1. There’s obviously considerable deception in this play—Viola deceives almost everyone about her sex; Maria, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew deceive Malvolio with a forged letter; Sir Toby deceives Sir Andrew to get him to fight a duel—but self-deception is at least as important. Examine the theme of self-deception, and its relationship to deception, in this play. How are the various masks shattered by the end of the play?

2. How do you feel about the way Malvolio is treated, and about the fact that he is a character who remains angry and unreconciled at the play’s end? Why is he punished so cruelly?  (Are his aspirations and behavior any more foolish than those of the other would-be lovers? Note the satire of Puritanism personified by Malvolio.)  What is it about Malvolio that the other characters so dislike?  Why does Olivia put up with him?  Is his punishment by the trickery of the comical "low lifes" deserved?  Why or why not?  Is the Malvolio subplot there only for comic relief, or does it convey a more serious message? A related matter is the cynical little song that Feste sings at the end, and ugly moments such as Orsino’s threat to kill Cesario in order to spite Olivia. How, if at all, can these dark undercurrents be reconciled with the play’s happy ending?

3. The complications in the plot are all disentangled when Sebastian appears. Does he seem like a purely structural device or do you get the sense that in his character as well as in his plot functions he supplies what is lacking in Illyria? How can you explain his easy acceptance of Olivia’s proposal? (Another way of thinking about this: How should the player act this acceptance?)

4. The old holiday of twelfth night is the night of the “twelfth day of Christmas,” i.e. January 6. It was celebrated as a night of great revels, of playacting, holiday disguise, and disorder. As the last night of the Christmas holiday it also marked the return of order and normality the next day. In the Christian calendar, January 6 is the feast of the Epiphany, traditionally seen as the time of the visit of the wise men to the infant Christ, and therefore symbolic of the meeting of divine and human. Shakespeare deliberately keeps us in the dark about the actual time of the play’s action, as if wanting to draw attention to the non-literal meanings of the title. (The play is subtitled “What You Will”) What aspects of the various meanings of the twelfth night holiday do you find particularly relevant? Why? In what way is the holiday setting of the plot reflected in the conduct of the young men and women in the comedy? Give examples from the play that support your viewpoint.

5. How and to what degree does Feste in this play reflect the historical figure of the fool? How does the fool defend the idea of play, madness and theatre? (You might want to compare Feste with other fools you’ve encountered in your reading of Shakespearean plays. Note that a court jester such as Feste, Touchstone in As You Like It, or the Fool in King Lear had the license to speak freely things that no one else would dare say openly.)

6. Do a close-reading of the following lines and then relate it to the play as a whole. How might this final song by Feste reflect the play? (You may use the whole song, although I've only given you two of the verses here.) :
When that I was a little tine boy,
With hey ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
For the rain it raineth every day.

A great while ago the world began,
(With) hey ho etc.
But that's all one, our play is done,
And we'll strive to please you every day.
In answering this question, note the overall use of music and song in the play.  How do the various songs punctuate or comment upon the action?  Some of the songs may originally have been intended for Viola (who notes in 1.2.52-55 a talent for music that she had intended to use to get into the good graces of Duke Orsino).  What is the effect of giving the songs to Feste rather than Viola (or any other of the lovers)? 

7. Another way of thinking of Twelfth Night is by considering its carnivalesque nature. It is thought that Twelfth Night was first written for the "Carnival"-like festivities of the feast of the Epiphany (the "twelfth night" of Christmas, January 6); these raucous celebrations involved a temporary inversion of the established social order.  This "world upside-down" theme is reflected not only in some of the mismatched (potential) couples in the play, but in the themes of folly, madness and foolishness.  Which characters in the play behave most foolishly? Is "folly" or "foolishness" an unavoidable part of being in love?

8. Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare’s most amazing comedies, yet it deals with issues of melancholy, madness, revenge, death, unrequited love, tyranny and even violent conflict. Discuss how these serious topics appear integrated in the comic universe of the play.

9. Consider the setting of the play. What is the “reality” of Illyria where the action takes place? What qualities define this world? How does this imaginary country of Illyria with scores of Latin and Italian references fit in the English Renaissance literary tradition?

10. Select and discuss a line or speech from the play (for example, “I am not what I am.”) as it functions on several levels: simple observation, metaphorical communication of experiential truth, a synthesis of the play’s themes, etc.

11. Trace the development of a character of your choice by examining how he/she evolves in the dramatic plot, changes or remains constant, learns about life and falls in or out of love through the course of the play. Which character do you consider to be the protagonist of the comedy? Support your answer.

12. Some critics have argued that the play is about appetites—good and bad—and that the characters (except for Malvolio and Feste) overindulge those appetites and therefore sicken of them. Agree or disagree and support your position.

13. The comic journey in Shakespeare's plays is usually from the darkness of ignorance to the light of self-knowledge. Discuss this journey in Twelfth Night, keeping in mind that the festival the play's title suggests was the discovery of the true king (Christ) by the three wise men.

14. Note the imagery of hellfire, demons and damnation (particularly prevalent in the second half of the play).  Are these to be understood literally or figuratively? How is this imagery connected to the theme of deceptive appearances?  Compare/contrast with similar references/themes in other Renaissance literature, e.g. Dr. Faustus, the Faerie Queene and Hamlet.