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A review by thefussyreader
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
4.0
And so I continue my Shakespeare Quest. My September choice was Twelfth Night and I've started to notice a pattern with Shakespeare's comedies. Clearly he's found a formula for success, cause yet again we have a light-hearted, amusing and entertaining play.
This reminded me of both A Midsummer Night's Dream and Much Ado About Nothing. They all have the vibe of people falling in love with the wrong people, people scheming behind the backs of others, and, naturally, double weddings.
I'm going to try to explain this plot as simply as I can so . . spoilers.
In this fun version of Shakespeare's forumla we find Viola separated from her twin brother Sebastian after their ship is destroyed in a storm. She washes up on the shores of Illyria and, thinking up the best way to preserve herself in this unknown land, dresses in some of her brother's clothes, calls herself Cessario, and masquerades as a boy. She finds employment with the Duke Orsino, who she quickly falls in love with. But the Duke is in love with Olivia.
The Duke sends Cessario to Olivia to profess his love for her and to bargain for her hand in marriage. But this is a Shakespeare play, after all, and nothing runs as smoothly as that. Olivia, upon seeing Cessario, is smitten. She refuses the Duke and throws herself at Cessario.
To add trouble to the mix, Sebastian shows up, looking exactly like Cessario (who is actually his twin sister of course) and he meets Olivia, who thinks he is Cessario. (Still with me? Not lost yet?)
So Olivia throws herself at Sebastian, asks him to marry her, he agrees and they are wed immediately. Later the Duke and Cessario go to Olivia, to which she throws herself at Cessario, thinking her to be her new husband Sebastian. The Duke is outraged that Cessario would go behind his back to marry the woman he loves, when, just in the nick of time, Sebastian enters and the truth is revealed. Olivia throws herself at Sebastian and Viola discards her disguise. Seeing Viola for the first time, the Duke falls in love with her and they are married. YAY!
So that's the basic idea. I really enjoyed this. Having only read it and not seen it live, I feel I can't give it an accurate rating yet, but I will rate it based on the story itself, which I found very entertaining.
This is a play I really hope to see on the stage one day, as I can imagine it being incredibly funny live.
This reminded me of both A Midsummer Night's Dream and Much Ado About Nothing. They all have the vibe of people falling in love with the wrong people, people scheming behind the backs of others, and, naturally, double weddings.
I'm going to try to explain this plot as simply as I can so . . spoilers.
In this fun version of Shakespeare's forumla we find Viola separated from her twin brother Sebastian after their ship is destroyed in a storm. She washes up on the shores of Illyria and, thinking up the best way to preserve herself in this unknown land, dresses in some of her brother's clothes, calls herself Cessario, and masquerades as a boy. She finds employment with the Duke Orsino, who she quickly falls in love with. But the Duke is in love with Olivia.
The Duke sends Cessario to Olivia to profess his love for her and to bargain for her hand in marriage. But this is a Shakespeare play, after all, and nothing runs as smoothly as that. Olivia, upon seeing Cessario, is smitten. She refuses the Duke and throws herself at Cessario.
To add trouble to the mix, Sebastian shows up, looking exactly like Cessario (who is actually his twin sister of course) and he meets Olivia, who thinks he is Cessario. (Still with me? Not lost yet?)
So Olivia throws herself at Sebastian, asks him to marry her, he agrees and they are wed immediately. Later the Duke and Cessario go to Olivia, to which she throws herself at Cessario, thinking her to be her new husband Sebastian. The Duke is outraged that Cessario would go behind his back to marry the woman he loves, when, just in the nick of time, Sebastian enters and the truth is revealed. Olivia throws herself at Sebastian and Viola discards her disguise. Seeing Viola for the first time, the Duke falls in love with her and they are married. YAY!
So that's the basic idea. I really enjoyed this. Having only read it and not seen it live, I feel I can't give it an accurate rating yet, but I will rate it based on the story itself, which I found very entertaining.
This is a play I really hope to see on the stage one day, as I can imagine it being incredibly funny live.