Twelfth Night is a comedy by William Shakespeare about a shipwrecked woman, Viola, who disguises herself as a man to work for Duke Orsino. Viola falls in love with the Duke but he loves Lady Olivia, while Olivia mistakes Viola's male identity Cesario for her lover. The play draws on several sources that involve themes of mistaken identity, gender roles, and love conquering all. It explores these themes in a witty and lighthearted way through the use of cross-dressing, clever dialogue, and romantic subplots that get resolved by the end of the play.
3.
A comedy about a cross-dressing, ship-wreck
surviving, poetry-loving girl who finds herself at
the center of a gender-bending love triangle.
Written between 1601 and 1602, the play is
most famous for challenging commonly
accepted gender roles of the Elizabethan era
and being a ‘Transvestite Comedy’
4.
Twelfth Night is a festival in some branches
of Christianity concluding the Twelve Days of Christmas.
In mediaeval and Tudor England the Twelfth Night marked
the end of a winter festival that started on All
Hallows Eve. The Lord of Misrule symbolizes the world
turning upside down. On this day the King and all those
who were high would become the peasants and vice
versa. At the beginning of the Twelfth Night festival, a
cake that contained a bean was eaten. The person who
found the bean would rule the feast. Midnight signaled
the end of his rule and the world would return to normal.
The common theme was that the normal order of things
was reversed.
5.
Gl'ingannati (The Deceived Ones) is a 1531 comedy
play written collectively by the Accademia degli
Intronati (the center of intellectual life in Siena). It
was the Academy's first publicly hosted event,
performed on the last day of carnival.
It uses stock characters of Commedia dell'Arte.
Shakespeare rewrote this comedy as Twelfth Night
in 1601.
6.
The prose tale of ‘Apolonius and Silla’ in
Barnabe Riche's Riche his Farewell to Militarie
Profession (1581).
Shakespeare drew upon several plot elements
from this short story for his play Twelfth Night.
7.
Why is it important to know about the sources
used by Shakespeare?
Useful article
Review the article and consider the differences
between the various sources and the play,
Twelfth Night.
8.
Tone – exploration of serious issues with a
lighthearted tone
Dialogue – clever and witty
Disguise – cross dressing, Malvolio’s stockings
Mistaken Identity – use of twins
Family Drama and Reunification
Comedic Sub-Plot
Love – conquers all in the end
9.
Twelfth Night is set in the imaginary Dukedom of
Illyria. This setting is important to the romantic
nature of the play.
Illyria was an ancient region on the eastern coast of
the Adriatic Sea covering parts of modern Serbia,
Slovenia, Bosnia, Albania, Croatia, and Montenegro.
Illyria the city – mysterious, romantic, confusing
Duke Orsino’s house – love-sick and music filled
Lady Olivia’s house – festivity versus sobriety
10.
Viola – a shipwrecked young lady, later
disguised as a young man named Cesario, in
service to Orsino
Duke Orsino – Duke of Illyria
Olivia – a wealthy countess
Malvolio – steward in the household of Olivia
Sebastian – Viola's twin brother
Antonio – a captain and friend to Sebastian
11.
Maria – Olivia's gentlewoman
Sir Toby Belch – Olivia's uncle
Sir Andrew Aguecheek – a rich man who Sir
Toby brings to be Olivia's wooer
Feste – the clown, or court jester, of Olivia's
household
Fabian – a servant and friend to Sir Toby
Valentine and Curio – gentlemen attending
on the Duke
