Twelfth Night - William Shakespeare (William Shakespeare in general)

Member Name: elvis42

Product:	William Shakespeare in general
Date:	12/08/00 (20 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun story, well put together

Disadvantages: Sometimes language of the jokes

Twelfth Night or What You Will was written as a comedy to be performed on the last day of Xmas, thus the title. It's a traditional Shakespearian comedy that's a lot of fun. It starts with the immortal lines 'If music be the food of love, play on..' and although it's perhaps not one of the most famous of the Bard's plays, I'd say it was certainly worth a read/viewing, especially in the light of the publicity it got on the back of 'Shakespeare in Love'.

The story concerns the Duke Orsino, spurned by, though still in love with the Lady Olivia (in mourning and thus rejecting all love suits) and Viola, who, believing her twin brother to have been killed in a shipwreck disguises herself as a man and becomes servant to Orsino, falling in love with him while pursuing Olivia on his behalf (Olivia inevitably falls in love with Viola in disguise leading to the endgame of the play...)

Added to this we have a traditional wise fool, Feste, who hangs out with the drunken Sir Andrew Aguecheek (also trying to woo Olivia) and Olivia's uncle, Sir Toby Belch and a pretty sneaky maidservant, Maria. Malvolio, Olivia's steward takes the form of the authority figure these comedy characters love to tease.

As is the rule of comedies, it all ends in love and romance and things working out for the best, but not without some fairly cruel and hilarious moments in between.

It was the first Shakespeare play I read at school (yep, an 'O' Level text!) and I still love it now, an unserious romp of mistaken identity and the trials and tribulations of love!

Summary: