© Boardworks Ltd 2003 1 of 19 Twelfth Night Act Two For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation. This icon indicates the slide.

© Boardworks Ltd 20031 of 19

Twelfth Night Act Two

For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation.

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Plot summary exercise

Complete the plot summary by filling in the blanks:

We find out that ____________ is still alive, rescued

from the sea by ___________. Sebastian wants to go to

visit ________, but this is dangerous for Antonio. Olivia

talks about her love for Cesario. Sir Toby and Sir

Andrew are having a party. Malvolio tells them to stop,

as they are disturbing _______. Maria has a plan to

send Malvolio some __________, pretending that Olivia

is in love with him.

Sebastian

AntonioIllyria

Olivia

letters


Cesario talks to ____________ about love, saying that

‘he’ loves someone like the Duke. Feste, the Duke’s

__________ sings about love. Orsino sends Cesario to

visit ________ again. Malvolio finds the __________

that Maria has written, and thinks that it is from Olivia. In

the letter, Maria tells Malvolio to wear __________

stockings. Malvolio believes that he can marry Olivia.

Orsino

clown

Olivia letter

yellow

Plot summary exercise

Complete the plot summary by filling in the blanks:


The comic sub-plot

The characters in the comic sub-plot reappear in Act Two, Scene Three.

On the next slides you will find blank character studies for three of the characters. Complete the character studies for each person, then look at the suggested answers to check what you have written.

All the information you need to complete the character studies can be found in the text of Act One and Two. If Shakespeare does not specify a particular detail, write ‘unknown’.


Name(s): ___________________________________

Occupation: ___________________________________

Relatives: ___________________________________

___________________________________

Personality: ___________________________________

___________________________________

___________________________________

Maria


Name(s): Maria

Occupation: Olivia’s maid

Relatives: Unknown

Personality:

Clever - she appears to be well educated, as is shown by her letter writing skills and her witty dialogue.

Fun loving – she suggests writing the letter to Malvolio.

Sensible – she tells Sir Toby off for drinking and making a noise. She is confident of her position in the household.

Maria


Name(s): ______________________________

Occupation: ______________________________

Relatives: ______________________________

______________________________

Personality: ______________________________

______________________________

______________________________

Sir Toby


Name(s): Sir Toby Belch

Occupation: none

Relatives: uncle to Olivia

Personality:

Lazy – he doesn’t work and borrows money from Sir Andrew. He drinks constantly.

Good humoured – he teases Maria and makes fun of Sir Andrew. He seems to enjoy life, making up words and jokes.

Sir Toby


Name(s): ___________________________________

Occupation: ___________________________________

Relatives: ___________________________________

___________________________________

Personality: ___________________________________

___________________________________

___________________________________

Sir Andrew


Name(s): Sir Andrew Aguecheek

Occupation: knight

Relatives: unknown

Personality:

Foolish, he is easily persuaded to give money to Sir Toby, and to stay on in the house in the hope of wooing Olivia.

Sir Andrew


Who is being described?


Questions – Act Two, Scene Three

1. Why do the other characters want to make fun of Malvolio?

2. What does Maria mean when she calls Malvolio a ‘kind of’ Puritan?

3. What is Maria’s plan?4. What do you learn about the relationship between Sir

Andrew and Sir Toby in this scene?5. What do you learn about the relationship between Sir

Toby and Maria in this scene?


Detailed analysis

On the next slides, you will find an extract from Act Two, Scene Four, with a detailed analysis of this piece of text. This will help you learn the techniques that you will need to employ when approaching the play as a whole.

There are various themes and images which become apparent in this section, and some of these are explored in more detail in the presentation on Act Three.

Remember, when you are analysing the text, never lose sight of the fact that Twelfth Night is a play. Think about how you might put across some of these themes and images on stage. What could the characters do to ‘point’ to these particular words?


Act Two, Scene Four


Viola: Say that some lady, as perhaps there is,Hath for your love as great a pang of heartAs you have for Olivia: you cannot love her;You tell her so; must she not then be answered?

Orsino: There is no woman’s sidesCan bide the beating of so strong a passionAs love doth give my heart: no woman’s heartSo big, to hold so much, they lack retention.Alas, their love may be called appetite -No motion of the liver, but the palate -That suffers surfeit, cloyment and revolt;But mine is all as hungry as the sea,And can digest as much. Make no compareBetween that love a woman can bear meAnd that I owe Olivia.

Viola is talking about herself. The dramatic

irony (see Act Five) creates tension.

Orsino believes that male and female love

are very different.

Orsino uses an extended metaphor about food to describe the difference.

Here, he uses the sea to describe his love: an image used frequently

in this play.

Act Two, Scene Four


Viola: Ay, but I know -Orsino: What dost thou know?Viola: Too well what women to men may owe:In faith they are as true of heart as we.My father had a daughter loved a man,As it might be, perhaps, were I a woman,I should your lordship.Orsino: And what’s her history?Viola: A blank, my lord: she never told her love,But let concealment like a worm i’th’ budFeed on her damask cheek: she pined in thought,And with a green and yellow melancholyShe sat like Patience on a monument,

Smiling at grief.

Viola’s only way to hint to Orsino of her love is by describing ‘her father’s daughter’, i.e. herself.

Viola puts the case for women’s love: they are

as true as men.

Viola describes the ‘daughter’, suffering because she keeps

her love a secret.Viola explains how

concealment is like a worm in a plant – it eats away at her.

Act Two, Scene Four


Viola: Was not this love indeed?We men may say more, swear more - but indeedOur shows are more than will; for still we proveMuch in our vows, but little in our love.

Orsino: But died thy sister of her love, my boy?

Viola: I am all the daughters of my father’s house,And all the brothers too … and yet I know not …[they muse]Sir, shall I to this lady?

Orsino: [starts and rouses] Ay, that’s the theme,To her in haste; give her this jewel; say,My love can give no place, bide no denay.

Viola continues to challenge Orsino’s view of male love. Again, the

irony is bitter.

Viola almost gives away her secret. She

also alludes to the fact that she believes

her brother to be dead.

They both ‘muse’, or think deeply. Some people

suggest that Orsino already feels love for

Viola, but cannot express it to his ‘boy’.

Act Two, Scene Four


Questions – Act Two

Look closely at Viola’s speech in Act Two, Scene Two. What does she have to say about the theme of disguise?

Look closely at Act Two, Scene Five.

What is it about Malvolio’s character that makes him susceptible to the ‘practical joke’?

What does the letter say?

Answer the following questions to develop your understanding of Act Two.


Quiz

© Boardworks Ltd 2003 1 of 19 Twelfth Night Act Two For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation. This icon indicates the slide.

Documents

maria slide

sir toby slide

maria occupation

olivia personality

sir toby belch occupation

fun of sir andrew

olivia talks

comic subplot