Act 1, Scene 2: The sea-coast. Annoyed, Sebastian pays Feste to leave him alone when Sir Andrew appears on the scene and strikes Sebastian. Twelfth Night Act 1 Summary and Analysis by William Shakespeare • In his own palace, Duke Orsino is giving a philosophy of love. Malvolio tells Olivia a messenger from Orsino waits at the gate and will not leave before he sees her. Feste the fool confronts Sebastian, and Sebastian, completely baffled about who Feste is and why Feste is addressing him like Feste knows him, adopts an annoyed, and even more formal tone than is usual for him. Orsino is in love with the Countess Olivia, and sends Viola to court her for him, but Olivia falls for Viola instead. Act 2, Scene 1: The sea-coast. Sebastian's reaction to Olivia's show of affection is parallel to a situation of yet another twin, Antipholus, in Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors; Antipholus too was confronted by a woman claiming his affections, who mistook him for his identical twin. Go with me to my house, And hear thou there how many fruitless pranks This ruffian hath botched up, that thou thereby Mayst smile at this. "Twelfth Night Act 4 Summary and Analysis". Feste parodies Sebastian's tone and language by asking Sebastian, "I prithee now, ungird thy strangeness," and mocking his use of the word "vent" (IV.i.14). Sebastian decides to go along with it, struck by Olivia's beauty, thinking it all a pleasant dream from which he hopes he will not awaken. Feste has been sent by Olivia to Cesario (Viola) to deliver a message, but he delivers it to Sebastian, because Viola's twin brother looks exactly like her. The opening lines of Twelfth Night, in which a moping Orsino, attended by his servants and musicians, says, “If music be the food of love, play on,” establish how love has conquered Orsino (I.i. Not affiliated with Harvard College. -- Philip Weller, November 13, 1941 - February 1, 2021 Dr. Weller, an Eastern Washington University professor of English and Shakespearean scholar for more than 50 years. Sebastian arrives, causing a flood of mistaken identity, and marries Olivia. Enter SEBASTIAN and Clown. Feste is about to run off with the money when Sir Andrew appears, trailed by Sir Toby and Fabian. Thus this is the first case of a very natural and very understandable case of mistaken identity; the comedy here lies in the fact that Sebastian does not know what Feste is talking about, and Feste feels that "Nothing that is so is so." At one point Olivia suggests that the jewels are intended as bribe, meaning that she can buy Cesarioâs love if she cannot win it. ♦ Act III, Scene 4 Summary and Analysis ♦ Act IV, Scene 1 Summary and Analysis ♦ Act IV, Scene 2 Summary and Analysis 7. Malvolio tries to reinforce his statement that the place where he is is dark, reasoning that "this house is as dark as ignorance, though ignorance were as dark as hell" (IV.ii.46-7). Even more comic, however, is the fact that Sir Andrew, an innate coward, is convinced that Cesario (Viola) is frightened of him — which is actually true. By barricadoes, Feste means "barricades," which are not at all transparent, and ebony is dark and black, rather than light; these statements are meant to contradict what Malvolio perceives, but also to confuse him through the paradox inherent in the statements. Sebastian and Feste are talking, and we realize that Feste has mistaken Sebastian for Cesario. Olivia arrives, assumes that Sebastian is Cesario, and pleads with him to go into the house. Literature Network » William Shakespeare » Twelfth Night » Summary Act 1. 1 ). The play was also one of the earliest Shakespearean works acted at the start of the Restoration ; Sir William Davenant 's adaptation was staged in 1661, with Thomas Betterton in the role of Sir Toby Belch. This is yet another case of dramatic irony used for a delightful comic effect. Bates, Rheanna. Before OLIVIA’s house. . Back at Duke Orsino's pad, Valentine gives props to "Cesario" (Viola in disguise) for making a name for "himself" in such a short time in the Duke's service. Though Act 1, Scene 1 of Twelfth Night is a very short scene, it does a nice job of giving some characterization for Orsino and Olivia, as well as giving us a sense of the overall tone of the play. A Scene from Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare: Act V, Scene i (William Hamilton, c. 1797). Feste then examines him as to his belief in Pythagoras' theory of souls, and threatens to leave Malvolio when Malvolio says he does not believe in it. Viola (as "Cesario"), who has clearly spent a lot of time with Orsino in the past three days, asks Valentine if the Duke has mood swings. To convince Malvolio that he is insane, Feste tosses about a few paradoxes, and contradicts some of the things that Malvolio knows to be true. Sir Toby, meanwhile, decides that it is time for him to act; he grabs the young upstart (Sebastian) by the hand in an effort to save Sir Andrew from greater injury. Act I Summary. However, Malvolio's treatment, which was mostly comic in previous scenes, becomes rather cruel; Malvolio keeps begging to be let out, and for light and writing instruments, yet his pleas are ignored while Feste tries his best to make Malvolio seem even more foolish than he is. Besides, Sebastian has no idea who this "Cesario" person is. Act 1, Scene 4. Disguised as a male, she looked no more than about thirteen or fourtee Feste says that he is going to report to Olivia all that has happened, and she will not be pleased to learn that her favorite suitor, the reluctant Cesario, has quarreled with Olivia's uncle and with Sir Andrew. The Role of the Fool: Feste's Significance, The Fool as a Playwright in Twelfth Night, The Function of Plot Divisions in Twelfth Night and in Doctor Faustus, View Wikipedia Entries for Twelfth Night…. Feste says to Sebastian that Olivia's looking for him but Sebastian tells him to beat it—he's not in the mood for Feste's screwing around. All rights reserved. Act 4, Scene 1. Olivia, putting on a black mourning veil, says the messenger may enter. Feste continues his mischief in the next scene, with Malvolio; he disguises himself as a cleric named "Topaz," which is a stone that symbolized sanity, and hence was thought to be a cure for madness.
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