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In perhaps the most famous metaphor of the play, Orsino's opening words are, "If music be the food of love, play on. / Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, / The appetite may sicken and so die" (1.1). In this metaphor, Orsino equates music with something that "feeds" love.
- Act 3
Twelfth Night study guide contains a biography of William...
- Quiz 1
Study Guide for Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night study guide...
- Character List
Study Guide for Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night study guide...
- Act 3
Characters in Twelfth Night frequently use metaphorical language to talk about love and desire. One especially evocative metaphor that appears more than once throughout the play likens the human heart to a book and the act of loving to the act of reading. In Act 1, Scene 4, Orsino compares his soul to a locked book:
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Feste uses metaphors to get a third coin out of Orsino. “Play” is a reference to a child’s game in which players call out “one, two, three.” “Third plays for all” means third time’s a charm, and “triplex” is a musical beat played in triple time.
Twelfth Night: Examining the Text. Shakespeare uses figurative language as he speaks with metaphors, similes, and personification. Recognizing when his characters are speaking figuratively helps in understanding the play. A metaphor is the application of a word or phrase to somebody or something that is not meant literally but to make a comparison.
Twelfth Night is sometimes called a "transvestite comedy" for the obvious reason that its central character is a young woman, Viola, who disguises herself as a pageboy, Cesario. In Shakespeare's time, Viola's part, like all the parts in Twelfth Night, would have been played by a man, because women were not allowed to act.
Twelfth Night Full Play Summary. In the kingdom of Illyria, a nobleman named Orsino lies around listening to music, pining away for the love of Lady Olivia. He cannot have her because she is in mourning for her dead brother and refuses to entertain any proposals of marriage.
Twelfth Night is a play about desire’s power to override conventions of class, religion, and even gender. Several characters begin the play believing they want one thing, only to have love teach them they actually want something else. Orsino thinks he wants Olivia, until he falls in love with Viola (dressed as Cesario.)
