The Twelfth

William Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night takes place in the kingdom of Illyria, where twin brother and sister Sebastien and Viola become shipwrecked, both assuming the other is dead. Viola, a young woman with slight features similar to those of her brother, decides to disguise herself as a eunuch and calls herself Cesario in order to serve the Duke Orsino, for whom she falls deeply in love. However, when her brother Sebastien shows up in Orsino’s court, the plot implodes into a mess of confusion, deception, and dramatic irony. Twelfth Night is full of the thematic motif of true love, however only a very few select characters throughout the play actually experience what could possibly be considered true love, including Viola, while the majority…

The University of Alabama Theatre and Dance Department’s version of Twelfth Night, written by William Shakespeare, was absolutely amazing! I have never seen a show quite like it. It was unique in its very own way. Every aspect of the show worked together perfectly. I love how the director, Seth Jones, put his own twist on the script. It added a lot to the show and made it more interesting than it was in the actual script. Honestly, when reading the script I wasn’t really interested in seeing the…

As Viola cannot show her love for Orsino, the only way she can express them is in her soliloquies to the audience, this contributes to the dramatic ironies. I believe dramatic irony certainly adds to the magic of Twelfth Night. The disguise also causes mistaken identity, an example of this is when Sir Andrew goes looking for Cesario, finds who he thinks is Cesario, strikes him, the person however is, Sebastian. Sebastian hits him in return, but sevenfold, and Sebastian having been in Illyria…

In the Shakespeare play The Twelfth Night, Or What You Will, a girl named Viola is shipwrecked on an island called Illyria where she hides in plain sight dressed as her brother Sebastian but going under the name of Cesario. While acting as Cesario she goes to work for the Count Orsino who is in love with the wealthy Olivia. During Viola’s time working for Orsino as Cesario, she eventually fell in love with him, but as she is known as a boy to Orsino, she cannot profess her love to him. Instead…

I think one of the central points in Twelfth Night is to show that appearances aren’t really what they seem. Basically what Shakespeare’s construct expresses is that appearances can be deceptive in a way that we can understand. Deception in appearances is showed throughout Twelfth Night. The first is Olivia and Duke Orsino being deceived by Viola disguising as a male. An example of this is from the quote, “There is a fair behaviour in thee, captain; And though that nature with a beauteous wall…

The Twelfth Night or What you will is a play written by William Shakespeare in about 1601-02. It is a comedy which focuses around the romantic relationships of the twins Viola and Sebastian and their love interests Orsino and Olivia on the island of Illyria. The play has a comedic twist by including an element of crossdressing, which in turn brings much confusion to the romantic relationships of the characters.The Twelfth Night was written during the renaissance, which was a time of excess; in…

What Shakespeare does in his comedic play Twelfth Night is that he deconstructs notions of gender and social class; however, he also stresses the futility of going against said social norms especially in Elizabethan society. Throughout the play, clothing is shown as a prime marker for, among other things, identity and social class. Some characters use clothing as a means of climbing up the social ladder; whereas others happen to flip the gender script by using clothing to highlight that gender…

In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, music is inserted at numerous places to set different moods. Music also helps building vivid characters. This function of music in the play especially applies for Feste, the Feste, whom has an obligation is to sing for the nobilities. Majority of the singing in the play are done by Feste. Although most of the songs are “called for”, upon someone else’s request, they still reflect Feste's personalities in a unique way by contrasting with the personality he…

A Pensive Perusal of the themes concerning the various duplicities and deceptions exemplified In William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night Although most people see deception as a destructive force, in Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night it is used as a unifier as well as a divider. This fact is exemplified strongly in the characters Viola, Maria, and Orsino. In William Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night a duke named Orsino longs for the love of Nobel Woman named Olivia, she, her servant Maria and…

On September 24, 2017, I attended a performance of Twelfth Night, which was presented by the Wichita Shake Sphere Company and was performed in Wichita Scottish Rite. Twelfth Night was directed by Kevin Sower. Stage Manager was Amanda Denning and the costumes were designed by Jane Tanner. The play lasted for about two hours. And for me the two hours went by so fast, that I didn’t even realize it. They reason behind it could be because the play was very alluring and interesting! “Twelfth…