Set One by Patsy Worrall

1. What has happened to Olivia within the last "twelvemonth"?
2. Olivia will be like a "cloistress." What does that word mean? How long will she be like one?
3. Who is a "monster" and why is that person a "poor monster"?
4. What does a good "hanging" prevent?
5. Search for the word month*. How long has Viola been in Illyria?
6. Who needs a "surgeon"? What happened?
7. Who will look like "cockatrices"? What are cockatrices? (Check the notes in the printed text for the relevant passage.)
8. How does Malvolio think he can get rid of "cakes" and ale?
9. Feste asks Olivia why she "mourn'st." Who is the fool?
10. What's the "elephant" in the play?
11. What will Malvolio do when he becomes "Count Malvolio"? He has a number of things in mind; list them all.
12. Viola talks about her "disguise" on two occasions. What is the difference in her attitudes?
13. Who in this play is most concerned with "drink*"? Which character uses the word most frequently, what are the individual's drinking habits, and specifically what is the individual's attitude toward ale?
14. Search for the word "phoenix"; what happened? Why is Antonio reluctant to come to Illyria? Does this account agree with what is said in 3.3.25ff.?
15. Viola says she would build a "willow" cabin. Why, where, and what will she do?
16. Who talks about a "lamb" and a "raven"? Who is the lamb and who the raven?
17. Who in this play shows the greatest concern for "honor"? Why might that be?
18. A number of characters talk about going to bed. What is Sir Toby's attitude? What is the confusion between Malvolio and Olivia about "bed"?
19. Who sings the most in the play, and what sort of songs are generally sung? Search for "sing*" to pick up references.
20. The verb "play" can refer to putting on a drama, taking part in a game, and producing music. Search for "play*" and see which use is most common and which least common. Why?

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Set Two by Fran Teague (for WordCruncher) 

a. By entering the appropriate speech prefix (e.g., VIO for Viola) you can look at all of a character's speeches. You might try using Vio as list one and beginning a new list with thou and you to find out the following:

• (1) If there's any consistency in what Viola calls people.
• (2) When she shifts from "you" to "thou" for Orsino or Sebastian.
• (3) If her pronoun use suggests anything about her attitude to those around her.

Now use VIO and SEB as your first word list and the words father, daughter, brother for the second one; learn all you can of Viola and Sebastian's family background.

b. To look at the play's sea imagery, try a word list that includes sea, seas, waves. Browse through these passages and decide if the play suggests that the sea is simply a body of water or if the sea has other, metaphoric associatons. Next you are to press the F4 key and choose number 1. That will show you a list of frequencies. Which of the comedies uses the sea image most often?

c. Enter the word "love." Enter the passage list and press F4, option 1. If you use the shift key and the cursor keys, you can move the light bar in the middle column down to TN and see where the words occur in that play. (Use shift and PgDn to see the full list of scenes.) Which Act has the most references to love? Which has the fewest? How come?

c. Fools: Another image pattern is the one associated with fools, especially professional fools or jesters like Feste. Enter fool* folly follies. Again, use the F4 key to check the frequency with which the terms are used. Decide if that word pattern is peculiar to TN. Why? Go back to the word list. Enter clo (the speech prefix for clown or Feste) as list one and then start a second list (F2) for fool*. What sort of things does Feste say of fools? Is there another comedy in which a clown occurs? Does that clown say much about fools? Finally consult the OED: how has the meaning of the word "clown" changed in 400 years? Does that change the way you understand Feste or TN?

d. In the first word list, insert love. In the second, insert death. (Don't forget to check that B= before or after; C=100 characters). Who speaks of love and death in this play? And what is the emotion each feels when the combination of words occurs? Now repeat the process with the words "love" and "die" and see if there's a difference in the emotion being expressed by the speaker.

e. Find all the uses of purse, jewel, ring, pearl, or money. Who gives what to whom and when?

f. Who sings the most in this play and what sort of songs are generally sung? The easiest way to find out is to enter the word sings and then look for its use in stage directions. What do the listeners seem to be doing--or do they simply listen? When the Duke tries to pay Feste for his singing at one point, what sort of unusual response does Feste make (unusual for Feste, that is)? Who in the play first proposes singing to the Duke and what is said about sexuality in that line? Does that character actually sing? What's going on here?!?

g. Although this play doesn't have nearly as many letters as some comedies do, those that it has are crucial to the plot. How many letters are there and how serious are they?

h. The word "play" can refer to putting on a drama, taking part in a game, or producing music. Enter "play" and its variants (play*) and see which use is most common, which least common in this play. How come?

i. Who in this play shows the greatest concern for "honor"? Why might that be?

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