The metaphor “ if music be the food of love, play on, give me excess of it: that surfeiting, the appetite may sicken, and so die”, is explaining that the music will keep his love for Olivia alive. So that the pain he is feeling from Olivias negative response will fade away from him, and not distress and torture him any more. As you need food to live its like he need love to live. He assumes that if he fills up on food till he is sick he will not love her any longer.
In act 1 scene 2 Shakespeare astutely uses a pun on the words hart/heart. Curio enquires, “Will you go hunt my lord … the hart. Orsino responds with “ o when my eyes did see Olivia first, methought she purg’d the air of pestilence, that instance was I turned into a hart”. In this extract Orsino is saying that he is hunting for Olivia’s heart. Yet again Shakespeare cunningly uses his words, so it seems that Orsino is a male hart and his emotions are like hounds hunting him, “ and my desires like fell and cruel hounds”.
The majority of this scene is written in blank verse. Blank verse is used when someone highly educated, noble and righteous is speaking. For instance its like in another Shakespeare’s eminent play Romeo and Juliet, if an individual such as Romeo, Mercutio, Juliet etc, is speaking then blank verse will be used. One example of prose on this scene in Twelfth Night is when Curio a gentleman attending Orsino asks, “ will you go hunt my lord”. Prose is used for the inferior part of the audience. The less well off part of the audience stood in the pit to view the play and only paid one penny. It was very crowded in the pit and there was nowhere to sit, it was open aired so it could rain, snow etc on the poor part of the audience. The more affluent sat higher up in more privileged seats. Shakespeare used different types of language when he told jokes he used various styles. So there would be comical jokes for the higher class in which they would really get pleasure from but the audience in the pit wouldn’t have a clue about, though in the mean time he used phrases that the less educated would find hilarious.
Three lines “ O when liver, brain, and hearty, these sovereign thrones, are all suppli’d, and fill’d her sweet perfections with one self king:” imply that Olivias four humours are unbalanced. The four humours were thought to control speech, behaviour and mood. In a human being, this was a belief of the 1600s.
The four humours are blood, phlegm, choler (yellow bile) and melancholy (black bile). The reason Orsino senses that Olivia does not love him as her humours are unbalanced since she is in mourning for her dead brother, Orsino has faith that once she has got over her dead brother then her four humours will be balanced. So she will be able to experience love for him.
Act one scene two, is situated on the seacoast of Illyria. This is the first time we meet Viola; she had been on a boat carrying her twin brother Sebastian who she dearly loved, the captain and herself. The ship was fatally wrecked at sea although Viola accompanied by the captain manages to get safely and unharmed to the shore. She fears that her brother has not survived and has drowned. For this reason she is very depressed and miserable. She adores her brother very deeply and gives the impression that she is very close to him.
Viola requests many answers from the captain about the place they have arrived in. She seems very despondent, ‘And what should I do in Illyria? My brother he is in Elysium’. Even though she is very strong, to risk disguising herself as a man to be a gentleman for count Orsino “ conceal me what I am and be my aid, for such disguise as haply shall become the form of my intent. I’ll serve this duke;” she is not as courageous and fearless as her twin brother Sebastian, who goes straight to the duke explains the situation and who he is.
Viola’s judgement on the captain is that she is vastly fond of him he tries to reassure her that her brother may possibly have survived the wreckage and continued to exist “ I saw your brother most provident in peril, bind himself to a strong mast, that liv’d upon the sea”. She is awfully obliged “ for saying so, there’s gold”. Viola is furthermore appreciative for the captain’s assistance in helping her learn much information abort Illyria. He tells her where they have arrived, then who governs Illyria “noble duke in nature, as in name…Orsino”. He explains to her about Olivia and Orsinos ongoing unrequited love for her “that he did seek the love of fair Olivia…a virtuous maid” The captain also lets her in on the situation” her brother who shortly died… she hath abjur’d the sight and company of men”. And aiding her to disguise herself, “I thank thee lead on”
When Viola says her brother is in “Elysium”. It’s that her brother is deceased and gone to Elysium, which in Greek mythology is the home of the blessed in the after- life. The captain’s reference to Arion is explained as a Greek musician who was carried to safety by a dolphin. Arion had thrown himself into the sea so that he could break away from murderous sailors. The captain is indicating that whereas the dolphin saved Arion, the mast of the boat could save Sebastian “where like Arion on the dolphin’s back,”
I would presume that these references stated by Viola and the Captain, would have been understood by the more educated section of the audience. These idioms were prepared for the higher class and not for the lower less intellectual class.
In Shakespearean times there were no curtains. Consequently at the end of a scene, two indications were performed to reveal the scene was ending. The two indications to the audience that scene 2 act one had ended is the rhyming couplet “ be you this eunuch, and your mute I’ll be when my tongue blabs, then let mine eyes not see”. Also “ exeunt” this means that all the entertainers leave the stage. That’s how it was comprehensible to the audience that the scene had ended.
By the end of Act one scene three, we ascertain that Sir Toby Belch is related to Olivia. Sir Toby disapproves of Olivia mourning for her brother, ‘what a plague mean my niece to take the death of her brother thus’. Maria indicates to Sir Toby that Olivia is getting frustrated with his heavy drink problem and late nights. Sir Toby convinces Sir Andrew Ague cheek that he would probably be able to marry Olivia. Sir Toby does this, as he wants to keep Sir Andrew as close to him as possible in order to swindle him out of his money. From this we conclude that Sir Andrew has previously spent a great amount of time and effort on his unpromising and ludicrous attempts to marry Olivia. When Sir Andrew decides to call it a day and go home, Sir Toby easily persuades him to change his mind.
This scene is all written in prose not blank verse. The reason for this is as its more down to earth. Prose is used for characters of low life and for comical scenes. Three specific examples of prose including swearing, sexual innuendo and bawdy are: one when Sir Andrew expresses “ why I think so; I am not such an ass, but I can keep my hand dry. But what’s your jest?” The implication of this is that in Shakespearean times you would get sweaty palms if you were keen on someone and liked them. Thus Sir Andrew is enquiring if Maria's hands are dry or sweaty. This quote is an example of bawdy. An alternative example is when Sir Toby says “Excellent it hangs like flax on a distaff and I hope to see a housewife take thee between her legs, and spin it off” This signifies that Sir Andrew desires to get himself a woman. The styles of Sir Toby’s words are quite complex. What he is doing is contrasting Sir Andrews’s hair to flax, which is a washed-out yellow fibre, which is then wound onto a clef stick (which is like a spinning wheel), and then spun off to make linen. The word housewife is in addition mentioned. Housewife in Shakespearean times was a name for a prostitute. If the prostitute was to take Sir Andrew between the legs, Sir Toby hopes for Sir Andrew to get infected with syphilis this affecting many changes including his hair to fall out. This quote is an example of sexual innuendo. The third quote giving an example of swearing is “what a plague means my niece to take the death of her brother thus? I am sure cares an enemy to life”. What this quote is showing is that Sir Toby is irritated and angry with Olivia and her mourning for her dead brother. He believes that she ought to discontinue her mourning as it is tying him down so he can’t have any merriment and high spirits.
Sir Toby Belch’s character is enormously boisterous, loud and outgoing. Sir Toby is classified as a cheerful individual, who really does not care what others think of him. Specifically about what people think of his eating and drinking habits, ‘I’ll confine myself no more than I am’. He likes a practical joke. Like the one He and Maria, Sir Andrew, and Fabian conjured up for Malvolio. Although he is Olivia’s Uncle he is not at all sympathetic to her “ what a plague means my niece to take the death of her brother thus”. He doesn’t desire her to be in mourning as he feels he is suffering and that she is a barrier stopping him have any enjoyment and exuberance. He is keen on living life to the full, whilst not having anything to worry about “ I’m sure care’s an enemy to life”. He gives the impressions that he is a relatively callous character. He does not like thinking problems through. Sir Toby Belch’s name is also fairly humorous. This is as he drinks much alcohol, and when you do so you burp, burp is an alternative word for belch.
Sir Andrew Ague-cheek’s character is a rich and foolish knight and "friend" of Sir Toby Belch; he is duped into staying in the household and providing money and drink to Sir Toby. This is as he is being convinced, as he actually considers having a chance to marry Olivia, which is very imprudent, as she will not love a man for seven years. He also seems incredibly dense he doesn’t understand certain words “accost. What’s that?”. He is expected to know four diverse languages nevertheless he doesn’t comprehend “ porquoi my dear night. What is pourquoi?” Sir Andrew Ague-cheek like Sir Toby also has a humorous name. Ague is a disease, which can be compared to malaria and when you have it you have fits and shakes.
Sir Andrew is an appalling and clumsy dancer. In Shakespearean times star signs controlled certain things. Sir Andrew is a Taurus and that controlled the legs so Sir Andrew ought to be a high-quality dancer as he was born under the sign of Taurus
If I was directing a performance of Twelfth Night, the historical period I would set it in would be Georgian. The Georgian period began when King George 1 came to the throne in 1714 and continued through the reigns of George 2 and George 3 until about 1811. I decided to set it in Georgian times as I feel it’s unique and it’s a very different period of time to Shakespearean. I picked the costume I have chosen for Sir Toby for the reason that it’s a smart outfit and he could look very sophisticated in it. Except, as he is Sir Toby Belch he looks scruffy as he has not shaved and has not got an adequate hairstyle. He also has a “beer belly” from the excessive amount of alcohol he absorbs and the amount of food he devours. I have coloured him in bright colours in view of the fact that he is loud and outgoing and usually, loud and outgoing people wear flamboyant clothes. I have also drawn him with his hand in his pocket; his pocket is where he stores small snacks and pocket-sized bottles of alcohol. This is a distinctive and typical characteristic of Sir Toby as I mentioned before he take pleasure in food and drink.
