Twelfth Night: Key Quotations

Love as a Cause of Suffering

1. Orsino: "If music be the food of love, play on." (Act I, Scene i)

• Orsino's opening line highlights his obsession with love, portraying it as a powerful but insatiable desire that consumes him.

2. Olivia: "Even so quickly may one catch the plague?" (Act I, Scene v)

• Olivia likens falling in love to catching a disease, showing love as sudden, uncontrollable, and painful.

3. Viola: "My state is desperate for my master's love." (Act II, Scene ii)

• Viola's unrequited love for Orsino highlights the anguish caused by suppressed emotions, particularly when her disguise prevents her from expressing her feelings.

Gender and Identity

1. Viola: "Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness." (Act II, Scene ii)

• Viola acknowledges the complications her male disguise has caused, reflecting the fluidity of gender and identity in the play.

2. Orsino: "Make no compare / Between that love a woman can bear me / And that I owe Olivia." (Act II, Scene iv)

• Orsino's statement reflects societal views of women as inferior in love, yet his affection for Cesario suggests he is unconsciously attracted to Viola's true self.

3. Viola (as Cesario): "I am all the daughters of my father's house, / And all the brothers too." (Act II, Scene iv)

• Viola's confession hints at her true identity, blending male and female roles and highlighting the tension between her external disguise and inner truth.

Ambition

1. Malvolio: "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." (Act II, Scene v)

• Malvolio's reading of Maria's forged letter exposes his arrogance and blind ambition to rise above his social station.

2. Malvolio: "I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you." (Act V, Scene i)

• Malvolio's humiliation and bitter vow for revenge show the darker consequences of unchecked ambition.

3. Maria: "The letter, at Sir Toby's great importance, / In recompense whereof he hath married her." (Act V, Scene i)

• Maria's cunning allows her to rise socially by marrying Sir Toby, contrasting with Malvolio's failure and reinforcing the theme of ambition.

Disguise and Deception

1. Viola: "Conceal me what I am." (Act I, Scene ii)

• Viola's decision to disguise herself as a man sets the stage for the comedic misunderstandings and dramatic irony that drive the play.

2. Maria: "I can write very like my lady." (Act II, Scene iii)

• Maria's skill in deception drives the subplot involving Malvolio, highlighting the comedic potential of disguise and trickery.

Madness and Chaos

1. Malvolio: "I will be strange, stout, in yellow stockings, and cross-gartered." (Act II, Scene v)

• Malvolio's gullible acceptance of Maria's fake letter leads to behaviour that others perceive as madness, symbolising the chaos caused by ambition and deception.

2. Sebastian: "What relish is in this? How runs the stream?" (Act IV, Scene i)

• Sebastian's confusion at being mistaken for Cesario reflects the chaotic humour created by mistaken identity.