Assignment: Twelfth Night, Discuss various Themes, Acts 1-3
Men and Women/ Men and Women in Love
Several characters in Twelfth Night make comments about masculine and feminine behavior, often in the context of how men and women experience love.
| 2.2.12-36 | 2.4.13-46, 70-121 | 3.1.76-145 | 3.2.1-38 | 3.4.1-70; 161-179 |
1. Consider these passages’ constructions of gendered traits as they appear either explicitly or implicitly. What conceptions of feminine behavior do we get from each passage? What conceptions of masculine behavior do we get from each passage? List specific examples (line numbers and/ or words and phrases from the text) that support your claims.
2. Given the passages listed above, how does love make members of each gender behave or act?
3. Consider the (actual) gender of the speakers in these passages; to what extent does Viola confirm the claims Orsino and Sebastian make about feminine behavior? To what extent do her comments affirm or reject their notions of what women are like? How does Viola’s disguise complicate or sharpen Shakespeare’s constructions of femininity and masculinity? List specific lines numbers and/or words and phrases from the text that support your claims.
Music
Starting with the play’s opening soliloquy and Viola’s eunuch-disguise, music is an important part of Twelfth Night. Consider the function of music throughout the first 3 Acts.
| 1.1.1-15 | 1.2.53-63 | 2.3.24-102 | 2.4.1-74 | 3.1.1-5 |
1.Close-read Orsino’s first speech. What is the gist of his speech, content-wise? What is the overall tone of the speech? Note any devices therein and decide what the speech says about the status of music with respect to its relationship to lover.
2. Go through each scene and find the songs sung by Feste, Sir Toby, etc. Where do we see songs come up in the play? How do they create certain moods? In what settings do we see songs sung?
3. Close read the songs in the play; what do you notice about the specific language and themes in their content individually, and then as a whole?
Madness, Mischief, and Mistaken Identity
The notion of madness figures rather prominently in the final two acts of Twelfth Night, even as no character is truly mad in the play. Discuss instances in which characters contemplate and articulate their own sanity as a result of either mischievous plots by others or of mistaken identity.
| 1.5.91-108 | 2.5.150-165 | 3.4.1-113 | 3.4.178-334 |
1. How frequently do you see the word “madness” or related words come up in the play? How do characters define it when they refer to it, and what behaviors are associated with it? List some specific contexts in which it appears. How does the context change how characters understand their own sanity or that of others?
2. What is the role of mistaken identity in the play’s plot? How does it create humor and/or conflict? What are the consequences of mistaken identity throughout the play? How serious are they, do you think?
The Characterization of Malvolio
Shakespeare sets up Malvolio’s character through his own statements and actions, but also through the actions and statements other characters make about him.
| 1.5.65-75 | 2.3.62-125 | 2.5.4-17, 18-66, 66-167 | 3.2.51-62 | 3.4.5-115 |
1. What claims do Olivia, Toby, Maria, Feste, and Sir Andrew make about Malvolio? What aspects of his personality do they criticize, and how would you characterize the tone of their conversations about him? List specific lines numbers and/ or words and phrases from the text that support your claims.
2. What sense of Malvolio do you get through his own speeches and behavior? List specific lines numbers and/ or words and phrases from the text that support this sense.
3. Examine Malvolio’s reading of the letter more closely. What particular aspects of his personality (those you listed above, as well as anything else you might have noticed about him) does Maria seem to be appealing to and exploiting in the letter? What new facets does Shakespeare add to his character as he reads it? List specific lines numbers and/ or words and phrases from the text that support your claims.
4. Review the roles that Maria, Sir Toby, Fabian and Sir Andrew play in gulling Malvolio. To what degree is the trick amusing? Do Malvolio’s actions and statements actually warrant the opinions of others and their treatment of him? Why or why not?
Friends and Siblings
In the representation of Antonio and Sebastian, we see Shakespeare’s depiction of the deep bonds male friends share (and more particularly, bonds between men of equal social standing). In Viola and Sebastian, we see the bonds that exist between siblings (and more particularly, between twins). Consider the ways in which these bonds are related, in conflict, or distinct from one another in the play.
Passages to consider closely:
| 1.2.1-63 | 2.1.1-36 | 3.3.1-48 | 3.2.1-40 | 1.3.14-85 | 3.4.116-156 | 3.4.314-325 |
Questions to answer:
- Characterize the language Viola deploys in response to the prospect of her brother’s death. What do you notice about her expressions of loss and subsequent behavior?
- What do you notice about specific language Antonio and Sebastian use when they speak to or about one another? What imagery does Shakespeare associate with friendship in his depiction of their interaction and speeches?
- How does Shakespeare depict the relationship between Sir Toby and Sir Andrew? How much of his dealings with Sir Andrew seem motivated by affection and friendship? List Act/Scene/Lines that are relevant.