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Definition of Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor can be stated explicitly, as... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other... read full definition
Key Examples in Twelfth Night
Act 1, scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Taste and Smell:
When Orsino talks about his love for Olivia, he frequently uses olfactory and gustatory imagery—that is, imagery that involves the senses of smell and taste.
The opening monologue of Act 1, Scene 1, for example, contains extensive metaphor and imagery that engage these senses:
Orsino: If music be the food of love, play on.
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken and so die.
That strain again! It had a dying fall.
O, it came o’er my ear like the sweet sound
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odor.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Heart/Hart:
When Orsino speaks about his love for Olivia, his speeches are grandiose and filled with hyperbole and figurative language. This language, which is often clichéd and insincere, emphasizes that Orsino does not actually love Olivia and is in fact more obsessed with the concept of being in love than he is with any individual woman.
During an exchange with Curio in Act 1, Scene 1, Orsino uses a particularly flamboyant combination of metaphor and hyperbole:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Orsino: O, when mine eyes did see Olivia first,
Methought she purged the air of pestilence.
That instant was I turned into a hart,
And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds,
E’er since pursue me.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—The Sea:
The ocean is a constant presence for the coastal nation of Illyria in Twelfth Night, and while it is often characterized as a cruel and insatiable force, it also represents the inconstancy of human emotion.
At multiple points throughout the play, Orsino compares his love to the sea. In Act 1, Scene 1, he characterizes the spirit of love as an all-consuming entity with endless capacity:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Orsino: O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou,
That, notwithstanding thy capacity
Receiveth as the sea
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Lovesickness:
Most physicians of Shakespeare's time were strong believers in humoral theory, which posited that the human body contained four vital fluids or "humors," and that an imbalance of these humors was the cause of all physical and mental ailments.
In Twelfth Night, both love and grief are compared to illness and associated with an imbalance of the humors. In Act 1, Scene 1, Orsino locates love in the stomach and associates an excess of it with feelings of nausea:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Orsino: If music be the food of love, play on.
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken and so die.
Related Themes:
Act 1, scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Lovesickness:
Most physicians of Shakespeare's time were strong believers in humoral theory, which posited that the human body contained four vital fluids or "humors," and that an imbalance of these humors was the cause of all physical and mental ailments.
In Twelfth Night, both love and grief are compared to illness and associated with an imbalance of the humors. In Act 1, Scene 1, Orsino locates love in the stomach and associates an excess of it with feelings of nausea:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Orsino: If music be the food of love, play on.
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken and so die.
Related Themes:
Act 1, scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—Chambers/Chapters:
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:
Unlock with LitCharts A+
Related Themes:
Act 1, scene 5
Explanation and Analysis—Chambers/Chapters:
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:
Unlock with LitCharts A+
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Lovesickness:
Most physicians of Shakespeare's time were strong believers in humoral theory, which posited that the human body contained four vital fluids or "humors," and that an imbalance of these humors was the cause of all physical and mental ailments.
In Twelfth Night, both love and grief are compared to illness and associated with an imbalance of the humors. In Act 1, Scene 1, Orsino locates love in the stomach and associates an excess of it with feelings of nausea:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Orsino: If music be the food of love, play on.
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken and so die.
Related Themes:
Act 2, scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—I Am the Man:
In Act 2, Scene 2, Viola realizes that Olivia has fallen in love with her masculine disguise and delivers a soliloquy lamenting the absurdity of her situation. This complicated soliloquy is rich with literary devices, including allusion, personification, and metaphor.
Having understood the meaning of Olivia's ring, Viola bemoans the impossibility of Olivia's love for her, which can be read as a lament about the impossibility of same-sex attraction as a whole:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Viola: Poor lady, she were better love a dream.
Related Themes:
Act 2, scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—Costumes:
Twelfth Night is a play filled with costumes and disguises. In addition to creating endless moments of humor and mistaken identity, clothing acts as a motif that represents the fluidity of human identity and emotion.
Unlock with LitCharts A+
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—The Sea:
The ocean is a constant presence for the coastal nation of Illyria in Twelfth Night, and while it is often characterized as a cruel and insatiable force, it also represents the inconstancy of human emotion.
At multiple points throughout the play, Orsino compares his love to the sea. In Act 1, Scene 1, he characterizes the spirit of love as an all-consuming entity with endless capacity:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Orsino: O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou,
That, notwithstanding thy capacity
Receiveth as the sea
Related Themes:
Act 3, scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Costumes:
Twelfth Night is a play filled with costumes and disguises. In addition to creating endless moments of humor and mistaken identity, clothing acts as a motif that represents the fluidity of human identity and emotion.
Unlock with LitCharts A+
Related Themes:
Act 3, scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—The Sea:
The ocean is a constant presence for the coastal nation of Illyria in Twelfth Night, and while it is often characterized as a cruel and insatiable force, it also represents the inconstancy of human emotion.
At multiple points throughout the play, Orsino compares his love to the sea. In Act 1, Scene 1, he characterizes the spirit of love as an all-consuming entity with endless capacity:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Orsino: O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou,
That, notwithstanding thy capacity
Receiveth as the sea
Related Themes:
Act 5, scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Costumes:
Twelfth Night is a play filled with costumes and disguises. In addition to creating endless moments of humor and mistaken identity, clothing acts as a motif that represents the fluidity of human identity and emotion.
Unlock with LitCharts A+
Related Themes:
