Twelfth Night; or, What You Will is a comedy

by William Shakespeare, believed to have been

written around 1601–02 as an entertainment for

the close of the Christmas season.

The play expanded on the musical interludes

and riotous disorder expected of the

occasion, 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 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.

In medieval England the “Twelfth Night” marked

the end of a winter festival that started on All

Hallows Eve — now more commonly known

as Halloween.

On this day the King and all those who were high-

born 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, and

become the “The Lord of Misrule”

During Twelfth Night everything was to be “topsy-

turvy” or reversed. Midnight signaled the end of

their reign, and the world would return to normal.

The play has many elements that are reversed, in

the tradition of Twelfth Night, such as a woman

dressing as a man, and a servant imagining that

he can become a nobleman.

Viola, castaway, disguised as a man called Cesario, in service to Orsino

Orsino, Duke of Illyria, wooing Olivia

Olivia, a countess, resisting Orsino's wooing

Sebastian, castaway, twin brother to Viola, thought dead

Malvolio, steward (sort of a head butler) to Olivia, imagines himself equal to his lady.

Maria, a Lady in waiting in Olivia's household

Sir Toby Belch, Olivia's drunken uncle

Sir Andrew Aguecheek, a simple- minded companion of Sir Toby's, wooing Olivia

Feste, Olivia's jester

Viola and her twin brother Sebastian are

shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria. She swims

ashore, but she loses contact with Sebastian,

whom she believes to have drowned.

Disguising herself as a young man under the name

Cesario, she enters the service of Duke Orsino

through the help of the sea captain who rescued

her.

Orsino has convinced himself that he is in love with

Olivia, whose father and brother have recently

died, and who does not wish to see any suitor till

seven years, the Duke included.

Orsino uses Cesario as a messenger to profess his

passionate love before Olivia.

Olivia, believing Viola to be a man, falls in love with

this handsome and eloquent messenger, while

Viola has fallen in love with the Duke who regards

her as his close friend. [video]

Duke Orsino

Olivia

Viola/Cesario

In the comic subplot several characters conspire to make Olivia's pompous steward, Malvolio, believe that his lady Olivia has fallen in love with him.

It involves Olivia's uncle, Sir Toby Belch; another would-be suitor, a silly squire named Sir Andrew Aguecheek; her servant Maria; and her fool, Feste.

They plant a false letter in the garden for Malvolio to find, which he, in his vanity, misinterprets as a love letter from his mistress to him.

Viola/Cesario Duke Orsino

Olivia

Malvolio

Maria

Sir Toby Belch

Sir Andrew

Aguecheek

Feste

Woo-hoo!

"Comedy", in its Elizabethan usage, had a very different meaning from modern comedy. A

Shakespearean comedy is one that has a happy ending, usually involving marriages between

the unmarried characters, and a tone and style that is more light-hearted than Shakespeare's

other plays. Shakespearean comedies tend to also include:

A greater emphasis on situations than characters (this numbs the audience's connection to the

characters, so that when characters experience misfortune, the audience still finds it

laughable)

A struggle of young lovers to overcome difficulty, often presented by elders

Separation and re-unification

Deception among characters (especially mistaken identity)

A clever servant

Fights between characters, often within a family

Multiple, intertwining plots

Use of all styles of comedy (slapstick, puns, dry humour, earthy humour, witty banter, practical

jokes)

A Happy Ending, though this is a given, since by definition, anything without a happy ending

can't be a comedy.

It Elizabethan times, it was considered

“wicked” for women to appear on stage, so

adolescent boys played all of the female

characters, creating humor in the multiplicity

of disguise found in a female character who

for a while pretends to be a man.

Having Viola dress as a boy allows her to

fulfill usually male roles, such as acting as a

messenger between Orsino and Olivia, as

well as being Orsino's friend and confidant.

Other Shakespeare plays where girls dress

up as boys include Rosalind in As You Like

It and Portia in The Merchant of Venice.

Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy, and romantic love is the play’s main focus. Despite the fact that the play offers a happy ending, in which the various lovers find one another and achieve wedded bliss, Shakespeare shows that love can cause pain.

Many of the characters seem to view love as a kind of curse, a feeling that attacks its victims suddenly and disruptively. Various characters claim to suffer painfully from being in love, or, rather, from the pangs of unrequited love.

If music be the food of love, play on. (1.1.1)

I am sure care's an enemy to life (1.3.2-3)

I am a great eater of beef, and I believe that does harm to my wit (1.3.84-86)

Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage (1.5.19)

Oh Time, thou must untangle this, not I. It is too hard a knot for me t' untie! (2.2.40-41)

She sat like Patience on a monument, Smiling at grief (2.4.114-115)

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em (2.5.144-

146)

This fellow is wise enough to play the fool; And to do that well craves a kind of wit (3.1.60-61)

Love sought is good, but giv'n unsought is better (3.1.156)

Why, this is very midsummer madness (3.4.56)

Go, hang yourselves all! you are idle shallow things: I am not of your element (3.4.123-124)

I hate ingratitude more in a man Than lying, vainness, babbling, drunkenness, Or any taint of vice whose strong corruption Inhabits our frail blood (3.4.354-357)

I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you (5.1.378)

When that I was and a little tiny boy, With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, A foolish thing was but a toy, For the rain it raineth every day (5.1.389-392)

Every year, dozens of productions of Twelfth Night are performed on stages around the world, and it remains one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies.

There have been nearly twenty-five TV adaptions, far more than any other Shakespeare play!

In addition, Twelfth Night has been the basis for no less than FOUR Broadway Musicals!

In contrast, there have been only three feature film adaptions, the first being in 1910! The most recent film was produced in 1996 (click here for trailer)

A Nutsy the Squirrel Production

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