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Macbeth
plot Summary
Act I.
Also known as "The Scottish play", Shakespeare's dark, grim tragedy begins with Three Witches in Scotland deciding to meet again after a battle being fought nearby.
Thunder, storms and the desolate heath paint a gloomy picture, setting the tone of this play and defining an imagery of nature at war with itself, a recurring theme in this play...
Macbeth is introduced as the brave man who led King
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Duncan's forces to victory against the traitorous Thane of
Cawdor, Macdonwald and The King of Norway, in a battle that could have gone either way were it not for
Macbeth's leadership. We learn that Macbeth killed
Macdonwald himself in battle. King Duncan, overjoyed, decides to make Macbeth his new Thane of Cawdor. The previous Thane of Cawdor will be executed.
The Three Witches establish their malicious nature before meeting Macbeth and Banquo. The Three Witches tell
Macbeth that he will be "Thane of Glamis!", "Thane of
Cawdor!" and "king hereafter" or become the King of
Scotland.
Banquo learns that his descendants shall be kings. Banquo
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Cawdor, Macbeth in a very important aside (soliloquy), remarks, "Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor: / The greatest is behind."
Macbeth now first questions Banquo's on his feelings about his descendants becoming kings and then starts thinking of killing King Duncan to make prophecy fact but later hopes fate alone will spare him the need to kill...
Macbeth meets King Duncan, thanking him for his new title. The also loyal Banquo receives nothing. King
Duncan remarks how he completely trusted the previous
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Thane of Cawdor.
King Duncan announces that his son, Malcolm will be the new Prince of Cumberland. Macbeth sees Malcolm as a threat to what he now takes seriously as his destiny to be king, a major turning point in Macbeth's changing morality. Macbeth makes this clear by famously asking in an aside (private speech) for the stars to hide their fires least they reveal his dark and deadly purpose or intention to kill King Duncan.
Lady Macbeth learns by letter from Macbeth of the Three
Witches' prophecies for her husband, eagerly embracing them as fact. Fearing Macbeth is too compassionate and weak-willed to do what needs to be done (killing King
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Duncan), she famously asks the gods to remove from her all signs of compassion and femininity, replacing these with cold remorseless ruthlessness.
Learning from a messenger that King Duncan will stay at their castle, Lady Macbeth enthusiastically greets this news, suggesting that she already has plans to kill King
Duncan. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decide to speak again on the issue of the prophecies, Macbeth still uncertain of the need to kill King Duncan.
At Macbeth's castle King Duncan arrives whilst Lady
Macbeth plays the most perfect of hostesses. King
Duncan asks for the Thane of Cawdor (Macbeth) who is not yet present.
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A guilt-ridden Macbeth wrestles with his conscience, certain that he should not kill King Duncan yet guiltily having to remind himself of all the reasons why it would be wrong. Macbeth decides against murdering his King but Lady Macbeth belittles him for not being able to murder, threatening to take away her love for him if he does not. This threat wins Macbeth over and Lady
Macbeth outlines her plan to kill King Duncan in his sleep while he is a guest at their castle.
Act II.
Banquo and son Fleance arrive at Macbeth's castle.
Banquo is troubled by the Three Witches' prophecy and tells Macbeth this. Macbeth pretends not to take the Three
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Witches seriously.
Learning from Banquo that King Duncan is asleep,
Macbeth, alone, follows an imaginary dagger to King
Duncan's bedchamber where he will kill him in his sleep...
Lady Macbeth has drugged King Duncan's guards, allowing Macbeth to kill King Duncan unchallenged.
Lady Macbeth was to have killed the King but his resemblance to her late father means Macbeth does the deed instead. A bell frightens Lady Macbeth and Macbeth too is nervous, but he announces that he did indeed kill
King Duncan.
Macbeth recounts that the two guards cried out
"'Murder!'" and later "'God bless us!'", Lady Macbeth
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"'Amen,'" as one of the guards had done...
Lady Macbeth tells her husband a little water will wash away their guilt and the two retire to their bedroom when knocking is later heard...
Macduff, Lennox, the source of the knocking in the last scene, arrive at Macbeth's castle. News of King Duncan's death reaches all at Macbeth's castle. Lady Macbeth faints and Macbeth in rage kills the two drunken guards after claiming that they obviously killed their King.
These actions largely free Macbeth and Lady Macbeth from suspicion. King Duncan's sons, Malcolm and
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Donalbain are introduced, both men wisely deciding to flee Macbeth's castle as a precaution against their own murder. Malcolm will head for England, Donalbain for
Ireland.
Ross speaks with an Old Man who describes various unnatural acts happening in Scotland, perhaps the single most significant scene for the theme of nature at war with itself, which relates to the idea of a natural order being disturbed by the death of a king, a prevalent theme throughout this play.
We learn that King Duncan's two sons have fled, leaving
Macbeth to be crowned the new King of Scotland.
Macduff, who later becomes instrumental in Macbeth's
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Act III.
Banquo is fearful that the Three Witches' prophecies are becoming true, questioning whether Macbeth played most foully for it, or killed King Duncan to make prophecy, fact.
Meeting with Macbeth, Macbeth continuously asks
Banquo of his travel plans and those of his son. Alone,
Macbeth fears that Banquo's sons will mean his dynasty will be short-lived; only he will become King of Scotland and not his sons who will be replaced by those of
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Banquo's lineage.
Macbeth arranges for several Murderers to discreetly kill
Banquo and Fleance to ensure his sons and not Banquo's become future kings...
Lady Macbeth and Macbeth speak in private. Macbeth is again plagued by a guilt we thought may have vanished.
Lady Macbeth attempts to strengthen Macbeth's resolve.
The Murderers kill Banquo but his son Fleance escapes and survives.
The Three Witches' prophecy of Banquo's sons becoming kings has not been thwarted by Macbeth...
Macbeth and a lady are entertaining at their castle. The
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First Murderer arrives, announcing that Banquo is dead but Fleance has lived. Macbeth immediately realizes the consequences of this (his descendants may not become kings).
Macbeth famously sees Banquo's Ghost at his party, causing Lady Macbeth to finish their party early to prevent further suspicions about Macbeth's sanity and about their role in recent events (King Duncan's death whilst a guest at their castle). Macbeth makes his famous speech about being too covered in blood to stop killing...
Hecate, clearly in a position of command over the Three
Witches, scolds her subordinates for helping an unappreciative Macbeth.
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Hecate instructs the Three Witches to make preparations for her plan to use illusion and the Three Witches' prophecies against Macbeth. The Three Witches, eager to placate (please) their master, eagerly make preparations, doing as they are told...
We see Lennox and a Lord discuss affairs in their kingdom. We learn from their conversation that an army is being formed in England to fight Macbeth.
Act IV.
A major turning point in the play. Just as the Three
Witches prophesied Macbeth's ascendancy to become
King in Act I, Scene III, here they prophesies his downfall with the Three Apparitions (visions / ghosts). The first
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Apparition tells an eager Macbeth that he should fear
Macduff, saying "beware Macduff; / Beware the Thane of
Fife." The Second Apparition reassures Macbeth that
"none of women born / Shall harm Macbeth" and the
Third Apparition tells Macbeth he has nothing to fear until "Great Birnam wood" moves to "high Dunsinane hill" near his castle.
Macbeth decides to kill Macduff to protect himself from him and takes the Apparition's words to mean he is safe from all men since they are all born naturally and that only the moving of a nearby forest to his castle, an unlikely event will spell his doom.
Next Macbeth demands to know about Banquo's
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Scotland rather than Macbeth's descendants. Macbeth learns that he cannot kill Macduff so instead has his entire family murdered...
Lady Macduff is greeted by Ross, Lady Macduff expressing her anger at being abandoned by Macduff for little reason when in her eyes, Macduff has done nothing requiring him to flee.
Ross leaves and after Lady Macduff tells her son that his father is dead and was a traitor, a Messenger warns Lady
Macduff to flee but Macbeth's Murderers succeed in killing Lady Macduff's son. The scene ends with Lady
Macduff fleeing for her life...
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Malcolm and Macduff discuss how Scotland under
Macbeth's rule has been plunged into despair. Malcolm tests Macduff's integrity by describing himself as unfit to rule.
After Malcolm disgusts Macduff with increasingly sordid descriptions of his lust and greed, Macduff tells Malcolm that like Macbeth, he too is not fit to rule Scotland. This delights Malcolm who explains that he was lying; he described himself so negatively to test Macduff's integrity. We learn that a large army is gathering to defeat
Macbeth.
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Act V.
Lady Macbeth's insanity becomes clear... First her Doctor and a Gentlewoman discuss Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking and talking to herself and then we, the audience see this for ourselves.
Lady Macbeth makes her famous speech that she cannot wipe away the blood on her hands (or her guilt), indicating that her battle to suppress her guilty conscience has failed completely...
Macbeth's enemies gather near his castle at Dunsinane as
Macbeth strongly fortifies his castle. We learn that
Macbeth's hold on Scotland is less than absolute...
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Macbeth prepares to defiantly fight his enemies armed with the prophecy that he will only be defeated when the nearby Birnam Wood moves on his castle. Macbeth now learns of the ten thousand strong army against him.
Seyton confirms this bad news and Macbeth donning his armor, prepares to fight his enemies recalling the Birnam
Wood prophecy once more as a source of comfort...
With his troops loyally around him, Malcolm orders each man to cut down a branch from the nearby Birnam Wood as his army now camouflaged under an umbrella of
Birnam Wood, head towards Macbeth's castle at
Dunsinane.
Macbeth laughs off his enemies' numbers, certain of the
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Birnam Wood prophecy and equally certain that his fortifications should laugh off any attack.
We hear a women's cry later learning that Lady Macbeth is dead. Macbeth coldly shrugs the news that his once
"dearest chuck," is dead with complete apathy. Macbeth learns that Birnam Wood or rather Malcolm's forces are moving on his castle. Realizing what this means, Macbeth nonetheless defiantly sets off to meet his destiny...
Malcolm's men drop their leafy camouflage and the battle begins...
Macbeth fights, young Siward killing him. Macbeth is now confronted by Macduff, a man he has consciously
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Macbeth famously exclaims that he has lived a charmed life and is unable to be killed by a man, naturally born.
Macduff now explains that he has born by Caesarian section and the two men fight, Macbeth dying and order being restored when Malcolm is hailed as the new King of
Scotland
Character List
Macbeth - Macbeth is a Scottish general and the thane of
Glamis who is led to wicked thoughts by the prophecies of the three witches, especially after their prophecy that he will be made thane of Cawdor comes true. Macbeth is
21 LANE 448 للعبم 5341هـ - 5051م االستبذ : أبو يبرا ج: 0119519500 a brave soldier and a powerful man, but he is not a virtuous one. He is easily tempted into murder to fulfill his ambitions to the throne, and once he commits his first crime and is crowned King of Scotland, he embarks on further atrocities with increasing ease. Ultimately,
Macbeth proves himself better suited to the battlefield than to political intrigue, because he lacks the skills necessary to rule without being a tyrant. His response to every problem is violence and murder.
Lady Macbeth - Macbeth‘s wife, a deeply ambitious woman who lusts for power and position. Early in the play she seems to be the stronger and more ruthless of the two, as she urges her husband to kill Duncan and seize the crown. After the bloodshed begins, however, Lady
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Macbeth falls victim to guilt and madness to an even greater degree than her husband. Her conscience affects her to such an extent that she eventually commits suicide.
Interestingly, she and Macbeth are presented as being deeply in love, and many of Lady Macbeth‘s speeches imply that her influence over her husband is primarily sexual. Their joint alienation from the world, occasioned by their partnership in crime, seems to strengthen the attachment that they feel to each another.
The Three Witches - Three ―black and midnight hags‖ who plot mischief against Macbeth using charms, spells, and prophecies. Their predictions prompt him to murder
Duncan, to order the deaths of Banquo and his son, and to blindly believe in his own immortality. The play leaves
23 LANE 448 للعبم 5341هـ - 5051م االستبذ : أبو يبرا ج: 0119519500 the witches‘ true identity unclear—aside from the fact that they are servants of Hecate, we know little about their place in the cosmos. In some ways they resemble the mythological Fates, who impersonally weave the threads of human destiny. They clearly take a perverse delight in using their knowledge of the future to toy with and destroy human beings .
Banquo - The brave, noble general whose children, according to the witches‘ prophecy, will inherit the
Scottish throne. Like Macbeth, Banquo thinks ambitious thoughts, but he does not translate those thoughts into action. In a sense, Banquo‘s character stands as a rebuke to Macbeth, since he represents the path Macbeth chose
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King Duncan - The good King of Scotland whom
Macbeth, in his ambition for the crown, murders. Duncan is the model of a virtuous, benevolent, and farsighted ruler. His death symbolizes the destruction of an order in
Scotland that can be restored only when Duncan‘s line, in the person of Malcolm, once more occupies the throne.
Macduff - A Scottish nobleman hostile to Macbeth‘s kingship from the start. He eventually becomes a leader of the crusade to unseat Macbeth. The crusade‘s mission is to place the rightful king, Malcolm, on the throne, but
Macduff also desires vengeance for Macbeth‘s murder of
Macduff‘s wife and young son.
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Malcolm - The son of Duncan, whose restoration to the throne signals Scotland‘s return to order following
Macbeth‘s reign of terror.
Malcolm becomes a serious challenge to Macbeth with
Macduff‘s aid (and the support of England). Prior to this, he appears weak and uncertain of his own power, as when he and Donalbain flee Scotland after their father‘s murder.
Hecate - The goddess of witchcraft, who helps the three witches work their mischief on Macbeth.
Fleance - Banquo‘s son, who survives Macbeth‘s attempt to murder him. At the end of the play, Fleance‘s whereabouts are unknown. Presumably, he may come to
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Banquo‘s sons will sit on the Scottish throne.
Lennox - AScottish nobleman.
Ross - A Scottish nobleman.
The Murderers - A group of ruffians conscripted by
Macbeth to murder Banquo, Fleance (whom they fail to kill), and Macduff‘s wife and children.
Porter - The drunken doorman of Macbeth‘s castle.
Lady Macduff - Macduff‘swife. The scene in her castle provides our only glimpse of a domestic realm other than that of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. She and her home serve as contrasts to Lady Macbeth and the hellish world of Inverness.
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Donalbain - Duncan‘s son and Malcolm‘s younger brother.
Themes
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.
The Corrupting Power of Unchecked Ambition
The main theme of Macbeth—the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints— finds its most powerful expression in the play‘s two main characters. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. He kills Duncan against his better judgment and afterward stews in guilt and paranoia.
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The Relationship Between Cruelty and Masculinity
Characters in Macbeth frequently dwell on issues of gender. Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband by questioning his manhood, wishes that she herself could be
―unsexed,‖ and does not contradict Macbeth when he says that a woman like her should give birth only to boys.
The Difference Between Kingship and Tyranny
In the play, Duncan is always referred to as a
―king,‖while Macbeth soon becomes known as the
―tyrant.‖ The difference between the two types of rulers seems to be expressed in a conversation that occurs in Act
4, scene 3, when Macduff meets Malcolm in England. In order to test Macduff‘s loyalty to Scotland, Malcolm pretends that he would make an even worse king than
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Macbeth. He tells Macduff of his reproachable qualities— among them a thirst for personal power and a violent temperament, both of which seem to characterize
Macbeth perfectly
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Motifs
Hallucinations
Visions and hallucinations recur throughout the play and serve as reminders of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth‘s joint culpability for the growing body count. When he is about to kill Duncan, Macbeth sees a dagger floating in the air.
Covered with blood and pointed toward the king‘s chamber, the dagger represents the bloody course on which Macbeth is about to embark. Later, he sees
Banquo‘s ghost sitting in a chair at a feast, pricking his conscience by mutely reminding him that he murdered his former friend.
Violence
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Macbeth is a famously violent play. Interestingly, most of the killings take place offstage, but throughout the play the characters provide the audience with gory descriptions of the carnage, from the opening scene where the captain describes Macbeth and Banquo wading in blood on the battlefield, to the endless references to the bloodstained hands of Macbeth and his wife.
Prophecy
Prophecy sets Macbeth‘s plot in motion—namely, the witches‘ prophecy that Macbeth will become first thane of
Cawdor and then king. The weird sisters make a number of other prophecies: they tell us that Banquo‘s heirs will be kings, that Macbeth should beware Macduff, that
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Macbeth is safe till Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane, and that no man born of woman can harm Macbeth.
Symbols
Blood
Blood is everywhere in Macbeth, beginning with the opening battle between the Scots and the Norwegian invaders, which is described in harrowing terms by the wounded captain in Act 1, scene 2. Once Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth embark upon their murderous journey, blood comes to symbolize their guilt, and they begin to feel that their crimes have stained them in a way that cannot be washed clean.
The Weather
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As in other Shakespearean tragedies, Macbeth‘s grotesque murder spree is accompanied by a number of unnatural occurrences in the natural realm. From the thunder and lightning that accompany the witches‘ appearances .
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Twelfth nights
Plot Overview
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. Meanwhile, off the coast, a storm has caused a terrible shipwreck. A young, aristocratic- born woman named Viola is swept onto the Illyrian shore.
Finding herself alone in a strange land, she assumes that her twin brother, Sebastian, has been drowned in the wreck, and tries to figure out what sort of work she can
36 LANE 448 للعبم 5341هـ - 5051م االستبذ : أبو يبرا ج: 0119519500 do. A friendly sea captain tells her about Orsino‘s courtship of Olivia, and Viola says that she wishes she could go to work in Olivia‘s home. But since Lady Olivia refuses to talk with any strangers, Viola decides that she cannot look for work with her. Instead, she decides to disguise herself as a man, taking on the name of Cesario, and goes to work in the household of Duke Orsino.
Viola (disguised as Cesario) quickly becomes a favorite of Orsino, who makes Cesario his page. Viola finds herself falling in love with Orsino—a difficult love to pursue, as Orsino believes her to be a man. But when
Orsino sends Cesario to deliver Orsino‘s love messages to the disdainful Olivia, Olivia herself falls for the beautiful young Cesario, believing her to be a man. The love
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Olivia, and Olivia loves Cesario—and everyone is miserable.
Meanwhile, we meet the other members of Olivia‘s household: her rowdy drunkard of an uncle, Sir Toby; his foolish friend, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, who is trying in his hopeless way to court Olivia; Olivia‘s witty and pretty waiting-gentlewoman, Maria; Feste, the clever clown of the house; and Malvolio, the dour, prudish steward of
Olivia‘s household. When Sir Toby and the others take offense at Malvolio‘s constant efforts to spoil their fun,
Maria engineers a practical joke to make Malvolio think that Olivia is in love with him. She forges a letter, supposedly from Olivia, addressed to her beloved (whose
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Malvolio finds the letter, assumes that it is addressed to him, and, filled with dreams of marrying Olivia and becoming noble himself, happily follows its commands.
He behaves so strangely that Olivia comes to think that he is mad.
Meanwhile, Sebastian, who is still alive after all but believes his sister Viola to be dead, arrives in Illyria along with his friend and protector, Antonio. Antonio has cared for Sebastian since the shipwreck and is passionately (and perhaps sexually) attached to the young man—so much so
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Sir Andrew, observing Olivia‘s attraction to Cesario (still
Viola in disguise), challenges Cesario to a duel. Sir Toby, who sees the prospective duel as entertaining fun, eggs Sir
Andrew on. However, when Sebastian—who looks just like the disguised Viola—appears on the scene, Sir
Andrew and Sir Toby end up coming to blows with
Sebastian, thinking that he is Cesario. Olivia enters amid the confusion. Encountering Sebastian and thinking that he is Cesario, she asks him to marry her. He is baffled, since he has never seen her before. He sees, however, that she is wealthy and beautiful, and he is therefore more than willing to go along with her. Meanwhile, Antonio has
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Malvolio‘s supposed madness has allowed the gleeful
Maria, Toby, and the rest to lock Malvolio into a small, dark room for his treatment, and they torment him at will.
Feste dresses up as "Sir Topas," a priest, and pretends to examine Malvolio, declaring him definitely insane in spite of his protests. However, Sir Toby begins to think better of the joke, and they allow Malvolio to send a letter to
Olivia, in which he asks to be released.
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Eventually, Viola (still disguised as Cesario) and Orsino make their way to Olivia‘s house, where Olivia welcomes
Cesario as her new husband, thinking him to be Sebastian, whom she has just married. Orsino is furious, but then
Sebastian himself appears on the scene, and all is revealed. The siblings are joyfully reunited, and Orsino realizes that he loves Viola, now that he knows she is a woman, and asks her to marry him. We discover that Sir
Toby and Maria have also been married privately.
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Malvolio and lets him out of the dark room. The trick is revealed in full, and the embittered Malvolio storms off, leaving the happy couples to their celebration.
Character List
Viola - A young woman of aristocratic birth, and the play‘s protagonist. Washed up on the shore of Illyria when her ship is wrecked in a storm, Viola decides to make her own way in the world. She disguises herself as a young man, calling herself "Cesario," and becomes a page to Duke Orsino. She ends up falling in love with Orsino— even as Olivia, the woman Orsino is courting, falls in love with Cesario. Thus, Viola finds that her clever disguise has entrapped her: she cannot tell Orsino that she loves him, and she cannot tell Olivia why she, as Cesario,
43 LANE 448 للعبم 5341هـ - 5051م االستبذ : أبو يبرا ج: 0119519500 cannot love her.Her poignant plight is the central conflict in the play.
Orsino - A powerful nobleman in the country of Illyria.
Orsino is lovesick for the beautiful Lady Olivia, but becomes more and more fond of his handsome new page boy, Cesario, who is actually a woman—Viola. Orsino is a vehicle through which the play explores the absurdity of love: a supreme egotist, Orsino mopes around complaining how heartsick he is over Olivia, when it is clear that he is chiefly in love with the idea of being in love and enjoys making a spectacle of himself. His attraction to the ostensibly male Cesario injects sexual ambiguity into his character.
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Olivia - A wealthy, beautiful, and noble Illyrian lady,
Olivia is courted by Orsino and Sir Andrew Aguecheek, but to each of them she insists that she is in mourning for her brother, who has recently died, and will not marry for seven years. She and Orsino are similar characters in that each seems to enjoy wallowing in his or her own misery.
Viola‘s arrival in the masculine guise of Cesario enables
Olivia to break free of her self-indulgent melancholy.
Olivia seems to have no difficulty transferring her affections from one love interest to the next, however, suggesting that her romantic feelings—like most emotions in the play—do not run deep.
Sebastian - Viola‘s lost twin brother. When he arrives in
Illyria, traveling with Antonio, his close friend and
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Cesario—namely, the mate for Olivia.
Malvolio - The straitlaced steward—or head servant—in the household of Lady Olivia. Malvolio is very efficient but also very self-righteous, and he has a poor opinion of drinking, singing, and fun. His priggishness and haughty attitude earn him the enmity of Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and
Maria, who play a cruel trick on him, making him believe that Olivia is in love with him. In his fantasies about
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Feste - The clown, or fool, of Olivia‘s household, Feste moves between Olivia‘s and Orsino‘s homes. He earns his living by making pointed jokes, singing old songs, being generally witty, and offering good advice cloaked under a layer of foolishness. In spite of being a professional fool,
Feste often seems the wisest character in the play.
Sir Toby - Olivia‘s uncle. Olivia lets Sir Toby Belch live with her, but she does not approve of his rowdy behavior, practical jokes, heavy drinking, late-night carousing, or friends (specifically the idiotic Sir Andrew). Sir Toby also earns the ire of Malvolio. But Sir Toby has an ally, and eventually a mate, in Olivia‘s sharp-witted waiting-
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Maria - Olivia‘s clever, daring young waiting- gentlewoman. Maria is remarkably similar to her antagonist, Malvolio, who harbors aspirations of rising in the world through marriage. But Maria succeeds where
Malvolio fails—perhaps because she is a woman, but, more likely, because she is more in tune than Malvolio with the anarchic, topsy-turvy spirit that animates the play
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Sir Andrew Aguecheek - A friend of Sir Toby‘s. Sir
Andrew Aguecheek attempts to court Olivia, but he doesn‘t stand a chance. He thinks that he is witty, brave, young, and good at languages and dancing, but he is actually an idiot.
Antonio - A man who rescues Sebastian after his shipwreck. Antonio has become very fond of Sebastian, caring for him, accompanying him to Illyria, and furnishing him with money—all because of a love so strong that it seems to be romantic in nature. Antonio‘s attraction to Sebastian, however, never bears fruit.
Despite the ambiguous and shifting gender roles in the play, Twelfth Night remains a romantic comedy in which
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Themes, Motifs & Symbols
Themes
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.
Love as a Cause of Suffering
Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy, and romantic love is the play‘s main focus. Despite the fact that the play offers a happy ending, in which the various lovers find one another and achieve wedded bliss, Shakespeare shows that love can cause pain. Many of the characters seem to view love as a kind of curse, a feeling that attacks its victims suddenly and disruptively. Various characters
50 LANE 448 للعبم 5341هـ - 5051م االستبذ : أبو يبرا ج: 0119519500 claim to suffer painfully from being in love, or, rather, from the pangs of unrequited love. At one point, Orsino depicts love dolefully as an ―appetite‖ that he wants to satisfy and cannot (I.i.1–3); at another point, he calls his desires ―fell and cruel hounds‖ (I.i.21). Olivia more bluntly describes love as a ―plague‖ from which she suffers terribly (I.v.265). These metaphors contain an element of violence, further painting the love-struck as victims of some random force in the universe. Even the less melodramatic Viola sighs unhappily that ―My state is desperate for my 6
51 LANE 448 للعبم 5341هـ - 5051م االستبذ : أبو يبرا ج: 0119519500 master‘s love‖ (II.ii.35). This desperation has the potential to result in violence—as in Act V, scene i, when Orsino threatens to kill Cesario because he thinks that -Cesario has forsaken him to become Olivia‘s lover.
The Uncertainty of Gender
Gender is one of the most obvious and much-discussed topics in the play.Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare‘s so-called transvestite comedies, in which a female character—in this case, Viola—disguises herself as a man. This situation creates a sexual mess: Viola falls in love with Orsino but cannot tell him, because he thinks she is a man, while Olivia, the object of Orsino‘s affection, falls for Viola in her guise as Cesario.
The Folly of Ambition
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The problem of social ambition works itself out largely through the character of Malvolio, the steward, who seems to be a competent servant, if prudish and dour, but proves to be, in fact, a supreme egotist, with tremendous ambitions to rise out of his social class. Maria plays on these ambitions when she forges a letter from Olivia that makes Malvolio believe that Olivia is in love with him and wishes to marry him. Sir Toby and the others find this fantasy hysterically funny, of course—not only because of
Malvolio‘s unattractive personality but also because
Malvolio is not of noble blood. In the class system of
Shakespeare‘s time, a noblewoman would generally not sully her reputation by marrying a man of lower social status.
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Motifs
Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.
Letters, Messages, and Tokens
Twelfth Night features a great variety of messages sent from one character to another—sometimes as letters and other times in the form of tokens. Such messages are used both for purposes of communication and miscommunication—sometimes deliberate and sometimes accidental. Maria‘s letter to Malvolio, which purports to be from Olivia, is a deliberate (and successful) attempt to trick the steward. Sir Andrew‘s letter demanding a duel with Cesario, meanwhile, is meant seriously, but because
54 LANE 448 للعبم 5341هـ - 5051م االستبذ : أبو يبرا ج: 0119519500 it is so appallingly stupid, Sir Toby does not deliver it, rendering it extraneous. Malvolio‘s missive, sent by way of Feste from the dark room in which he is imprisoned, ultimately works to undo the confusion caused by Maria‘s forged letter and to free Malvolio from his imprisonment.
But letters are not the only kind of messages that characters employ to communicate with one another.
Individuals can be employed in the place of written communication—Orsino repeatedly sends Cesario, for instance, to deliver messages to Olivia. Objects can function as messages between people as well: Olivia sends Malvolio after Cesario with a ring, to tell the page that she loves him, and follows the ring up with further gifts, which symbolize her romantic attachment.
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Messages can convey important information, but they also create the potential for miscommunication and confusion—especially with characters like Maria and Sir
Toby manipulating the information.
Madness
No one is truly insane in Twelfth Night, yet a number of characters are accused of being mad, and a current of insanity or zaniness runs through the action of the play.
After Sir Toby and Maria dupe Malvolio into believing that Olivia loves him, Malvolio behaves so bizarrely that he is assumed to be mad and is locked away in a dark room. Malvolio himself knows that he is sane, and he accuses everyone around him of being mad.
Disguises
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Many characters in Twelfth Night assume disguises, beginning with Viola, who puts on male attire and makes everyone else believe that she is a man. By dressing his protagonist in male garments, Shakespeare creates endless sexual confusion with the Olivia-Viola--Orsino love triangle. Other characters in disguise include Malvolio, who puts on crossed garters and yellow stockings in the hope of winning Olivia, and Feste, who dresses up as a priest—Sir Topas—when he speaks to Malvolio after the steward has been locked in a dark room.
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Mistaken Identity
The instances of mistaken identity are related to the prevalence of disguises in the play, as Viola‘s male clothing leads to her being mistaken for her brother,
Sebastian, and vice versa. Sebastian is mistaken for Viola
(or rather, Cesario) by Sir Toby and Sir Andrew, and then by Olivia, who promptly marries him. Symbols
Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
Olivia’s Gifts
When Olivia wants to let Cesario know that she loves him, she sends him a ring by way of Malvolio. Later, when she mistakes Sebastian for Cesario, she gives him a precious pearl. In each case, the jewel serves as a token of
58 LANE 448 للعبم 5341هـ - 5051م االستبذ : أبو يبرا ج: 0119519500 her love—a physical symbol of her romantic attachment to a man who is really a woman.
The Darkness of Malvolio’s Prison
When Sir Toby and Maria pretend that Malvolio is mad, they confine him in a pitch-black chamber. Darkness becomes a symbol of his supposed insanity, as they tell him that the room is filled with light and his inability to see is a sign of his madness.
Changes of Clothing
Clothes are powerful in Twelfth Night. They can symbolize changes in gender—Viola puts on male clothes to be taken for a male— as well as class distinctions.
Summary of Act I
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- Duke Orsino loves Lady Olivia. But Lady Olivia is in mourning for her brother, so doesn‘t want anything to do with Orsino.
- Viola is shipwrecked and is washed ashore to Illyria.
She thinks her brother has been drowned.
- Viola finds out about Duke Orsino and decides to disguise herself as a man to get a job.
- When Viola meets Duke Orsino, she falls in love with him, but can do nothing as she doesn‘t want to give away her disguise.
- We meet Sir Toby Belch (Olivia‘s uncle), Maria
(Olivia‘s maid) and Andrew Aguecheek (Belch‘s ‗friend‘
60 LANE 448 للعبم 5341هـ - 5051م االستبذ : أبو يبرا ج: 0119519500 who is in love with Olivia). Sir Toby Belch uses
Aguecheek for money.
- In her disguise Viola calls herself Cesario. Her first job is to deliver a message to Olivia for Duke Orsino.
Olivia isn‘t interested in the message, but is interested in
Cesario.
Summary of Act II
- We learn that Sebastian (Viola‘s identical twin) has been rescued from the sea by Antonio.
Lady Olivia sends a ring to Cesario. Cesario (Viola) realises what a mess she is in. -
Sir Toby and Sir Andrew are drinking. Maria interrupts them, telling them to quieten down. -
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Malvolio suddenly appears and tells them all (including
Maria) off sternly. -
- Maria suggests revenge by writing a letter to Malvolio in handwriting similar to Olivia‘s, suggesting that
Olivia loves him.
Malvolio finds the letter and totally overreacts - he is delighted! -
Summary of Act III
- Cesario (Viola) carries another message to Lady Olivia from Duke Orsino. Olivia openly speaks of her love for Cesario.
- Sir Andrew, thinking Cesario is a rival, is jealous. Sir
Toby persuades Sir Andrew to challenge Cesario to a duel.
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- Malvolio appears, dressed and acting using the instructions in the ‗love letter‘.
- Lady Olivia finds his behaviour very strange, and thinks he is mad.
- Cesario (Viola) is challenged to a duel by Sir Andrew.
Antonio rescues Cesario (Viola) thinking she is really Sebastian.
When Antonio calls Viola ‗Sebastian‘, Viola is given hope that her brother may be alive. -
Summary of Act IV
- Sir Andrew sees Sebastian. He thinks Sebastian is
Cesario! Sir Andrew attacks Sebastian.
- Sir Andrew is very surprised when he finds Sebastian beating him. He was expecting Cesario‘s weakness,
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- Sir Toby steps into the fight, and draws his sword against Sebastian.
- Olivia enters and thinks Sir Toby is fighting with
Cesario. Olivia banishes Sir Toby from her sight.
- Sebastian sees Lady Olivia for the first time, and is instantly attracted. Lady Olivia just thinks she is 11
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- Olivia persuades Sebastian that he should marry her at once, and fetches a priest to carry out the ceremony.
Olivia thinks it is Cesario.
- Malvolio has been imprisoned by Sir Toby and friends.
- Feste tricks Malvolio into talking about ‗madness‘.
- Sir Toby is worried he has offended Lady Olivia (his niece) so tells Feste to end the joke.
- Malvolio is given a pen and paper to write to Olivia and explain his behaviour.
Summary of Act 5
- Duke Orsino decides to talk to Lady Olivia in person.
- Cesario is accused of breaking the marriage appointment with Olivia, accused of beating Sir Andrew and
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Sir Toby, and accused of failing to gain Olivia‘s love for
Duke Orsino.
- Sebastian arrives, and the confusion starts to be explained.
- Duke Orsino, when he understands Cesario is really
Viola in disguise, declares his love. Orsino proposes to
Viola.
- Malvolio‘s explanation is read, and the trick of the fake letter is revealed.
- The play ends with a song from Feste. Only Malvolio is left upset and angry.
Summary of the end of the play
- All the confusion and trickery is revealed.
- Sebastian and Viola are reunited.
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- Duke Orsino marries Viola.
- Lady Olivia marries Sebastian.
- Sir Toby marries Maria.
- Malvolio leaves and threatens revenge.
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اسئلة حملولة للمراجعة
. Orsino is Duke, or Count, of:
Messaline
Venetia
Illyria
Elysium 2. Viola is saved from the wreck by:
one of Orsino's men
Antonio
a sailor
a sea captain 3. Apart from her brother, who in Olivia's family has just died?
her father
her mother
her sister
her husband 4. Viola sympathizes with Olivia even before they meet because:
Olivia also lost her father
Olivia is proud and independent
Olivia just lost her brother
Olivia does not want to marry
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5. Sir Toby, Olivia's uncle, has the surname:
Belch
Snore
Snort
Aguecheek 6. Which of these is NOT the name of one of Orsino's servants?
Valentine
Cesario
Curio
Fabian 7. When Viola will not take the ring from Malvolio, Malvolio:
keeps the ring
takes the ring back to Olivia
forces Viola to take the ring
throws the ring on the ground 8. Viola tries to convince Orsino that women can feel love by:
Debating the point with him
Telling him of her "sister"'s love
Showing him that Olivia can feel love
Telling him of her own experience 9. How long does Olivia pledge to mourn her dead brother?
five years
one year
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three years
seven years 10. In Act II, Orsino compares women, somewhat unfavorably, to:
falling leaves
birds
vines
roses 11. Which character is NOT involved in baiting Malvolio with the letter?
Sir Andrew
Sir Toby
Feste
Fabian 12. In Act III, Viola says that Feste is:
a "rogue"
a "wise fool"
a "tinker"
a "foolish wit" 13. Which of these characters does NOT love Olivia?
Sir Andrew
Orsino
Malvolio
Fabian 14. Antonio is wanted in Illyria because of:
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dueling with Orsino
"piracy"-like activities
murdering Orsino's cousin in battle
theft 15. What color, also the color of Malvolio's stockings, does Olivia abhor?
red
yellow
blue
green 16. Sir Andrew challenges Viola to a duel as:
an attempt to win Olivia
proof that he is not a coward
revenge for an insult
a response to a dare 17. Sebastian and Viola are from:
Messaline
Illyria
Ephesus
Genoa 18. Who stops the duel between Sir Andrew and Viola?
Olivia
Sir Toby
Antonio
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Sir Andrew himself 19. At what point does Viola know that her brother is alive?
when Sir Toby falsely claims that she beat him
when she finally sees him
when the Captain tells her of seeing him
when Antonio mistakes her for him 20. Within the play, Feste pretends to be a:
curate
lawyer
teacher
steward 21. Which of these things does Malvolio ask for when he is imprisoned?
air
pen and ink
food and water
mercy 22. In Act V, how long does Antonio claim Sebastian has been with him?
three months
three days
three weeks
three years 23. Which of these things is Viola NOT accused of in Act V?
marrying Lady Olivia
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getting Antonio arrested
beating Sir Toby and Sir Andrew
angering Orsino 24. The chorus of the ending song that Feste sings is:
"a thousand, thousand sighs to save"
"youth's a stuff will not endure"
"the rain it raineth every day"
"farewell dear heart, since I needs be gone" 25. Feste calls Olivia a fool because:
She doesn't want to have children, and pass on her beauty
She mourns her brother, when he's in heaven
She wants to mourn her brother for a long time
She will not accept Orsino Quiz2
Viola and Orsino's marriage is postponed until:
They get better acquainted
She can spend time with her brother
She can take a trip back to her home
She can get her clothes back 2. Throughout the play, Maria has affection for:
Sir Andrew
Sir Toby
Feste
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Fabian 3. When does Viola realize that Olivia loves "Cesario"?
When she sends "Cesario" the ring
When Olivia asks questions to test "Cesario"'s eligibility
When Olivia asks if "Cesario" loves her
When she invites "Cesario" back after their second meeting 4. Why does Feste become upset at Orsino?
because Orsino will not pay him
because Orsino is foolishly in love
because Orsino dismisses him so easily
because Orsino favors Viola over him 5. Before serving Olivia, Feste served:
Orsino
Sir Toby
Olivia's father
Orsino's father 6. Who convinces Sir Andrew to challenge Viola to a duel?
Sir Toby
Feste
Sir Andrew convinces himself
Fabian 7. Olivia attributes Malvolio's odd behavior to:
"strange bewitching"
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his own vanity
"midsummer madness"
work stress 8. What does Antonio give to Sebastian before their first parting?
some new clothes
a sword
a map of Illyria
Antonio's purse 9. According to Feste, which of these best represents Orsino?
an opal
a sword
a rainbow
fine silk 10. Who halts the duel between Sir Toby and Sebastian?
Olivia
Antonio
Viola
Malvolio 11. Orsino reacts to Olivia's final rejection in Act V by:
getting angry at Olivia
blaming himself for his failure
getting angry at Viola
finally accepting her answer
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12. Sir Toby and co. decide to get revenge on Malvolio for:
his cruelty to Maria
Malvolio's intolerable pride and vanity
Malvolio's boast that Olivia loves him
berating them harshly for their merrimaking 13. What is the name of the fake cleric who visits Malvolio?
Sir Jade
Sir Opal
Sir Ruby
Sir Topaz 14. Who does Olivia call to testify about her marriage before Viola and Orsino?
Sir Toby
a priest
Maria
a witness 15. Which character in the play uttters the line, "I was adored once too"?
Sir Andrew
Sir Toby
Maria
Viola
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