Rhetorical Strategies
“Make me a willow cabin at your gate,
And call upon my soul within the house;
Write loyal cantons of contemnèd love
And sing them loud even in the dead of night…”
What rhetorical appeal is strongest in Viola’s speech as she imagines wooing Olivia?
Pathos: Viola’s language is deeply emotional, using vivid imagery and romantic desperation to stir Olivia’s feelings.
thou
You (subject)
Hie thee
hurry up!
“Make me a willow cabin at your gate…”
Metaphor: Viola compares her devotion to a poetic image of living at Olivia’s gate, without using “like” or “as.”
“Sit you down, and say your mind in the same box.”
Sibilance
“Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness
Wherein the pregnant enemy does much.
How easy is it for the proper false
In women’s waxen hearts to set their forms!”
Q2: Which appeal is Viola reflecting on when she questions the ethics of disguise?
Ethos: Viola is questioning the moral implications of her deception and the trustworthiness of appearances.
Thy
Your (possessive)
Wherefore
Why
“I am all the daughters of my father’s house, / And all the brothers too.”
Metaphor: Viola metaphorically claims to be both daughter and son, revealing her disguise and emotional burden.
“Diana’s lip is not more smooth and rubious.”
Assonance: The repeated vowel sounds in “smooth” and “rubious” create this effect.
“Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great,
some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.
Thy Fates open their hands. Let thy blood and spirit embrace them…”
What is the primary rhetorical appeal in this forged letter’s advice to Malvolio?
Logos: The structure of “some are born… some achieve…” appeals to reason and categories, constructing a logical case for Malvolio’s rise in status.
Thee
You (object)
Ere
before
“She sat like Patience on a monument…”
Simile: Viola uses a simile to compare emotional restraint to the stillness of a statue.
"By this hand, they are scoundrels and substractors that say so of him. Who are they?"
Sibilance: the repeated s sound
“If this fall into thy hand, revolve. In my stars I am above thee;
but be not afraid of greatness... There is example for’t…”
Ethos: The line “There is example for’t” builds credibility by referencing precedents and a sense of fate or divine right.
Thine
Yours (possessive pronoun)
Ay
Yes
“Even so quickly may one catch the plague?”
Metaphor: Olivia referrs to how suddenly she’s fallen for Cesario
I extend my hand to him thus.
Alliteration
“Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness”
Apostrophe – Viola speaks directly to "disguise," an abstract idea
hither
here
What ho!
"what's up?" or "hey there!"
“My father had a daughter loved a man,
As it might be, perhaps, were I a woman,
I should your lordship.”
Q: This passage includes the phrase “as it might be,” which sounds like a simile. Why is it not actually a simile?
Although “as it might be” contains the word “as,” it does not compare two unlike things for figurative effect. Instead, Viola is using a hypothetical situation (a “what if”) to hint at her feelings without revealing her identity — it’s conditional logic, not a simile.
What effect does the rhyming couplet at the end of this speech create?
It emphasizes a final or decisive emotional statement.