William Shakespeares Twelfth Night

NutsyClassic FilmsPresents:

An Introduction toWilliam ShakespearesTWELFTH NIGHT

Play OriginsTwelfth Night; or, What You Will is a comedy byWilliam Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 160102 as an entertainmentfor 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" byBarnabe Rich, based on a story byMatteo Bandello. The first recorded performance was on 2 February 1602, atCandlemas, the formal end ofChristmastidein the year's calendar. The play was not published until its inclusion in the 1623First Folio.

Twelfth NightIn medieval England the Twelfth Night marked the end of a winter festival that started onAll HallowsEve now more commonly known asHalloween. 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 abeanwas 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.

Characters

Viola, castaway, disguised as a man called Cesario, in service to OrsinoOrsino, Duke of Illyria, wooing OliviaOlivia, a countess, resisting Orsino's wooingSebastian, castaway, twin brother to Viola, thought dead

Characters, part IIMalvolio, steward (sort of a head butler) to Olivia, imagines himself equal to his lady.Maria, a Lady in waiting in Olivia's householdSir Toby Belch, Olivia's drunken uncleSir Andrew Aguecheek, a simple- minded companion of Sir Toby's, wooing OliviaFeste, Olivia's jester

The PlotViola is shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria and she comes ashore with the help of a captain. She loses contact with her twin brother, Sebastian, whom she believes to be dead. Disguising as a young man under the name Cesario, she enters the service of Duke Orsino through the help of the sea captain who rescues 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]

Maybe this will helpDuke OrsinoOlivia

Viola/Cesario

SubplotsIn 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.

Plotty-plot-plotsViola/CesarioDuke OrsinoOlivia

Malvolio

MariaSir Toby BelchSir Andrew AguecheekFeste

Shakespearean Comedy"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 eldersSeparation and re-unificationDeception among characters (especially mistaken identity)A clever servantFights between characters, often within a familyMultiple, intertwining plotsUse 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.

Boys as Girls as BoysIt 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.

Themes of Twelfth NightTwelfth Night is a romantic comedy, and romantic love is the plays 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.

Quotable Twelfth NightIf 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)

More QuotesLove 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)

Stage & ScreenEvery year, dozens of productions of Twelfth Night are performed on stages around the world, and it remains one of Shakespeares 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)

THE ENDA Nutsy the Squirrel ProductionCopyright 2013 Oak Hills Media CenterAll Rights Reserved.

Bibliographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelfth_Nighthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelfth_Night_(holiday)http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/twelfthnight/themes.htmlhttp://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/TN_Navigator/notable_quotes.html

Music:Canon In D Johannes Pachabel; Academy of St. Martin-In-The-Fields Sir Neville Marriner, 2007.

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