Twelfth Night

Malvolio courts a bemused Olivia, while Maria covers her amusement, in an engraving by R. Staines after a painting by Daniel Maclise.

## Production Details

### Sourcematerial

*Gl'ingannati* (or *The Deceived Ones*), collectively written by the *Accademia degli Intronati* in 1531.
"Of Apollonius and Silla"

### Episode(s)

The Apparel Proclaims the Man
(Plot element)

Source

## Background

**Twelfth Night**, or **What You Will** is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola (who is disguised as Cesario) falls in love with Duke Orsino, who in turn is in love with Countess Olivia. Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her thinking she is a man.

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 public 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.

## Summary

Viola finds herself shipwrecked in Illyria and, assuming that her brother Sebastian has died in the wreck, disguises herself as a man to gain a position in Duke Orsino's court. Orsino sends Viola (whom he knows as Cesario) to deliver a message to his love, Olivia. Olivia, however, dislikes the Duke. She falls in love with Viola, who she thinks is a man. Eventually, Viola's brother Sebastian, who in fact was unharmed in the wreck, reappears. At a critical moment, Viola's true identity is revealed when members of the court notice the similarities between her and Sebastian. Olivia quickly falls in love with Sebastian, and Viola confesses her love for the Duke.

## Links to Upstart Crow

Green attempts to trick Shakespeare into wearing "yellow tights and really silly cross-garters" for Lord Southampton's "saucy prancings" so as to ridicule him. This alludes to "Twelfth Night", where Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and Maria convince Malvolio to wear yellow stockings cross-gartered to impress Olivia, knowing that she hates both such colour and fashion.

## Notes

1. ↑ It is conjectured that the name of its male lead, Orsino, was suggested by Virginio Orsini, Duke of Bracciano, an Italian nobleman who visited London in the winter of 1600 to 1601.
2. ↑ This appeared in Barnabe Riche's collection, *Riche his Farewell to Militarie Profession conteining verie pleasaunt discourses fit for a peaceable tyme* (1581), which in turn is derived from a story by Matteo Bandello.
3. ↑ This incident could have inspired Will to use this event as the basis for the scene in the play, which Will initially titles 'Eighth Night'

## Sources

1. ↑ Caldecott, Henry Stratford (1896). Our English Homer, or, The Bacon–Shakespeare Controversy: A Lecture. Johannesburg: Johannesburg Times. p. 9. OCLC 83492745.
2. ↑ Halliday, F. E. (1964). A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964 (First ed.). Harmondsworth: Penguin. pp. 71, 505. OCLC 69117982.
3. ↑ Griffin, Alice (1966). The Sources of Ten Shakespearean Plays (First ed.). New York: T.Y. Crowell. OCLC 350534.
4. ↑ Thomson, Peter (1983). Shakespeare's Theatre. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 94. ISBN 0-7100-9480-9. OCLC 9154553. "Shakespeare, having tackled the theatrical problems of providing Twelfth Night with effective musical interludes, found his attitude toward his material changed. An episodic story became in his mind a thing of dreams and themes."
5. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelfth\_Night
6. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare\_bibliography
7. ↑ The Apparel Proclaims the Man