Preview

Twelfth Night

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2116 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Twelfth Night
Paviell Reese
Major Works Data Sheet
Title: Twelfth Night
Author: William Shakespeare
Date of Publication: 1602
Genre: Shakespearean Comedy
Biographical information about the author:
William Shakespeare, born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, was an English poet and playwright. Shakespeare was believed to have been educated at the King’s New School in Stratford about a quarter-mile from his home. At the age of 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway. The ceremony may have been arranged in some haste because six months after the marriage Anne gave birth to a daughter named Susanna. About two years later they had twins, a boy and a girl, and the boy died of unknown causes at the age of 11.
It is not known when Shakespeare started writing but several of his plays were on the London stage by 1592. Shakespeare divided his time between London and Stratford during this time of his career. In 1599 he moved to Southwark while his company constructed the Global Theatre there. After 1610, Shakespeare wrote very few okays before his death on April 23, 1616.
Historical information about the period of publication:
Queen Elizabeth was in rein during this time period from 1559-1603. She was very fond of Shakespeare and loved his works. The inspiration of the play Twelfth Night was more than likely influenced by the queen wanting a play related to the holiday season. Twelfth Night is a Christian holiday that takes place on the 12th day after Christmas. On this day the roles in society are flipped. Kings and queens dress up as peasants and men and women dress up as each other. At the beginning of the Twelfth Night festival a cake that contains a bean is eaten. The person who finds the bean would be the ruler of the feast. Midnight marks the end of their rule and everything goes back to normal.
Characteristics of the genre:
A Shakespearean Comedy normally has a happy ending that involves marriages between the unmarried characters. There tends to be a

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    twelfth night

    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages

    While many will agree that Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is critically acclaimed to be one of the most entertaining and well-liked pieces that he has written, there tends to be a discrepancy over how the characters in the play are portrayed when it comes to the importance of gender roles. After reading James C Bulman’s article over the Globe’s more recent performance of Twelfth Night and Shakespeare’s original written version, I realized that there are many ways that this famous piece has been portrayed and each has its own pros and cons.…

    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Here is some Background information on William Shakespeare.William Shakespeare was born on 1564 in Stratford England in a place called birth place. As a child Williams first home was in Stratford-upon-Avon the exacts of where he lived was his birth place also known as birthplace. The school he attended to was Stratford grammar school in witch he attended with other boys of his social class. Eventually William got married at the age of 18 to a 26 year old woman named Anne Hathaway. There fist child was named Susanna and was baptized on May 26th ,1583.…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    For hundreds of years people from all over the world have seen the works of William Shakespeare performed by thousands of actors. Twelfth Night or What you Will is but one of the many comedies written by William Shakespeare that have been produced in many formats, from theater, television and even several feature films. So many different productions of the same works have opened the door to directors adding their own twist to the original script to make it their own. One play can be performed countless different ways, from very conservative or to unconventional depending on the director’s interpretation and intentions. So all writings are open for creative interpretation thus being for this paper I am going to focus on the directorial staging of this play and how the staging and direction brought the focus of the subplot of Antonio and Sebastian into a homoerotic relationship opposed to other renditions of Twelfth Night that were homosocial. Directors have creatively reconstructed these plays pulling from the era, the popular ideology of the community and political correctness at the times the different styles and interpretations so that Shakespeare can be adapted to the current times.…

    • 2073 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The most influential and prominent dramatist in English literature and in the Shakespearean era, William Shakespeare has certainly built a reputation of the greatest play writer in the English Renaissance. He was born on April 23, 1564, in his house in Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. Shakespeare lived to be 52 years’ old. Shakespeare’s birthday is normally celebrated on April 23, but according to the Gregorian calendar which is what is used today in the 21st century, he was actually born on May 3. Shakespeare was baptized three days after his birth. His father was John who was a merchant as well as a high ranking major in Stratford, elected by the common council of burgesses and married to his wife, Mary in 1557.…

    • 1507 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    There is little documentation on Shakespeare’s life, therefore his birthdate is unknown; however, Shakespeare was baptized April 26th, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Shakespeare’s father was a public official and could not afford higher education. Researchers assume that he attended King’s New School in Stratford where he learned reading and writing. Although he received some education, the stories that are said to have been written by him contain “elaborate metaphors and rhetorical phrases”, things that are widely considered too complex for a writer with so little education. There are many historians, writers, and researchers that argue whether or not Shakespeare was actually Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s (if infact he did write the widely accredited works) most known stories, plays, sonnets, and poems include: Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Othello. Although it is possible he may have written the stories, the evidence is not in his…

    • 890 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    William Shakespeare is arguably one of the most significant figures in the history of the western world. This is inherently due to his tremendous works in the field of English literature. Son of alderman Jon Shakespeare and land owning gentry Mary Arden, William Shakespeare was born around the date of April 26th 1564 in the town of Stratford-Upon-Avon, United Kingdom. Shakespeare was the eldest of 8 sons in a wealthy family and was likely educated at King’s New School in his home town of Stratford. At the age of 18 Shakespeare married a women 10 years his senior by the name of Anne Hathaway. Shortly after, the couple gave birth to a girl whom they named Susanna and her baptismal records of the time indicate she was baptised on the 26th of May…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    William Shakespeare has greatly impacted the course of world history. William Shakespeare was believed to be born on April 23,1564, in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon, and died April 23,1616 in his hometown…

    • 1478 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are few facts known with certainty about William Shakespeare's life and death. The best-documented facts are that Shakespeare was baptised 26 April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England in the Holy Trinity Church, married Anne Hathaway at age 18, with whom he had three children, was an actor, playwright and theatre entrepreneur in London, owned property in both Stratford and London, and died 23 April 1616 at the age of 52.…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Insanity In Twelfth Night

    • 1526 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare constantly alludes to the contrast between darkness and light by the use of secrets, mistaken identities and the contrast between sanity and insanity. With this motif Shakespeare shows us that if we act on first impressions without the true knowledge of the entity of the situation or character, then the misinformed motives will surely be in vain; and our efforts futile.…

    • 1526 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare's Context

    • 1082 Words
    • 5 Pages

    William Shakespeare is suspected to be born on approximately 23th April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Being brought up in a wealthy middle class family, Shakespeare attended stratified grammar school but didn’t continue with his schooling after that. Anne Hathaway aged 26 at the time became Shakespeare’s (aged 18) wife in 1582 and later went on to have 3 children together. Their first child, born six months into their marriage was named Susanna. The pair went on to have twins two years later named Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet unfortunately died in 1596 after catching the bubonic plague at age 11. After 8 years of marriage, Shakespeare left his family and set off for London to try his luck in the entertainment industry as an actor and playwright. Shakespeare quickly became successful to the point where he was a favorite playwright of both Elizabeth James I. Ironically Shakespeare and passed away at age 52 on his birthday in 1616 due to unknown causes.…

    • 1082 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Living in a world filled with expectations gives different people different jobs, or tasks that they must be able to complete correctly. Sometimes our job is to fulfill the expectations of others, but that limits what we can do as we are given less freedom but more work. Unfortunately this is true in the Elizabethan Society as women are to fulfill the expectations of men, because men would limit the power women, as they have to follow the orders of a man. Shakespeare illustrates the way women are treated poorly, and he establishes that they were disrespected and society didn’t let them live up to their full potential.…

    • 225 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    confusion, mistaken identity and speaks about the madness of love. Looking throughout William Shakespeare’s plays similarities can be brought up and seen between A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night both include confusion, mistaken love for…

    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Gender Twelfth Night

    • 1886 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Many of the social issues that were dominant during the Renaissance are present in William Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night. The relationships between Viola/Cesairo and Olivia, Orsino and Viola/Cesairo and Antonio and Sebastian create an immense amount of tension for the characters and audience to deal with because, their relationships conflict with the dominant heteronormative ideology of the time. The heteronormative ideology consists of the belief that to be accepted into society a person must marry someone of the opposite gender as to follow the social norms and fulfill their social role.…

    • 1886 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Twelfth Night

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Life is not fair, the characters in Twelfth Night, a play wrote by William Shakespeare, generally speaking, do not get what they deserve. Some of the characters get too much. And it’s unfair to the others, and some get too little. Most of the iniquity happens with the second category. When characters get too little of what they deserve. This essay is going to explain how the characters were cheated out and what they actually deserved.…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Twelfth Night Essay

    • 5231 Words
    • 21 Pages

    The following information is based upon my taped lecture on this play. Although this text version is not the same as the taped lecture, it does contain the same information. All references are based on the Signet paperback edition which you should consult in conjunction with this lecture.…

    • 5231 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Powerful Essays