Twelfth Night, or What You Will (1601) – Romantic Comedy – William Shakespeare

1. Twelfth Night, or What You Will was written around 1600-1602 (18)
2. Plot element drawn from the short story “Of Apollo and Silla” by Barnabe Rich, based on a short story by Matteo Bandello.
3. Firat recorded performance was on 2 February, 1602, at Candlemas, the formal end of Christmastide in year’s calender.
4. Characters:
   1. Viola: Twin Sister of Sibastian. A ship wrecked young lady who disguisses herself as a page named Cesario.
   2. Sibastian: Twin brother of Viola
   3. Cesario: Viola in disguise of a eunuch
   4. Orsino: Duke of Illyria
   5. Olivia: A rich Illyrian lady
   6. Malvolio: The steward in Olivia’s household.
   7. Feste: The clown/fool
   8. Sir Toby Belch: Olivia’s uncle
   9. Fabian: Sir Toby’s friend
   10. Sir Andrew Aguecgeek: Sir Toby’s friend
   11. Maria: Olivia’s maid
   12. Antonio: A sailor and friend to Sebastian
   13. Valentine and Curio: gentlemen attending on the Duke
5. Quotations:
   1. Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit – Feste, Act I, Scene V
   2. Sometimes, the smartest people are the biggest fools, and the foolish people are the wittiest ones –
   3. Some are born great, some achieve greatness with time, and some have greatness thrust upon them!