,--an allusion to the innumerable romances whose
fair ladies are guarded by giants; for Maria, being very small, Viola
ironically calls her giant, and asks Olivia to pacify her because she
has opposed her message. (For Shakespeare's education and
school-books, see Bayne's remarks on this subject in Brit. Encyc. art.
Shakespeare.) The whole incident of the 'possession' of Malvolio, and
the visit of Sir Topas, probably alludes to a tract published in 1599
by Dr. Harsnett,--'A Discovery of the Fraudulent Practices of John
Darrel,'--in which is narrated how the Starkeys' children were
possessed by a demon, and how the Puritan minister, Mr. Darrel, was
concerned in it. For examples of allusions to contemporary customs,
see Sir Toby's mention of dances no longer known,--'Galliard,'
'Coranto,' etc. As an example of allusions to persons of that time,
Sir Toby's reference to 'Mistress Mall's picture,'--Mary Frith, born
in 1584, died in 1659, a notorious woman who used to go about in man's
clothing and was the target for much abuse. Astrological allusions:
'Were we not born under Taurus?' 'That's sides and hearts,' which
refers to the medical astrology still preserved in patent-medicine
almanacs, where the figure of a man has his various parts named by the
signs of the Zodiac. 'Diana's lip' (I. iv.), ('Arion on the Dolphin's
back' I. ii.), are examples of mythological allusions. Of the
geographical allusions there are two kinds, the real and the
sportive,--Illyria, an example of the one, the 'Vapians' and the
'Equinoctial of Queubus,' of the other. Go on through the play
classifying and commenting on the allusions. What was a 'catch'? Give
an example.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Are the odd allusions in the play a result of the corrupt text,
ignorance, ridicule of learning? Or are they introduced to give a
lively and contemporaneous effect?

III

THE DUKE AND SEBASTIAN

How does the play set off these two lovers against each other? Which
has the more constant nature? Note the evidences of the Duke's
restlessness and changeableness; how soon he tires of the music he
calls for, of the clown's song (II. iv.). Is his first speech to
Viola, on woman's constancy before the song, consistent with his
second, after it? Is his own report of himself true,--'Unstaid and
skittish in all motions else Save in the constant image of the one
beloved'? Is Olivia's unattainableness the main source of her
desirableness for him? How is it with