Critical Appreciation Of Twelfth Night

The only reference to Twelfth Night during Shakespeare’s own lifetime is to a performance on February 2, 1602. A law student named John Manningham wrote in his diary about a feast he attended at the Middle Temple in London where he was a law student and where “we had a play called Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will." This was likely to have been an early performance since it is generally agreed that the play was probably written in 1601. In 1954 Sir Leslie Hotson’s book, The First Night of Twelfth Night, sought to identify the exact date of the first performance of Twelfth Night. He used the evidence of old records to suggest that Queen Elizabeth asked for a new play for the last night of the Christmas 1600-01 season, the Feast of the

The play “Twelfth Night” is about people who are not always what they seem. That theme can be seen in both the holiday and the play “Twelfth Night.” William Shakespeare uses different characters to help him express that theme throughout the play. The clown (Feste) is a great example of this theme.

through his vanity is easily fooled into thinking it is he who she loves although

There is a certain degree of expectation with the genre of comedy that despite whatever difficulties appear within the play, by the end these will be resolved and the play will have a traditional happy-ending with a marriage or a celebration in the final scene. The “Twelfth Night” is no exception to this rule. Despite problems of confused identities and sexualities, the play ends with marriage for the major characters because they “have learned enough about their own foolishness to accept it wisely, and their reward, as it should be, is marriage.”(Schwartz 5140). There is a resolution of harmony to a certain extent and an endorsement of romantic love yet despite the happiness evident in the last scene, there are many elements in the play

   Shakespeare enjoyed writing passionate plays about young lovers, but, after a while, the formula became exhausted and the Bard was forced to dig deeper, creatively speaking. Twelfth Night is an example of a Shakespearean love tale with a slight twist to keep things interesting. This play was the “Tootsie” of its time. Twelfth Night takes the audience on a gender-bending journey, while maintaining all the elements of true love throughout. At one point, Olivia wears a disguise in order to take on the traditionally male role of wooing her romantic interest, Cesario, who is also disguised. Although Olivia flirts with Cesario and tells him that his “scorn” only reveals his hidden love, she is

The introduction of Twelfth Night, written by M.M. Mahood, provides a cultural setting for readers to better understand the play. Although Mahood wrote the introduction for Twelfth Night, the information also allows readers to appreciate the magical freedom that A Midsummer Night’s Dream encompasses. Mahood delves into the cultural significance of Puritanism early in the 17th century through the character of Malvolio. Although Twelfth Night is a comedy, the presence of morally strict Puritanism affects the lightness of the play. The Puritan Revolution took away the foolish fun and celebration in life. Mahood connects the cultural context with Malvolio’s objection of fun throughout the play. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is completely and utterly entertaining, fun, and provocative; the play is essentially everything Puritanism frowned upon. The cultural setting provided by Mahood allows readers to appreciate A Midsummer’s Night Dream for its magic, fantasy, sex, and pure foolishness because that was socially acceptable at that time.

Fools, ever since their inception these figures have been well known to be able to spread laughter like a plague in the 14th century through 'blissful ignorance.' A fool, however, is not always a fool, for in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, the fool is the mastermind. Feste, the court jester, plays a pivotal role in the play, so far as breaking the stereotype of the average buffoon and actually portraying a man with a razor sharp wit, through his skillful word play, unsolicited yet wise advice, and good ole humor.

What do the words “love,” trickery,” “misogyny,” and “madness” all have in common? They are a few general themes that embody Shakespeare’s romantic comedy, Twelfth Night. The story begins when the main character, Viola, finds herself shipwrecked off the coast of Illyria and begins her new life disguised as a man. Complications arise when she gets stuck in a confusing love triangle, and her thought-to-be-dead brother mysteriously arrives with his caretaker. When everything is said and done, all the happy couples celebrate and the Scrooge of the group, Malvolio, stays locked up in his secret little madhouse. This story has been modified for many uses such as the purpose of comprehension, parody, and modernization. I viewed two different versions: the first being the original script with young actors, and the second being a modern parody with young actors. The first version aims to provide accurate representation of Shakespeare’s work, with young actors for education. The second is purely comedic with a modern twist that is more ridiculous than it is realistic. The setting, word choice, and camera effects all contribute as adaptations from Shakespeare’s original Twelfth Night in order to entertain or educate their audience.

The last 18 - 24 hours had been a nightmare for them. So much has happened to them that it felt like they have been in Manhattan for days. But it hadn’t even been 24 hours yet. They were not paying attention to where they were running. They only wanted to get away from the creatures that was trying to kill them. They did not pay attention to where they were going. They just ran. With all of their strength they ran. Unknown to them with all of their running and hiding throughout Manhattan they were quickly approaching Battery Park at the end of Manhattan Island. Battery Park had water on three 3 sides of it. The East River, The Hudson River and Upper New York Bay. Running from the creatures that were chasing them they could not go forward. They

In William Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night, Olivia and Viola (Cesario) have a meaningful conversation about love. Olivia really loves Cesario, but there is a problem that she does not know, Cesario is really Viola, who is a woman. The quote “Love sought is good, but given unsought better” (Shakespeare 3:1 line 147), can be interpreted in many different ways. All and all it really means that going after your love is good, but having your love come after you, is better. Either way having love is superior to to not having it at all.

In Shakespeare's play, “Twelfth Night”, it takes the characters and gives them a bit of both worlds through gender confusion and transgression and much more. Characters disguising as the opposite gender, others falling in love with the same gender without knowing who they truly are, and suddenly feeling a sexual desire with the same sex. Shakespeare's knew love is a kinding heart, a passion, and happy proportions, sentimental not tender. His lovers always looked forward to marriage. The love never runs smoothly. The play begins with the lines “if the music be the food of love, give me excess of it”. (Shakespeare. Act 1, Scene 1,line 1) Meaning to fully satisfy one’s

a plan to dress as a man and seek employment with the Duke Orsino. It

William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night William Shakespeare was baptised on the 26th April 1564, and as it was the tradition for children to be taken to the church for this only a few days after birth, April 23rd has been traditionally held as his actual birthday. It also fits relatively nicely for English person to be born on St. George's Day as this represents England. He was born in Stratford upon Avon. In 1601, near the middle of Shakespeare's career, it is assumed he wrote the play Twelfth Night.

One scene of the play that all the reviews from New York Times mention is Maria’s tricking Malvolio into thinking that Olivia has fallen in love with him. Although the productions different from one another, the reviews show how much this scene has left an impression in the audience. In March of 2009, Charles Isherwood, a famous theater

Shakespeare's romantic comedies explore love, the “divine passion”, in all its moods and intensities. Most characters in these two plays are in love, find love or seek it. Twelfth Night, reputedly the most mature of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies, weaves several such love stories into an intricate collage to explore different types of love and its easy descent into pain or folly.