Act 2
What do we now know about Sebastian that Viola doesn’t know?
He is alive; he didn’t drown in the shipwreck.
How does Viola react when Malvolio tries to give her the ring (II.ii.12)?
She doesn’t understand what is happening as she didn't give Olivia a ring.
What does Malvolio want with the three? How does he act towards them (II.iii.87-100)
He comes in to scold them for their behavior, calling them “mad” and saying that they are turning Olivia’s house into a bar and saying that they have no “respect of place, persons, nor time.” He goes on to tell them that if they do not start acting differently, Olivia is “very willing to bid you farwell.”
What kinds of jobs do servants do in the play?
Mostly what they have done at this point in the play is to speak or convey messages for their masters or mistress.
What view of love is suggested by the Fool’s song (II.iv.58-73)?
This song is all about death and dying and sadness. The speaker is “slain by a fair cruel maid” or dies of a broken heart.
What does Sebastian believe about Viola (II.i.22)?
He believes that she is “drowned.”
What does she realize after Malvolio leaves (II.ii.18-25)?
She realizes that Olivia has fallen in love with her: “She loves me, sure!”
What does Maria plan to do to Malvolio (II.iii.134-136)?
She says, “If I do not gull him into a wayward and make him a common recreation, do not think I have with enough to lie straight in my bed.” She says that if she can’t trick him and make a fool of him, she isn’t smart enough to lie straight in her bed.
In what ways do servants transgress class lines?
Antonio is in love with Sebastian and Viola is in love with Orsino. Malvolio acts like he is in charge even though Andrew and Toby are both knights, and Maria, as a waiting gentlewoman, is above him. Malvolio and Viola don’t always convey the message they are given; they add in their own words or ideas.
What does Orsino say about woman’s love (II.iv.103-113)?
He says that no woman could love as deeply as he does: “There is no woman’s sides / Can bide the beating of so strong a passion / As love doth give my heart; no woman’s heart / So big, to hold so much… mine is all as hungry as the sea, / And can digest as much. Make no compare / Between that love a woman can bear me / And that I owe Olivia.”
How does Antonio feel about Sebastian (II.i.34-35)?
He tells him, “If you will not murder me for my love, let me be your servant.” He wants to be Sebastian’s servant, but he believes that his love for him is so strong that it might endanger him. In this time period, servants did use the word “love” when describing their relationships with their masters; still, Antonio’s feelings seem to be very extreme for someone who is simply a servant.
How does she feel about this (II.ii.26-41)?
She feels sorry for Olivia, saying that her love is pointless: “Poor lady, she were better love a dream.” She sees the danger of disguise: “ Disguise, I see thou art a wickedness.” She also explains the love triangle—Orsino loves Olivia, she loves Orsino, and Olivia loves her. But she realizes that she is powerless to fix the problem: “O Time, thou must untangle this, not I. / It is too hard a knot for me to untie.”
What do the others dislike Malvolio so much (II.iii.139-150)?
Maria says that he is “a kind of puritan” suggesting that he is too serious and doesn’t have enough fun. She goes on to say that he is too full of himself, and it is that belief that she will use against him in her trick: “the best persuaded of himself, so crammed, as he thinks, with excellencies, that it is his grounds of faith that all that look on him love him. And on that vice will my revenge find notable cause to work.”
. What warning does the Duke give “Cesario” about love (II.iv.16-22)?
He tells Cesario that if he ever falls in love to remember Orsino, since he is like all real lovers, fickle and restless in everything but the image of the person they love.
Does this contradict what he said in question #3? Why or why not?
Both yes and no. Students might argue that love that is intense doesn’t last, and some might argue that if love were truly deep, it should last longer.
Where does Sebastian plan to go (II.i.41-42)?
He plans to go to “Orsino’s court.”
What view of love does the fool’s song give (II.iii.40-53)?
It is a light love song about enjoying the moment. He says “Youth’s a stuff that will not endure” meaning that we should live life to the fullest while we still can.
Describe Maria’s plan (II.iii.154-165)
She will “drop in his way some obscure epistles of love” or let him find some vague love letter. Based on some of the descriptions that she includes, he will think that it is to him, “he shall find himself most feelingly personated.” She adds that she can write just like Olivia’s handwriting.
. How does Viola hint to the Duke about her real feelings/identity (II.iv.29-33)?
When Orsino asks if she has ever been in love and she says that she has, he asks her what kind of woman it was, to which she replies, “Of your complexion” or appearance. When he asks what her age was, Viola says “About your years.”
How does Viola again hint about who she really is (II.iv.116-120 and 132-134)?
She says, “My father had a daughter loved a man / As it might be, perhaps, were I a woman, / I should your Lordship.” She later says, “I am all the daughters of my father’s house, / And all the brothers, too.”
Why is Antonio hesitant to follow him (II.i.44-47)? And why does he decide to go anyway (II.i.44-47)?
He is hesitant to follow Sebastian because he has “many enemies in Orsino’s court.” He decides to go anyway because he loves him so much that danger will be exciting: “ I do adore thee so / That danger shall seem sport, and I will go.”
Why does Maria enter and what does she warn them of (II.iii.73-75)?
She comes in because they are making too much noise or “caterwauling.” She tells them that Olivia will order Malvolio to throw them out soon.
What does Sir Toby think of her plan (II.iii.175-179)
Toby says, “Excellent!” adding that Malvolio will believe “that they come from my niece, and that she’s in love with him.” He later calls her a “Penthesilea” or an Amazon queen.
What does Orsino admit about men and love (II.iv.37-40 and 44-45)? And what does he advise Cesario to do because of that quality (II.ii.42-45)?
He says that men’s “fancies are more giddy and infirm, / More longing, wavering, sooner lost and worn, / Than women’s are.” Men are not as consistent as women and they get bored faster. He tells him that because of this, he should make sure to “let thy love be younger than thyself, / Or thy affection cannot hold the bent.” He should find a younger woman because he’ll get bored soon. He suggests that he will no longer be interested in a woman after he sleeps with her: “For women are as roses, whose fair flower, / Being once displayed, doth fall that very hour.”
If Viola is in love with Orsino and Orsino is in love with Olivia, what does this suggest about love?
People want what they can’t have. They can’t control who they love. They often love someone that they shouldn’t.