Product Description

Separated from her twin brother Sebastian after a shipwreck, Viola disguises herself as a boy to serve the Duke of Illyria. Wooing a countess on his behalf, she is stunned to find herself the object of his beloved's affections. With the arrival of Viola's brother, and a trick played upon the countess's steward, confusion reigns in this romantic comedy of mistaken identity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43970 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
One of Shakespeare's finest comedies, Twelfth Night, was written at the same time as Hamlet and Troilus and Cressida, and while it shares their fascination with sex, death and confused identities, its exuberant comedy and linguistic inventiveness rises above the introspection of these plays. Viola and her twin brother Sebastian are separated in a storm that washes them both up at different points on the shores of Illyria. Believing each other to be dead, both attempt to survive by using their wits. Viola cross-dresses and enters the service of the lovesick Orsino, in love with Olivia, an heiress in mourning for the loss of her brother. Orsino's saucy young page Cesario (Viola) soon falls in love with "his" master, who tells "him", "all is semblative a woman's part". Unfortunately, while Viola falls in love with Orsino, Olivia falls in love with her alter ego, Cesario, while also being pursued at the same time by her pompous servant Malvolio. Olivia's house is also turned upside down by the antics of her drunker uncle, Sir Toby Belch, and the whole crazy situation reaches boiling point when Sebastian reappears.

Despite the madcap plot, Twelfth Night remains one of Shakespeare's most complex and inventive comedies, fascinated with questions of cross-dressing, gender confusion, language and inversion, as well as retaining a darker edge to some of its laughter. --Jerry Brotton

About the Author
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born to John Shakespeare and mother Mary Arden some time in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), a collection of sonnets and a variety of other poems.

Customer Reviews

Not Hardcover
The rating is not reflective of the play, which is a classic and beyond reproach, but the title suggests this is a hardcover book, which is is not.

Laugh Out Loud
"You're so simple, Baldrick, You'd laugh at a Shakespeare comedy." This typically cutting remark, from the eponymous hero of the modern comic classic "Blackadder" can seem justified when reading some of the Bard's lighter plays.

Unlike the great tragedies, the comedies can seem a bit slight, silly almost, revolving around mistaken identities, particularly identical twins running around confusing people and girls dressing up as page boys.

This misconception can easily be seen to be totally unfair by simply going to see one of these comedies on stage, which is, of course, how they are meant to be enjoyed. Here, what can seem lame on the page is lively and dynamic and, above all, funny.

Twelfth Night, one of my favourites from the canon is a sheer joy when performed well, the characters are strong, the plot clear and direct. It also has an undercurrent of wistful sadness, to give texture and depth to the jolly japes. The "Youth's a stuff will not endure" song is especially moving.

In fact, I would go as far as to say I would prefer to see a performance of this comedy even above one of Shakespeare's famous tragedies. Who wouldn't rather spend a couple of hours in the company of Sir Toby and Viola rather than with the vacillating Hamlet or self pitying Lear?

Magical
As an actress, this is, in my opinion, the best of Shakespeare's plays. With beautiful poetry, hilarious characters, humour that sparkles with dark undertones, and above all an identifiable, thoroughly likeable heroine, 'Twelfth Night' still resonates with audiences all over the globe. (Excuse the pun).