Act 1 Flashcards
What are the first lines of the play?
Orsino: ‘if music be the food of love, play on. Give me excess of it, surfeiting. The appetite may sicken, and so die. That strain again, it had a dying fall.
What does Orsino say in Act One Scene One which links to disguise?
‘so full of shapes is fancy that it alone is fantastical’
love is like a hallucination - nothing else is so imaginative and fantastical
What does Curio ask Orsino if he’ll be hunting in Act One Scene One and what does he respond?
‘will you go hunt… a hart?’
‘why so I do, the noblest that I have’
I am already hunting a hart (stag pun), but it’s also my heart being hunted
Which quote in Act One Scene One sees Orsino’s hope for Olivia’s love buoyed by her wish to keep her ‘brother’s dead love’ ‘fresh’?
‘she that hath a heart of that fine frame to pay this debt of love but to a brother, how she will love, when the rich golden shaft hath killed the flock of all affections else that live in her’
(if she loves her brother this much, then imagine how much she will love me once cupid’s arrow has killed all of her other emotions)
Where does Viola say Sebastian is in Act 1 Scene 2?
what is the background to this?
‘my brother he is in Elysium’
(Elysium was, in classical mythology, the place at the end of the earth where heroes were carried after their deaths)
=>could foreshadow how Sebastian produces the resolution on his return.
Where does Viola first point to disguise in Act 1 Scene 2?
‘conceal me what I am’
Who enters at the start of Act 1 Scene 3?
Sir Toby Belch and Maria
What does Maria immediately say Sir Toby must do in Act 1 Scene 3?
‘confine yourself with the modest limits of order’
What does Maria say will ‘undo’ Sir Toby Act 1 Scene 3?
‘that quaffing and drinking will undo you’
What does Maria call Sir Andrew in Act 1 Scene 3?
a ‘foolish knight’
‘natural born fool’
‘a great quarreller
‘he’s a very fool and a prodigal’
After Maria exits what does Sir Toby say to Sir Andrew in Act 1 Scene 3?
‘an though let part so, Sir Andrew, would though mightst never draw sword again’
(if andrew lets maria leave like that, he risks losing his social status which allows him to carry a sword, but also references impotency. Toby threatening that Andrew will be emasculated and unable to ‘draw his sword’ for any ladies.)
What does Maria respond to Andrew asking her ‘what’s your metaphor?’
‘it’s dry, sir’
(maria both indicates that her joke was dryly witty and too clever for Andrew, but also that Andrew was impotent; ‘dry’ being a synonym for castrated.)
What does Andrew say about his wit in Act 1 Scene 3?
‘I am a great eater of beef, and I believe that does harm to my wit’
What does Andrew wish he’d spent more time doing?
‘I would I had bestowed that time in the tongues that I have in fencing, dancing and bear-baiting’
(I wish i’d have spent more time learning languages than fencing, dancing and bear-baiting)
Where does Viola first dress up as Cesario?
Act 1 Scene 4
Which performative things does Orsino tell Viola to do to woo Olivia in Act 1 Scene 4?
‘be clamorous, and leap all civil bounds’
‘surprise her with the discourse of my dear faith’
Who enters for the first time in Act 1 Scene 5?
The boy Feste
Which pun does Feste open with Act 1 Scene 5?
‘he that is well hanged in this world needs to fear no colours’
What does Feste say about fools Act 1 Scene 5?
‘those that are fools, let them use their talents’
What does Feste say to Maria about her wit in Act 1 Scene 5?
‘if sir toby would leave drinking, thou wert as witty a piece of Eve’s flesh as any in Illyria’
What does Feste say to Olivia about mourning her brother Act 1 Scene 5?
‘the more fool, madonna, to mourn for your brother’s soul being in heaven’
(why is being in heaven such a bad thing)
What foolish thing does Malvolio say after he’s introduced in Act 1 Scene 5?
‘infirmity, that decays the wise, doth ever make better the fool’
(old age and senility hurt wise people, but improve fools)
What does Malvolio ironically call Feste in Act 1 Scene 5?
‘barren rascal’
empty headed villain
What does Olivia say Malvolio is in Act 1 Scene 5?
‘you are sick of self love Malvolio, and taste with a distempered appetite’
(it affects your taste)
Which famous line does Viola utter to Olivia in Act 1 Scene 5?
‘make me a willow cabin at your gate and call upon my soul within the house’
Where is it recognisable that Olivia is falling in love with Viola in Act One Scene 5?
‘even so quickly may one catch the plague? Methinks I feel this youth’s perfections with an invisible and subtle stealth to creep in an mine eyes’
