Act 1

Keep track of characters, their personalities, their problems, and their relationships to one another. Note any recurring words or images that would suggest a theme.

Read Act 1 in Twelfth Night Navigator so that you can better use and understand the original language. As needed, consult No Fear Shakespeare.

Scene 1

1. In the first 15 lines of the scene, Orsino associates love with music, appetite, the sea, fortune/money, and the imagination. What ideas does Orsino try to express about love here?
2. According to the dialogue between Orsino and Curio, what or who is hunting whom (1.1.16-22)? Visit this page to learn a bit more about hunting at this time.
3. Do some research on the Life in Elizabethan England: A Compendium of Knowledge site. What were common customs for courtship and love? What were common customs for mourning?
4. From this brief glimpse, comment on the character and behaviour of Olivia and Orsino. How would you describe them? In what ways are their situations similar? How are their emotional responses alike? To what degree would you consider their behaviour (Orsino's approach to love and courtship and Olivia's response to her brother's death) healthy or normal (according to the norms of Elizabethan England per question #4)?
5. According to the wisdom of the 1500s, what are the brain, the liver, and the heart each responsible for (use the notes in the Twelfth Night Navigator version to help you)? According to Orsino, what is Olivia's problem? How would she be cured of it? (1.1.36-38)
6. What themes, images, and key concepts does Shakespeare introduce us to in this first scene? Remember to look for repeated, similar words, repeated key images. The video and No Fear Shakespeare should be able to help you out here, too.

Scene 2

1. What has just happened to Viola and to her brother (1.2.1-17)? Shakespeare seems to be setting up another comparison here, this time between Viola and Olivia.

2. According to this site, what options were available to women at this time?

3. What is Viola's social status or 'estate'? What clues does the text give us to confirm this (see line 2, 18, 44, 52)?

4. Why does Viola want to serve Olivia (12.41-43)? Would this have been considered normal or acceptable for someone of her social status? According to this site, what would a servant do?

5. What does Viola finally decide to do (1.1.52-61)? How is Viola's response to her emotional crisis different from that of Orsino and Olivia in the previous scene? Again, within this brief glimpse of this character, what is your first impression?

6. Shakespeare often disguises one gender as another in his plays, but keep in mind, too, that all actors at this time were male, so Olivia and Viola (as well as Maria, whom we meet later) would have been played by boys or younger men. The audiences of past and present believe gender swapping to be silly or ludicrous, yet go along with it to serve the purpose of the plot. Considering all this, why does Viola decide to do that? Would this have been considered normal or acceptable? If not, why might Shakespeare have written the plot as such?

7. Catch the allusions: what do Elysium (1.2.4) and Arion (1.2.15) refer to, respectively?

Consider the names Shakespeare has chosen for his characters. Olivia and Viola share all letters in common, suggesting some kind of parallel. Olivia refers to olives, which represent peace, while Viola is related to violets (a flower of spring, new beginnings) and also the musical instrument. Valentine is of course related to St. Valentine of the love holiday, and Curio has the same roots as curious.

Scene 3

1. Who is Sir Toby and what is his relation to Olivia (1.3.1)? What is it about him that Olivia takes exception to (1.3.5-6)? His last name, Belch, is a bit of a joke but also very much indicative of his character flaw.

2. What is one pun from this scene? Identify who makes it, provide the properly cited quote, and explain how the pun works. Use the Navigator notes to help you.

3. Who is Sir Andrew Aguecheek and how do Toby and Maria describe him, respectively (1.3.15-43)? See the Navigator note on his last name.

4. Why is Sir Andrew there (1.3.15-17)? When he appears, does he fit the description given of him earlier? What does he plan to do (1.3.105-114)?

5. What is the malapropism from this scene (1.3.34)? Who says it and what word should they have used instead? What effect does this mistake have?

6. When Sir Andrew compares himself to a "Christian" (1.3.74), what does "Christian" mean? Use the Navigator notes to help you.

7. What was "bear-baiting" (1.3.93) (Use the Navigator notes to help you)? Considering that "Orsino" means "little bear," why do you think Shakespeare named this character so? Consider Orsino's opening lines again.

Scene 4

1. Who is Cesario and what is his relation to Duke Orsino? What is Cesario being sent to do (1.4.12-18)?

2. Orsino is adhering to Elizabethan courtship ritual by sending a servant to speak on his behalf. How might he attract Olivia's attention in today's society?

3. When Cesario asks what he should do if Olivia won't permit him to speak, Orsino responds, "Be clamorous and leap all civil bounds/ Rather than make unprofited return" (1.4.21-22). What do the word choices (and their connotations) suggest about the nature of love? What might they foreshadow, considering the conventions of comedy?

4. What does Orsino think he sees when he looks at Cesario (1.4.30-34)? What does he really see without knowing that he does? What literary device is this an example of?

5. Use LiteraryDevices.net to help you. What is a dilemma? What is an aside? What is a couplet? What is Viola's dilemma as expressed in her aside (1.4.41-42)? What effect does it have that Shakespeare has written these lines as a couplet?

6. Shakespeare’s comedies often rely on foiled expectations and mistaken, unexpected love to develop the story. Predict how things could go wrong within the structure of the elements of plot so far. What might happen between Orsino and Olivia? Olivia and Cesario? Orsino and Cesario/Viola?

Scene 5

1. Look at 1.5.3-30. What kind of fate does Maria suggest awaits Feste (the Clown/Fool) and why? How does Feste brush this off and make light of it (examine and explain his puns and jokes with the help of the Navigator).

2. Look at 1.5.39-53. Why does Feste consider Olivia a “fool”? Summarize his logic and advice to her (refer to the note in the Navigator for help). Does the fool seem foolish? For reference, Feste's name is associated with festival or festivities.

3. What are the seven deadly sins? List them, providing synonyms as needed. Note: lechery is an old-school synonym for lust.

4. When Malvolio insults the fool, what does Olivia accuse Malvolio of (1.5.90)? Which deadly sin is this most closely associated with? Consider as well that Malvolio's name means "bad/ill will/motive."

5. Which deadly sin does Olivia associate with Sir Toby (1.5.124), and what does he confuse this with (1.5.125)?

6. According to the fool, what happens to a drunken man the more he drinks (1.5.131-133)? How might this affect a person who is, say, drunk with love or drunk with ambition? Whose fate(s) might this foreshadow?

7. How does Maria describe the young man at the gate (1.5.139)? How does Sir Toby describe him (1.5.118-129)? How does Malvolio describe him (1.5.151-162)? Have any of them seen who is really there? Have any of them come close?

8. What arguments does Cesario use to persuade Olivia to hear Orsino's appeals (1.5.170-211)? What arguments does Olivia use to refute them (1.5.170-211)? Who makes the more convincing argument?

9. Cesario answers Olivia's question "What are you?" by explaining, "What I am, and what I would, are as secret as maidenhead" (lines 211-216). What is the irony here?

10. To what do Olivia and Cesario liken Orsino's message (that is, what is the extended metaphor they use) (1.5.220-229)? What does this comparison imply about each of their attitude toward it?

11. To what does Olivia liken her face (that is, what is the extended metaphor she uses) (1.5.232-249)? What does this comparison imply about her attitude toward it?

12. What is Cesario/Viola's opinion of Olivia (1.5.250-253)?

13. What prompts Olivia to send Malvolio after Cesario/Viola with the ring (1.5.289-298)?

14. From what we see of her up to now, how seriously is Olivia mourning? How can you tell?

15. Orsino has been trying desperately to win the affection of Olivia, yet Cesario unwittingly wins her regard in their very first meeting. What qualities does Cesario possess that Orsino lacks, or what other factors make the situation different? Provide some examples.

Act 1 Quiz Study Guide

The quiz will consist of:

• 10 multiple choice questions on character, plot, narrative, literary devices (dilemma, aside, soliloquy, allusion, malapropism, pun, dramatic irony, situational irony, verbal irony, hyperbole, simile, metaphor, analogy)
• 1 quote analysis question (you will be given 3 options on the quiz from the list below and need to respond to 1; you will need to identify: 1. who said it, 2. the context in which it was said, 3. what it means, and 4. why it's significant for one or more of the play's themes: