I have fallen in love
With the same woman three times
In a day spanning nineteen years
Of tearful joys and joyful tears.

I loved her first when she was young
Enchanting and vibrant, eternally new
She was brilliant, fragrant and cool as the morning dew
I fell in love with her the second time

When first she bore her child and mine
She’s always by my side, the source of my strength
Helping to turn the tide…
I fell in love again with the same woman the third time

Looming from the battle her courage will never fade.
Amidst the hardships she has remained
Undaunted and unafraid
She is calm and composed. She is God’s lovely maid.


Ninoy Aquino to Cory Aquino

A Genre Analysis on
William Shakespeare’s
The Twelfth Night


By

Rodel Delera Añosa
Master of Arts in Literature
College of Arts and Letters
Bicol University
Legazpi City

Shakespeare, 2008

Introduction

A drama is a literary art form dealing with beauty as it is found in the imitation of human action from nature. Story presented on stage by actors impersonating characters in a given situation written in the form of dialogue called play. Unlike other literary works, the drama involves five elements namely: playwright, play, theater, actors (including director) and audience. It may also refer to the whole body of works written for the theater. It may also be written in poetry or prose or sometimes in combination of both.

Long before the dimming of lights and the raising of a curtain were used to signal the beginning of a play, people loved to attend the theater. As early as 535 B.C., state-authorized drama-festivals were held in Greece. Thousands thronged to the huge amphitheaters to see the annual play competitions.
During the middle Ages, plays were primarily religious and were generally performed in connection with church celebrations. Later, during the renaissance period and during the time of Shakespeare, drama was no longer associated with the church. He and his contemporaries wrote plays about subjects such as Greed, Ambition, Love, and Envy.

Comedy is a type of drama which portrays the lighter and brighter aspect of life and is meant to evoke laughter. It deals with human folly and foibles which are neither painful nor destructive. The conflict involved is fortunately solved to give the play a happy ending. The plot is generally sustained and credible, its dialogue witty, characters are realistic and physical action subdued or controlled.

The early history of English drama is important because it shows how the instinct for dramatic representation finds its outlets, tells us a great deal about the workings of the popular imagination and it throws some light on the themes and conventions of later drama. The origin of drama as we know it are more the concern of anthropologist because drama and religious ritual seem to have been bound up with one another in the earlier stages of all civilizations. These things lie in the background of all drama: folk celebrations, ritual miming of such elemental themes as death and resurrection, seasonal festivals with appropriate symbolic actions.

Despite the iconic status which time and literary history have bestowed upon him, William Shakespeare probably saw himself as just another professional man of that theater. Entering the scene first as an actor and later concerned first and foremost with making a living as a playwright, it is a good bet that he never considered any sort of long lasting literary fame. He began his career as a poet and he wrote plays during 1590-1611.

Shakespeare never wrote one single type of play at a time; therefore, it is nearly impossible to divide his career chronologically. To his contemporaries, he was every bet as inventive and creative and entertaining. Indeed, his plays were in some ways more accessible to audiences because they were not as dense and multi-faceted. This is proven through his romantic comedy entitled “The Twelfth Night”, which evokes human spirit and teaches moral to the readers and audience.


Objectives

The main purpose of this study is to analyze the content of one of the Romantic Comedies of William Shakespeare entitled, “The Twelfth Night”. The researcher sought answers to the following objectives:
1. Identify the Author’s Background.
2. Identify the discernible elements of fiction revealed in the play in terms of:
a) Setting
b) Characters and characterization
c) Structure of the Plot
d) Subject Matter
e) Language
f) Theme
g) Literary Merits
3) Write a Summary of the Comic Play
4) Uncover the socio-historical Background reflected in the story.

Significance of the Study
This study is of great importance to the following:
Teachers. This study enlightens the teachers specifically those who are teaching English as a Second Language and Literature about the life of William Shakespeare, the elements of fiction revealed in the story, and the socio-historical background of the play in teaching Shakespeare’s Drama.
Students. This study helps the students familiarize the with William Shakespeare’s Drama.
Creative Writers. This study serves as their inspiration to continue enriching their craft in writing dramas or play.

Twelfth Night: A Comic Play Analysis

A. Author’s Background

William Shakespeare was christened in Stratford on April 26, 1564. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but it is traditionally celebrated on the 23rd, because that is Saint George’s Day, and Saint George is England’s patron saint.
The Shakespeare was a prosperous and locally prominent family. William was the oldest of six children. His father, John Shakespeare, the son of a tenant farmer, had moved to Stratford as a young man, and there built for himself a successful business career as a glober and a dealer in wool, timber and other commodities. John also held office as justice of the peace and high Bailiff (mayor); and late in life he was granted a coat of arms, which made him a”gentlemen”. Shakespeare’s mother, Mary Arden, a member of a small landowner, must have brought her husband both social standing and land.
Stratford, about a hundred miles northwest of London, was a prosperous market town, one of the largest in Warwickshire. A great deal is known about Stratford, which enables as to understand something of Shakespeare’s boyhood there. The town supported a grammar school which was free to the sons of Burgesses, of whom Shakespeare was one. Grammar school were design to prepare there students for one of the universities, and in Stratford the master was the university graduate. The education they gave was narrow but thorough. It included some history and religious instruction, but was base chiefly on Latin and the arts of language: grammar, logic, rhetoric, and what we call “public speaking”. Shakespeare read a number of Latin authors, including Ovid and probable Plautus, whose comedies he imitated when he started to write for the stage. The children went to school weekdays, summer and winter, from seven in the morning until five in the afternoon, with two hours off for dinner. Shakespeare must have started this strict routine as soon as he knew his catechism.
During his boyhood Stratford was regularly visited by touring player, including the best companies in England. The play they brought were moralizing woks on biblical or classical themes, very wooden compared with what Shakespeare himself would write. But his future profession was highly esteemed; the players were received in the guildhall by leading citizens, including no doubt Shakespeare father. For the rest, we may safely imagine Shakespeare as engage in the visual activity of a boy in country town, acquiring the intimate knowledge of the countryside and its rural types which is reflected in his plays.
We do not know what Shakespeare did between the time he left school and his departure in London. Some of the stories about him─ that he was for a time a country school master that he got into trouble for poaching deer─ are possible, but unproved. We do know that he married Ann Hathaway, daughter of a yeoman farmer, in 1582, when he was eighteen and she was twenty-three. Their first child, Susan, was baptized six month later. Perhaps the Shakespeare were “betrothed” ─ which, by the custom of time, would have made them legally married─ some months before the recorded church ceremony. They had two more children, the twins Hamnet and Judith, were christened in 1585. Shakespeare departed for London very soon after that. He did not take his family with him, for he occupied bachelor lodgings in London for most of the rest of his life. But he was also a householder in Stratford, and apparently continued to think himself as a resident.
London, when Shakespeare went there as a young man, in about 1586, was enjoying the great years of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. She had ascended the throne in 1558; in 1588 her navy had its famous victory over the Spanish armada, which marked England emergence as a great seapower, and symbolize the national rebirth. The city of London had its ancient mercantile tradition, its bourgeois freedoms, and among the city officials, a certain puritanical spirit of its own. But the city had spread far beyond the medieval walls and renaissance London contained between 100,000 and 200,000 inhabitants. As the set of Elizabeth court it was the unrivaled center of English politics and culture. It was a university town, for the Inns of Court, resident law-schools for young gentlemen of wealth, were there; and it was full of foreigners from the continent of Europe. As a great port it was in touch with the Indies, Mediterranean, and the Americas. Shakespeare never went to a university, but London was admirably fitted to complete his education in Italian and French, in history and literature, the great profession and to give him direct experience of the ways of men at an exciting moment in history. The theater was near the center of life in Renaissance London, and Shakespeare must have been close to many of the great figures and great of events of his time.
Much is known about London and about the theater where Shakespeare worked, but little is known directly about his own doings, contemporary comments on him, and on his plays, suggest the most of his great vitality went straight into his work for the theater. Legal and business documents, church records, and the like, enable the experts to fix a few important dates in his personal and professional life. And the dates of his plays, though disputed in detail, are well enough established to give us the approximate sequence.

B. The Elements of the Play
B. 1 Setting
B.1.1 Place: Illyria
B.1.2 Event: Shipwreck
B.1.3 Atmosphere: Pensive and Funny
B. 2 Characters and their characterization
1. Viola
She is the heroine and central character. She and her twin brother Sebastian were orphaned on their thirteenth birthday. Her brother describes Viola as both beautiful ("in spite of the fact that they say she looked like me"), and being a genuinely nice person. ("She bore a mind that envy could not but call fair.") She is brave and stays as cheerful as she can be. In contrast to Olivia, she does not withdraw from the world to mourn. (Of course, unlike Olivia, Viola can't afford this luxury.) She loves Orsino unselfishly enough to woo another woman on his behalf. By the time the first act is over, we realize that Viola, unlike the two upper-class characters, won't be feeling sorry for herself.
2. Orsino
He is the Governor of Illyria, variously described as Duke or Count. He has a fine reputation internationally (I ii), and is known to be constant and fair (I iii). While he's in love, though, he's irritable and moody.
3. Olivia
She is a wealthy lady who is loved by Orsino. Her parents recently died, and then the brother who had been their heir died as well. Olivia seems capable and dignified, always serious but able to understand and enjoy a joke. When she falls in love for "Cesario", she is very concerned about losing her composure, but can't control herself.
4. Feste
He is Olivia's jester, a comedian-singer who used to entertain Olivia's father. Much of his humor is made-up aphorisms, parodies of what a wise person supposedly would say, but just as true... often darkly so. ("Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage.") Behind the humor, Feste offers people good advice. (People may accept what they don't want to hear coming from a joker.) Notice how he stays detached, and uses opposites and paradoxes, and how most of his humor is at the expense of the hearers. (King Lear's jester will do the same, and even sing the same song.) But Feste is only unkind when he is taking revenge on Malvolio. Feste's part is written for a man but has been played just as well by women. Whoever plays Feste does need to be able to sing. (If this isn't possible, Fabian or Maria might do the song at Orsino's.) Of course, Feste's name means "celebration".
5. Toby Belch
He is Olivia's alcoholic uncle whose only interest is in partying and having fun at the expense of others. He talks in high language, variously parodying lawyer-talk and knight-talk.
6. Malvolio
He is Olivia's administrator. He is the only character who seems to be making a conscious effort to be "virtuous", and the only one who shows no warmth towards others. So people are going to dislike him and try to get back at him. Outwardly, he's the effective, devoted employee. As steward, it is his job to manage Olivia's household and affairs. Malvolio wants to run an orderly house and take good care of Olivia, out of common affection or a sense of duty or both. Even though he is pompous, he must be good at what he does. He must be frustrated when he cannot protect Olivia (as he sees it) from the alcoholics and the rude jester. Inwardly, Malvolio has an elaborate fantasy life in which he is independently wealthy and commands the obedience of the people who just ridicule him in real life. But his aspirations toward spirituality are probably real; he "thinks nobly of the soul". And by the end of the play, even audience-members who don't sympathize with him early-on will feel disturbed by the horrible way he gets treated by the pranksters. "Malvolio"'s name means "evil-wisher". (In pre-Shakespearean morality plays, characters would be named for the virtues or vices they acted out.)
7. Andrew
He is a "friend" of Toby's, who is scamming him for his money as a "suitor" to Olivia. Andrew's conversation reveals him to be vain, cowardly, and stupid. His last name ("Aguecheek") refers to looking weak from malaria.
8. Maria
She is Olivia's feisty housekeeper. She is good at standing up for herself and for her employer. She says what she thinks, misses nothing, and can hold her own against anybody.
9. Fabian
He is a minor character in Olivia's household whose relationship to Olivia is never explained. Malvolio got Fabian into trouble over a bear-baiting at Olivia's house. (Bear-baiting is an old bloodsport in which a tied bear was teased and then torn apart by dogs.) Fabian provides an extra to take part in the merriment and handle the business of getting Viola together with Andrew. The part can be played by either a man or a woman of any age.
10. Sebastian
He is a man of action and strong feeling, loving his sister, ready to fight, self-effacing, and solicitous for Antonio's welfare. He is clear-headed even when nothing seems to make sense, and he welcomes the happiness that Olivia offers. Actually, everything we see about both of the twins is likable.

B.3 Structure of the Plot
Shakespeare's Comic Play is composed of five (5) acts and eighteen (18) scenes; the Act 1& 2 is divided into five (5) scenes; the he Act 3 is divided into four (4) scenes; the Act 4 is divided into three (3) scenes; and, the Act 5 is composed of one (1) scene.

B.4 Subject Matter
Viola is a Lady who disguised herself as a Pageboy named Cesario and later became the pageboy of Duke Orsino who had deep passion with Olivia, a beautiful and wealthy lady whose parents and brother were died that caused her to mourn for seven years, but when she met Cesario, as a messenger of Duke Orsino’s courtship, and fell in love, she shifted her mind to mourn instead learned to open her heart to the mystery of love.

B.5 Language
1. There is the emendation of spelling and pronunciation like murther (murder) and Sathan (Satan).
2. It employs structure in Latin/French version like 1) Pourquoi (French) means why; 2) exceptis exceptiendis (legal jargon) with the exceptions previously noted (lesser & contract); 3)Culcullus non facit monachum - a cowl does not make a monk; 4) Bonus dies means good day; 4) Deliculo Sugere i. e. Deculieculo surgere saluberremum means “it is most healthful to rise early; 5) Dieus vous garde means “God protect you, Sir!”; 6) Votre serviteur means “and you also, your servant!”
3. Shakespeare uses discernible figurative languages like metaphor, simile, and antonomasia (paronomasia) e. g. “Thou west as witty a piece of Eve’s Flesh”
4. He uses Mythological Characters like 1) Jove means god, the printed text reflects the status of 1606 that prohibited profane; 2) Pigrogromitus, Vapians, Querebus – presumably
5. He uses discernible figurative languages like metaphor, simile, and antonomasia.
6. He uses contraction of words like H’has (He has), t’was (It was), t’is not (It is not), etc.
7. He uses incorrect structure of sentences like You wasn’t for “You weren’t”.
8. He uses archaic type of language.
9. He integrates rhythmical songs in the play.
10. He creates names which are unbelievable.
B.6 Themes
The themes or the central ideas that are pervasive in the story are the following:
1. Death
This proves when Viola and her twin brother Sebastian were orphaned from their parents and Olivia whose parents and her brother were died.
2. Happiness
This play throughout the story depicts how the major characters like Viola, Orsino, and Olivia seek for happiness. Viola who is orphaned from her parents is making herself happy despite the fact she is about to mourn. Olivia who is also orphaned from her parents wants herself to mourn for the death of her parents and brother but when she has met Viola as Cesario, her life turns to colorful world where she falls in love with Cesario instead of mourning herself for seven years. Orsino who has deep admiration with Olivia whom he knew that his love is unrequited, admitted Cesario as his pageboy who serves as his instrument of his courtship to Olivia; with this manifestation, Cesario consoled his solitude with whom he takes drive him from solitary to stay in love and quite inspired.
3. Freedom
Viola as the heroine in the play reveals gender equality and individual liberty despite her status quo in the society. The play is a revolt against sexual discrimination and societal norms that observe conservatism and even Puritanism.
4. Love
The play is a romantic comedy, which merely focuses on the deep passion of Duke Orsino to Olivia whom he dreams to become his wife. Also, Malvolio has a secret admiration with Olivia with whom he got married her in the end. And Viola as Cesario after the revelation of herself, Duke Orsino falls in love with her and they got married.

B.7 Literary Merits
B.7.1 Artistry and Style
This play uses archaic type of language. It integrates rhythmical songs. This play is poetically written in blank verse. Its grammar is inconsistent to the modern structure of language, yet dignified in thought and meaning. It is figuratively written. It has colorful spectacles. It uses symbolic characters. It is a satirical play.
B.7.2. Suggestiveness/Emotional Value
Viola simply accepts that love is uncontrollable and falling in love leads to irony. She knows no human being can sort out the tangled webs of love. She says that women can and do love more genuinely than men do. Yet at the end, when the enraged Orsino thinks of killing her, she takes the risk because she loves him.
B.7.3. Spiritual Value
While mourning for her parents and her brother who have passed away, Olivia has deeply thought that they are in heaven, but according to the Clown during their argumentation, they are in hell. Viola is still thinking positively that her brother Sebastian has been saved from Shipwreck.
B.7.4.Intellectual Value
When Viola failed to find her brother, she shifted her mind to disguise as a Page boy (named Cesario) of Orsino after she learned from the Captain Antonio that Duke Orsino of Illyria is madly deeply in love with Olivia. She never put herself in a quadrant of melancholy instead she drives herself to serve people in order for her to move on. Indeed, she (he) changes Olivia from mourning her parent and brother who have passed away and makes her in love with her (him).
B.7.5. Permanence and Universality
Death is inevitable. Nobody denies happiness and everybody is at stake in the pursuit of happiness. The community still believes in the Sanctity of Marriage. Money is the source of power. Paradox is always present to life.

C. Summary
Act I scene I begins with Orsino listening to music, feeling sorry for himself, and fidgeting. (It is nice to begin a play with some music before the talking starts.) Orsino has just sent somebody to ask Olivia to date him. He already expects she will say no. The language of this scene is difficult but is worth examining closely. Orsino is feeling sorry for himself. If a director wants to focus on Orsino's irascibility and irrationality, the words "That strain again!" can be a command to the players to interrupt their piece and repeat his favorite riff. Then he makes the musicians stop abruptly, since his mood has shifted once again. (Shakespeare has to get the music to stop, since there will be a scene change.) Orsino explains that love is all-consuming like the all-devouring ocean. When you are in love, everything ordinary seems cheap. "Fancy", of course, is romantic love, and it fills the mind with pictures of everything, making the ordinary seem worthless. One of his friends invites him to go hunting. (A man confronted with a mopey male friend usually proposes some recreational activity.) The duke makes a stale pun on hart (deer) and heart (romantic love), and describes his love strangely: Seeing Olivia makes the world seem not to be rotten ("purged the air of pestilence"). But as a result, he felt no longer in control, the hunted rather than the hunter. Orsino's friend comes back with the bad news. Olivia will not consider dating anybody until she has completed seven years of mourning for her brother who recently died just after they both were orphaned. She will even stay veiled, so that no one can see her face throughout the seven years. Now, if I were told this about a lady I'd just asked out, I'd assume I was being told a preposterous story because she just wanted nothing to do with me. But the Duke's response is even stranger. Perhaps he has heard this explanation before. The duke seems to say that Olivia is so full of love just for a brother, how much more she will love a proper husband who will be everything to her. So he doesn't lose hope. Orsino decides he'll go relax in the flower-bed; he's now enjoying thinking about love and the flowers will help. (Shakespeare needs to get the actors off-stage for the next scene.) Notice that the Duke is saying more about being in love than about the lady he actually loves. Some people have said "he's in love with the idea of being in love." Of course, Shakespeare's audience is more interested in hearing about love in general, too. What do you think?
Act I scene ii sets the scene, a shipwreck, and introduces Viola who escaped with a few other people in a lifeboat but believes her brother was probably killed. The captain comforts her, saying he saw her brother tie himself to a mast. The captain explains that Orsino is duke here in Illyria, and still a bachelor, but is in love with Olivia. Olivia actually is refusing to date until a long mourning is over. Viola, also having lost a brother, says she wishes she served Olivia, but the captain explains she is not even receiving visitors. Viola tells the captain that she knows you can't judge by looks but that he looks like an honest man. (She has little choice anyway, and needs a protector; speaking like this may actually make the captain not take advantage of her.) She asks him to help her disguise herself as a boy; evidently she just happens to have saved a set of clothes just like her brother was wearing. (Yes, you'll need to suspend your disbelief.) She will see whether she can get work at Orsino's court, perhaps as a singer. Since she is beardless, she will say she is a eunuch. (Eunuchs were fairly common in Shakespeare's era, and families could choose this option for sons who might want careers at court. For obvious reasons, rich men preferred eunuchs to intact men as servants unless heavy work was required, and eunuch singers were amusical elite. Of course, this doesn't make castrating boys right, and we are more enlightened.) The captain says he will accompany Viola, but we don't see him again, and hear about at the end that he's safe, having somehow been arrested by Malvolio.
You already know that boys played the female roles in Shakespeare's plays. We have an actual boy pretending to be a girl pretending to be a boy. In "As You Like It", it goes one step farther when Rosalind, a boy actor playing a girl character who is disguised as a boy, agrees to role-play a girl for Orlando to practice courting.
Act I scene iii is set at Olivia's house. Sir Toby is Olivia's uncle and is staying here, apparently at Olivia's expense following the death of her brother. It begins with Maria scolding Sir Toby, apparently on Olivia's behalf, for keeping late hours and being rowdy. We find out that Sir Toby brought a friend, Andrew Aguecheek, to court her without her permission, and that he is still here. Toby explains that Andrew is a knight with a large income, but Maria says he's stupid and wastes his money. We hear that Andrew is a bully, a coward, and a heavy drinker. All that Toby can say in his support is that he plays an instrument and knows a few languages. Andrew enters and has a short exchange with Maria, who doesn't like him. Andrew thinks he is clever but is horribly stupid. The two men talk, and Andrew says he wants to go home because Olivia doesn't like him. Toby appeals to his vanity and gets him to agree to stay for a month just to party. Of course, Toby simply wants access to Andrew's money. The scene ends with their trying a new dance fad, thus getting them off the stage. Check your own edition of the play to understand the wordplay.
Act I scene iv. At Orsino's palace, where Viola is now a pageboy and calling herself Cesario. One of the Duke's friends remarks that although she's only been there three days, the Duke has been spending time with "him". The friend confirms that the Duke isn't capricious and that the boy is likely to become an important person at court. The duke comes looking for "Cesario", dismisses his other attendants, and we learn that "he" is the Duke's confidant. Now it's time for Cesario to camp on Olivia's doorstep, being as rude as necessary to get in. The duke says "Cesario" is the right person to send because "he" is young and thus not so serious-looking as another ducal emissary. When Viola disagrees, the duke says that "Cesario" has the androgynous beauty of a young teenaged boy and this will appeal to, or be less threatening to, Olivia. Orsino says he wants to be left alone ("I am best when least in company." At times like this, a man's privacy needs kick in.) The scene ends with a surprise. Viola tells us that she herself is in love with the Duke.
Act I scene v. Feste, the jester, has just come back from being absent without leave. He refuses to say where he's been, but he does have a gig at Orsino's and we must think he's job-hunting. Maria scolds him and warns him that Olivia may fire him. Both the jester and the housekeeper are witty people, and though they joke at each others' expense, it's the sort of kidding seen among good friends. Again, your edition of the play will help you understand the verbal gags. "Cucullus non facit monachum" means "The cowl does not make the monk"; the jester translates, "I wear not motley in my brain." Acting foolish is my job, it's not me. Especially, his saying "if Sir Toby would [quit] drinking" describes something that will never happen. (We say today, "When pigs fly.") Exiting, Maria urges the jester to be wise when he talks with Olivia. Alone on stage, the jester states another theme of the play. People who think they are wise are often foolish, and people who know that they are foolish (i.e., who know their limitations) are often the wisest. (This is an easy school paper.) Olivia enters with Malvolio. The jester greets her. Olivia says she is going to fire him because he's run out of jokes and is dishonest. Olivia asks Malvolio to remove him. The jester makes several jokes, and finally says that Olivia is foolish to mourn a brother who is surely in heaven. It's both the kind thing to say, and his job-saver. Olivia says the jester is getting better, and she decides to keep him. Malvolio makes his own joke -- the jester is merely getting sicker ("infirm" or progressively demented; Shakespeare's age was very familiar with neurosyphilis). Since being sick in this way erodes wisdom, it "improves folly". The jester makes a counter-joke about Sir Toby calling Malvolio a fool. Olivia asks Malvolio whether he can top that. Malvolio can't, and turns mean. Now, in Shakespeare's era, a jester might be an actual comedian, or a retarded or deformed person simply kept around as an object of amusement. (Yes, this was wrong, but it did enable such people to survive in a cruel era.) Malvolio remembers seeing Feste get upset because he was unable to joke with a retarded man ("an ordinary fool that has no more brain than a stone"). Feste's expression betrays his own discomfort. Malvolio points this out, and says that he wishes Olivia wouldn't empower the jester by laughing at him. But Olivia understands people, and knows what's going on. "You are sick of self-love, Malvolio, and taste with with a distempered appetite." To a good person ("generous, guiltless, and of free disposition"), being the object of a comedian's joke is simply fun -- just as a good person might also privately accept criticism from another good person. In Shakespeare's era, the jester was a person of special privilege.
Maria comes in, and announces "Cesario" is at the gate with a petition from Orsino. Olivia tells Maria to have Orsino's agent leave. Toby Belch comes in, very drunk, and announces the visitor. Finally, Malvolio re-enters and says that "Cesario" will not leave. As usual, Shakespeare is telescoping time. When Olivia finds out that "Cesario" is a youngster, not quite a man, she invites him in. (Orsino was right.) Olivia veils herself. Viola enters, and asks for Olivia. The "boy" seems to begin a prepared, artificial courtship-speech, then switches to ordinary talk about how awkward "he" feels. Viola excuses the rudeness she showed to Malvolio as resulting from the way he treated her. Olivia seems to understand, and dismisses the others. Alone with Olivia, Viola seems to forget her prepared speech and simply asks to see Olivia's face. (Often, saying almost nothing and focusing on the other person gets the best results.) This works. Olivia parts her veil, but pretends nothing's unusual and there's nothing about her face that deserves flattery, as would be offered by a conventional wooer. "Were you sent here to praise me?" Maybe. But Viola goes right to the point, focusing not on what's beautiful about Olivia, but what's ugly. What we call "ego-tripping" used to be called "pride". It was the devil's sin, and Olivia's vain refusal to love anybody is denying happiness both to her suitor and to herself. Olivia doesn't know what to say, and in a touching passage, Viola describes how she would woo Olivia were she Orsino. Viola's genuineness works. (Life's taught me that women want to be courted, but only with obvious sincerity.) Olivia suggests that Viola comes back, and offers a tip which Viola refuses. But Viola leaves angry. Alone, Olivia tells us how impressed she is with "Cesario", and that she feels she may be falling in love with him. Uh oh! She calls for Malvolio and tells him to "return" a ring to the boy, pretending it was from the count and that she's annoyed. This is actually a ploy to get the "boy" to come back. (Since Malvolio is the steward and might know what rings Olivia keeps in her pockets, do you think he sees through the business? Does it matter?)
Act II scene i. We meet Viola's brother Sebastian, alive after all, and dressed like Viola. This is a laugh in itself. We know they will eventually be mistaken for one another, and this is part of the fun. Sebastian is still crying over his sister, who he thinks is drowned. We learn that his companion, Antonio, rescued him. Antonio is a gracious man, apologizes for not being more polite to the man he rescued. Sebastian decides to go to Orsino's court. Although Antonio says he has enemies at Orsino's court, he likes Sebastian and decides to accompany him. It'll be fun, he says. Again, we have the theme of not turning down a chance to be happy, despite the uncertainties of life.
Act II scene ii. Malvolio catches up with "Cesario", throws the ring "back" at "him", and tells "him" to stay away. Malvolio is much ruder than he needs to be. Viola won't pick the ring up off the ground, and Malvolio storms off. Viola understands immediately. She remembers how Olivia looked at her. She notes that women's feelings are swayed uncontrollably by how a potential mate looks. ("Uh, this happens to us men too." -- Ed.) Viola reflect on the situation, with her usual spunk and hope that things will work out in time.
Act II scene iii begins with Toby and Andrew, drunk, very late at night. Toby tells Andrew that going to bed after midnight is going to be early. When the jester comes in, he sees they are drunk, and instead of saying anything clever, he simply talks nonsense, which they find amusing. They ask for a song, and the jester sings a touching carpe diem song about welcoming love when you can, given the briefness of youth and the uncertainty of the future. On the stage, the contrast between the drunken stupidity and the touching love song makes us listen to the message, which states the theme. Toby breaks the mood by saying the jester has bad breath, and they begin singing a drunkards' round. ("Hold thy peace, thou knave", known from the Lant manuscript of the era, must be for when one drinker has said something deemed inappropriate; we have a song like this at the fraternity house. Has the jester said the wrong thing by reminding them of the sadness of life?) They sing so loudly that the housekeeper comes to warn them that they've probably awakened Olivia and she will send Malvolio to quiet them. Toby is completely inconsiderate and keeps making noise. Malvolio comes in and upbraids Sir Toby for his disrespectful behavior. Malvolio is undiplomatic, but he is in the right. Notice that unlike Ben Jonson, Shakespeare does not have his Puritan simply upbraid people for drinking -- Toby's behavior is actually keeping the rest of the household awake. Malvolio says Olivia will throw Toby out of the house if he cannot reform. Toby simply sings another drinking song which the others know and join. Then, because Malvolio is right about the family problem, Toby changes the subject. He calls Malvolio a liar for no reason, says he's nothing but a steward, and is trying to force his own morals on others. ("Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?") Toby refuses to keep the noise down, and Malvolio storms off saying he'll tell Olivia that Maria is partying too. Maria tries to quiet Toby, and explains what's happening -- "Cesario" came by today and Olivia is obviously troubled. But Maria already has a plan to get back at Malvolio for his rudeness. She explains that "sometimes he is a kind of Puritan" -- not a real Bible-reader trying to live a good-life, but an opportunist who acts out being virtuous and has a colossal ego. She will write a letter which seems to be by Olivia suggesting that she is in love with Malvolio, and leave it where he will find it. The others agree, and after she leaves, the drinkers praise Maria. Toby says Maria adores him. Andrew remembers sadly, "I was adored once too." Toby hits up Andrew for more money. Andrew expresses his doubts. Toby promises that if he keeps spending money, he'll eventually get to date Olivia. (Iago will pull the same scam on Roderigo in another play.) The drinkers decide it's "too late to go to bed now."
Act II scene IV begins at the Duke's palace, with the Duke asking for music. Cesario is sitting with him and the Duke is talking about being lovesick; again, he's asked for a favorite tune to help his emotions. While they're waiting for the singer (the Duke's friends invited the jester), musicians play the tune. Orsino talks to Viola about being in love, and by her answers realizes she must have loved too. The talk goes to how men's affections (no matter what men say) are less constant than woman's, and how a woman's beauty fades so quickly. The jester comes in, and Orsino explains that this is a popular work song favored by unmarried women. That can't really be the case, since the song's about a man disappointed in love, but perhaps the melancholy tune has other words. It turns out that the song is about a man's suicide after a failed relationship. (No, nobody really dies of just a broken heart.) The lover in the song asks that there be no funeral and that his grave be secret so that other disappointed lovers won't be all the more saddened. The duke offers a tip to the jester, and after a little word-play, the jester says that you'll always pay for your pleasures. The jester says (either to the duke, or to the audience, you decide) that Orsino's mind is beautiful and turbulent, like the inside of an opal. Orsino asks Viola to go to Olivia once again, this time with a jewel. (If she accepts, she should agree to date him.) Viola asks the obvious question -- what if Olivia can't love the Duke? The duke say he won't accept this answer. Viola asks the next obvious question -- suppose some woman loved Orsino but he couldn't return it? Since this is unanswerable, Orsino says no woman could say "no" to the strong emotion he harbors, and not to compare his passion with a mere woman's. (Yes, Orsino is such a pig.) "But...." says Viola. She tells the story of her father's daughter who became severely depressed because, for whatever reason, she was in love with somebody and couldn't tell, even the beloved. You'll have to decide for yourself about "green and yellow melancholy". The "green-sickness" was a teenaged girl's being in love; iron deficiency (which happened after a few menstrual periods) imparts a green color to the complexion, while somebody who is yellow is probably jaundiced and liver disease often makes a person depressed. Viola says that a man may say more, but a woman's love is just as genuine and probably more constant. Orsino asks whether her "sister" died (i.e., suicided). Viola says she doesn't know. Of course, Viola's really talking about herself. She breaks off and goes to Olivia's.
Act II scene v. Back at Olivia's, Maria carries out her plot. She drops the forged letter on the ground, and helps Toby, Andrew, and a new rowdy named Fabian hide to watch the fun. What follows is, when well-played, one of the funniest things you'll ever see. And it's special, because Shakespeare takes us into the private, secret thoughts of somebody who hasn't seemed sympathetic. (He will do this again when the villain in Hamlet tries to pray.) Shakespeare shows us life, and in his mature works, the characters are always multi-dimensional and our sympathies are always at least somewhat divided. The director must decide whether to play Malvolio mostly for humor, or to show us his sad inner life. Either works.
Malvolio comes in. We hear his thoughts, as they come, in broken sequence. We hear him thinking about his romantic opportunities. (When he says, "Maria once told me that she did affect me", it's not clear to me whether Malvolio thinks he is liked by Olivia or by Maria. Of course, Maria despises him.) He thinks his chances for romance might be good. But then he thinks about how good his luck might turn. Perhaps he could be a count himself. All that need happen is that he marry Olivia. Whoever the lady of the Strachy is, it's a historical fact that the founder of the Tudor line was a queen's wardrobe valet. Malvolio is most concerned with being obeyed, then with being wealthy, then to being able to sleep during the day, and that with Olivia. Especially, Toby looks forward to confronting Toby's alcoholism as head of the family, and getting rid of Andrew. No, Malvolio isn't in love with Olivia. But he's a careerist who wants to run a good, orderly house.
Malvolio finds the letter. Of course, he is nosy, and sees that the handwriting on the address ("To the Unknown Beloved") is Olivia's. He breaks Olivia's wax seal. The letter turns out to be a riddle which, as Malvolio reads, seems to be her declaration of love for her steward. The letter declares "Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." It instructs the beloved to respond by being rude to the servants and Toby and his circle, to wear yellow stockings cross-gartered, and to smile at his beloved. Malvolio falls for the letter and goes off joyfully, and the pranksters congratulate themselves.
Act III, scene i is set in Olivia's garden. Viola meets the jester, who is playing a drum. She introduces herself and swap jokes. We are reminded that they're both very clever people. Viola tips the jester, who goes to get Olivia. Viola reflects on how much insight into people a jester must have, what a difficult job it is. She describes the paradox of how such a "fool"'s quiet wisdom and effort exceeds that of many people in the learned professions ("as full of labour as a wise man's art").
Andrew and Toby, who must have been watching the garden, come in and speak to Viola. Andrew (whose claim to distinction is knowing a few foreign languages) tests Viola to see whether she can speak French, which she can. The two no-goods invite her in to see Olivia, but Olivia and Maria walk onstage. (Feste had gotten them.) Viola pretends to deliver a formal speech to Olivia so that Toby and Andrew will not know what familiar terms she is on with Olivia. Of course, Olivia sends the others away. Olivia asks Viola's name, and then asks her not to petition on Orsino's behalf. Olivia asks forgiveness for the shabby business with the ring, and worries that the "boy" will think ill of her for it. Olivia asks her to say something. Viola says, "I pity you." Olivia says, "That's a degree to love", i.e., it might precede love. (Life has taught me that the worst reason to enter into an affectionate relationship with somebody is because you feel sorry for him/her.) Viola says, "No, you can pity your enemy." Now Olivia has a wake-up moment. The "man" she loves is not going to love her back. She thinks about what she is doing by playing impossible-to-get, and saying "no" to love altogether. She makes her decision to let her vanity go, and try to take the best she can from life. Olivia says, "Why, then, methinks 'tis time to smile again. O, world, how apt the poor are to be proud! If one should be a prey, how much the better To fall before the lion than the wolf!" This restates the theme. There will probably be disaster in your life. At least it's better to go nobly, and get what good you can. Probably the talking pauses here, and a clock strikes. Olivia uses this to try to end the awkward meeting. Viola asks for an answer for Orsino. Olivia asks Viola what "he" thinks of her. Viola says, "You think you aren't what you are" (i.e., capable of loving). Olivia says she thinks the same of you; of course, the joke is that Viola is a girl so she says she's right. Olivia says "I would you were as I would have you be!", i.e., in love with me. Viola says, "Would that make me better? You're joking with me" ("for now I am your fool"). Olivia tells Viola that "he" is cute when he is angry. Olivia says what's already obvious; she is in love with "Cesario" and can't hide it. She asks him not to say "no" because she's the woman asking first, but to say that "love... given unsought" is better than courting. Viola answers ambiguously that she will never love a woman, and she'll never speak on Orsino's behalf again. But Olivia asks Viola back, suggesting (although this is transparently untrue) that this might help Orsino's suit.
Act III scene ii. Andrew shows signs of wising up, and tells Toby he's going to leave. Olivia seems to like Orsino's emissary better than he likes Andrew. Toby and Fabian says this is only to make Andrew jealous. The two suggest Andrew challenge the "boy" to a duel. Andrew goes to make ready. Toby puns with Fabian that he's already taken Andrew for two thousand coins. The two joke about how comical the fight will be. Maria comes in and tells them Malvolio has just put on his yellow stockings is practicing smiling. She says that what is about to happen will be fun to watch.
Act III scene iii. Sebastian and Antonio are on their way to town. (Don't ask why this has taken three months. Shakespeare telescopes time.) Sebastian tells Antonio's he's taking too much trouble to be helpful but that he appreciates it. Antonio reminds Sebastian that people tend to be cruel to naive strangers. Sebastian says he hopes Antonio's kindness is rewarded with good luck. Sebastian wants to sightsee, but Antonio wants to find a place to stay first. Years ago, Antonio took part in a raid on this town. Nobody got killed and the raid had been for carried out because of a legitimate grievance. Most of the raiders made reparations because it was good business, but Antonio held out on principle. For this reason, he's a wanted man here. Antonio gives Sebastian his money in case he wants a souvenir ("a toy"; the meaning of the word has changed; see the final song), and tells him he'll lodge at an inn called "the Elephant". (Inns would often have an eye-catching sign which could depict just about anything and give the name. Elephants were a novelty.)
Act III scene IV is again set in Olivia's garden. Again, when well-played, this is extremely funny. As the action speeds up, several short interconnected scenes happen in the same place. We see Olivia asking Maria how to entertain "Cesario", what to give him, and so forth. "For youth is bought more oft than begg'd or barrow'd." Olivia realizes what she's saying and says, "I speak too loud." She then realizes she needs Malvolio's help, since he is "sad and civil", matching her disposition (at least the way it was a few days ago, though not now.) Maria knows what is about to happen, and says Malvolio is on his way, but something wrong. Perhaps he is possessed or crazy. He is grinning, and Olivia should get somebody to guard her. Maria exits, and Olivia realizes that whether or not Malvolio is crazy, she herself is crazy, a mix of joy and sorrow.
Malvolio comes in, grinning and with his yellow socks. Olivia says, "Huh? This is a sad occasion." (She's still pretending to be mourning her brother.) Malvolio tries to joke, saying that the socks and cross-gartering are making the blood pool in his legs. But as long as she likes it ("if it please the eye of one"; he's quoting a love sonnet), it's fine with him. Malvolio continues, and Olivia thinks he is crazy. She says, "Wilt thou go to bed. Malvolio?" Of course he answers, "To bed! ay, sweet-heart and I'll come to thee." This usually gets a big laugh. Maria pretends to be shocked, and Malvolio quotes the letter. "Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." One of the extras comes in to announce that Cesario is here, and Malvolio is left alone on stage to misinterpret what has just happened. Toby, Maria, and Fabian come in pretending to be solicitous for Malvolio's health. He is arrogant, and they pretend to think he is sick or possessed. Fabian says, "If this were played upon a stage now, I could condemn it is an improbable fiction." Postmodernists who enjoy noting the self-referential will enjoy this, and it always gets a laugh. Malvolio stalks off arrogantly, saying they'll soon understand.
The pranksters decide to tie Malvolio up in a dark room. (This was about all anybody could do for psych emergency in the pre-phenothiazine era. Decreasing sensory input does seem to help at least in the short-term, however inhumane long-term confinement once was.) Andrew comes in with a paper challenging Cesario to a duel. It's dimwitted. Fabian's "to exceeding good sense--less" recalls Wayne's "very sensible... not." Toby advises Andrew to lie in wait for Cesario and to run on him suddenly, with a loud roar. (Toby knows this will be funnier.) Toby pockets the challenge, knowing the "boy" is from a good background and a gentleman and that such a goofy letter will not frighten him. Instead he decides to relay the challenge by word of mouth.
Olivia comes in with Viola. Olivia is finishing up a conversation about love to "Cesario", at once apologizing for what she knows is inappropriate behavior, and saying that her love is so strong that this insight doesn't phase it. Viola says Orsino's love is the same as Olivia's. Olivia gives Viola a jewel which is evidently a cameo of her face, and asks what else she can give; Viola replies, to love Orsino. Olivia says she can't honorably do that; she's given this to "Cesario". She exits. Fabian and Toby deliver a verbal challenge to Viola from Andrew and represent that Andrew is "quick, skilful and deadly" as a swordsman. Viola cannot imagine who would have a quarrel with "him", and that perhaps he's just testing his valor as some men do with a stranger. Toby says Andrew most certainly does have reason to be angry; Viola asks what it is, so that she can apologize for the oversight. Fabian backs this up, and walks off with the terrified Viola.
Toby re-enters with Andrew, in the midst of telling him what a dangerous opponent "Cesario" is. Toby pretends already to have lost a swordfight to the boy, and that "Cesario" had been the special fencer to a Turkish king. Andrew wants to back out, but Toby says "Cesario" won't let him. Andrew asks Toby to offer the boy his horse instead. Fabian and Viola come in. Toby whispers to Fabian that he has conned Andrew out of his horse, but this isn't going to work. The two are brought together, Fabian coaching Viola and Toby coaching Andrew. As they begin to fight, Antonio runs in. Antonio has been looking for Sebastian, but don't ask how he got into Olivia's garden. Antonio separates the two -- often on stage this is done by running with his sword between the duellists and raising it in the air, separating the swords.
Antonio has mistaken Cesario for Sebastian. He asks Andrew to put up his sword, and that he will make good any wrong that "Cesario" has done. Sir Toby draws his sword (the direction reads "they draw", but Antonio may already have his sword out), but then the law arrives. (As usual, Shakespeare is telescoping time.) Viola puts up her sword and asks Andrew to put up his sword; Andrew says he will indeed give him the horse. It turns out the lawmen are after Antonio rather than the duellists. Antonio asks Viola for his money. Viola is amazed and offerse half of what she has, but says she doesn't know him. Antonio is outraged, and talks about how "Sebastian" seemed fine on the outside but turned out to be rotten on the inside. ("In nature there's no blemish but the mind; None can be called 'deformed' but the unkind.") The officers think Antonio is crazy and take him away. Viola realizes that this means Sebastian may be alive. After Viola leaves, the no-goods talk about what a low character the boy proved to be, abandoning his friend. Andrew says he'll beat him up; Toby warns him not to draw his sword, and says aside Andrew still won't dare do anything.
Act IV, scene i happens in the street with the jester mistaking Sebastian for "Cesario". Some word-play follows with the jester saying that if he's not Cesario and being asked for by Olivia, then "nothing that is so is so". Sebastian tips the jester (as was the custom) and sends him. Andrew and Toby enter, and also mistaken Sebastian for "Cesario". Toby grabs Sebastian, and it looks like there's going to be a swordfight. Then Olivia comes in and breaks it up. Olivia apologizes for the drunks, and invites "Cesario" in to hear some funny stories about what idiots Toby and Andrew are. Sebastian has no clue what's going on, and hesitates. "Am I crazy? Am I sleeping?" Lethe was the river of forgetfulness. Sebastian is thrilled with the invitation from a beautiful, wealthy woman. "If it be thus to dream, still let me sleep!". He goes off romantically with Olivia.
Act IV scene ii takes place somewhere in Olivia's house. The pranksters are about to torment Malvolio, who has been confined, either in a dark room or blindfolded. The jester disguises himself as "Sir Topas the curate". (Chaucer tells a story of a "Sir Topaz" in his own character, the only one the hearers didn't enjoy.) The jester jokes that he's not the first clergyman to fake it. The jester makes fun of a pedantic curate's learned talk. Make what you will of "That that is, is", in light of "nothing that is so is so". The jester goes to the steward, who he calls "Malvolio the lunatic", and addresses him as a pastor might address the devil within a possessed person. Thus he denies Malvolio's identity, and then his senses (he insists the house is light), and then his spirituality (Malvolio "thinks nobly of the soul", but the pastor will not minister to him until he believes that people reincarnate as animals.) The jester then uses his own voice and pretends to be present with the pastor, singing comical songs that touch on Malvolio's plight. ("How's your ladyfriend? Unkind, maybe? Why? She likes somebody else?") Malvolio says he's being horribly and wrongfully treated, that he's as sane as the jester. The jester simply says that anybody who's no saner than a fool must be crazy indeed. Finally, the jester asks, "Are you really crazy? Or are you faking?" ("Twelfth Night" was written about the same time as "Hamlet".) The jester goes out to get the paper and ink that Malvolio has requested, singing a song. Do you think the prank has gone too far?
Act IV scene iii features Sebastian alone on stage. He's wondering what's real. (This has been a theme recently!) The events are amazing, but the world seems otherwise as it is. He can't find Antonio for advice, but he's heard Antonio was looking for him. Sebastian think perhaps he's crazy -- the lady can't be crazy since her whole household obeys her and she carries herself excellently. Olivia comes in with a pastor, and asks Sebastian for his hand in marriage. This is to be done secretly, right now, and they'll keep it quiet until arrangements can be made for a public celebration. Sebastian agrees. Again, we have the theme of seizing and cherishing happiness when it presents itself.
Act V scene i happens in Olivia's front yard. Fabian asks the jester to show him the latter that Malvolio wrote from confinement. The jester refuses, probably because the letter isn't funny. Orsino comes in with Viola and the others, recognizes and greets the jester, and asks how he is. With his fondness for paradox, the jester says, "I'm better because of my enemies, and worse because of my friends." His enemies are honest in speaking badly of him. "Four negatives make two affirmatives" is a contemporary joke. In Shakespeare's time, a double-negative was just coming to be a positive in English; previously it had been a negative. (Earlier, "I can't not love you" would have meant "I cannot love you and I will not love you", instead of "I am unable to fall out-of-love with you.") Orsino tips the jester one coin; the jester asks for two, saying he wants "double-dealing" (a joke, "double-dealing" means treachery). This gets a second coin. Some more jokes on the number three don't work.
Evidently, Orsino is here to find out what happened at the duel. He knows Antonio has been arrested, and that he matches the description given by Viola. The police bring Antonio in, obviously at Orsino's request. Orsino remembers Antonio well. He was an extremely good sea-captain, admired by the townspeople even while he was raiding. Viola says he rescued her but then talked very strangely. Orsino asks Antonio "what foolish boldness" brought him back among the people who he's made his enemies. Antonio says he was never a thief or a pirate, but admits being having participated in a raid that he thought was justified. But he came to town to help a with a young man whose life he's saved from a shipwreck. He points to Viola, and talks about being bitterly betrayed by "him", who would not acknowledge even knowing him or return his money. Antonio says they'd been friends for three months. (As usual, Shakespeare telescopes time.)
As Olivia is stepping out of her house, Orsino says that Antonio is crazy. "Cesario" has been with him for the past three months. Orsino speaks to Olivia. Olivia tells Cesario he's missed an appointment with her. Orsino speaks pleasantly to her, and she rebuffs him. Like most men in his situation will eventually do, Orsino turns ugly and starts abusing Olivia verbally. Olivia brushes him off. Apparently Orsino finally figures things out. He says, "Why shouldn't I kill what I love?" -- i.e., kill Cesario, and leave Olivia forever a "marble-breasted tyrant" incapable of loving.
Amazingly, Viola says she'll let Orsino do anything he wants if it will make him feel better. Orsino evidently turns and starts walking away without Viola (i.e., he didn't really plan to kill her), and Viola turns to follow him. Viola says she loves Orsino more than she'll ever love a wife. Olivia says she's been horribly deceived. Viola can't understand this. Olivia calls the pastor to witness that Cesario is her lawfully wedded husband. Orsino turns back on Cesario, and Viola denies it. Olivia calls Cesario a coward. The priest comes in and, with pastoral humor, verifies the marriage two hours ago. Orsino calls Cesario a fake, predicts he'll be far worse by the time he's got his beard, that he'll eventually ruin his own life, and to stay away from him forever. Andrew runs in, saying that he and Andrew were just beaten up by Cesario. The assailant gave Andrew "a bloody cockscomb", i.e., the blood matting his hair looks like a jester's cap. Andrew ends up looking like a fool, literally. Orsino asks how this could be, and Andrew identifies Viola as his assailant. Toby and the jester come in; Toby is very drunk. Andrew offers to help Toby, and Toby rejects it, calling Andrew "an ass-head and a coxcomb and a knave, a thin-faced knave, a gull." These are all insulting synonyms for a stupid, gullible man who's been taken advantage of. The "friendship" between Toby and the man he's been playing for a sucker is evidently over.
Of course, Sebastian comes in, having been out looking for Antonio, and apologizing to Olivia for having beaten up her two relatives who attacked him. He notices she's looking at him strangely... and asks forgiveness by their marriage vows. It's now clear what has happened. The duke sees the identical-looking people and says, "One face, one voice, one habit, and two persons, a natural perspective, that is and is not." More paradox, of course. Sebastian embraces Antonio, who jokes that "an apple, cleft in two, is not more twin than these two creatures." Sebastian says he never had a brother; Viola asks Sebastian if he's her brother's spirit. Sebastian says he's a spirit indeed, like every living person, but in a very-much-alive human body. Viola reveals her disguise. Orsino realizes that he and Viola love one another, and asks her to marry him. Viola asks that the captain, who Malvolio had arrested for some reason, be freed. Olivia calls for Malvolio, then remembers that he's crazy. The jester brings in Malvolio's letter, which he reads out loud parodying Malvolio, but the letter (which is a protest and a resignation) is very sane. During the time it takes to free Malvolio, Olivia asks Orsino to celebrate a double wedding at her house and expense. Malvolio comes in, produces the fake love-letter, and demands an explanation for Olivia's behavior. Olivia says this is Maria's attempt to imitate her handwriting. Fabian confesses the prank, and tells that Toby has rewarded Maria by marrying her. The jester asks Malvolio, "Do you remember how you told Olivia that I wasn't funny?" Malvolio runs out saying, "I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you." Olivia says, "He has been most notoriously abused." The director needs to decide whether everybody looks disturbed at the mistreatment, or breaks out laughing together, or both. The lovers walk out together, and the jester sings a largely-nonsense song about how temporary and uncertain are the joys of life.

D. Socio-Historical Background
Origin of the Play
“Twelfth Night”, one of Shakespeare’s most charming and beloved comedies, was first printed in 1623 in the First Folio edition. “Twelfth Night”‘s classification as a genre has been controversial throughout time, along with Shakespeare’s other traditional comedies. Until the eighteenth century, the work was regarded as comedy, infusions of grief and Malvolio’s promise of revenge at the end side. However, in the nineteenth century, while the onset of Romanticism, critics came to regard the play more highly for its romantic attributes. Shakespeare was one of the most revered literary figures during this figure because his character broke classical rules in form and content which the romantic felt confining. Accordingly, in the most encompassing consideration of this play’s genre, it is sometimes viewed as a romantic comedy, with the conventions of mistaken identity, love as the main action, the improbability of Viola’s disguise and Sir Toby’s trickery, and the lovers overcoming obstacles to end “happily ever after”.

Historical Significance
“Twelfth Night” is a name commonly given to the Christian Feast of the Epiphany, which is celebrated on January 6, twelve days after Christmas Day. It commemorates the coming of the Magi, the three wise men to the stable in Bethlehem. These three rulers brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, appropriate gift for an infant king.
Almost all societies and cultures find it necessary to have some kind of holiday in the middle of winter. Ancient Romans used to hold an annual “Saturnalia” for a week in the middle of December in which all forms of public order were suspended: Law courts and schools were closed, trading ceased, no criminals were executed, and the riotous merry-making was unrestrained.
The medieval church throughout Europe adopted this festival, transferring it to the days immediately following Christmas Day, December 26 through 28. It became known as the “Feast of Fools”. The clergy would elect a boy chorister to be their “king for the day” while they feasted and made a mockery of those things that they normally held sacred. In England, this celebration ceased with the reformation of the church in the 16th Century and was replaced by Twelfth Night festivities on January 6. The day would go forth as follows: The Queen, accompanied by the entire court and her guests, attended church where she made a token offering of the Epiphany gifts.
The “Twelfth Night” was titled so merely because it was to be first produced during the feast day; while, still more posit that the title might refer more subtly to political-religious contentions of the time among English Catholics, Protestants, and Puritans. Under that argument, the title “Twelfth Night” must have been used to tout the preservation of the English Culture of celebration and freedom after the Puritans reformed English Christianity in the 1570’s and 1580’s and began to attempt to cleanse the culture of its artistry and immorality.





















References:

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