Assessment week Research

Shakespeare Research – Twelfth Night

The hyperlinks will give you a first source for the answers to the questions.

When was Twelfth Night written? What else was happening around this time? Who was in power in England? What do you know about this ruler?

The play 'Tweltfh Night' was believed to be written in 1601-1602 and commissioned for entertainment to close off the Christmas season, also known as the twelfth night, where the play got its name. The play was written near the end of Elizabethan era, meaning that the person in power at this time was none other than Elizabeth I, also known as The Virgin Queen. At this time, England was still very much a conservative kingdom, meaning that Elizabeth was constantly been pressured to marry. Instead, she used being single as an advantage; European monarchs who were hopeful to marry this fine lady were less of a threat. This way Elizabeth wouldn't also face the danger of dying because of childbirth, but also not lose her authority to her husband. Yet, it was said that the queen was walking on a very thin line, creating tensions between the numerous rivaling suitors. After rejecting the Spanish Kings, Philip Iis, proposal, Spain and England became rivals themselves, ending in war between these countries in the late 1580's.

What is the alternative title of the play? Why does it have two titles?

The play got its name Twelfth night for being commissioned to be performed on the 12th night of Christmas, ending the Christmas season. The other name this play is known as is 'What you Will' which might have been the original or Shakespeare's own title to the play. It is believed that it was changed to 'Twelfth Night', because at the time there was a another famous play called What You Will, which would have created confusion and separate from the John Marston's play. Another reason for two titles might have been the simple fact that during the Elizabethan era, subtitles were very fashionable.

What are the main themes of the play?

The main themes of the play are duality, disguises, gender, and love – especially what it thrives us to do and see. The three first themes tie in together pretty well, and are often used to strengthen each other. You can see these themes especially in the character Viola, who pretends to be a man called Cesario to survive in Illyria and to work for Orsino. The fat that Viola lives as a man, and even has Olivia fall in love with her, brings out the question of gender and representation, but also disguise, themes that are found in Shakespeares other plays as well(e.g. As You Like It and Merchant of Venice). This brings out a certain homoerotic messages from the play, that aren't actually that subtle or rare. There is obvious affections from Orsino towards Viola in her male disguise, but also Viola Twin brother and Antonio have a connection that feels like something more than just connection between friends. Sebastian and Viola as twins also bring the duality out in the play, there is also references to darkness and light, and some characters, such as Malvolio(puritan) and Feste(the fool) contrast each other. Disguise is also a reoccurring theme, obviously with Viola dressing up as a man, but also characters fooling others(mainly Malvolio) by pretending to be someone they are not. For example Feste dressing up as a priest to fool Malvolio and Maria writing a letter in Olivia's handwriting to play a trick on, you guessed it, Malvolio. Love is an obvious theme, but I feel that in this particular play it isn't just simple as everyone falling in love, but rather the love being unrequited. It seems that every character has some kind of connection with this, by Orsino loving Olivia but Olivia loving Cesario, but Viola instead is in love with Orsino. This is a perfect example of a love triangle. Other desperate lovers are Malvolio and Sir Andrew, who both want the affection of Olivia, but also Antonio, who obviously has feelings for Sebastian, who instead ends up with Olivia.

What are the main differences & similarities between Shakespeare’s Tragedies and Comedies?

The main difference of Tragedies and Comedies is found from the names; tragedies end in death and sorrow, where as comedies end with pretty much everyone of the main characters getting happily married. In both genres the stories often focus on love, or have some subplot about love. The difference in these is that in tragedies, it is usually forbidden because of rivaling families or a feud between friends, and often ends badly, where as in comedies the fight for love ends happily and isn't as tragic, but rather funny in most cases. Still, both styles contain an element of humour and sadness, but the balance of these moods vary. Also, comedies often include some sort of trickery, often harmless and jokes-like, but tragedies use deception to gain power and use murder as a tool.

Name one of the characters in the play and write short character profile.

MALVOLIO Malvolio might seem like a minor character at first, only bringing a little amusement to the love triangle of Viola-Olivia-Orsino, but as the play gies in, he grows more interesting. Malvolio is the steward or main servant of Olivia's household, and is often seen as the main antagonist, who is tricked multiple times by other characters(mainly Maria, Feste, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew), creating the humour to this play. He is described as a puritan, fitting to his stiff manners and hates all that is fun by others. He is extremely self-righteous and dreams of some day marrying Olivia, and rise above his social class. This ambition is revealed by a trick played on him by Sir Tovy and Maria, who forge a letter from Olivia, 'confessing her love towards Malvolio'. This letter is the only thing that brings joy into Malvolio, which in when we see a different side of him, who wants to please Olivia on any way possible, only resulting gin people thinking he is mad. He almost does become mad as he is confined to a dark room for a night by Maria and Toby, which does bring the audiences pity on him. You could even argue him being a slightly tragic character, as in the end he comes to a celebration of love and happiness that has nothing to do with him and ends up leaving with revenge in mind because no one seems willing to offer him a real apology. This is a down note to otherwise happy ending. I think his place in this play, as well as a comedic character, is to show that someone must suffer while everyone else is happy.

Malvolio is described as a “Puritan” by Sir Toby Belch– who and what is a puritan?

Puritans were a minority group of Protestants who were especially unpleased by the Elizabethan Settlement, that tried to create a balance between Protestants and Catholics. Their name comes from the word “pure-itan” and how they wanted a simpler and the 'pure' form of Church practice, but were rather scorned for self-righteousness. They wanted , and were successful, to censor all writings before publishing. They also opposed theatres and wanted to close(which the Puritan Parlament succeeded in 1643), which led to multiple parodies of them on the stage. Malvolio is one of these caricatures, by being highly religious, uptight, and seen as 'the bad guy'in the play.

Shakespeare introduced more than 1700 common words to the English Language. Name 5 of them.

Blanket Arouse Elbow Mimic Puking I chose these because to me, they simply seem such ordinary words, that it is quite hard to believe they were invented by Shakespeare!