WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: TWELFTH NIGHT

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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: TWELFTH NIGHT
 
 
 

 
 
 
AUTHOR’S BACKGROUND
 
William Shakespeare was born in 1564 at Stratford-on-Avon to John and Mary Shakespeare.  He was educated at the free grammar school, Stratford, and got married to Anne Hathaway in 1582. Around 1585, Shakespeare moved his family to London to settle. It is conjectured that he was a schoolmaster at Stratford, but when he got to London he worked in some subordinate capacity in one of the two existing theaters in London (the Theater and the Curtain). By 1592, William Shakespeare had become an actor and a playwright.

 
Before he abandoned dramatic composition, Shakespeare had written thirty-seven plays and one hundred and sixty sonnet and poems. He left London in 1611 for Stratford where he had built an estate and permanently settled until his death in 1616. It has been remarked that ‘William Shakespeare is indisputably the greatest dramatist and poet that England, and probably the world has ever produced. 
 
THE PLOT
 
Twelfth Night is a comedy. It is also known by the title, What You Will. The play is approximated to have been written in 1599 and produced probably between 1600 and 1601.
 
The play is about the story of a look-alike twin brother and sister, Sebastian and Viola respectively. The twins are traveling on the sea and their ship capsizes. Antonio, a sea captain, saves the lives of the twins from the shipwreck, but because they are not brought to the sea-cast at the same time, they became separated, and each person thinks the other person is drowned and dead.
 
Viola is brought to the sea-coast at Illyria, where Ollivia, a rich countess, lives. Antonio also brings Sebastian to Illyria but it is not to either of the twins that they are both in Illyria. Now Orsino, Duke of Illyria, has a great interest in Ollivia. However, Ollivia refuses to be loved because she has vowed to mourn the death of her brother in confinement for seven years. Orsino takes Viola, who now disguised as a young man by the name Cesario, to work for him.

 
Because of the fact Viola and Sebastian are so identical, particularly with Viola disguising as a man, there are a few cases of mistaken identity. The Duke of Illyria, Orsino engages Cesario (Viola) to serve as a go-between between himself and Ollivia whom he dearly loves, but Viola is seriously in love with Orsino, though she cannot disclose this as a result of the disguise. On the other hand, Ollivia is interested in Viola (Supposed to be a man).
 
The resolution of the issue of mistaken identity comes about when finally the two identical persons meet and reveal their true identities. At the end, the Duke of Illyria marries Viola who hitherto disguised as a gentleman, while Ollivia marries Sebastian out? Who has been mistaken for Cesario.
 
CONTEXT QUESTION
 
Choose the correct answer from the opinion given.
And so is now, or was so very late;
For but a month ago I went from hence,
And then t’ was fresh in murmur….
 
1.     Who made the above statement?
(a)  Viola         (b) Curio       (c) Sir Toby Belch   (d) Captain

2.     To who is the speech addressed?
(a)  the Duke             (b) Viola        (c) Ollivia      (d) Valentine

3.     Who is being talked about?
(a)  the Duke             (b) Ollivia      (c) Sebastian            (d) Viola

4.     What is the first line of the statement above referring to?
(a)   the shipwreck              (b) the death of Ollivia’s brother
(c) The bachelorhood of Orsino                         (d) the music in the Duke’s palace

5.     Where is this discussion taking place?
(a)  the sea-coast     (b) the Duke’s palace (c) Ollivia (d) a Street

6.     What was then fresh in murmur?
(a)  the bereavement of Ollivia    (b) the Duke’s love for Ollivia     (c) the bachelorhood of Orsino     (d) the shipwreck

What is to be said to him, lady?
He’s fortified against any denial.

7.     Who makes the above speech?
(a)  Fabian     (b) Maria      (c) Malrolio  (d) the Duke

8.     Who is being addressed?
(a)  The gentlewoman        (b) Viola        (c) Ollivia      (d) Maria

9.     Who is the fortified person?
(a)  Viola         (b) the Duke                        (c) Captain    (d) Valentine

10.                        Where is this speech made?
(a)  A room in the Duke’s palace (b) Ollivia’s house  (c) the gate of Ollivia’s house (d) the kitchen in Ollivia’s house

11.                        What is the person being denied?
(a)  Love         (b) audience            (c) entrance             (d) recognition

Then, let thy love be younger than thyself,
Or thy affection cannot hold thy bent
For women are as roses, whose fair flower,
Being once display’d, doth fall that very hour.

12.                        What figure of speech is used in the above statement?
(a)  Metaphor           (b) Simile      (c) Irony        (d) litotes

13.                        Which of the following figures of speech is not used in the above expression?
(a)  Assonance          (b) alliteration         (c) personification  (d) irony

14.                        Who makes the above statement?
(a)  The Duke                        (b) Valentine            (c) Curio        (d) Captain

15.                         To who is the statement made?
(a)  The Duke                        (b) Viola        (c) Clown      (d) Ollivia


   
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