- surfeitingverbChapter 1 →
Taking in so much of something that you become sick of it; overindulging to the point where the desire itself is destroyed.
“Give me excess of it; that surfeiting, / The appetite may sicken, and so die.”
- appetitenounChapter 1 →
A strong, consuming desire or craving — here for love or music — not merely a desire for food.
“that surfeiting, / The appetite may sicken, and so die.”
- MethinksphraseChapter 1 →
An archaic way of saying 'it seems to me' or 'I think,' used as a single word in Elizabethan English.
“Methinks I feel this youth's perfections / With an invisible and subtle stealth / To creep in at mine eyes.”
- stealthnounChapter 1 →
A slow, secret, and unnoticed movement or process — here describing how attraction creeps in without the person realising it.
“Methinks I feel this youth's perfections / With an invisible and subtle stealth / To creep in at mine eyes.”
- charmedverbChapter 2 →
Cast a spell over someone; here used to mean that Viola's outward appearance has magically captivated Olivia against her will.
“Fortune forbid my outside have not charmed her!”
- jadeverbChapter 2 →
To trick or deceive; to wear down and mislead someone — here Malvolio warns himself not to let wishful thinking fool him.
“I do not now fool myself, to let imagination jade me.”
- excitesverbChapter 2 →
In this archaic sense, urges or prompts; every piece of evidence pushes Malvolio toward a conclusion rather than stirring excitement.
“for every reason excites to this, that my lady loves me.”
- chev'riladjectiveChapter 3 →
Made of soft kidskin leather that stretches easily in any direction; used as a metaphor for something that can be twisted to mean whatever a clever person wants.
“A sentence is but a chev'ril glove to a good wit—how quickly the wrong side may be turned outward!”
- witnounChapter 3 →
Clever intelligence and quick thinking, especially the ability to play with words and turn an argument to one's advantage.
“A sentence is but a chev'ril glove to a good wit—how quickly the wrong side may be turned outward!”
- uncharyadverbChapter 3 →
Without care or caution; recklessly. Here Olivia admits she has carelessly exposed her honour by confessing her love too freely.
“And laid mine honour too unchary out.”
- idolnounChapter 3 →
Something worshipped as a god that turns out to be false or worthless; here Olivia bitterly calls Sebastian (whom she mistakes for Cesario) a disappointing object of devotion.
“But O, how vile an idol proves this god!”
- featurenounChapter 3 →
Physical appearance or outward form; here 'good feature' means handsome looks, which Sebastian's behaviour is said to have disgraced.
“Thou hast, Sebastian, done good feature shame.”
- abusedverbChapter 4 →
Wronged or deceived; treated unjustly. Malvolio means he has been cruelly tricked and mistreated, not physically harmed.
“I say there was never man thus abused.”
- relishnounChapter 4 →
Meaning, sense, or flavour — here Sebastian asks what sense or reality he can find in the astonishing scene before him.
“What relish is in this?”
- habitnounChapter 5 →
Clothing or costume; the outward dress that a person wears, used in the Elizabethan sense rather than the modern sense of a routine.
“One face, one voice, one habit, and two persons.”
- natural perspectivephraseChapter 5 →
An optical illusion produced by nature itself rather than by a trick mirror or painted glass; Orsino marvels that reality has created something that seems impossible.
“A natural perspective, that is and is not.”
- revengedverbChapter 5 →
To have taken revenge; to have paid back a wrong with punishment. Malvolio vows to get even with everyone who humiliated him.
“I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you.”
- packnounChapter 5 →
A contemptuous word for a group of people, likening them to a pack of animals; Malvolio uses it to express his scorn for all who plotted against him.
“I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you.”
- infatuatedadjective
Completely consumed by an intense, often unreasonable passion for someone, unable to think clearly about them.
- cross-garteredadjective
Wearing garters crossed in an X-shape above and below the knee — an old-fashioned, ridiculous style that Malvolio adopts because the forged letter tells him Olivia admires it.
Twelfth NightPlay by William Shakespeare