Twelfth Night

William Shakespeare April 1564- 23 April 1616- widley regareded as greates writer in english language- ofteh called england’s national poet and “Bard of Avon”-His surving works: 38 plays and 154 sonnets , 2 long narrative poems, and several other poems- his plays are comedies, tragedies, histories, romances, and tragicomedies – Parents were John Shakespeare and Mary Arden
William Shakespeare – Shakespeare married annehathway when he was minor and she was 26 and pregnant- first shild was Susana
William Shakespeare – proably recruited to by the Leicester’s or Queens men between 1585 and 1592- by 1592 he was an established actor- By 1593 shakespeare had his debut as a poet
William Shakespeare from 1592 – 1593 the theaters were shut down do to the plague, and that is supposed to be the time when he wrote his poetry
His writng divides into 4 periods until mid 1590’s: mainly comedy1595 romeo and juliet – 1599 (Julius Cesar) some of his best comedies-1600- 1608: his “tragic period” – 1608- 1613: mainly tragicomedies and romances
Iambic pentameter un-rhymedcontains 10 syllables on each lineaccent of every second syllable
Viola Main- character, dresses up like boy, falls in love with Orsino
Orsino Duke of illyria, he is on love with Olivia,
Cesario Viola’s disquise
Sebastian Viola’s twin brother, who she thinks is dead, but is actually Alive
Olivia wealthy woman, is in Love with Cesario, but Cesario is trying to get her to love Orsino
Antonio A man who rescues Sebastian after his shipwreck. Antonio has become very fond of Sebastian, caring for him, accompanying him to Illyria, and furnishing him with money—all because of a love so strong that it seems to be romantic in nature. Antonio’s attraction to Sebastian, however, never bears fruit. Despite the ambiguous and shifting gender roles in the play, Twelfth Night remains a romantic comedy in which the characters are destined for marriage. In such a world, homoerotic attraction cannot be fulfilled.
Malvolio Olivia’s butler, he lvoes Olivia
Maria Olivia’s nurse/ made, her, along with Sir toby and Sir Andrew play a trick on Malvlolio
Sir Toby Olivia’s unlce
Sir Andrew A friend of Sir Toby’s. Sir Andrew Aguecheek attempts to court Olivia, but he doesn’t stand a chance. He thinks that he is witty, brave, young, and good at languages and dancing, but he is actually a complete idiot.
Feste The clown, or fool, of Olivia’s household, Feste moves between Olivia’s and Orsino’s homes. He earns his living by making pointed jokes, singing old songs, being generally witty, and offering good advice cloaked under a layer of foolishness. In spite of being a professional fool, Feste often seems the wisest character in the play
Inversion – A reversal of the usual word order (typically used in poetry) to recieve some sort of emphasis
Simile – A comparison between to unlike things using the words like or as
Metaphor – A comparison between to unlike things with the intent of giving added meaning to one of them. Does nto use like or as
Synedoche – A form of metaphor in which the part mentioned signifies the whole.
Metonymy – substituting a word for another word closely associated with it
Personification – A figure of speech in which an animal, an object, a natural force, or an Idea is given personality traits like a human
Allusion – A brief reference to a person, place, or event or to a work of art. An allusion may be drawn from history, geography, religion, or literature.
Pun – wordplay, the typically humorous use of a word or phrase to suggest two or more meanings at the same time.
Prose – Any material that is not written in regular meter poetry
Poetry – Language in arranged lines, with regular rhythm and often a definitely rhyme scheme. Nontraditional poetry does away wiht regular rhyme and rhythym.
Blank Verse – Verse written in unrhymed iambic pentameter where each line usually contains ten syllables and every other syllable is stressed
Stage Directions – part of a printed dramatic text which is not actually spoken by actors on the stage
Themes Appearance vs. Reality
Themes Moral Confusion and Issues of Conscience (Right vs. Wrong)
Themes Types of Love• How does love show itself?• How does gender affect love? What ideas regarding gender are expressed in the text?• How does class/status affect love and the pursuit of love? Where is evidence of this seen in the text?
July 19, 2019