Cesario’ about women, Shakespeare writes it in rhymed verse: “For women are as roses, whose fair flower/Being once display’d, doth fall that very hour” (2.4.931-932). By writing it in this manner, Shakespeare is indicating that Duke Orsino’s words are insightful and of a true nobleman. Additionally, Shakespeare’s language adds a sense of irony to the situation because Duke Orsino is trying to teach Cesario a lesson about women when Cesario is actually a woman helping Orsino pursue Olivia.
4. Throughout the play, Twelfth Night, Viola is easily able to disguise as a man which conveys the idea that individuality and gender are unimportant to the people in the play. In other words, a person who appears to be a man is accepted as such because the supporting characters would never believe the idea of a woman being able to resemble or even imitate a man. However, in personal monologues, Shakespeare unveils the true emotions and identities of certain characters. For example, after Olivia sends Antonio to offer the ring back to Viola, Viola expresses her emotions about the situation as well as her conflict of gender identity through a lengthy, personal monologue: “How will this fadge? my master loves her dearly;/And I, poor monster, fond as much on him;/And she, mistaken, seems to dote on me. /What will become of this? As I am man, My state is desperate for my master’s love” (2.2.690-694) Clearly, this quote shows Viola’s true identity in addition to the conflict that is causing her this identity struggle.
5. Duke Orsino sees Olivia in person only one time and it occurs in the very final scene of the play. What is the significance of this, if any, and how does it relate to the theme of misguided love?