Twelfth Night Dramatic Devices Examples

Soliloquy In Act 2.3 when Cesario is talking to himself and the audience and realizes the Olivia loves him: “I left no ring with her; what means this lady? Fortune forbid my outside have not charmed her!”
Monologue “Make me a willow cabin at your gate and call upon mysoul within your house. Write loyal cantons of condemned love” – when Cesario tells Olivia what “he” would do if “he” were in love with her. It’s the moment when she falls in love with “him.”
Aside “O what a deal of scorn looks beautiful in the contemptand anger of his lip.” Olivia is talking to herself in 3.2, saying that Cesario is even more handsome when “he” is angry. No one else hears her talking – just the audience.
Imagery “But silence, like a Lucrece knife with bloodless strokemy heart doth gore” – when Malvolio talks about his love for Olivia and he can’t express his adoration of her.
Dramatic Irony “In my stars I am above thee, but be not afraid ofgreatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness. Some have greatness thrust upon ’em.” – Malvolio tells himself that he will soon have Olivia, but we know there’s no way that she loves him back.
Situational Irony “O time, thou must untangle this, not I. It is too heard aknot for me to untie!” Voila/Cesario is talking to herself about the ironic situation she is in, as she recognizes the love triangle that she is a part of.
Verbal Irony “I’m sure care’s an enemy to life.” – Sir Toby sayingthat care is an enemy to life.
Pun When Feste says to Sir Toby that Andrew is a dear”manakin” – he means both a lovely person AND also a puppet.
Allusion When Sir Toby is talking to Maria and they plot toinsult/play a trick on Malvolio he says, “T’is not forgravity to play at cherry pit with Satan.” There is a reference to the Bible (and the meaning is ‘you can’t reason with Satan.)At the beginning of the play when the Captain tells Viola he thought he saw Sebastian riding the waves like “Orion” – reference to Greek and Roman Mythology.