Scene summaries Flashcards
Act 1, scene 1
ORSINO IN LOVE WITH OLIVIA
-set in illiriya
-lord orsino pines about his love for lady Olivia
-orsino refuses to hunt and orders usicians to entertain him whilst he thinks of his love for Olivia
-Valentine, another attendant, returns from Olivia’s palace, where Orsino has sent him. He reports that Olivia is deep in mourning for her brother and wears a veil
-orsino says that if she holds this much love for her brother imagine how much love she could hold for a romantic lover (despite her rejecting him)
Act 1, scene 2
SHIPWRECK
-on the illiriyan sea coast
-Viola a Captain, and several sailors, have just washed ashore from a shipwreck.
-despite being rescued viola thinks that her brother is dead. but the captain reassures her that he may still be alive as he saw him clinging onto the mast of the ship
-The Captain, who was born in Illyria, explains to Viola that Illyria is governed by a Duke Orsino, a bachelor who is in love with a noblewoman named Olivia.
- Viola wonders whether she could temporarily conceal her aristocratic identity and go work for Olivia. The Captain replies that this would be difficult because Olivia is refusing to see anyone. Viola then decides that she wants to become a servant to Orsino, and asks the Captain to help her disguise herself as a man and get an interview with Orsino.
Act 1, scene 3
DRUNK SIR TOBY
-at olivias palace
-olivias uncle, sir toby belch is drunk, olivias serving woman, Maria, flirtingly scolds him
-we learn olivia complains about sir toby’s bad behaviour and the knight he brought to woo her, sir andrew alguecheek
-sir andrew enters and him and sir toby affectionately greet eachother
-sir toby jokes that sir Andrew should woo Maria
-Sir Andrew tells Sir Toby that he is leaving the next day, because Olivia refuses to see him. But Sir Toby persuades Sir Andrew to stay just one month longer.
Act 1 scene 4
ORSINO TRUSTS CESARIO
-At Orsino’s palace, Viola, now disguised as the page boy Cesario, chats with Valentine.
-we learn that after only 3 days orisno aleady trusts cesario
-orsino enters, then tells Cesario he has his full confidence, and tells Cesario to go to Olivia’s house and do whatever he can to receive an audience on Orsino’s behalf. (cesario skeptical but orsino isnt as he says cesario has womanly features)
-Cesario departs for Olivia’s house with four or five attendants (but privately viola reflects that she must woo on the behalf of a man she is in love with)
Act 1, scene 5
FESTE AND OLIVIA JOKE WHILST CESARIO ARRIVES AT HER PALACE
-at olivias’s house, maria and feste are talking (maria asks about his recent absences and feste teases maria about her flirtations with sir toby- which prompts her to exit)
-Olivia enters, wearing mourning clothes and attended by her steward, Malvolio. she instructs her attendants to send Feste away, but he teases her by saying that she is the fool of the two of them—for mourning her brother
-This pleases Olivia. But Malvolio disapproves. Olivia then criticises Malvolio for his ‘self love’.
-Maria returns to announce that a young man at the gate wishes to speak with Olivia. Olivia asks if he has been sent by Orsino.Olivia sends Malvolio to send the man away.
- Sir Toby exchanges a few drunken words with Olivia—also informing her about the gentleman at the gate. Olivia sends Feste to look after Sir Toby
-Malvolio returns and informs Olivia that the young man outside will not leave. malvolio says he is an androgynous adolescent and she agrees to let him in and hides her face with her veil.
-cesario enters and recites poetry about how beautiful olivia is. Olivia refuses to listen. Maria asks Cesario to leave but he persists, insisting that he must speak with Olivia in private. Finally, Olivia agrees. She sends the others away.
-cesario confesses he was sent by orsino and olivia states she has already rejected him.
-cesario asks to see her face and she reveals it. cesario praises her beauty and reitterates how much orsino loves her but she again rejects but cesario persists.
-Olivia offers Cesario money but he refuses, telling Olivia that he hopes that one day she will love as passionately as Orsino does
-Once she is alone, Olivia admits to herself that she is extremely attracted to Cesario
-Olivia summons Malvolio and gives him a ring, which, she lies, Cesario left behind on Orsino’s behalf. She commands Malvolio to chase down Cesario, return the ring, and instruct him to come back on the following day to hear her reasons for rejecting it.
act 2, scene 1
SEBASTIAN REVEALS HIS IDENTITY TO ANTONIO
-off the coast of illiriya, antonio and sebastian (sebastian had been staying at antonio’s and he is asking him to remain as a guest)
-sebastian reveals the identity he has been hiding, and that he is in fact sebastian (an aristocrat from Messaline), and he has a twin sister who drowned on the same day that Antonio saved him from the sea.
- Antonio begs Sebastian to let him remain with him as his servant. Sebastian says that he would prefer to be left alone but tells Antonio he is headed to Orsino’s court. Antonio pauses, because has many enemies at Orsino’s court, yet decides that since he does “adore” Sebastian he will follow him, despite the danger.
Act 2, scene 2
RETURN OF THE RING AND VIOLA RECOGNISES THE LOVE TRIANGLE
-Malvolio catches up with Cesario. He gives Cesario the ring from Olivia and explains that Olivia doesn’t want it and has nothing more to say to the Duke, but would like Cesario to return to tell her how Orsino reacts.
-malvolio is confused as he didnt leave a ring but plays along, malvolio throws the ring at his feet
-Alone, Viola picks up the ring and realizes that Olivia has fallen in love with “Cesario,” and that she has created an impossible love triangle
- Overwhelmed, Viola remarks that only time can solve this mess.
Act 2, scene 3
SIR TOBY, ANDREW AND FESTE DRUNK, MALVOLIO TELLS THEM OFF
-Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek are up late, eating and drinking at Olivia’s house. Feste soon joins them, and they are all singing together
-maria enters and tells them to bre quiet or Olivia will have Malvolio throw them out of the house. Sir toby doesnt believe as he is a relative and they continue singing.
-malvolio enters and criticises them, Sir Toby retorts that Malvolio is just a steward and should not expect others to follow his strict standards of behavior.
-Furious, Malvolio yells at Maria that if she respected her mistress, she would reprimand these lowlifes. Threatening to tell Olivia everything, he storms off. (maria is annoyed at malvolio but still tells them to be quiet)
-Maria then says she has a great idea for a prank on Malvolio. She boasts that she can imitate Olivia’s handwriting perfectly, and will drop in Malvolio’s way a love letter that Malvolio, in his arrogance, will assume is from Olivia to him.
Act 2 scene 4
CESARIO CONFESSES HE IS IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE TO ORSINO AT HIS PALACE
The next day, Orsino lounges in his palace as usual, attended by Cesario, Curio, and other servants and musicians.
orsino sends for feste to sing, whilst curio looks for him they continue singing
-Orsino tells Cesario that, if he is ever in love, he must remember and imitate Orsino’s passion for Olivia. Orsino then asks whether he is not himself in love. Cesario—who is in fact in love with Orsino—confesses that he is (and says that she is very similar to Orsino, in both appearance and age.)
-orsino says mens passions are more stable than women’s and thatmen should always take younger wives
-Curio returns with Feste. Orsino instructs him to sing what he sang the previous night, a melodramatic lover’s lament. After he sings, Orsino rewards Feste with a few coins
-Orsino dismisses everyone but Cesario and instructs him to woo Olivia again. cesario suggests he should give up
-Orsino says no woman could love like he does. Cesario responds that his father had a daughter, very similar to Cesario, who once loved a man just as much as Orsino loves Olivia. The girl never confessed her love but pined away with melancholy.
Act 2 scene 5
PRANK LETTER TO MALVOLIO
-As Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Fabian, one of Olivia’s attendants, wait in Olivia’s garden, maria comes in and tells them all to hide because malvolio is coming
-malvolio eneters and talks to himself fantasising about Olivia, whilst Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Fabian try to suppress their laughter hiding in a tree
-malvolio notices the letter and recognises olivia’s handwriting, as he reads aloud everyone in hiding laughs, and malvolio concludes that the letter is for him
-Sir Toby says he could marry Maria for thinking up this prank. Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Maria then rush off to watch Malvolio make a fool of himself.
Act 3, scene 1
OLIVIA CONFESSES HER LOVE FOR CESARIO
-Cesario arrives at Olivia’s palace, outside he finds Feste, who mocks both Olivia and Orsino. Amused, Cesario gives him a few coins. As Feste scurries off, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew appear. Then Olivia arrives with Maria. Cesario asks to see her in private.
-Cesario says that he is Olivia’s servant: he is Orsino’s servant and Orsino belongs to Olivia. So, by extension, he does too. Olivia says she wishes Cesario would never again speak of Orsino but, rather, woo her for himself.
-Cesario responds that he pities Olivia but cannot love her
Act 3, scene 2
SIR TOBY CONVINCES SIR ANDREW TO CHALLENGE CESARIO TO A DUEL
-at olivias house Sir Andrew tells Sir Toby that he has finally decided to give up and leave because he saw Olivia flirting with Cesario
-Sir Toby assures Sir Andrew that Olivia was only trying to test his valor, and that to impress Olivia, Sir Andrew should now challenge Cesario to a duel. Sir Andrew goes off to write a letter of challenge. Sir Toby promises to deliver it.
-Once Sir Andrew has left, Sir Toby admits to Fabian that he only wants Sir Andrew to hang around so that he can keep leeching off of him.
-Maria arrives, and tells Sir Toby and Fabian that Malvolio is doing everything instructed in Maria’s letter, and making himself entirely ridiculous in the process.
Act 3 scene 3
ANTONIO GIVES SEBASTIAN HIS PURSE IN ILLIRIYA
Antonio and Sebastian arrive in Illyria, sebastian says Antonio didnt have to come but antonio said he did out of ‘willing love’
Sebastian then suggests that they take in the sights of the city, but Antonio explains that he once fought at sea against Orsino. If discovered in Illyria, he will be in danger. He gives his purse to Sebastian, telling him to feel free to buy anything that he desires. Antonio himself will wait at a local inn, The Elephant. They makes plans to meet at the inn in an hour.
Act 3 scene 4
MALVOLIO WEARS YELLOW STOCKINGS AND IS CROSS GARTERED INFRONT OF OLIVIA - AND THE DUEL
-olivia consults maria on how to woo cesario and tells her to bring malvolio because she wants his melancholy mood
-Malvolio enters wearing yellow cross-gartered stockings, smiling idiotically.
- he continues grinning whilst olivia tells him off and alluding to the letter which he believes she sent. olivia thinks hes fallen into ‘midsummer madness’
- servant enters, reporting that Cesario has returned. Olivia asks Maria to get Sir Toby to look after Malvolio. Then she goes to receive Cesario.
-when malvolio is alone he congratualates himself. Maria enters with Sir Toby and Fabian. All three pretend to be worried about Malvolio.
-Malvolio dismisses the others as lower in rank than he, warns that they will hear more from him later, and storms off.
-Sir andrew enters and gives the letter challenging cesario to a duel to lor today
-Once alone with Fabian, Toby confides that he has no intention of delivering Sir Andrew’s letter: Cesario is clearly too well bred even to acknowledge such a ridiculous challenge. Instead, Sir Toby will tell Cesario that Sir Andrew wants to fight, convince each of the other’s dueling skills, and make each terrified of the other.
-Olivia enters with Cesario, apologizing for having said too much: she is so in love, Olivia gives Cesario a locket containing her picture, Cesario insists that he wants only for Olivia to reciprocate Orsino’s love
-when olivia is gone sir toby tells cesario someone is waitring to fighht him. cesario says he didn’t mean to offend anyone and says he is too cowardly to fight
-sir toby tells sir Andrew that after receiving the (actually undelivered) letter, Cesario is furious and ready to duel. cesario wants to confess he is a woman to save himself.
-Cesario and Sir Andrew approach each other and draw swords, terrified. At this instant, Antonio enters. Seeing Cesario—whom he thinks is Sebastian—he says that he will fight in Cesario’s place.
- Sir Toby draws against Antonio as he wont say who he is
-Suddenly, several officers appear. Sir Andrew and Cesario, overjoyed to stop fighting, put away their swords. The officers arrest Antonio, who asks Cesario—whom he still mistakes for Sebastian—to return the purse that he lent him. Cesario, confused but grateful for Antonio’s help in the fight, offers him half of the money that he has on him.
-antonio shouts out sebastian in anger as he is dragged off Viola, meanwhile, is filled with sudden hope that her brother is still alive.
Once everyone has left, Sir Andrew vows that he will pursue and defeat Cesario.
act 4 scene 1
SIR ANDREW AND SEBASTIAN DUEL AND SEBASTIAN FALLS IN LOVE WITH OLIVIA
Near Olivia’s house, Feste runs into Sebastian, whom he mistakes for Cesario.
Feste asks Sebastian to return and speak with Olivia. Confused, Sebastian offers Feste some coins to leave him alone.
Sir Andrew appears, trailed by Sir Toby and Fabian. Sir Andrew punches Sebastian. Stunned for a moment, Sebastian then punches Sir Andrew back. Feste rushes off to tattle to Olivia. Sir Toby and Sebastian begin to fence.
Olivia rushes in, ordering Sir Toby to stop. Olivia sends Toby away, while begging “Cesario” (in fact, Sebastian) not to be offended. Once Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Fabian have sulked off, Olivia apologizes profusely to “Cesario” and asks him to return with her to her house.
Sebastian fears that he is mad or dreaming, and yet he is also overwhelmed by attraction to Olivia. If this is a dream, he says, he would like to keep on sleeping! He accepts the invitation and leaves with Olivia.
act 4, scene 2
Back at Olivia’s house, Maria and Toby have locked Malvolio in a dark chamber to cure his “madness.”
-maria tells feste to pretend to be sir topaz
