Speare+Notes+by+Karishma+Bhagani


 * __ Speare Notes for Twelfth Night Podcast __**

Twelfth Night is a love comedy filled with misunderstandings. The plot of the play illustrates, jealousy, mistaken identity, cross dressing, deceit and it features fights. In the beginning, Viola was one of the survivors from a brutal ship wreck. She had a brother, Sebastian and when she dressed up as a man, she looked exactly like him. To hide her identity, Viola, cross dressed and took the man's name of Cesario. The rising action of the play is when Viola goes to Illyria and meets Orsino, the Duke of Illyria. She agrees to work for him. Orsino longs for the hand in marriage of a countess, Olivia. Viola (Cesario) then falls in love with Orsino, after being very close to him by working for him. The misunderstanding takes place in the climax when Duke Orsino sends Viola (Cesario) to deliver his message of love to Olivia’s palace. This is when Olivia falls in love with Viola (Cesario) thinking she is a man. Sir Toby Belch, Olivia’s Uncle, lives in her household. He is a very merry character. The steward of the house, Malvolio, is a very proud character. Sir Toby Belch writes a letter to Malvolio in Olivia’s handwriting stating that she loves him and if he wanted to prove his love for her he had to wear yeallow tights and show up in front of her. The falling action is when Sebastian, Viola’s (Cesario) twin brother arrives to Illyria. This is when all the problems are solved. The resolution falls in place as soon as Sebastian arrived. Sebastian and Olivia fall in love and marry, Orsino realizes that Viola is the right girl for him and she agrees to marry him. Everybody is happy, except Malvolio as Shakespeare talks about the madness of love.
 * __Summary of the play__**

Twelfth Night is a play filled with different types of characters with different personalities. The protagonist is Viola (Cesario) and the dynamic characters are; Duke Orsino, Olivia and Viola (Cesario). The antagonists and static characters in the play are Sir Toby Belch and his friend Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Malvolio is also an antagonist but he is more of a comedy character in Twelfth Night. Viola (Cesario) the protagonist, the dynamic character and the main character, without which Twelfth Night wouldn’t have existed. Viola is very brave and cheerful as she can be. She loves duke Orsino unselfishly enough to persuade another woman to love him on his behalf. She is a dynamic character because she cross dresses into a man and at the end, she reveals her true identity. Duke Orsino is the dynamic character and the governor of Illyria and is described as a Duke. He has a fine reputation internationally but he is very moody and irritable due to the problems he is facing in his love life. He is a dynamic character because at the end of the play, he changes his mind and marries Viola (Cesario) instead of Olivia. Olivia is a dynamic character, a countess and a very wealthy lady. She is very capable of standing on her own feet, dignified and very serious. When she falls in love with Cesario (Viola) she is very scared to lose her “calm” but she cannot control herself. She is the dynamic character because she changes her mind and marries Sebastian, Viola’s (Cesario) brother at the end whereas her original intention was to marry Viola (Cesario) because she thought that he was a man. Malvolio is steward to Olivia and he is a very self – centred character. He is a comedy character in Twelfth Night; however he may be an antagonist in the play because of his actions due to a deception in the play. He shows absolutely no warmth towards others. On the other hand, he is a very loyal steward to Olivia. He is affectionate towards Olivia and wants to take care of her and her household. Sir Toby Belch is the antagonist and Olivia’s alcoholic uncle who is interested in partying at someone else’s expense. He is an antagonist because he deceives Malvolio causing a misunderstanding between Olivia and Malvolio. Sir Andrew Aguecheek is the antagonist, Sir Toby’s friend and is scamming for his money. From the way he speaks he is revealed to be vain, cowardly and stupid. He is the antagonist in the play because he helps Sir Toby come up with a plan to deceive Malvolio.
 * __Character Analysis of the Main Characters from Tweflth Night.__**

When this dialogue is spoken, Duke Orsino is asking for more music because he is frustrated that Olivia rejected his marriage proposal. He believes that listening to music will cure or even eliminate his obsession for love. In today’s world, many people listen to music when there have been misunderstandings with their partner. Most people listen to music because they feel that it will help them forget about this individual.
 * __Famous Quotes from Twelfth Night that are still used today__**
 * __ Quotation 1 __**
 * “If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, the appetite may sicken, and so die. That strain again! It had a dying fall: O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound that breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more:” ** Duke Orsino

This dialogue is spoken when Malvolio reads the letter that was written by Sir Toby Belch to fool him. The quotation was included in the letter and it helped Malvolio gain the courage to confess his love for Olivia. In today’s world, most people are inspired by this quotation. Most people learn not to be afraid of greatness. This quotation also relates to destiny. Most comments on blog sites about this quotation are about destiny and how some people have to work to get something and others get it easily.
 * __Quotation 2__**
 * "Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them".**

This quote is said when Viola (Cesario) has returned to Duke Orsino’s palace to convey Olivia’s reply. This quote means that it is good to ask someone to love you, but it is better if someone gives you love or affection without you having to ask for it. The modern world revolves around love. If there is no love there is no human. This quote may not be spoken verbally today; however it is applied using actions. Most people ask for love from somebody and others gain it. This quotation also links to the previous one because it all depends on destiny whether you get love or you have to ask for it. There are two major themes and messages that we are trying to bring forward to the audience in this play. These are love triangles and cross – dressing to hide your identity. The scene from Twelfth Night we have made into a contemporary context is when Duke Orsino sends Viola (Cesario) to Olivia’s palace to confess his love towards her and ask for her hand in marriage on his behalf. The modern play is set in school where a boy, Robert, is breaking up with her girlfriend, Chloe. Chloe then convinces her best friend to talk to her ex-boyfriend in hope that she will get him back. This is when the misunderstanding takes place, the boy falls in love with Chloe’s best friend thinking she is a sporty girl when she is actually the type of girl who still loves dolls and make – up. “CollegeNET Forum”. Available at: []. Date 27/03/2010
 * __Quotation 3__**
 * "Love sought is good, but giv'n unsought is better"**
 * __Setting the Stage__**
 * __Bibliography__**

“WikiAnswers”. Available at: [|http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_meaning_of_this_quote_'love_sought_is_good_but_given_unsought_is_better]'. Date 27/03/2010

“Twelfth Night the play by William Shakespeare” Available at: [] Date 27/03/2010

“Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night” Available at: [] Date 27/03/2010

“Enjoying Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare” Available at: [] Date 27/03/2010 SparkNotes Editors. (2003). SparkNote on Twelfth Night. Retrieved March 23, 2010, from []

“Character Analysis in Twelfth Night” Available at: [] Date 27/03/2010