Act 1 Scene 5

Olivia

Maria

Viola

Malvolio

Enter Lady Olivia in black

O, you are sick of self love, Malvolio, and taste with a distempered appetite.

from the count Orsino is it?

what gentleman

tell him he shall not speak with me

what kind o man is he? what manner of man

of what personage and years is he?

let him approach

are you a comedian?

i cannot love him

what is your parentage

he left this ring behind him

Feste

Madam there is at the gate a young gentleman much desires to speak with you

where, good mistress mary?

many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage

like a drowned man, a fool, the second mads him, and third drowns him.

Madam, yon young fellow swears he will speak with you. I told him you were sick

why of mankind

of very ill manner

not yet old enough for a an, nor young enough for a by; A SQUASH IS BEFORE TIS PEASCOD, OR A CODLING WHEN TIS ALMOST AN APPLE TIS WITHY HIM in standing water, between boy and man

here madam at your service

the honourable lady of the house, which is she?

with adorations, fertile tears

make me a willow cabin at your gate

cry out 'Olivia'

I am a gentleman

Lady, you are the cruel’st she alive / If you will lead these graces to the grave / And leave the world no copy

Let him send no more— / Unless perchance you come to me again

Methinks I feel this youth’s perfections / With an invisible and subtle stealth / To creep in at mine eyes

Lady, cucullus non facit monachum; that’s as much
to say as I wear not motley in my brain

foolishness

Orsino

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Our fancies are more giddy and unfirm,

More longing, wavering, sooner lost and worn,

Than women’s are

Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.

Maria and Feste the fool have just finished speaking with each other. He pokes fun at her, and she calls him a troublemaker and exits. Feste is left alone on stage and tries to think up more funny, witty things to say. He then reflects on the made-up philosopher Quinapulus, saying that it is better to be witty and a fool than to simply be a foolish person.


Feste is a crucial character in Twelfth Night. As the fool in the court, he has privileged information about and access toboth the masters and the servants. He is allowed to poke fun at those in higher social ranks without punishment, making him an important source of information and even a voice of reason throughout the play (as "fools" often are in Shakespeare's plays).Here he touches on the notion of the maddening aspects of love. Throughout the play, we will see the lovers behave foolishly in the name of love. In Feste's perspective, he would much rather be the Fool than be the foolish lover.

class, masters, servants

He is very well-favored and he speaks very shrewishly; one would think his mother's milk were scarce out of him.

gender and sexualiy

Disguised as a man (Cesario), Viola visits Olivia in order to woo her for Duke Orsino. Olivia's steward, Malvolio, tells Olivia that there is a young man at the door. Olivia asks Malvolio to describe him and he responds with this quote. Here, he tells Olivia that her visitor (Viola) is "well-favored" or attractive, and speaks in a high-pitched voice ("shrewishly") as if he were a child.


In this moment, Malvolio notes the gender ambiguity of Cesario without realizing he is in fact a woman. He writes off Cesario's femininity as a product of youth. This is a comedic moment for the audience; we know Cesario is actually Viola but no one else does.

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love and desire

Viola enters Olivia's home dressed as Cesario, in order to attempt to woo her for Duke Orsino. The two begin a playful tete-a-tete. Here, Viola tries to appeal to Olivia by telling her how beautiful she is—so beautiful that it would be a disservice to the world not to produce an heir (and thus a new "copy" of her beauty). In a grand performance, Viola compliments Olivia's physical beautify in order to gain her trust and influence her to fall for Orsino. She also speaks in the convention of "poetic blazon," a form often used in sonnets, where the speaker itemizes and examines different parts of the body. Her speech mimics that of Shakespeare's own sonnets, revealing the poetic and hyperbolic nature of love and lust. Furthermore, in doing so, Viola-as-Cesario demonstrates a certain level of mystery and intelligence to Olivia that Orsino doesn't possess. She speaks in a genuine and advanced poetic way, whereas Orsino is often cliched.