William Shakespeare - The Complete Works/William Shakespeare - The Complete Works on CD-ROM.iso/library/text/tn/introe.txt

Text File | 1994-08-10 | 14.1 KB | 365 lines

TWELFTH NIGHT

Classwork and Examinations

The works of Shakespeare are studied all over the world, and this
classroom edition is being used in many different countries. Teaching
methods vary from school to school and there are many different
ways of examining a studentÆs work. Some teachers and examiners
expect detailed knowledge of ShakespeareÆs text; others ask for
imaginative involvement with his characters and their situations; and
there are some teachers who want their students to share in the
theatrical experience of directing and performing a play. Most people
use a variety of methods. This section of the book offers a few
suggestions for approaches to Twelfth Night which could be used in
schools and colleges to help with studentsÆ understanding and
enjoyment of the play.
    A Discussion
    B Character Study
    C Activities
    D Context Questions
    E Comprehension Questions
    F Essays
    G Projects

A Discussion

Talking about the play ù about the issues it raises and the characters
who are involved ù is one of the most rewarding and pleasurable
aspects of the study of Shakespeare. It makes sense to discuss each
scene as it is read, sharing impressions ù and perhaps correcting
misapprehensions. It can be useful to compare aspects of this play
with other fictions ù plays, novels, films ù or with modern life.

Suggestions

A1 What kinds of entertainment would you choose to celebrate some
special occasion?

A2 ôWhat should I do in Illyria?ö (1, 2, 2). Viola is stranded all alone
in a strange country ù what would you do in such a situation?

A3 We hear a lot about Olivia before the character herself comes on
to the stage. What kind of person do you expect to see?

A4 Orsino counsels Viola on the choice of a marriage-partner: ôLet
still the woman take An elder to herselfö (2, 4, 28û9). What is your
opinion of this advice?

A5 What kind of costume would you use for Twelfth Night? Could
the play be performed in modern dress?

A6 The name given to this play in the First Folio is Twelfth Night, or,
What you Will. Can you suggest any better titles?

B Character Study

Shakespeare is famous for his creation of characters who seem like
real people. We can judge their actions and we can try to understand
their thoughts and feelings ù just as we criticize and try to
understand the people we know. As the play progresses, we learn to
like or dislike, love or hate, them ù just as though they lived in our
world.
    Characters can be studied from the outside, by observing what
they do, and listening sensitively to what they say. This is the
scholarÆs method: the scholar ù or any reader ù has access to the
whole play, and can see the function of every character within the
whole scheme of that play.
    Another approach works from the inside, taking a single
character and looking at the action and the other characters from
his/her point of view. This is the way an actor prepares for
performance, creating a character who can have only a partial view of
what is going on; and it asks for a studentÆs inventive imagination.
The two methods ù both useful in different ways ù are really
complementary to each other.

Suggestions

    a) from ôoutsideö the character
B1 The text does not give much information about the ages of the
characters, and the director can have a fairly free hand. Suggest the
ages of
    a) Viola, Sebastian, Olivia, and Orsino
    b) Maria, Sir Toby, and Sir Andrew
    c) Malvolio.

B2 Describe the character and function of Feste.

B3 Make detailed character-studies of
    a) Orsino
    b) Olivia
    c) Malvolio.

B4 Do you agree that Sir Toby and Sir Andrew are both rather
pathetic characters?

B5 ôThe most decent people in this play are the two sea-captains,
who both show a æfair behaviourÆ (1, 2, 43) that is quite unlike the
conduct of the other characters.ö Do you agree?

B6 Show how the character of Olivia changes as the play progresses.

B7 ôOne face, one voice, one habit, and two personsö (5, 1, 213).
Contrast the characters of Viola and Sebastian.

    b) from ôinsideö a character
B8 The sea-captain tells Viola that his tongue will not ôblabö about
her doings in Illyria. But he writes to his wife at home, describing the
twins who were passengers on his recent voyage, and the storm that
wrecked his ship.

B9 Maria writes a letter to her friend, describing life at OliviaÆs
house.

B10 In her diary, Olivia describes Duke Orsino and the messengers
whom he sends to her ù including the latest, ôCesarioö.

B11 Sir Andrew decides to ôstay a month longerö (1, 3, 108) ù but
he must write home, to explain what he is doing, and to get some
more money.

B12 Malvolio prepares a written report on the various misdoings of
Sir Toby and his companions.

B13 The Clown seems to be all things to all men (and women) ù but
what is he when he is alone? Write FesteÆs memoirs, People in my
Life, or, Thoughts in Isolation.

B14 In the character of Antonio, describe (in your diary) your
thoughts and feelings when you saw the re-union of Sebastian and
Viola.

B15 ôIÆll be revengÆd on the whole pack of youö (5, 1, 374). In the
character of Malvolio, plot your revenge.

C Activities

These can involve two or more students, preferably working away
from the desk or study-table and using gesture and position (ôbody-
languageö) as well as speech. They can help students to develop a
sense of drama and the dramatic aspects of ShakespeareÆs play ù
which was written to be performed, not studied in a classroom.

Suggestions

C1 Curio and Valentine, having a drink in the buttery, discuss Orsino
and his passion for Olivia.

C2 Maria says (1, 3, 13û14) that she has heard Olivia talk about Sir
Toby and his friend. Devise a scene where Maria is present as lady-
in-waiting when Olivia tells a friend about her troublesome kinsman.

C3 Using your own words, act out the comic scenes (e.g. Act 1, Scene
3, and Act 3, Scene 4) between Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Maria.
Give your scenes a wholly modern setting and idiom.

C4 In Act 2, Scene 4 Orsino and Viola compare menÆs love with the
love of women. Express their ideas ù and develop the argument ù
in your own words.

C5 Improvise a scene where Viola describes her ôfightö with Sir
Andrew to amuse her brother, Orsino, and Olivia.

C6 Cover aspects of the story ù ôTwins Rescued from Shipwreckö,
ôShe Wooed for the Man she Would Winö, ôWhich did she Wed?ö ù
for the local newspapers.

C7 The double wedding is to have full coverage from all the media
ù newspapers, radio, and television. If possible, arrange signing for
the deaf ù and translations (or sub-titles) for foreign-language
speakers. Get interviews with everybody ù including those who want
to appear on television but have nothing to tell you.

C8 Act the play ù or at least parts of it (e.g. ôthe letter sceneö ù Act
2, Scene 5 ù and the twinsÆ reunion in Act 5).

D Context Questions

In written examinations, these questions present you with short
passages from the play, and ask you to explain them. They are
intended to test your knowledge of the play and your understanding
of its words. Usually you have to make a choice of passages: there
may be five on the paper, and you are asked to choose three. Be very
sure that you know exactly how many passages you must choose.
Study the ones offered to you, and select those you feel most certain
of. Make your answers accurate and concise ù donÆt waste time
writing more than the examiner is asking for.

D1    I will not be so hard-hearted; I will give out divers schedules of
    my beauty. It shall be inventoried, and every particle and
    utensil labelled to my will: as ù item, two lips, indifferent red;
    item, two grey eyes, with lids to them; item, one neck, one
    chin, and so forth.

(i) Who says this? To whom? At what point in the play?
(ii) What had the person spoken to just said to provoke these lines in
reply? Comment on the kind of words used here and explain the
effect the speaker wants them to have.

D2    I hate ingratitude more in a man
    Than lying, vainness, babbling drunkenness,
    Or any taint of vice whose strong corruption
    Inhabits our frail blood.

(i) Who has been accused of ingratitude, and by whom?
(ii) Why was a mistake made?
(iii) Explain the meaning of ôbabbling drunkennessö.

D3    Be not afraid, good youth. I will not have you.
And yet, when wit and youth is come to harvest,
Your wife is like to reap a proper man.

(i) Who is speaking, and who is the ôgood youthö?
(ii) What is meant by ôreap a proper manö?
(iii) Are the speakerÆs words likely to come true?

D4    Why, man, heÆs the very devil; I have not seen such a virago. I
    had a pass with him, rapier, scabbard and all; and he gives me
    the stuck-in with such a mortal motion that it is inevitable.

(i) Who is the ôvery devilö referred to? Who is speaking of him, and
to whom does he speak?
(ii) What is meant by ôhad a passö?
(iii) Whom does the listener attack, and with what result?

D5    DianaÆs lip
Is not more smooth and rubious. Thy small pipe
Is as the womanÆs organ, shrill and sound,
And all is semblative a womanÆs part.

(i) Who is the speaker and whom does he address?
(ii) Who was ôDianaö?
(iii) What is referred to as a ôsmall pipeö?

E Comprehension Questions

These also present passages from the play and ask questions about
them; again you often have a choice of passages. But the extracts are
much longer than those presented as context questions. A detailed
knowledge of the language of the play is asked for here, and you must
be able to express unusual or archaic phrases in your own words; you
may also be asked to comment critically on the effectiveness of
ShakespeareÆs language.

E1    This fellow is wise enough to play the fool,
And to do that well craves a kind of wit.
He must observe their mood on whom he jests,
The quality of persons, and the time,
And, like the haggard, check at every feather
That comes before his eye. This is a practice
As full of labour as a wise manÆs art.
For folly that he wisely shows is fit;
But wise men, folly-fallÆn, quite taint their wit.

(i) Who is the speaker, and who is the ôfellowö referred to?
(ii) Explain the meaning of ôquality of personsö, ôhaggardö, and
ôfolly-fallÆnö.
(iii) In your own words, express the meaning of ôlike the haggard,
check at every feather That comes before his eyeö.
(iv) What do these lines show about the speakerÆs attitude to people
who ôplay the foolö?

E2    ôWhat is your parentage?ö
ôAbove my fortunes, yet my state is well;
I am a gentleman.ö IÆll be sworn thou art:
Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions and spirit
Do give thee five-fold blazon. Not too fast: soft! soft!
Unless the master were the man ù How now?
Even so quickly may one catch the plague?
Methinks I feel this youthÆs perfections
With an inevitable and subtle stealth
To creep in at mine eyes.

(i) Give the exact context of this speech, naming ôthe masterö and
ôthe manö.
(ii) What is a ôblazonö?
(iii) What does this speech show us about the speaker?
(iv) How do the lines express the speakerÆs emotions?

E3    Wit, anÆt be thy will, put me into good fooling. Those wits that
    think they have thee do very oft prove fools; and I that am sure
    I lack thee may pass for a wise man. For what says Quinapulus
    ù ôbetter a witty fool than a foolish witö.

(i) Who is the speaker? What is his occupation?
(ii) Which characters in the play ôprove foolsö?
(iii) What aspect of the play does this speech draw attention to?

E4    Disguise, I see thou art a wickedness
Wherein the pregnant enemy does much.
How easy is it for the proper false
In womenÆs waxen hearts to set their forms.
Alas, our frailty is the cause, not we,
For such as we are made of, such we be,
How will this fadge?

(i) Who is speaking and what has just happened?
(ii) How does it ôfadgeö?
(iii) What is meant by ôthe pregnant enemyö and ôthe proper falseö?
(iv) Comment on ShakespeareÆs imagery in these lines.

F Essays

These will usually give you a specific topic to discuss, or perhaps a
question that must be answered, in writing, with a reasoned argument.
They never want you to tell the story of the play ù so donÆt! Your
examiner ù or teacher ù has read the play and does not need to be
reminded of it. Relevant quotations will always help you to make
your points more strongly.

F1 ôThe greatest lover in the play is not Orsino, nor even Viola, but
Antonio.ö Do you agree?

F2 Mistaken identity in Twelfth Night.

F3 ôAlthough it is a happy comedy, there is great deal of hurt in this
play.ö Do you share this opinion.

F4    Methinks I feel this youthÆs perfections
With an invisible and subtle stealth
To creep in at mine eyes.

Describe the various feelings and the aspects of her character that
Olivia shows in her meetings with Viola.

F5 ôDost thou think because thou art virtuous there shall be no more
cakes and ale?ö Contrast the different attitudes of Sir Toby and
Malvolio.

F6 ôFor such as I am, all true lovers are.ö Is Orsino the best model of
a ôtrue loverö?

F7 ôI am as mad as he If sad and merry madness equal be.ö Give
examples from the play of ôsad and merry madnessö.

F8 Should we pity Olivia or laugh at her?

G Projects

In some schools, students are asked to do more ôfree-rangingö work,
which takes them outside the text ù but which should always be
relevant to the play. Such Projects may demand skills other than
reading and writing; design and artwork, for instance, may be
involved. Sometimes a ôportfolioö of work is assembled over a
considerable period of time; and this can be presented to the examiner
as part of the studentÆs work for assessment.
    The availability of resources will, obviously, do much to
determine the nature of the Projects; but this is something that only
the local teachers will understand. However, there is always help to
be found in libraries, museums, and art galleries.

Suggested Subjects

G1 Twelfth Night.

G2 Famous Actresses in Twelfth Night.

G3 The Elizabethan Clown.

G4 The Elizabethan Household.

G5 Elizabethan Popular Songs.