BACKGROUND LECTURE ON TWELFTH NIGHT The following information is based upon my taped lecture on this play. Although this text version is not the same as the taped lecture‚ it does contain the same information. All references are based on the Signet paperback edition which you should consult in conjunction with this lecture. Twelfth Night was probably written in 1601 and first performed in January of 1602. We know this because the play is mentioned that year in the diary of a
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The play Twelfth Night explores many different types of love between it’s characters. With so much love and so many different levels and kinds‚ love easily appears to be the central theme of the play from the complex love triangle between Viola‚ Oliva and Orsino to hinted at homosexual love from Antonio to Sebastion‚ it is easily the central theme. The first love in the play is Orsino’s love for Olivia. Although Orsino has never met Oliva before in his life he claims to be madly in love
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– a long speech when all the characters are present on stage Twelfth Night – Characters who participate in comedy (Viola did grew) – entertainment – to connect to the audience- conditioned Importance of being Earnest – Attempt to change identity (nobody grows) stereotypes are made fun of Similar kind of genre Different endings when other characters find out the secrets Difference in social class is seen very much in Twelfth Night where women do not marry men who are lower in class than them
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such important themes is Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. The dominant themes Shakespeare introduces in Twelfth Night are love and deception. Love and deception are critical in that they embody the values for humans in today’s society since love comforts humans and bring them together while deception is the betrayal of truth and honesty which causes separation and anguish. Shakespeare uses these themes in order to demonstrate a rich variety of relationships. Shakespeare presents love throughout
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love or happiness. Shakespeare does the audience a favor and informs them of love; with a message- love isn’t all love towards each other‚ nor that love’s ambiguity could ever be single in concept. Shakespeare places special emphasis on genuine love‚ love of love‚ and false love. All there‚ becoming more and more evident throughout the play. Although a strange play; with cross-dressers‚ homoerotic attractions‚ and strange ambitions‚ his message became clear. Although “The Twelfth Night” creates an
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Shakespeare utilizes disguise as the primary source of theatrical appeal in his play Twelfth Night. It is particularly common in Comedy‚ for various reasons. With disguise‚ you get confusion‚ mistaken identities‚ and with these‚ you get laughter. On the Elizabethan stage‚ playwrights frequently included disguise‚ or deception‚ in their comedies‚ using it as a comedic device. In Twelfth Night‚ it is the characters abilities to utilize disguises to deceive one another or themselves. This is evident
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Twelfth Night is the merriest of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies‚ it is also the saddest. The Christian associations of the title suggests the carpe diem theme which runs through the play. Epiphany‚ according to Christian mythology‚ is the time when the shepherds recognized the birth of Christ. The feast of epiphany is the last festival of the Christmas season‚ after which death takes over. This cycle of life is an extension of the ancient pagan fertility rituals. The mood is similar in Keats’s ‘To
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Many of the social issues that were dominant during the Renaissance are present in William Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night. The relationships between Viola/Cesairo and Olivia‚ Orsino and Viola/Cesairo and Antonio and Sebastian create an immense amount of tension for the characters and audience to deal with because‚ their relationships conflict with the dominant heteronormative ideology of the time. The heteronormative ideology consists of the belief that to be accepted into society a person must
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The play twelfth night‚ mainly a comedy‚ presents the challenges faced by the characters throughout the play. During the play many relations those were already going on were broken while the new ones started. The most interesting relation that developed was between Duke Orsino and Viola. The love between them never started as a normal love because Viola always met Duke in the disguise of a male named Cesario and Duke found Cesario a trustworthy person and uses him as an intermediary to confess his
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Ignorance The play Twelfth Night encapsulates what it meant to be a man and women throughout the 16th century. The roles of each gender were set in stone‚ and one could not publicly cross over under any circumstances. During Shakespearean times women were not even allowed to portray themselves on stage‚ men played their roles instead. In my opinion Shakespeare uses the play to show the hypocrisy of the status quo that held people from expressing their true identity. Twelfth Night demonstrates
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