4. THE EARLY YEARS
Born in Stratford-Upon-
Avon, England on or near
April 23, 1564
Son of John Shakespeare, a
glove-maker and leather
merchant, and Mary
Arden.
Received a good education
with heavy focus on
grammar and literature
5. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
MARRIAGE, FAMILY, AND THE LOST YEARS
On November 28, 1582, Shakespeare married Anne
Hathaway. William was 18 at the time, and Anne was 26 –
and pregnant.
Their first daughter, Susanna, was born on May 26, 1583.
The couple later had twins, Hamnet and Judith, born
February 2, 1585. Hamnet died at age 11.
For seven years, William Shakespeare disappeared from
all records, turning up in London circa 1592. These are
sometimes called “The lost years.”
6. Shakespeare lived in London in the late
1500’s.
England was a rich and powerful nation under
the leadership of Queen Elizabeth I, and the
theater was thriving, yet acting was not a well-
respected profession at this time.
Shakespeare joined a theater company called
the Lord Chamberlain’s Men (which King
James I later called the King's Men) and was
successful as an actor, poet, and a playwright.
By 1594, he was not only acting and writing
for the company but was a managing partner.
7. William Shakespeare
allegedly died on his
birthday, April 23, 1616.
This is probably more of a
romantic myth than
reality, but Shakespeare
was buried at Holy Trinity
in Stratford on April 25,
1616.
Shakespeare was a well-
loved writer in his lifetime;
and now, 400 years later,
he is the most produced
playwright in the world.
8.
9. PLAY
ORIGINS
Twelfth Night, or, What You Will is a
comedy by William Shakespeare,
believed to have been written
around 1601–02 as an
entertainment for the close of the
Christmas season.
The play expanded on the musical
interludes and riotous disorder
expected of the occasion, with plot
elements drawn from the short
story "Of Apollonius and Silla"
by Barnabe Rich, based on a story
by Matteo Bandello.
The first recorded performance was
on 2 February 1602, at Candlemas,
the formal end of Christmastide in
the year's calendar.
The play was not published until its
inclusion in the 1623 First Folio.
10. THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY
“Twelfth Night” is the holiday celebrated on the night
after the twelfth day after Christmas, the Feast of
Epiphany. The Feast of Epiphany marked the arrival
of the Three Wise men who brought gifts to baby
Jesus, but the traditions celebrating the holiday
actually stemmed from medieval customs that were
carried on through Renaissance times, customs that
actually go all the way back to Ancient Roman
culture. In medieval England the “Twelfth Night”
marked the end of a winter festival that started on All
Hallows Eve — On this day the King and all those
who were high-born would become the peasants and
vice versa.
11. One way in which we see both medieval and
Renaissance culture represented in Twelfth Night is
through the play's connection to the the holiday. All
Hallows Eve, or Halloween, continued all the way until
the Twelfth Night, which also marked the winter solstice
festival that was celebrated in Ancient Rome. At winter
solstice, the Sun's orbit progresses to the point that the
Northern Hemisphere of the earth starts turning to face
the sun, while the Southern Hemisphere starts turning
away from the sun. Hence the Lord of Misrule, a
peasant ruling over society rather than a king ruling over
society, represents the world turning upside down.
Furthermore, the association with Halloween explains
the masquerades and revelries characteristic of both
Twelfth Night and Halloween that Shakespeare clearly
portrays in his play Twelfth Night.
13. CHARACTERS
Viola, castaway, disguised
as a man called Cesario,
in service to Orsino
Orsino, Duke of Illyria,
wooing Olivia
Olivia, a countess,
resisting Orsino's wooing
Sebastian, castaway, twin
brother to Viola, thought
dead
Malvolio, steward (sort of a
head butler) to Olivia,
imagines himself equal to
his lady.
Maria, a Lady in waiting in
Olivia's household
Sir Toby Belch, Olivia's
drunken uncle
Sir Andrew Aguecheek, a
simple- minded companion
of Sir Toby's, wooing Olivia
Feste, Olivia's jester
14. THE PLOTViola and her twin brother Sebastian are shipwrecked
on the coast of Illyria. She swims ashore, but she
loses contact with Sebastian, whom she believes to
have drowned.
Disguising herself as a young man under the name
Cesario, she enters the service of Duke Orsino
through the help of the sea captain who rescued
her.
Orsino has convinced himself that he is in love with
Olivia, whose father and brother have recently died,
and who does not wish to see any suitor till seven
years, the Duke included.
Orsino uses Cesario as a messenger to profess his
passionate love before Olivia.
Olivia, believing Viola to be a man, falls in love with
this handsome and eloquent messenger, while
Viola has fallen in love with the Duke who regards
her as his close friend.
16. QUESTIONS
Compare and contrast
the misidentification
in Twelfth Night with
that from A Comedy
of Errors.
Question: Is Viola
(Cesario) a
“Trickstar”?
17. FOOL Good madonna, give me leave to prove you a fool.
OLIVIA Can you do it?
FOOL Dexteriously, good madonna.
OLIVIA Make your proof.
FOOL I must catechize you for it, madonna. Good my
mouse of virtue, answer me.
OLIVIA Well, sir, for want of other idleness, I’ll bide
your proof.
FOOL Good madonna, why mourn’st thou?
OLIVIA Good Fool, for my brother’s death.
FOOL I think his soul is in hell, madonna.
OLIVIA I know his soul is in heaven, Fool.
FOOL The more fool, madonna, to mourn for your
brother’s soul, being in heaven. Take away the fool,
Gentlemen. (56-70)
How does the
clown prove that
Olivia is a fool? Is
he correct or
incorrect in his
assessment? (Act I
Scene 5) Explain
your answer with
evidence from the
text.
18. OLIVIA Have you any commission from your lord to
negotiate with my face? You are now out of your
text. But we will draw the curtain and show you the
picture. (She removes her veil) Look you, sir, such a
one I was this present. Is ’t not well done?
VIOLA Excellently done, if God did all.
OLIVIA ’Tis in grain, sir; ’twill endure wind and
weather.
VIOLA ’Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white
Nature’s own sweet and cunning hand laid on.
Lady, you are the cruel’st she alive
If you will lead these graces to the grave
And leave the world no copy.
OLIVIA O, sir, I will not be so hard-hearted! 242
Consider common
practices of
traditional
wooing. In what
way would they
be different from
Cesario’s
endeavors to woo
Olivia for Duke?
19. In this clip we see the longer dialogue from
the wooing scene. The clip stars Mark
Rylance and Johnny Flynn in 'Twelfth
Night' at 'The Globe' 2012
Act 1, Scene
5, 151-318
29:16- 39:20
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Playlists.aspx?wID=237302&xtid=53275&loid=204314
20. The soliloquy is a speech in which
a character converses with himself
or herself by expressing thoughts
aloud while alone on stage.
21. Act 2, Scene 2, 17-41
VIOLA
I left no ring with her. What means this
lady?
(She picks up the ring) Fortune forbid my
outside have not charmed her!
She made good view of me, indeed so
much
That methought her eyes had lost her
tongue,
For she did speak in starts distractedly.
She loves me, sure! The cunning of her
passion
Invites me in this churlish messenger.
None of my lord’s ring? Why, he sent her
none!
I am the man. If it be so, as ’tis,
Poor lady, she were better love a dream.
Disguise, I see thou art a wickedness
Wherein the pregnant enemy does much.
How easy is it for the proper false
In women’s waxen hearts to set their
forms!
Alas, (our) frailty is the cause, not we,
For such as we are made editorial (of) such we be.
How will this fadge? My master loves her dearly,
And I, poor monster, fond as much on him,
And she, mistaken, seems to dote on me.
What will become of this? As I am man,
My state is desperate for my master’s love.
As I am woman (now, alas the day!),
What thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe!
O Time, thou must untangle this, not I.
It is too hard a knot for me t’ untie.
22. THE SOLILOQUY
This next video is from John Barton's "Playing Shakespeare" video series.
In this clip, Dame Judi Dench showcases an approach to the “ring” speech
from Twelfth Night, where she carefully allows for the shifts in thought by
playing the text as though she needs the words to work through a problem.
Playwrights have to deal with real human issues and emotions, which tend to be quite
personal like hope, desire, mortality and jealousy, in a way which makes the audience
respond sympathetically to those emotions. The playwright must compress life into a
reasonable time period.
The soliloquy opens up the character's soul and speaks the words that are
universally spoken by each and every one us -- words we have been hearing most of
our lives. Shakespeare just does it eloquently, and often. So think of a soliloquy as an
attempt to get past the thin crust of the events and plot into the truth of how people
react and reflect on the world inside of them, as well as around them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxftRZ_Uzq0
23. SUBPLOT IN TWELFTH NIGHT
In the comic subplot several characters
conspire to make Olivia's pompous
steward, Malvolio, believe that his lady
Olivia has fallen in love with him.
It involves Olivia's uncle, Sir Toby Belch;
another would-be suitor, a silly squire
named Sir Andrew Aguecheek; her servant
Maria; and her fool, Feste.
They plant a false letter in the garden for
Malvolio to find, which he, in his vanity,
misinterprets as a love letter from his
mistress to him.
24. ACT 2 SCENE 3 LINES 85- 175
49:56 minutes in the film to 58: 48
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Playlists.aspx?wID=237302&xtid=53275&loid=204317
In the next clip, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew are up late, drinking; Feste joins
them, and they request that he sing a song about love. They proceed to
make a great deal of noise, by singing, drinking, and talking nonsense;
Maria tries to get them to be quiet, but Malvolio is awakened by the noise,
and comes down to berate them for disturbing the household. Once
Malvolio leaves, Maria concocts a plan to make Malvolio look like a
complete fool: since Maria's handwriting is similar to Olivia's, she will
write love letters to Malvolio and make it look like the letters have
come from Olivia.
25. Analyze Maria’s
speeches in Act 2
scene 3. Explain
carefully her
motive to entrap
Malvolio. Do you
believe that she is
justified in doing
it?
MARIA The devil a puritan that he is, or anything
constantly but a time-pleaser; an affectioned ass
that cons state without book and utters it by great
swaths; the best persuaded of himself, so crammed,
as he thinks, with excellencies, that it is his grounds
of faith that all that look on him love him. And on
that vice in him will my revenge find notable cause
to work.
TOBY What wilt thou do?
MARIA I will drop in his way some obscure epistles of
love, wherein by the color of his beard, the shape of
his leg, the manner of his gait, the expressure of his
eye, forehead, and complexion, he shall find himself
most feelingly personated. I can write very like my
lady your niece; on a forgotten matter, we can
hardly make distinction of our hands. (145-160)
27. Recitation: A Sonnet or Soliloquy 50 points
Each person in class will do one presentation
of either a sonnet or soliloquy
(speech/monologue), including a written
summary—half a page describing the content
and the formal elements —and a memorized
performance.
If you have not done so, please sign up before
you leave!
Bring a copy of
your sonnet or
soliloquy suitable
for overhead
projection!
Reminder
28. Read: Twelfth Night: Acts 3 to 5 (to end)
Post #5 Choose one
1. As Olivia is in the process of revealing her feelings for Cesario, she makes use of
metaphors drawn from the animal kingdom— Act III, Scene 1, lines 115-140.
State what these animal metaphors are, and then explain their significance.
How do they illuminate the depth of Olivia’s feelings at the moment?
2. Many characters in Twelfth Night adopt a role or otherwise disguise their
identities. Viola is the most obvious example of this ruse in the play, but what
others can you name? What is their motive? Consider Fester, Orsino, and Olivia
among others.
3. Discuss the outcome of the plot against
Malvolio. Is the yellow garter scene funny or
cruel? Is his fate deserved? How does his
reappearance affect the end of the play?
4. QHQ
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