Twelfth Night: My Feelings Overall

My first new play of this project was a raving success. I really enjoyed Twelfth Night. It was engaging, funny, and I didn't want to put it down! Here are some of my thoughts:

THOUGHTS ON THE CHARACTERS

Viola: I like her. She’s driven, intelligent, and takes her future into her own hands. She's nice to everyone, even letting Olivia down gently. And the fact that she still woos her for Orsino when she's in love with him is so amazingly sweet.

Orsino: I feel weird about Orsino. He’s a little bit misogynistic to be the love interest of the leading lady, but maybe I’ve been spoiled by the fantastic Benedick from MAAN. I do think part of his borderline misogyny comes from just not understanding women. Plus at the end he seems to convert from his misogynistic ways, so I guess he's alright.

Olivia: Olivia’s strange. In the end, I do really like her, because of how she treats Malvolio after he was tricked. She's sweet, and I'm happy that she gets a happy ending, but I don't feel happy about the ending, because she doesn't even know Sebastian!!

Malvolio: I like Malvolio and I feel sorry for him. I know he’s conceited, but he’s a dreamer, and I sometimes find myself being a little conceited, so I can relate to him. He just wants to improve his situation. I don’t know if he’s really in love with Olivia or just wants to use her for a better situation but I kind of think he does love her, which hurts my heart.

Sir Toby Belch: I strongly dislike Sir Toby. What a jerk! He messes with Malvolio (and I’m all for pranks, but this is cruel), messes with his best friend Sir Andrew, and then marries Maria because she made the trick happen (?!). 

Sir Andrew Aguecheek: He’s okay. I’m not crazy about the trick he played on Malvolio, but he seems pretty dumb and that he just follows along with what Sir Toby tells him to do.

Maria: I don’t like her, either. You’re not fun sassy, Maria, you’re mean sassy!

The Fool: He's fine. I like the whole idea that the person that is a "fool" is actually really intelligent, and not to judge a book by it's cover and all that jazz, but he contributes to the trick on Malvolio, and apparently that ruins characters for me.

Antonio: I've heard that he may be in love with Sebastian. Which is very cute and sad. I definitely would have preferred them as a couple rather than Sebastian ending up with Olivia who let's remember he Does Not Know. 

PLAYING TRICKS REGARDING LOVE: Twelfth Night reminds me of Much Ado About Nothing in a few ways, and one big one is the heartbreaking contrast between the trick played on Beatrice and Benedick and the trick played on Malvolio. Beatrice and Benedick being tricked is funny because you know that they really do have feelings for each other - so the trick is doing good, not harm. Malvolio, who has clearly already had feelings for Olivia, is led on to believe that she loves him, when she really is developing feelings for Viola/Cesario. There are some really beautiful lines in the letter Maria writes as Olivia, and knowing that none of those feelings are true, and seeing Malvolio’s joy in reading them, literally made me almost cry. And, of course, B&B’s trick is played on them by their friends and Beatrice’s cousin and her uncle, who love them and want to see them happy (and FINALLY admit they love each other, for Lord’s sake!), while Malvolio’s trick is being played on him by four people who don’t like him at all, and want to see him hurt and embarrassed. Here’s what I would have LOVED to see happen: Malvolio does smile at Olivia all the time (as the letter indicated he should do to show he loves her) and she finally smiles back. Her spirits are lifted by seeing his cheery yellow stockings and bright smile, and she falls in love with him. Also he could probably chill out a bit on his narcissism. 

Twelfth Night: A Movie

Twelfth Night: Act 5

Twelfth Night: Act 4

Twelfth Night: Act 3

Twelfth Night: Act 2

Act 2, Scene 1
Antonio and Sebastian are talking, and Sebastian tells him he's just going to wander around and try to figure some things out. He assumes that Viola is dead. Antonio tells Sebastian that it would be dangerous for him to go near Orsino's court, but that he'll go with Sebastian anyway because he loves him so much.

Act 2, Scene 2
Malvolio finds Viola/Cesario and tells her/him that Olivia does not want the ring from Orsino. V/C plays along, although she never gave Olivia anything. She figures out that Olivia has a crush on Cesario, and realizes that the ring was a way to tell him.
Best Quotes:
"O time, thou must untangle this, not I. It is too hard a knot for me to untie."
I can relate.

Act 2, Scene 3
Sir Toby and Sir Andrew are chatting about how staying up so late isn't so bad, since if it's after midnight, they're technically going to be early. The fool arrives and...

Twelfth Night: Act 1

Act 1, Scene 1
We are introduced to Orsino, one of the main characters of the play. He is talking to Curio, who works for him, about his love for a woman named Olivia. However, Olivia's brother has recently died, and in her sadness, she has decided to not show her face for seven years. Orsino is determined to win her love.

Act 1, Scene 2
Viola arrives in Illyria and talks with the captain. She has been shipwrecked and has lost track of her brother, whom she now fears is dead. However, if she has survived, the captain reminds her, it is possible he survived as well. Viola is unfamiliar with the area but the captain grew up nearby, and tells her that the local ruler is a man named Orsino, who is unmarried but is in love with Olivia. Viola decides to attempt to work for Orsino in disguise as a man until she can reveal herself. (I'm not entirely sure why she needs to disguise herself...maybe this will be revealed later?)

Act 1, Scene 3
Sir Toby Belch, Olivia's uncle, and Maria, Olivia's servant, discuss Sir Toby's bad habit - he is a drinker, which makes Olivia angry. Sir Toby has a friend, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, who is interested in Olivia, but he has a lot of bad habits as well, and Maria doesn't think that he would be a good match for her. Sir Andrew arrives and Sir Toby encourages him to flirt with Maria, but he's not really getting it. After a bit of a chat, Sir Andrew tells Sir Toby that he's going home tomorrow since Olivia will have nothing to do with him - or any man, for that matter. Sir Toby encourages him to not give up hope. They then talk about how Sir Andrew is a good dancer.

Act 1, Scene 4
Viola, now in disguise as Cesario, has been working for Orsino for a few days. Valentine, another man who works for Orsino, tells Viola/Cesario that Orsino is very impressed with her/him. Orsino arrives and asks V/C to attempt to woo Olivia for him. She says she will do that, and to herself says that it will be hard considering she is in love with Orsino!

Act 1, Scene 5
Maria and the Fool enter, and they talk about how the Fool has been gone and had better come up with a good excuse as to his whereabouts before Olivia gets there. She arrives and tells the servants to get the Fool out of there, but the Fool says that she's the fool instead, since she's so miserable for her brother whom she knows to be in a better place. Olivia is impressed with his wit, but Malvolio, another servant, is not. Sir Toby enters and tells Olivia that there is a man at the gate who wishes to speak with her and will not leave until he has. After some back-and-forth, Olivia finally agrees to see him with her veil on. He comes in and it is Viola/Cesario. She/he tells Olivia that Orsino is crazy for her, but Olivia is unimpressed. However, she is interested in V/C. When V/C leaves, she asks herself if it is possible to fall in love that fast.

Twelfth Night: The Setting

Twelfth Night is set in Illyria, which is

Twelfth Night: Background

Twelfth Night: An Intro

Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare’s most common modernly-known works if only because of the 2006 movie She’s The Man which is one of THE movies of my generation. As far as I can remember, I’ve never seen it, but I see the picture of Amanda Bynes with the tampon up her nose enough on the internet to make me understand that this is a classic for millenials.

In choosing which plays I wanted to read for this project, I read through their descriptions online, and Twelfth Night stood out to me because it incorporates love triangles, drag, and chaos - all topics which should make for a very funny play. 

The play is about a girl, Viola, who is shipwrecked in Illyria with her brother, Sebastian (whom she thinks died in the shipwreck) and for some reason dresses up as a man and falls in love with a man, Orsino, who is in love with a girl, Olivia, who is in love with Viola because she thinks she is a man, Cesario.

I am SO excited to get started on Twelfth Night and I put it on hold last week so I have it in my possession now!!