William Shakespeare

Background information about Shakespeare, Elizabethan theater, and the text accompany his play about unrequited love and mistaken identity.

Twelfth Night

eleanthi 

And water once a day her chamber round she With eye-offending brine; 

Elizabeth Park

sebastian and antonio should have kissed on the mouth in the last scene

Kendall McClain

review questions and answers

Shakespeare, Twelfth night

some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them

Roisin Ramdhayan 

But be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.

If music be the food of love, play on, Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die.

This was a fun read. Loved the characters.

Kathryn Larson

Claudia Ganea

*3,5/5*

I've always been a sucker for Shakespeare, and after seeing (and loving!) 'She's the Man' I was really excited to read this play, even though it was course-mandated. Overall, I was quite pleasantly surprised. A light, fun comedy that plays with language as much as with its characters. Viola was amazing (and I was so happy for her at the end of the play!) and I ended up sympathizing with Malvolio a whole lot more than I would've liked to. Kudos to Shakespeare's complex characters, though. This edition (which had notes on every second page instead of the play itself) helped my understanding of the plot too.

'If music be the food of love, play on, Give me excess of it' Separated from her twin brother Sebastian after a shipwreck, Viola disguises herself as a boy to serve the Duke Orsino. Wooing a countess on his behalf, she is stunned to find herself the object of her affections. Amorous intrigues, practical jokes, sexual confusion and riotous disorder ensue in this lyrical, hugely popular romantic comedy, which shows both the delights and the perils of desire. General Introduction by Stanley Wells Edited by M. M. Mahood With an introduction by Michael Dobson 'Unrequited love, melancholy, cruelty and joy held in perfect balance.' Nicholas Hytner

Vanya de Lang 

A great comedy. Absolutely amazing! It was extremely funny and well written. The confusion and the comedic effect of twins torn apart. An absolute favourite.

or, What You Will (Signet Classics)

grace

Paul Werstine

Twelfth Night (Folger Shakespeare Library)

Trever

Would've like this so much more if I'd seen it performed. I don't know, it didn't have the sass that  The Taming of the Shrew did and I kept drifting off. That said, it was light-hearted and happy, which was a plus.

Shakespeare is becoming less airy and cryptic. I encountered him before I was able to trust in his humanity above the academic noise

Zeke Taylor

Fiebi

Shameera Nair Lin

Shakespeare on the Double! Twelfth Night

Katharina Hoffmann

my new favourite Shakespeare play? I enjoyed it as much as Mabeth, maybe even more! People will continue picking Macbeth over it though because apparently Shakespeare's comedies don't have as much depth as his tragedies.

Twelfth Night, or What You Will (Shakespeare Folios)

sarah 🤠

Haley McDowell

This is the only Shakespeare play I own. I hold no qualms about such endeavors.

Twelth Night or What You Will

Melody Izard

He's a man dressed up like a woman and they fall in love while a clown frolics around and mocks us all. I think I just didn't have my classic reading hat on and just can't find the appreciation Shakespeare deserves.

Grace O'Callaghan

This ones a tricky one to review as I read it in August but didn’t actually track it on here.

Twelfth Night’s summary is that of queer coding and cross dressing, misunderstandings and weddings. It’s too confusing to explain so just read the goodreads summary.

This is my second play by Shakespeare and it’s definitely my favourite. I can easily see why the comedies will be my favourites. I laugh at the tragedies and the comedies, one of them you’re not supposed to laugh at.

The characters are so over the top and delightful. Mean spirited and selfish. 

I ship Viola and Olivia so hard. I just love the queer undertones.

The humour is also so on point.

May review it more in depth once I understand it better as I’m studying it for school.

Simon Elliott Stegall

Heard someone say this was Shakespeare's "perfect" comedy, but frankly I liked Comedy of Errors more. Still, plenty of good stuff here.

Twelfth night, or, What you will

Kate

Update Feb 2018: oh my god I forgot I wrote this but I think Twelfth Night IS my favorite Shakespeare comedy now. But I still agree Orsino is boring and the way Malvolio is treated at the end is super upsetting.

/

My main problem with this play is that Viola falls in love with Orsino reaaaal quick even though he's kind of a dick (like, potentially a hot one, so I kind of get it, but) and her utter devotion to him from that moment is... a little boring. Olivia and Sebastian are also very quick to be okay with marrying total strangers and Orsino very suddenly reciprocates Viola's affections when she reveals her true gender/identity (with varying levels of believability depending on how much the particular production plays up Orsino's previous attraction to Cesario). The nuances of this play really open up when you read Olivia, Orsino, and Antonio as at least a little bit queer and Viola and Sebastian as having the potential to be. I find that reading a lot more fun, more interesting, and also more poignant. I just saw a good production of this and think it's entertaining and well-crafted, and Olivia especially is a wonderful character (and was extremely well-played, which is probably what sparked my newfound affection for her) - but it's not my favorite Shakespeare or even my favorite of his comedies. I do love that it has a ton of potential for my crazy theories about all the characters and their relationships. In light of this I think I'll up my rating to a 3.5.

Also, I always forget how awful Maria and Sir Toby are to Malvolio and how uncomfortable and sad it makes me :(

Nikki K

honestly this was really fun. the clown was actually entertaining in this play and the subplot with Malvolio was worth reading- perhaps even more-so than the main plot. this would be really fun to see performed.
it didn't have all the clever word play of Much Ado but was still a fun, short comedy of mistaken identity and misplaced love.
(bonus points for inspiring one of the best adaptations of all time, She's the Man. i c o n i c)

Paduraru Constantina

"Twelfth Night, Or What You Will" este o lucrare dramatică scrisă de Shakespeare și cred că este a cincea carte (includ și "Sonete") care îl are ca autor, pe care am citit-o anul acesta. Cu toate că piesele sale de teatru nu mi-au adus o anumită încântare (cu excepția cărții "Regele Lear", care chiar mi-a plăcut) precum cea care mi-a fost oferită de către sonetele sale, îmi place cum scrie, iar faptul că am citit-o pe aceasta în engleză mă bucură deoarece limbajul folosit a fost chiar interesant. Îmi amintesc că atunci când citeam "Moromeții", tot limbajul naratorului și al personajelor mi-a adus o oarecare plăcere.

În "Twelfth Night", Viola și Sebastian, soră și frate, sunt salvați înainte să-i înghită apele, dar Viola își crede fratele mort. Sebastian crede că sora lui a murit. Pentru a-și face un rost, Viola se deghizează într-un tânăr pe nume Cesario pentru a-l sluji pe ducele Orsino, cel care o iubește pe contesa Olivia. Începe să se formeze un triunghi amoros căci Olivia se va îndrăgosti de "Cesario" (poor girl...), iar Viola va simți fiorii dragostei pentru Orsino.

Personajul care mi-a plăcut cel mai mult este Feste, un bufon, care mi s-a părut tare inteligent. Pe când citeam "Regele Lear", tot de bufon îmi plăcea, are o anumită înțelepciune acest personaj.

Twelfth Night

Reviews

Highlights