Twelfth Night
William Shakespeare wrote Twelfth Night, or What You Will around the year 1601. The play was likely created as a specific entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. A law student named John Manningham recorded a performance at Middle Temple Hall on the 2nd of February 1602. This date marked Candlemas and the formal end of the Christmastide season in the Christian calendar. The text draws heavily from Italian sources like Barnabe Rich's short story Of Apollonius and Silla. That story itself derives from an earlier tale by Matteo Bandello. Another influence is the Italian production Gl'ingannati written by the Accademia degli Intronati in 1531. The name Orsino may have been suggested by Virginio Orsini, Duke of Bracciano. He visited London during the winter of 1600 to 1601. The full title Twelfth Night refers to the twelfth night after Christmas Day. It is also called the Eve of the Feast of Epiphany. These dates were sometimes occasions for revelry and festive ritual. Puritans often opposed such celebrations much like Malvolio opposes the revelry within the play.
Viola is shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria with the help of a sea captain. She has lost contact with her twin brother Sebastian whom she believes has drowned. Viola disguises herself as a young man named Cesario to enter the service of Duke Orsino. Orsino has convinced himself he is in love with Countess Olivia who refuses all marriage proposals until seven years pass. Orsino uses Cesario as an intermediary to profess his passionate love for Olivia. But Olivia falls in love with Cesario setting her at odds with her professed duty. Meanwhile Viola has fallen in love with Orsino creating a complex love triangle. In the comic subplot Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek disrupt the peace of Olivia's household. They drink and revel late into the night prompting Malvolio to chastise them. Maria suggests taking revenge on Malvolio by convincing him that Olivia is secretly in love with him. She forges a love letter mimicking Olivia's handwriting and plants it in the garden. The letter asks Malvolio to wear yellow stockings cross-gartered which is a colour and fashion Olivia hates. He starts following the letter's instructions to show Olivia his feelings. Olivia is shocked by the changes in him and agrees that he seems mad.
The earliest public performance took place at Middle Temple Hall on the 2nd of February 1602. The lawyer John Manningham wrote in his diary about enjoying the Malvolio story most of all. The play was performed again at Court on Easter Monday in 1618 and on Candlemas night in 1623. Sir William Davenant's adaptation was staged in 1661 with Thomas Betterton as Sir Toby Belch. Samuel Pepys thought it a silly play but saw it three times during the period of his diary. Another adaptation Love Betray'd or The Agreeable Disappointment was acted at Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1703. The original Shakespearean text was revived in 1741 in a production at Drury Lane. An operatic version by Frederic Reynolds was staged in 1820 with music by Henry Bishop. Influential productions were staged in 1912 by Harley Granville-Barker and in 1916 at the Old Vic. Lilian Baylis reopened Sadler's Wells Theatre in 1931 with a notable production starring Ralph Richardson as Sir Toby. The longest-running Broadway production was Margaret Webster's 1940 staging which ran for 129 performances.
Vitagraph Studios released the silent short adaptation
Twelfth Night in 1910 starring Florence Turner and Julia Swayne Gordon. Just One Of The Guys directed by Lisa Gottlieb is a loose update set in a modern high school in 1985. She's The Man updates the story as a contemporary teenage comedy set in a prep school named Illyria in 2006. The film incorporates names like Andrew and Toby from Duke's soccer teammates. A nod to the omitted subplot names a briefly-on-screen tarantula Malvolio. Disney Channel Original Movie Motocrossed sets the story in the world of motocross racing in 2001. Wicker Park features Rose Byrne's character Alex playing Viola in an amateur production in 2004. On the 14th of May 1937 the BBC Television Service broadcast a thirty-minute excerpt of the play. This was the first known instance of a work of Shakespeare being performed on television. An adaptation by Cathleen Nesbitt for the BBC was the first complete Shakespeare play ever broadcast on British radio on the 28th of May 1923.
The play consistently ranks among the greatest plays ever written and has been
dubbed The Perfect Comedy. The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard opens his 1844 book Philosophical Fragments with a quote paraphrasing Feste's comment to Maria. Nietzsche refers passingly to Twelfth Night specifically to Sir Andrew Aguecheek's suspicion about beef affecting his wit. Agatha Christie's 1940 mystery novel Sad Cypress draws its title from a song in Act II Scene IV. The protagonists of Vita Sackville-West's 1930 novel The Edwardians are named Sebastian and Viola who are brother and sister. American playwright Ken Ludwig wrote a play inspired by the details called Leading Ladies. Cassandra Clare's 2009 novel City of Glass contains chapter names inspired by quotations of Antonio and Sebastian. Characters in Shirley Jackson's 1959 novel The Haunting Of Hill House frequently quote Feste's song O Mistress Mine. The line journeys end in lovers meeting repeats throughout the text spoken most frequently by Eleanor. One of Club Penguin's games is titled Twelfth Fish which is a spoof of Shakespeare's works.
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Common questions
When was Twelfth Night written by William Shakespeare?
William Shakespeare wrote Twelfth Night around the year 1601. The play was likely created as a specific entertainment for the close of the Christmas season.
What is the significance of the date the 2nd of February 1602 in relation to Twelfth Night?
A law student named John Manningham recorded a performance at Middle Temple Hall on the 2nd of February 1602. This date marked Candlemas and the formal end of the Christmastide season in the Christian calendar.
Who are the main characters involved in the love triangle in Twelfth Night?
Viola disguises herself as Cesario to serve Duke Orsino while falling in love with him. Countess Olivia falls in love with Cesario creating a complex love triangle involving Viola, Orsino, and Olivia.
Which Italian sources influenced the plot of Twelfth Night?
The text draws heavily from Barnabe Rich's short story Of Apollonius and Silla which derives from an earlier tale by Matteo Bandello. Another influence is the Italian production Gl'ingannati written by the Accademia degli Intronati in 1531.
When did the earliest public performance of Twelfth Night take place?
The earliest public performance took place at Middle Temple Hall on the 2nd of February 1902. The lawyer John Manningham wrote in his diary about enjoying the Malvolio story most of all.