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Twelfth Night is the only one of Shakespeare’s plays to have an alternative title: the play is actually called Twelfth Night, or What You Will. Critics are divided over what the two titles mean, but “Twelfth Night” is usually considered to be a reference to Epiphany, or the twelfth night of the Christmas celebration (January 6).
Shakespeare uses many rhythmic variations in this line The first is the classic trochaic inversion at the beginning of the line. The second is the pyrrhic caesura that reinforces the shift in mood as Orsino ends the music. The third is the spondee in the last foot, and the last is the relatively unusual masculine ending (the extra stressed ...
Jul 31, 2015 · Act 1, scene 1. Scene 1. Synopsis: At his court, Orsino, sick with love for the Lady Olivia, learns from his messenger that she is grieving for her dead brother and refuses to be seen for seven years. Enter Orsino, Duke of Illyria, Curio, and other Lords, ⌜with Musicians playing.⌝. ORSINO.
Changes of Clothing. Clothes are powerful in Twelfth Night. They can symbolize changes in gender—Viola puts on male clothes to be taken for a male— as well as class distinctions. When Malvolio fantasizes about becoming a nobleman, he imagines the new clothes that he will have. When Feste impersonates Sir Topas, he puts on a nobleman’s ...
Twelfth Night. Learn more about the play, its language, and its history from the experts behind our edition. About Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night An introduction to the plot, themes, and characters in the play. Reading Shakespeare’s Language A guide for understanding Shakespeare’s words, sentences, and wordplay. An Introduction to This Text
Overview. Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, written around 1601, is an entertaining comedy that navigates the themes of love, mistaken identity, and the topsy-turvy nature of human relationships. Set in the fictional kingdom of Illyria, the play follows the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck.
Go and find the coroner then, and let him investigate my uncle—for he's in the third degree of drunkenness, and has drowned. Go look after him. FOOL. He is but mad yet, madonna, and the fool shall look to the madman. FOOL. He's still only in the second degree, my lady, so the fool will take care of the madman.
