Twelfth Night Study Guide

To Gorge To stuff with food.
Bowers Overhanging shade of leaves and flowers.
Spendthrift One who spends money wastefully.
Zest Liveliness or energy.
Shrew A woman of violent temper and speech.
Woo To seek the affection of love of another.
Virtues Moral excellence, goodness.
Contempt Feeling with which a person regards anything considering mean, vile, or worthless.
Inventoried A complete list of merchandise.
Heresy Opinion that goes against church.
Setting Illyria and the past.
What Has Happened To Viola at the Start of the Story? At the start of the story, Viola and her twin brother, Sebastian, get separated in a shipwreck and Viola ends up washed up on the shore of Illyria, thinking that her brother is dead. There she disguises herself as a boy and works as a page for the Duke, however, she shortly falls in love with him.
Why is Orsino so Melancholy at the Beginning of the Story? Orsino is so melancholy at the beginning of the story because he woos Olivia who does not seek affection in him. He has sent many servants to talk to her and try to make her feel the same way, however, he isn’t very successful.
Why is Olivia in Mourning? Olivia is in mourning because of the death of her brother. She informs people that she will mourn his death for seven years and wear a veil, not even allowing the sun to see her face.
Hospitality Friendly reception and treatment of guest.
Dowry The money, goods or estate a wife brings to a husband in marriage.
Braggart A person who does a lot of bragging.
Rogue A dishonest person, scoundrel.
Conceited Having an excessively favorable opinion about oneself.
Fickle Likely to change, not constant.
Mirth Laughter or merriment.
Deformed Having a changed form, misshapen, disfigured.
Quarrel An argument of disagreement.
Incensed To make angry, enrage.
Waylay To attack or ambush.
Hostile Unfriendly and unkind.
Scurvy Worthless, despicable.
Jove Another name for God.
Valor Boldness or determination, especially in great danger.
Indebted Committed to repaying a favor.
Folly A foolish action.
Why Does Antonio Hesitate to go to the Duke’s Palace? Antonio hesitated to go along with Sebastian to the Duke’s palace because as he informed Sebastian, he has a lot of enemies of the court of the Duke’s palace.
What Practical Joke Was Played in a Scene? The practical joke that was played in a scene was that Maria disguised her handwriting as Olivia’s and wrote a letter describing a man that she has fallen in love with. The note listed some attributes and tasks that the person must perform if they woo her back. She then dropped the letter in the path of where Malvolio was walking, causing him to follow all of the directions on the letter because he thinks he is Olivia’s love interest. Feste, Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and Fabian are also involved in this prank.
Viola Viola was in a shipwreck and ended up on the shores of Illyria thinking that her twin brother, Sebastian, is dead. After being informed that the queen is mourning her brother’s death for seven years, she decides to disguise herself as a boy and works as a page for Duke Orsino. Shortly later, she falls in love with Duke Orsino who loves Queen Olivia however, Olivia seeks the affection of the disguised Viola, also known as Cessario.
Cessario Cessario is Viola’s disguise so that she can work as a page for Duke Orsino.
Malvolio Malvolio is one of the servants who works for Queen Olivia. Fabian, Sir Andrew Aguecheeck, Feste, Sir Toby Belch, and Maria recently played a prank on him leading him to the conclusion that Olivia has fallen in love with him. Maria disguised her handwriting as Olivia’s and wrote a letter describing a man that she woos and listed some attributes and tasks he must perform, which he does because the letter was placed in the path where he was walking.
Duke Orsino Duke Orsino is a man who loves Olivia. He has sent many pages to make her woo him back, including Viola, however, he isn’t very successful. Duke Orsino is very melancholy at the thought of this failure at the beginning of the story, so only depressing music pleases him.
Sir Andrew Aguecheeck Sir Andrew Aguecheek doesn’t work for Olivia and mostly hangs out Sir Toby Belch, Olivia’s cousin. He is not sober and spends his time drinking and dancing. This man woos Olivia however, like most men, is not treated the same. In order to get back at Malvolio for always commanding him to thwart his drinking hobby, he was part of the mischievious prank.
Sir Toby Belch Sir Toby Belch is Olivia’s cousin and Sir Andrew Aguecheek’s partner in drinking. He has convinced Sir Andrew that Olivia seeks his affection in order for him to stay longer. This man was also part of the cruel prank played on Malvolio to simmer down his self esteem however, he is afraid that the prank is going too far because he doesn’t want Queen Olivia finding out and being frustrated with him.
Feste Feste works as a jester for Queen Olivia however, he’s very wise and intelligent. He’s found mostly singing romantic songs and Duke Orsino’s depressing songs two. This jester or fool also dances in delight.
Maria Maria is loyal to her mistress, Queen Olivia however, she uses that trust and loyalty to copy Olivia’s handwriting to play a trick on Malvolio, the steward of Olivia’s household. She, along with Sir Toby, Fabian, Feste the clown, and Sir Andrew, are mistreated by Malvolio, and decide to play an elaborate joke on him.
Fabian Fabian is a member of Olivia’s household with responsibilities that are never explained. He takes part in the plot against Malvolio with Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Feste, and Maria.
Sebastian Sebastian is Viola’s twin brother and believes that she’s dead. He too was in the shipwreck and survived by tying himself to the mast of the boat. The reason why he ended up in Illyria is because of a captain, named Antonio, who brought him there. Antonio decided to go to the Duke’s court with Sebastian even though he has a lot of enemies there.
Olivia Olivia is the queen of Illyria and is mourning the death of her past brother and will for seven years. She will wear a veil for this duration of time, not allowing even the sun to see her face. The Duke Orsino is in love with her however, she seeks the affection of Viola/Cessario after meeting him once. She wishes for the Duke to send no more servants to win her over except for Viola
Antonio Antonio was the captain who rescued Sebastian from the shipwreck.
Sir Topaz The man Feste disguises in a beard and gown to trick Malvolio into believing he’s hallucinating.
What Did Feste Say to Sebastian? “Nothing is so is so.”
What Does Sebastian Agree to Do? Sebastian agrees to marry Queen Olivia because, even though he just met her, he knows that she is a beautiful and wealthy lady in the garden. Olivia agreed to keep their marriage a secret until Sebastian wanted to make it public.
Who Does Fabian Marry? No one.
Who Does Feste/Sir Topaz Marry? No one.
Who Does Sir Toby Belch Marry? Maria.
Who Does Sir Andrew Aguecheek Marry? No one.
Who Does Viola/Cessario Marry? Duke Orsino.
Who Does Antonio Marry? No one.
Who Does Maria Marry? Sir Toby Belch.
Who Does Queen Olivia Marry? Sebastian.
Who Does Duke Orsino Marry? Viola/Cessario.
Who Does Malvolio Marry? No one.
Who Does Sebastian Marry? Queen Olivia.
Author William Shakespeare.
Genre Play.
Main Characters Viola/Cessario, Olivia, Feste/Sir Topaz, Fabian, Maria, Malvolio, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Sir Toby Belch, Duke Orsino, Sebastian, Curio, Valentine, Priest, and Antonio.