identity
- Andrew + feste mixes up Sebastian and Cesario: ‘are all people mad’
- duke mixes up viola and Cesario: ‘he’
-Olivia: ‘love sought is good but given unsought is better’
gender/attraction
- Olivia attracted to Cesario
-Antonio attracted to Sebastian: ‘that for his love dares yet do more’
-cesario of too woo Olivia for the duke:’all is semblative a woman’s part’
-duke attracted to viola: ‘he’
-21st century audience more aware of issues-ambiguity- accentuated by disguise
appearance/reality
- viola disguised as Cesario: ‘disguise, I see shout art a wickedness’
-viola maintaining the mail persona, acting as a courtier: viola responds ‘that you do think you are not what you are’, then Olivia responds ‘if I think so, I think the same of you’
-Antonio confronting viola, seen as declaration of love in the 21st century
-Maria protecting her ladies name and protecting her love: ‘ peace, you rogue, no more o’ that’
disguise
- viola disguised as Cesario: ‘disguise, I see shout art a wickedness’, ‘o time, thou must untangle this not I’
-joke for audience, male actor playing a female character disguised as a man
-viola tries to be a man in Illyria, men would protect their honour with swords, viola never fenced
-illyria was dangerous so viola found comfort in pretending to be her older brother, then find this to cause even more danger
-orsinos exaggerated love for Olivia: ‘’
love
- Orsino connects love with music: ‘’
-belief that music move the soul to baser passions and deeds, enffeminised men and provoked idleness and love - love is painful, the effect of music doesn’t depend on music but the nature of the person.
-Olivia: ‘love sought is good but given unsought is better’
-in song sang by feste which tells olivias story: ‘What is love? ’Tis not hereafter’
loss
-Antonio’ love for Sebastian displaced by heterosexual marriage: ‘that for his love dares yet do more’
-malvolio desire for upward mobility with Olivia tormented and punished, leaving uncomedic spirit’ : midsummer madness’
-sir Andrew leaves empty handed: ‘I was adored once too’
time
- feste sings ‘time may not be kind’ so live life
- viola disguised as Cesario: ‘o time, thou must untangle this not I’
-orsinos bad timing ‘’
ambition
-malvolio is ambitious for Olivia: ‘tell me why’, no relevant answer
-Olivia: ‘love sought is good but given unsought is better’
madness
-Olivia connects malvolios behaviour to ‘midsummer madness’, the sun and heat is causing this
-Sebastian struggles to convince that he and Olivia aren’t mad: ‘if it be thus to dream, still let me sleep!’
-christianity was the strongest religion, ‘mad’ people were possessed by the devil or illness
-toby ended the prank: ‘I would we were well rid of this knavery’
social hierarchy
- malvolio is punished: ‘some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em’
-Sir Toby is in decline, sir Andrew is no longer useful to him so is called an ‘ass-head’
-feste: ‘better a witty fool than a foolish wit’
mortality
-life is short
-violas brother died
-olivias brother and father
-women left without men in the time wasn’t right and was dangerous
excess
-orsinos exaggerated romantic speeches ‘’
-sir toys drinking and singing: Feste says such ‘pleasures’ will be ‘paid’ for in the long term
-fabian: ‘let me be boiled to death with melacholy’
