Twelfth Night – Act 1 (edited by Mrs. Aguirre)

‘If music be the food of love, play on’ Orsino (Act 1 Scene 1)- metaphor connotes harmony, beauty, emotion and pleasure of love and music – spondee shows how overwhelmed Orsino is by idea of being in love
‘That strain again’ Orsino (Act 1 Scene 1) – suggests music has dropped in cadence
‘like the sweet sound’ Orsino (Act 1 Scene 1) – simile – music compared to nature
‘Stealing and giving odour. Enough, no more.’ Orsino (Act 1 Scene 1) – antithesis of ‘stealing’ and ‘giving’ suggests he believes love causes pain – it’s transient – caesura
‘O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou’ Orsino (Act 1 Scene 1) – apostrophe- direct address used to convey power love has over him
‘she purged the air of pestilence’ Orsino (Act 1 Scene 1) – violent verb- implies Olivia can do what is impossible – aligns Orsino as a comic figure as it conforms in Patrachan style.
‘And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds, e’er since pursue me’ Orsino (Act 1 Scene 1) – simile – suggests Orsino is victim of love – hyperbolical
‘But like a cloistress she will veiled walk’ Valentine (Act 1 Scene 1) – simile – Olivia wishes to isolate herself from Orsino
‘with eye-offending brine – all this to season a brother’s dead love, which she would keep fresh’ Valentine (Act 1 Scene 1) – semantic field of preservation suggests she wants to bring back dead brother’s love’
‘How will she love when the rich golden shaft hath killed the flock of all affections else’ Orsino (Act 1 Scene 1) – metaphor – describes Cupid’s arror hitting Olivia
‘One self king!’ Orsino (Act 1 Scene 1) – metaphor – engulging in own desires
‘For saying so, there’s gold’ Viola (Act 1 Scene 2) – ‘gold’ is precious- Viola regards info about Sebastian as precious, showing she values life over material goods – stage directions back this up
‘Perchance he is not drowned: what think you, sailors?’ Viola (Act 1 Scene 2) – question shows belief in authority of Captain – values Captain’s guidance as much as someone of higher class
‘He was a bachelor then’ Viola (Act 1 Scene 2) – implies marriage to Orsino is always on Viola’s mind
‘For such disguise as haply shall become/The form of my intent’ Viola (Act 1 Scene 2) – image of transience through identity – identities are interchangeable
‘I’ll drink to her as long as there is a passage in my throat and drink in Illyria’ Sir Toby (Act 1 Scene 3) – highlights his manipulation of Olivia’s mourning to his own end – shows he is an alcoholic
‘…board her, woo her, assail her.’ Sir Toby (Act 1 Scene 3) – ‘board’ has naval connotations to do with sex. Sir Toby sees women as sexual objects
‘It’s dry, sir.’ Maria (Act 1 Scene 3) – polysemous line suggesting Sir Andrew’s palms are literally dry or he is impotent.
‘But I am a great eater of beef and I believe that does harm to my wit’ Sir Andrew (Act 1 Scene 3) – polysemous without Sir Andrew realising it. – links to belief that consuming beef dulls the brain but also suggests he’s been promiscuous with prostitutes and has contracted a disease’
‘bear-baiting’ Sir Andrew (Act 1 Scene 3) – cruel practice foreshadows later cruelty towards Malvolio
‘In what chapter of his bosom?’ Olivia (Act 1 Scene 5) – metaphor the ‘chapter’ suggests Orsino’s advances are predictable and shows understanding of objectification by the Blazon.
‘A comfortable doctrine’ Olivia (Act 1 Scene 5) – metaphor. ‘Comfortable’ implies Orsino’s values are conservative while ‘doctrine’ implies he is a product of courtly love
‘…indifferent red; item, two grey eyes’ Olivia (Act 1 Scene 5) – ‘indifferent’ and ‘grey’ are dull adjectives and Olivia rejects objectification by the Blazon
‘I know his soul is in heaven, fool’ Olivia (Act 1 Scene 5) – ‘know’ shows Olivia trying to assert authority on Feste, using her upper-class status against his wit
…is but patched with sin; and sin that amends is but patched with virtue’ Feste (Act 1 Scene 5) – prose – semantic field of clothing suggests conflict between appearance and reality. Is Olivia really grieving?
‘cucullus non facit monoachum’ Feste (Act 1 Scene 5) – Latin shows high level of intellect
‘Give me my veil: come, throw it o’er my face’ Olivia (Act 1 Scene 5) – ‘throw’ is dismissive, arguably suggesting Olivia’s sadness is a façade.
‘Are you a comedian?’ Olivia (Act 1 Scene 5) – believes Viola is playing a part. The irony is, she is, but as Orsino’s messenger
‘Are you the lady of the house?’ Viola (Act 1 Scene 5) – Olivia reluctant to play role and reveal true identity, like Viola.
‘Give us the place a long: we will hear this divinity’ Olivia (Act 1 Scene 5) – Shakespeare foreshadows Olivia’s desire for intimacy with Viola
‘If I did love you in my master’s flame…’ Viola (Act 1 Scene 5)- Viola indebted to a man’s possession – Orsino.