| “If music be the food of love, play on.Give me excess of it, that surfeiting,The appetite may sicken and so die.” | Citation: (ORSINO. Act 1, Scene 1)Meaning: If it’s true that music makes people more in love, keep playing. Give me too much of it, so I’ll get sick of it and stop loving. |
| “I’ll do my bestTo woo your ladyYet, a barful strife!Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife.” | Citation: (VIOLA. Act 1, Scene 4)Meaning:She says she will try her best to make the lady love him. But it will be hard because she has to be a matchmaker for the man she wants to marry herself. |
| “Make me a willow cabin at your gateAnd call upon my soul within the house.” | Citation: (VIOLA. Act 1, Scene 5)Meaning:I’d build myself a sad little cabin near your house, where my soul’s imprisoned. From that cabin I’d call out to my soul.She is talking to Olivia |
| “She pined in thought,And with a green and yellow melancholyShe sat like patience on a monument,Smiling at grief.” | Citation: (VIOLA. Act 2, Scene 4)Meaning:She pined away. She just sat waiting patiently, sadly, smiling despite her sadness. Her complexion turned greenish from depression. |
| “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em.” | Citation: (MALVOLIO. Act 2, Scene 4)Meaning: |
| “This is the air, that is the glorious sun.This pearl she gave me, I do feel ‘t and see ‘t,And though ’tis wonder that enwraps me thus,Yet ’tis not madness.” | Citation: (SEBASTIAN. Act 4, Scene 3)Meaning: This is the air, that’s the glorious sun. I can feel and see this pearl she gave me. I may be dazed and confused, but I’m not insane. |
| “Prove true, imagination, oh, prove true,That I, dear brother, be now ta’en for you!” | Citation: (VIOLA, Act Scene 4)Meaning:Oh, please be true, please let it be that this man has mistaken me for you, my dear brother! |
| “One face, one voice, one habit, and two persons!A natural perspective, that is and is not!” | Citation: (ORSINO. Act 5, Scene 1)Meaning:One face, one voice, one way of dressing, but two people! It’s like an optical illusion. It is and isn’t the same person!(He sees Sebastian) |
| “..and thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges.” | Citation: (FESTE THE FOOL. Act 5, Scene 1)Meaning:What goes around comes around.Talking to Malvolio |
| “Cesario, come,For so you shall be, while you are a man.But when in other habits you are seen,Orsino’s mistress and his fancy’s queen.” | Citation: (ORSINO. Act 5, Scene 1)Meaning:Cesario, come here. I’ll keep calling you Cesario while you’re still a man, but when we see you in women’s clothes you’ll be the queen of my dreams, Orsino’s true love. |
English IV: Final Exam Twelfth Night Quotes
July 3, 2019