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juushikaI should be doing work. I don't want to; am gathering my forces for a meeting with, well, my Shakespeare prof. It was an interesting weekend which I doubtless will record more of later. Regardless: book review thing.
Title: Twelfth Night
Author: Shakespeare
Published: The Norton Shakespeare, W. W. Norton & Company, New York: 1997
Pages: 61
Total pages: 227
Text number: 3
Read for: Shakespeare course
In brief: One of Shakespeare's last "pure" comedies, Twelfth Night is about a gender-switching, powerful young woman, her romances, and the entanglement of identities that first causes conflict and finally leads to a marriages and an all-over life-affirming end.
I find it difficult to review fiction read in class because my view of the fiction becomes tainted by said class. However, I will try. Please ignore the horribly cliché summary. I'm in a rush and, well, it mostly worked.
In terms of plot, Twelfth Night is about a twin, Viola, who washes up on foreign soil after a shipwreck, believing her near-identical twin brother to be dead. She disguises herself as a man in order to find work and ultimately serves the Duke, whom she then falls in love with, precipitating a love-triangle between herself, the Duke, and the woman that the Duke is courting. Eventually, as in any Shakespeare comedy, everyone turns out to be live and well, and everyone is soon after paired off to be wed.
On a more thematic level, Twelfth Night is a study of identity: that is, the relationship between appearances and reality, and how the two interact. Viola is the most obvious example of the theme, taking on the role of a man and then falling in love with a man. Love, too, is shown in terms of appearances and identity: the Duke's apparent, desperate love for a Countess, and Viola's actual, sincere love for the Duke. Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare's final plays to focus so closely on the nature of identity, and he goes all out in his attempt through the classic character of Viola, a young boy playing the role of a woman pretending to be a man. Shakespeare's effort is thought-provoking and much more polished than in some of his earlier plays (such as The Comedy of Errors).
Any and all problems with the course aside, this play is a worthwhile read (and I can say from experience, even more entertaining when performed). The characters are deceivingly complex, the dialogue and plot exceptionally witty, and the underlying themes of the play to provoke contemplation. I'm not a big fan of comedies but I happen to rather like this one, myself.
Title: Twelfth Night
Author: Shakespeare
Published: The Norton Shakespeare, W. W. Norton & Company, New York: 1997
Pages: 61
Total pages: 227
Text number: 3
Read for: Shakespeare course
In brief: One of Shakespeare's last "pure" comedies, Twelfth Night is about a gender-switching, powerful young woman, her romances, and the entanglement of identities that first causes conflict and finally leads to a marriages and an all-over life-affirming end.
I find it difficult to review fiction read in class because my view of the fiction becomes tainted by said class. However, I will try. Please ignore the horribly cliché summary. I'm in a rush and, well, it mostly worked.
In terms of plot, Twelfth Night is about a twin, Viola, who washes up on foreign soil after a shipwreck, believing her near-identical twin brother to be dead. She disguises herself as a man in order to find work and ultimately serves the Duke, whom she then falls in love with, precipitating a love-triangle between herself, the Duke, and the woman that the Duke is courting. Eventually, as in any Shakespeare comedy, everyone turns out to be live and well, and everyone is soon after paired off to be wed.
On a more thematic level, Twelfth Night is a study of identity: that is, the relationship between appearances and reality, and how the two interact. Viola is the most obvious example of the theme, taking on the role of a man and then falling in love with a man. Love, too, is shown in terms of appearances and identity: the Duke's apparent, desperate love for a Countess, and Viola's actual, sincere love for the Duke. Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare's final plays to focus so closely on the nature of identity, and he goes all out in his attempt through the classic character of Viola, a young boy playing the role of a woman pretending to be a man. Shakespeare's effort is thought-provoking and much more polished than in some of his earlier plays (such as The Comedy of Errors).
Any and all problems with the course aside, this play is a worthwhile read (and I can say from experience, even more entertaining when performed). The characters are deceivingly complex, the dialogue and plot exceptionally witty, and the underlying themes of the play to provoke contemplation. I'm not a big fan of comedies but I happen to rather like this one, myself.
