Twelfth Night
Twelfth
Night, or What You Will is a romantic
comedy by William Shakespeare,
believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on
the twins Viola
and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola (who is disguised
as Cesario) falls in love with Duke Orsino, who in turn is in love with
Countess Olivia. Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her
thinking she is a man.
The
play expanded on the musical interludes and riotous disorder expected of the
occasion,[1]
with plot elements drawn from the short story "Of Apollonius and
Silla" by Barnabe Rich,
based on a story by Matteo
Bandello. The first recorded public
performance was on 2 February 1602, at Candlemas, the formal end of Christmastide in the year's calendar. The play was not published until
its inclusion in the 1623 First
Folio.
Characters
- Viola – a shipwrecked young woman who disguises herself as a page named Cesario
- Sebastian – Viola's twin brother
- Duke Orsino – Duke of Illyria
- Olivia – a wealthy countess
- Malvolio – steward in Olivia's household
- Maria – Olivia's gentlewoman
- Sir Toby Belch – Olivia's uncle
- Sir Andrew Aguecheek – a friend of Sir Toby
- Feste – Olivia's servant, a jester
- Fabian – a servant in Olivia's household
- Antonio – a sea captain and friend to Sebastian
- Valentine and Curio – gentlemen attending on the Duke
- A Servant of Olivia
- A Sea Captain – a friend to Viola
Synopsis
Viola
is shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria and she comes ashore with the help of a Captain. She has
lost contact with her twin brother, Sebastian, whom she believes to be drowned,
and with the aid of the Captain, she disguises herself as a young man under the
name Cesario and enters the service of Duke Orsino. Duke Orsino has convinced
himself that he is in love with Olivia, who is mourning the recent deaths of
her father and brother. She refuses to see entertainments, be in the company of
men, or accept love or marriage proposals from anyone, the Duke included, until
seven years have passed. Duke Orsino then uses 'Cesario' as an intermediary to
profess his passionate love before Olivia. Olivia, however, falls in love with
'Cesario', setting her at odds with her professed duty. In the meantime, Viola
has fallen in love with Duke Orsino, creating a love triangle: Viola loves Duke
Orsino, Duke Orsino loves Olivia, and Olivia loves Viola disguised as Cesario.
In
the comic subplot, several characters conspire to make Olivia's pompous
steward, Malvolio, believe that Olivia has fallen for him. This involves
Olivia's riotous uncle, Sir Toby Belch; another would-be suitor, a silly squire
named Sir Andrew Aguecheek; her servants Maria and Fabian; and her witty fool,
Feste. Sir Toby and Sir Andrew engage themselves in drinking and revelry, thus
disturbing the peace of Olivia's household until late into the night, prompting
Malvolio to chastise them. Sir Toby famously retorts, "Dost thou think,
because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?"
(Act II, Scene III).
Sir
Toby, Sir Andrew, and Maria plan revenge on Malvolio. They convince Malvolio
that Olivia is secretly in love with him by planting a love letter, written by
Maria in Olivia's handwriting. It asks Malvolio to wear yellow stockings
cross-gartered—a colour and fashion that Olivia actually hates—to be rude to
the rest of the servants, and to smile constantly in the presence of Olivia.
Malvolio finds the letter and reacts in surprised delight. He starts acting out
the contents of the letter to show Olivia his positive response. Olivia is
shocked by the changes in Malvolio and agreeing that he seems mad, leaves him
to be cared for by his tormentors. Pretending that Malvolio is insane, they
lock him up in a dark chamber. Feste visits him to mock his insanity, both
disguised as a priest and as himself.
Meanwhile,
Viola's twin, Sebastian, has been rescued by Antonio, a sea captain who
previously fought against Orsino, yet who accompanies Sebastian to Illyria,
despite the danger, because of his admiration for Sebastian. Sebastian's
appearance adds the confusion of mistaken identities to the comedy. Taking
Sebastian for 'Cesario', Olivia asks him to marry her, and they are secretly
married in a church. Finally, when 'Cesario' and Sebastian appear in the
presence of both Olivia and Orsino, there is more wonder and confusion at their
physical similarity. At this point, Viola reveals her identity and is reunited
with her twin brother.
The
play ends in a declaration of marriage between Duke Orsino and Viola, and it is
learned that Sir Toby has married Maria. Malvolio swears revenge on his
tormentors and stalks off, but Orsino sends Fabian to placate him.
Setting
Illyria, the exotic setting of Twelfth Night, is important
to the play's romantic atmosphere.
Illyria
was an ancient region of the Western Balkans whose coast (the eastern coast of
the Adriatic Sea which is the only part of ancient Illyria which is relevant to
the play) covered (from north to south) the coasts of modern-day Slovenia, Croatia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro,
and Albania. It included the city-state of the Republic of Ragusa
which has been proposed as the setting.[2]
Illyria
may have been suggested by the Roman comedy Menaechmi, the plot of which also involves twins who are mistaken for
each other. Illyria is also referred to as a site of pirates in Shakespeare's
earlier play, Henry VI, Part 2. The names of most of the characters
are Italian but some of the comic characters have English names. Oddly, the
"Illyrian" lady Olivia has an English uncle, Sir Toby Belch.
It
has been noted that the play's setting also has other English allusions such as
Viola's use of "Westward ho!", a typical cry of 16th century
London boatmen, and also Antonio's recommendation to Sebastian of "The
Elephant" as where it is best to lodge in Illyria (The Elephant
was a pub not far from the Globe Theatre).[3]
Sources
The
play is believed to have drawn extensively on the Italian production Gl'ingannati (or The Deceived Ones),[4]
collectively written by the Accademia degli Intronati in 1531. It is conjectured that the name of its male lead,
Orsino, was suggested by Virginio Orsini,
Duke of Bracciano, an Italian nobleman who visited
London in the winter of 1600 to 1601.[5]
Another
source story, "Of Apollonius and Silla", appeared in Barnabe
Riche's collection, Riche his Farewell
to Militarie Profession conteining verie pleasaunt discourses fit for a
peaceable tyme (1581), which in turn is derived from a story by Matteo
Bandello.[6]
"Twelfth
Night" is a reference to the twelfth night after Christmas Day, called the
Eve of the Feast of Epiphany.
It was originally a Catholic holiday and therefore, like other Christian feast
days, an occasion for revelry. Servants often dressed up as their masters, men
as women and so forth. This history of festive ritual and Carnivalesque
reversal, based on the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia at the same time of
year (characterized by drunken revelry and inversion of the social order;
masters became slaves for a day, and vice versa), is the cultural origin of the
play's gender confusion-driven plot.
The
actual Elizabethan festival of Twelfth Night would involve the antics of a Lord
of Misrule, who before leaving his temporary
position of authority, would call for entertainment, songs and mummery; the play has been regarded as preserving this festive and
traditional atmosphere of licensed disorder.[7] This leads to the general inversion of the order of things,
most notably gender roles.[8] The embittered and isolated Malvolio can be regarded as an
adversary of festive enjoyment and community,[9]
led by Sir Toby Belch, "the vice-regent spokesman for cakes and ale"
and his partner in a comic stock duo, the simple and constantly exploited Sir
Andrew Aguecheek.[10]
Date and text
The
full title of the play is Twelfth Night, or What You Will. Subtitles
for plays were fashionable in the Elizabethan
era, and though some editors place The Merchant of Venice's alternative title, The Jew of
Venice, as a subtitle, this is the only Shakespearean play to bear one when
first published.[11]
The
play was probably finished between 1600 and 1601, a period suggested by the
play's referencing of events that happened during that time. A law student,
John Manningham, who was studying in the Middle Temple in London, described the
performance on 2 February 1602 (Candlemas)
which took place in the hall of the Middle Temple at the formal end of
Christmastide in the year's calendar, and to which students were invited.[12] This was the first recorded public performance of the play.
The play was not published until its inclusion in the First
Folio in 1623.
Themes
Gender
Viola
is not alone among Shakespeare's cross-dressing heroines; in Shakespeare's
theatre, convention dictated that adolescent boys play the roles of female
characters, creating humour in the multiplicity of disguise found in a female
character who for a while pretended at masculinity.[11] Her cross dressing enables Viola to fulfil usually male
roles, such as acting as a messenger between Orsino and Olivia, as well as
being Orsino's confidant. She does not, however, use her disguise to enable her
to intervene directly in the plot (unlike other Shakespearean heroines such as
Rosalind in As You Like It and Portia in The Merchant of Venice),
remaining someone who allows "Time" to untangle the plot.[13] Viola's persistence in transvestism through her betrothal in the final scene of the play often
engenders a discussion of the possibly homoerotic relationship between Viola and Orsino.
As
the very nature of Twelfth Night explores gender identity and sexual
attraction, having a male actor play Viola enhanced the impression of androgyny
and sexual ambiguity.[14] Some modern scholars believe that Twelfth Night,
with the added confusion of male actors and Viola's deception, addresses gender
issues "with particular immediacy".[15] They also accept that the depiction of gender in Twelfth
Night stems from the era's prevalent scientific theory that females are
simply imperfect males.[14] This belief explains the almost indistinguishable
differences between the sexes reflected in the casting and characters of Twelfth
Night.
Metatheatre
At
Olivia's first meeting with "Cesario" (Viola) in I.V she asks her
"Are you a comedian?" (an Elizabethan term for "actor").[16] Viola's reply, "I am not that I play",
epitomising her adoption of the role of "Cesario" (Viola), is
regarded as one of several references to theatricality and "playing"
within the play.[17] The plot against Malvolio revolves around these ideas, and
Fabian remarks in Act III, Scene iv: "If this were play'd upon a stage
now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction".[18] In Act IV, Scene ii, Feste (The Fool) plays both parts in
the "play" for Malvolio's benefit, alternating between adopting the
voice of the local curate,
Sir Topas, and his own voice. He finishes by likening himself to "the old
Vice" of English Morality plays.[19] Other influences of the English folk tradition can be seen
in Feste's songs and dialogue, such as his final song in Act V.[20] The last line of this song, "And we'll strive to
please you every day", is a direct echo of similar lines from several
English folk plays.[21]
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