For Exam: Overview of Twelfth Night

This was written during the reign of Queen Elisabeth I (1558-1603) English Renaissance
By: William Shakespeare
Written in 1601
Comedy: was performed as a Play
Setting of Story: Place called Illyria
Characters and Role:
Orsino: Duke of Illyria; who is obsessed and wants to marry the Fair lady Olivia
Viola: Comes to Illyria after her shipwreck. Works for Orsino but is disguised as a man named "Cesario" Is Orsinos secret admirer. Viloa is entrusted to convey the Dukes love to Olivia.

Sea Captain: Friend of Viola who helps her disguise as a man

Lady Olivia: A countess of high social standing and beauty. Orisno wants her to marry him. she has resigned herself to 7 years of solitude because of her father's death and then her brothers death. Ignores Orsino but when she sees Cesario (Viola) she falls deeply in love with him. This causes problems for Cesario who is really Viola.. Later she will marry Sebastion Viola's brother who Olivia thinks is Cesario. Everything works out in the end for her!

Sebastion: Viola's Twin brother. They think he did not survive the shipwreck. He will come to Illyria where he will be reunited with his sister. Will take Lady Olivia as his bride.

Antonio: A sea captain by trade. He has many enemies of the Dukes court. He accompanies Sebastion in his travels.

Sir Toby Belch: Olivia's Uncle. He is always drunk and passes away the time drinking with his friend Sir Andrew Aguecheek. He is a great at playing practical jokes, in which he likes to play on Malvolio.

Sir Andrew Aguecheek: Drinking partner of Sir Toby. Always is pushing Lady Olivia's patience with his loud and lewd behavior. Sir Andrew like Sir Toby having little love for the annoying Malvolio and is party to a practical joke against him. Sir Andrew however is greatly valued by Sir Toby since he is rich, earning some "three thousand ducats a year." Unwittingly, Sir Andrew is also the pawn in Sir Toby's plot making. Naive by nature, he is manipulated by Sir Toby into pursuing Lady Olivia since this will maintain Sir Toby's drinking lifestyle. Later Sir Andrew is manipulated into challenging Cesario, who becomes a threat to Sir Toby's plans.

Malvolio: As Lady Olivia's steward, Malvolio sees himself in a somewhat grandiose light, imagining Olivia to love him and wishing to be more than his current rank. This and his continuous disapproval of Sir Toby and Sir Andrew's drinking, earn him their hatred and he quickly becomes their pawn in a complex romantic ruse.

Maria: Lady Olivia's woman, she is patient and tactful where Malvolio is brash and insulting. She too, disapproves of Sir Toby and company's drinking but tries tactfully to subdue their boisterous spirits. Her dislike of Malvolio leads her to create an elaborate romantic trick on Malvolio, which she also uses to calm down Sir Toby and company, who are now enthusiastic conspirator's in Malvolio's humiliation.

Feste: Referred to in the text as "The Clown" and a servant to Olivia, Feste like so many of Shakespeare's fools, speaks the truth from the source of recognized foolishness. He is much appreciated by Sir Toby, who spends many hours with him.

Fabian: A servant of Lady Olivia's, he too dislikes Malvolio, and also participates enthusiastically in Malvolio's downfall.

Valentine and Curio: Gentlemen attending Orsino at the start of the play.

At the end. Cesario (Viola) and Sebastion will see one another and find out they are in fact brother and sister.
Sebastion will marry Olivia
Malvolio will not get Olivia and is mad at the trick that has been played on him that Olivia was not really in love with him. He will leave but says he will be back for revenge.
Duke Orisino will take Viola as he mistress and it is assumed that they will marry.
Feste will end the play with song that speaks of growing up and growing old.

Absalom and Achitophel

I didn't enjoy this poem as well as I have like all of the other stories in the class. I am not a huge politics person and mainly this was what the poem represented so I couldn't stay focused on it.
From what I understood. Dryden was ordered to right the poem by King Charles II, who also paid him for this. In the poem Dryden tells of the story of David in the book of Samuel. But mainly this was a cover poem to represent King Charles and what was going on in England. At the time England was having a crisis of both religious and political that was threatening the Restoration and another civil War.
Was Dryden on the Kings side? Were the religious views of the poem to tell of the Kings faults? in the preface before the poem it says Dryden had to use all his skill and mention but gloss over the King's faults. Since the Charles II did pay him to write the poem I do not think Dryden would want to write anything to get the King on his bad side. But he also apologizes for the writing so maybe by apologizing that keeps King Charles from getting suspicious or mad at Dryden.
I did think that Dryden picked a great book from the bible to represent King Charles.. He wants to reprsent the King and from the bible David : "The sins of the Father" being David who has sinned and it is very difficult for him to correct his sons from sinning since they have seen what he has done.(David's sons Amnon and Absalom) So the representation between the Charles II and David are very much alike.
In the scripture there is a part about Ahithophel telling Absalom to attack his father David and to do it in a hurry..During this time period in England were the People wanting to Kill King Charles. at the end of the scripture David returns to the country and slowly the people are uniting under him again. He is forgiving and fair as he deals with those who have rejected him and those whose loyalty has been suspect. Therefore if this is the representation of David then King Charles has been in the wrong and this is representing the people following his rule again?
This was a difficult read for me I hope that I have understood this right.

The Beggar's Opera

I love reading Beggar's Opera. It starts out being funny already. What exactly is Peachum's occupation. Is he a lawyer, judge, jailer, executioner or all the above? Peachum is the typical father when he finds out about Macheth. No man is good enough for his daughter. I'm sure he's only protecting her. But why call his daughter a wench. That's insulting her. It's very ironic that Peachum thinks Polly is slut for marrying one man but then wants Polly to date many men which I see is a big no no and could lead to her being seen as a whore.
"If the affair is not already done..." This comment by Peachum makes me think it was custom for children to get married behind their parents back. Oh Oh!! The shit has hit the fan! Polly and Macheath are married. Peachum is going to kill her. this the very thing he was trying to talk Polly out of doing. And Mrs. Peachum has just torn Polly a new a.. hole. She straight up called the girl every bad name in the book. SLUT, BAGGAGE, HUSSY, JADE, WENCH!! I feel so sorry for Polly. How could parents call their child all these degrading names. Polly married because of love but I think she was a little naive because she didn't consider the pros and cons of being married and to highwayman at that. Also, I take it ruined meas pregnant. Now the Peachums have gone too far. They want to kill Macheath to restore family honor. This idea is ludacris. A good punishment would be to let Polly stay married and let her deal with Macheath's gaming, drinking and whoring. That's enough to drive any women crazy. Poor Polly doesn't know what to do or think. At least she has the smarts to ease drop on her parents to learn about the plan for Macheath. How sad Polly and Macheath must part.
"If music be the food of love, play on." That's the line from Twelfth Night. I am so disappointed in Macheath. I thought he really loved Polly. He's a dog. Macheath just moved on to the next piece of ass he could find. Plus he has the nerve to send for not one woman but eight.
This is too funny. The one thing that Macheath loves so much (women) has just gotten him arrested. This is such a thing as karma. 'The greatest heroes have been ruined by women." I believe this line refers to Adam and Eve, Sampson and Delila and others. It also reminds me of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. This line applies here also because Macheath is seen as a hero to his men and his love of for the company of women got him arrested.
This story gets better and better. Macheath has the jailer's daughter pregnant and is supposedly married to her also. He's in jail and now Lucy and Polly are fighting over him. I say the girls need to beat his ass. This could be a modern day soap opera! It was wrong the way Macheath is treating Polly. For some reason I think Lucy is a little more street smart, so she shouldn't have put all her trust in Macheath. By disowning Polly, Macheath is just doing whatever he has to do to get of jail.
Lucy finally realizes Macheath has plyed her like a fiddle. And like the Peachums, Lockit calls his daughter baed names (wench, hussy, vulgar slut, strumpet, mistress puss) and if I'm not mistaken he makes her fast. Not good for a pregnant woman.
You would think Macheath would hide out somewhere or maybe even leave town. But there he is chasing a piece of ass again. And Lucy has lost her damn mind trying to kill Polly. She needs to go after Macheath not Polly. Thank goodness Polly was smart enough to realize Lucy was up to something.
You have got to be kidding me!! Four more wives!! And children!! Instead of hanging Macheath just let the beat him.
Never heard that a story must have a happy ending but there's first time for everything. Love conquers all at the end. Even though Macheath is a slut, jade, and man-whore, I always wanted him and Polly together.
this story was hilarious. Wish we had performed this for the university.

The Lady's Dressing Room and Lady Montagu's Response

Swift needs to give Celia and all other women abreak. It takes a lot for some women to get ready. And yes we do use alot of tissue, lace, etc. but men love how we look when we're done. Could this Pandora's Box be Celia's laundry bascket? If that's the case, anybody's could smell. To suggest whether or not Strephon should give up on Celia because she has some hygiene issues is wrong. Women stand by men all the time and men are usually nastier than women.

I am so happy someone wrote a response to Swift's The Lady's Dressing Room. The very thing s Swift dispises (use of tissue and make-up, wearing lace) in the poem is what draws him to the prostitute.

The Modest Proposal

I don't like seeing women, children or men begging for food either. But instead of degrading the people, the author should find ways to help them. But I guess he has some what of a heart. Swift agrees to support infants for the first year of life. Woo Hoo!!
"A one year old is a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome Food; whether Stewed, Roasted,Baked or Broiled." This man has completely lost his damn mind. He expects someone to kill and eat their child. He's making cannibals. And to suggest letting the baby suck extra to fatten them up is really sick. I don't give a damn how expensive meat is or that it maybe hard to get.My family would just have to become vegetarians. I also don't care how high the rent goes. I'm not eating my kid. I hope these people don't take this nonsense to heart. There is no way this proposal can encourage a mother's love for her children. How can you lose something knowing you're going to kill and eat it. Swift is a deranged man!!! Maybe someone should kill and eat him.

Orronoko, or The Royal Slave

I too found the beginning of this story hard to get into. I didn't know what angle Behn was coming from.The author describes the people of Surinam as beautiful. "They are charming , novel, extremely modest and bashful. Surianamians walk around naked and no indecent actions or glances take place." They are innocence at its finest. However, i can't help but think of these beautiful, nonthreatening people becoming slaves. They were minding their own business just trying to live. I hate to see people mistreated.
The general's daughter seems to be the female version of Oroonoko. Beautiful, finely built,smart, pleasing to the eyes.
"He had intelligence brought him that Imoinda was most certainly mistress to the Prince Oroonoko." No the King didn't!! He knew Imoinda was Oroonoko's wife but he still sent the veil to her.Such a dirty old man!!! the King is selfish and cares about no one but himself. And to do this to his own grandson is horrible. I know there was such a thing as rule and regulations that Oroonoko didn't follow by not getting the King's permission to marry, but the King should forgive and forget and have respect for a man and his wife. I thin the King did this out of spite. And poor Imoinda! I would have died if I received the veil. When Oroonoko finds out he's going to flip out.
"But as it is the greatest crime in nature amongst 'em to touch a woman after having been possessed by a son, a father, or a brother, so now he looked on Imoinda as a polluted thing..." I don't get how the King can say that Imoinda is impure and polluted and he can't have her after she slept with her HUSBAND. First of all the King should have never sent for Imoinda because he knew Imoinda was Oroonoko's mistress. It was Imoinda and Oroonoko's right to have sex. And then to make matters worse the King sold Imoinda into slavery.
Poor Oroonoko!! The captain waited until he was drunk to capture him. Maybe he was afraid of Oroonoko's strength and stature. Yet he continues to trick Oroonoko while on the ship to get him and his men to eat. Orronoko still shows that honesty and innocense talked about at the beginning of the story.
Trefry seems to be a kind and caring slave master. However, I still have a feeling his kindness will turn to hatred. I was very surprised that he let Oroonoko and Imoinda be together. During the slavery I read about it was uncommon for slaves to be allowed to choose their wives. Also, slaves weren't allowed to go out fishing and hunting by themselves and they definitely weren't put in charge as a guide to lead white people anywhere.
"But they were no sooner arrived at the place where all the slaves received their punishments of whipping, but they laid hands on Ceasar..." Now this sounds more like the slavery we all heard about. They've stripped Oroonoko of his name, taking away his identity and are now going to beat him to make him obidient. Oroonoko realizes that no matter how well he was treated he is still simply a slave to the white man. The white man's promises was just another trick. I let you do what you want and when the time is right you do what I want.
I kind of understand why Oroonoko made the decision to kill his wife and baby. The thought of having your child taken away is enough to make you want to harm anyone. Many slaves had their children taken away only to wonder what type of life they will have. Oroonoko was correct in thinking th baby would have been the property of the slave master. I believe that's why he made the decision to kill his family and self.
WOW!! When I finished reading the sory, I was left speechless. I thought Oroonoko would kill Byam and then himself like he planned. The way they killed Oroonoko was demeaning and dowrn right cruel. The ending was very similar to what we have read anout how slaves were treated when they tried to escape. I was confused at first about the author's role in the story. I wasn't sure if she was a slave or not. But it seems she was a slave.

"The Imperfect Enjoyment"

In "The Imperfect Enjoyment" John Wilmot describes a naked woman lying in bed clasped in this guys arms. He uses imagery of the ideal of sex very thoroughly: "Both equally inspired with eager fire,/ Melting with kindness flaming with desire/ With arms, legs, lips, close clinging to embrace/ She clips me to her breast and sucks me to her face..." (lines 3-6). However, the man in this poem is shamed that he had loved so many before this woman who he actually loves and makes him "impotent". He never mentions any women's names and perhaps that is because they do not matter to him. They were just past lovers or even one night stands?: "Thou treacherous, base deserter of my flame/ False to my passion, fatal to my flame/ Through what mistakes magic dost thou prove/ So true to lewdness, so untrue to love?/ What oyster-cinder-beggar-common whore/ Didst thou ever fail in all thy life before?/ When vice, disease, and scandal lead the way" (lines 46-52). I do not understand why now does he think about his past. Does he think that this woman is going to be like the ones before. These low class women he refers to as whores? Or why now does his past come into his mind? Is it possibly because like the rest this woman is too just a random woman? However, I still do not understand? If he is impotent does that mean that him and this lady he is lying in bed with did not have sex? Not that even matters. I do feel that this man thought he was used and taken advantage of: "Worst part of me, and henceforth hated most/ Through all the town a common fucking post" (lines 62 and 63). With this said, mabe he fell in love before and the women only used him for sex and pleasure? Perhaps. I find that literature has come along way considering at one time sex was forbidden to talk about and now it is out in the open, and not just that, but a man is expressing that he was possibly used and regrets his past sexual partners? I might have taken this out of context but this is how I understood it. Maybe I am completely sexually distraught myself? haha and perhaps this is nothing like I understood it.