Year written: 1610 or whatever
Context of the writing (Shakespeare’s career, political events it was responding to): We’re near the end, and he is retreading his earlier steps….
Also, franchises suck – by about Sixth Night, he was really phoning it in…
Plot in a paragraph: Oh, this is a retread of The Comedy of Errors, but with only one set of twins. Shipwrecked, Viola rocks up in a town, becomes the disguised pageboy to Duke Orsino who fancies Olivia. Her identical twin brother (yes, I know) also turns up and … marries Olivia. There are other subplots, obvs.
Things that worked well: Erm? The gender bending?
Things that didn’t work well: With the benefit of a couple of weeks, not much…
Favourite character: Antonio? I guess?
Words I learnt:
| Word | Definition |
| coistrel | Coistrel – mean fellow, varlet |
| kickshaw | Kickshaw- trifle, triviality, worthless distraction |
| galliard | Galliard – The galliard (/ˈɡæljərd/; French: gaillarde; Italian: gagliarda) was a form of Renaissance dance and music popular all over Europe in the 16th century. It is mentioned in dance manuals from England, Portugal, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. |
| coranto | Coranto – Corantos were early informational broadsheets and precursors to newspapers. Beginning around the 14th century, a system developed where letters containing news and philosophical discussion were sent to a central collecting point to be bundled and redistributed to various correspondents. The banking house of Fugger was particularly known for its organized system of collecting and routing these letters, which often could be seen by outsiders. This method of disseminating news continued until the 18th century. The term “newspaper” was not coined till 1670; Prior to that, a variety of terms were used to describe this genre, including “paper”, “newsbook“, “pamphlet”, “broadsheet”, and “coranto”. |
| cinquepace | Cinquepace – CINQUEPACE is a 16th century dance with steps regulated by the number five probably related to the galliard. |
| nuncio | Nuncio – a papal ambassador to a foreign court or government. |
| lenten | Lenten – of, in, or appropriate to Lent. |
| gaskins | Gaskins – a part of the hind leg of a quadruped between the stifle and the hock |
| testril | Testril – sixpenny piece |
| nayword | Nayword a word used as a signal : watchword sense 1b 2. obsolete : a proverb of reproach : |
| sowter | Sowter Inherited from Middle English soutere, from Old English sūtere, from Latin sūtor (“shoemaker, cobbler”). |
| cheverel | Cheverel : soft elastic leather made of kidskin : kid leather |
| conster | Conster (obsolete form, of construe) |
| grece | Grece – Old form(s): greise , grizestep, degree, grade |
| maugre | Maugre – in spite of, notwithstanding |
| cockatrice | Cockatrice murderous serpent, basilisk |
| yare | Yare – quick, deft, adept |
| malapert | Malapert – impudent, saucy, impertinent |
| rudesby | Rudesby ruffian, piece of insolence, unmannerly fellow |
| beshrew | Beshrew – curse, devil take, evil befall |
| barricadoes | Barricadoes barricades, ramparts, barriers |
| clerestories | Clerestories – the upper part of the nave, choir, and transepts of a large church, containing a series of windows. |
| chantry | Chantry -A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings:[1] a chantry service, a set of Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), ora chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in a parish church or cathedral reserved for the performance of these celebrations.In the Medieval Era through to the Age of Enlightenment it was commonly believed such liturgies might help atone for misdeeds and assist the soul to obtain eternal peace |
| brabble | Brabble -brawl, noisy quarrel, fracas |
| passy-measures | Passy-measures – dancing with slow pace |
| pavin | Pavin – type of stately dance, pavane |
| perpend | Perpend – a vertical layer of mortar between two bricks. |
Lines worth knowing:
| Act scene lines | Character | Lines | Comment |
| Act 1, scene 2 | Captain | What great ones do the less will prattle of | |
| Act 1, scene 5 | Feste | Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage, | |
| Act 1, scene 5 | Malvolio | What isto be said to him, lady? He’s fortified against anydenial. | |
| Act 2, scene 2, | Viola | O Time, thou must untangle this, not I.It is too hard a knot for me t’ untie. | |
| Act 2, scene 2, | Feste | In delay there lies no plenty, Then come kiss me, sweet and twenty. Youth’s a stuff will not endure. | |
| Act 2, scene 3, | Sir Toby | Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous,there shall be no more cakes and ale? | |
| Act 2, scene 3, | Maria | The devil a puritan that he is, or anythingconstantly but a time-pleaser; an affectioned assthat cons state without book and utters it by greatswaths; the best persuaded of himself, so crammed,as he thinks, with excellencies, that it is his groundsof faith that all that look on him love him. And onthat vice in him will my revenge find notable causeto work. | |
| Act 2, scene 5, | Sir Toby | Why, thou hast put him in such a dream thatwhen the image of it leaves him he must run mad. | |
| Act 3, scene 1 | Viola | They that dally nicely withwords may quickly make them wanton. | |
| Act 3, scene 1 | Feste | words are grown so false I am loath to provereason with them. | |
| Act 3, scene 1 | Viola | But wise men, folly-fall’n, quite taint their wit. | |
| Act 3, scene 1 | Olivia | Twas never merry worldSince lowly feigning was called compliment. | |
| Act 3, scene 4 | Antonio | In nature there’s no blemish but the mind;None can be called deformed but the unkind.Virtue is beauty, but the beauteous evilAre empty trunks o’erflourished by the devil. | |
| Act 4, scene 3 | Sebastian | Yet doth this accident and flood of fortuneSo far exceed all instance, all discourse,That I am ready to distrust mine eyesAnd wrangle with my reason that persuades meTo any other trust but that I am mad—Or else the lady’s mad. | |
| Act 5, scene 2 | Feste | Marry, sir, they praise me and make an ass of me.Now my foes tell me plainly I am an ass; so that bymy foes, sir, I profit in the knowledge of myself, andby my friends I am abused. | |
| Act 5, scene 1 | Orsino | That very envy and the tongue of lossCried fame and honor on him | |
| Act 5, scene 1 | Antonio | Antonio never yet was thief or pirate,Though, I confess, on base and ground enough,Orsino’s enemy. A witchcraft drew me hither.That most ingrateful boy there by your sideFrom the rude sea’s enraged and foamy mouthDid I redeem; a wrack past hope he was. |
Marc’s entirely subjective verdict and score out of 5 bards (ymmv): 4
Will I be tracking down movies of this? : yes,
How far would I travel to see a good production of this? London? Manchester? An hour or two, anyway.
Limericks
Orsino is besotted with Ollie
Who fancies his missenger, by golly.
A chap in a dungeon
Some swords be lungin’
It ends with them mostly on molly…
To follow the plot would be folly….
Note to Twelfth Night, 5.1.118, “Why should I not (had I the heart to do it) / Like to the Egyptian thief at point of death, / Kill what I love? (a savage jealousy / That sometimes savours nobly)”
Note to TWELFTH NIGHT, 5.1.118
The “Egyptian thief” is generally believed to be Thyamis, a character in An Æthiopian Historie (often referred to as “Ethiopica“) by Heliodorus. Thyamis, the brave and noble leader of a band of thieves, has taken from another band of thieves the captive Cariclia, a beautiful Greek maiden. Thyamis falls in love with Cariclia and wants to marry her. She consents (falsely, unknown to Thyamis), but immediately aftewards Thyamis’ band of thieves is attacked by a larger band. Thyamis hides Cariclia in a cave to protect her, but comes to believe that he will lose the battle and so he kills her. (Actually, he unknowingly kills another woman, not Cariclia.)
UPDATE
What other people think:
xxx
Books/chapters/articles I might try to track down:
Cardoso, Furlanetto. “VIOLA-AS-FISH: AN ECOFEMINIST ANALYSIS OF TWELFTH NIGHT.” REVISTA DE LETRAS JUÇARA 5.01 (2021): 373-384.
VIOLA-AS-FISH: AN ECOFEMINIST ANALYSIS OF TWELFTH NIGHT
Furlanetto Cardoso
Abstract
In the last forty years, feminist literary criticism have pointed out that Shakespeare questioned gender roles in his plays, creating surprisingly powerful, resourceful female characters in a context of misogyny and exclusion of women. More recently, ecofeminist theorists such as Rebecca Laroche and Jennifer Munroe(2017) have argued that Shakespeare’s works also destabilize the confines between humans and non-humans, which is an essential element to deconstruct complex gender issues. Adopting an ecofeminist approach, this essay will analyse Viola’s character, the protagonist of Twelfth Night,aiming to demonstrate how her relationship to the marine world broadens the interpretation of cross-dressing, a crucial aspect of the play. Firstly, it will present Val Plumwood’s deconstructionist ecofeminist theory and discuss why Early Modern views on the natural world can be insightful to an ecofeminist analysis. Secondly, supported by Dan Brayton’s contributions in Shakespeare’s Ocean, it will exam how Viola’s relationship to the marine world undermines gender roles and deconstructs the concept of “humanity” itself.
Daroy, Alys, Joshua Zeunert, and Rahul K. Gairola. “Waves of Cognition: Towards an Australian Blue Shakespeare ecosystem.” Critical Approaches to the Australian Blue Humanities. Routledge, 2024. 211-221.
Powell N. 1999. An ecological message on a string
Author: Nicholas Powell
Date: Sept. 28, 1999
2024 – Waves of Cognition Towards an Australian Blue Shakespeare ecosystem ByAlys Daroy, Joshua Zeunert, Rahul K. Gairola
Book Critical Approaches to the Australian Blue Humanities
Podcasts and their contents
| Date | Podcast | Episode title | Topic | Length | Score out of ten (ymmv) | Comments |
| No Holds Bard | ||||||
| Approaching Shakespeare | ||||||
| Not true but useful | ||||||
| Bard Files | ||||||
marchudson.net 
Leave a comment