Twelfth Night (Folger Shakespeare Library)
by William Shakespeare
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recommends it for:
16 And Up
I ADORE THIS play! Well, I adore all of shakespeare's plays, but this ranks as my favorite!! :D READ IT! :D
Synopsis:
"Illyria, the setting of Twelfth Night, is important to the play's romantic atmosphere. It is an ancient region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea covering parts of modern Croatia, Montenegro and Albania. Illyria is mentioned in one of the source plays for Twelfth Night, Plautus's Menæchmi, as a place where, as in Twelfth Night, a twin went looking for his brother...more
Synopsis:
"Illyria, the setting of Twelfth Night, is important to the play's romantic atmosphere. It is an ancient region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea covering parts of modern Croatia, Montenegro and Albania. Illyria is mentioned in one of the source plays for Twelfth Night, Plautus's Menæchmi, as a place where, as in Twelfth Night, a twin went looking for his brother...more
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Read in September, 2007
'Noche de Reyes' es divertida y está envidiablemente escrita, con una estructura perfecta. Pero todas y cada una de las comedias de Shakespeare son así. Y a pesar de todo, no consiguen llegarme. Pero 'Noche de Reyes' me ha llegado. ¿Por qué? Muy sencillo, porque además de ser divertida, tiene un pozo de tristeza, porque hay dos personajes que sufren de verdad, porque están terriblemente enamorados de verdad. Son Viola y Antonio. Viola está tan enamorada del Duque Orsino y Antonio está ta...more
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Starts out with a bang with that great speech by Duke Orsino (“If music be the food of love, play on. . . .”) and goes on to a zany linguistic feast of your usual cross-dressing, mistaken identity, bawdy humor, and extremely hasty marriages (no one dates first in Shakespeare and then marries).
As with many of his comedies, “Twelfth Night” ends with some unsettling stuff: after being treated cruelly for much of the play, Malvolio swears revenge on all involved; Aguecheek was conned all...more
As with many of his comedies, “Twelfth Night” ends with some unsettling stuff: after being treated cruelly for much of the play, Malvolio swears revenge on all involved; Aguecheek was conned all...more
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
Shakespeare Lovers
Twelfth Night, a Romantic Comedy that was written by the late William Shakespeare has to be one of his best works. This romantic Comedy deals and relates to real life events, as people in life hides there identities so that others won't know there true inner self. For example, Viola played a character in the name of Cesario in Twelfth Night. She had true feelings for one Orsino but couldn't express her feelings because of her disguise being a man. Her disguise instead was to help Olivia hook up ...more
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Read in September, 2006
It's no Romeo and Juliet or A Midsummer Night's Dream, but I still enjoyed Twelfth Night. I think possibly my favorite character is Maria, who unfortunately fades into the background by the end of the play. Honestly, I feel a bit silly reviewing a Shakespeare play. I imagine, as far as drama goes, it's quite good. But drama isn't my thing. For the most part, I felt as if t...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
Shakespeare fans & queer theorists
I read this play after watching (and loving) the movie She's The Man. I know it wasn't as much an adaptation as "inspired by" and how! It wasn't as funny as i expected it to be, not in the farcical sense that many of the mistaken identity (Comedy of Errors) or cross-dressing plays (As You Like It) are.
My favorite aspect of the play was how absolutely GAY it was. It really questioned what attracts one person to another and makes the audience wonder at why we presume that wom...more
My favorite aspect of the play was how absolutely GAY it was. It really questioned what attracts one person to another and makes the audience wonder at why we presume that wom...more
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
Everyone
Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy play which has the biggest turn around ever. Being a person who likes comedy I can say that this is the best on I have read. Shakespeare is a very good author I have also read Macbeth, The Tempest, Julius Ceaser and lastly Romeo & Juliet. He brings the best out of situations and puts them all together in a work of literature that is worth the while. In this play Viola thinks that her brother is dead and meets the duke of the city she is in named Orsino ...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
Yes
This book is full of hidden identites. The main character Viola thinks she has two sides. Though she is a girl she is disguised as a guy. What is ironic is that she looks like her twin brother who she thought died in a ship wreck. You could say she dress this way to feel closer to him. Every in the book has some form of a disguises whether it be literal or figurative. From this book I learned that every ones outer appearance can be decevieving. This book is full of hidden identites. The main ch...more
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recommends it for:
anyone who is lookinf for a quick and easy read
I think that Twefth Night was one of the most entertaining books that I have read in English III so far. In Shakespeare writing style, he is able to keep the reader wanting and guessing on what’s going to happen next. He writes in confusion but in a way that if the reader stays with the book, they will be able to understand perfectly. He makes the whole play full of puns and comical events that wouldn’t happen in real life. I think that this romantic-comedy was such an enjoyment because of...more
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Read in October, 2003
As other reviewers have said, plays are meant to be performed, not read... Or, at least, performed and <i>then<i> read later on, huddled up in a corner whilst reminiscing about the amazing feat of acting that you were just privy to. Either way, I adore Twelfth Night primarily because I was able to see several productions of it soon after reading it; I was already invested in the characters, and seeing them brough to life only f...more
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Read in March, 2002
recommends it for:
Shakespeare people, duh
The only reason this gets four and not five stars is that we're rating on the scale of Shakespeare to Shakespeare, and I think that there is some awkwardness in this one in terms of the conclusion; where everyone goes and how they get to it. There are also some very thin plot devices that annoy me.
However, that being said, I love this play. I played Mariah in it in high school, and it was one of the most fun things I've been in. It can be played for laughs, or for the dark side. The movie ve...more
However, that being said, I love this play. I played Mariah in it in high school, and it was one of the most fun things I've been in. It can be played for laughs, or for the dark side. The movie ve...more
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I wish I could've seen what performances of this play were like in Shakespeare's time. Since women couldn't be on stage, men had to play the women's roles, which means that the guy playing Viola had to also dress up as a man while acting like a woman.
You have to wonder if the audience ever really knew what was going on. I'll bet you anything you like that some form of the following conversation took place in the Globe Theater at one point:
GROUNDLING 1: Wait, wasn't that guy playing a girl? ...more
You have to wonder if the audience ever really knew what was going on. I'll bet you anything you like that some form of the following conversation took place in the Globe Theater at one point:
GROUNDLING 1: Wait, wasn't that guy playing a girl? ...more
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Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare is an astounding play written in about the 1600's is about a young woman Viola, who dresses up as a man to find work after a tragic shipwreck, who falls in love with the Duke Orsino. Throughout the play the reader comes across characters who are witty and charming while others are grim and monotonous. This play although set in Shakespearean times is a wonder for everyone who likes romantic comedies. This play has many twists and turns which have...more
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone
love is hard to find in a different place.Twelfth Night is about one mans love for a woman of a different estate.Viola who lose's her brother on a boat tries to help relieve Olivia's pain.Viloa works as Orsino's messenger to take information to Olivia. Olivia falls for Viola disguised as a man. Sebastian Viola's brother did not die coming to find Orisno's court/home is assisted by Antonio a former worker of Orsino.Malvolio is in love with Olivia and is willing to do anything to have her. Sir To...more
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For me as a man of theatre, reading a play is kind of ”one man performance”, and totally different experience compare to the very same plays performance at theatre or in film form. I consider them as three different versions of one story.
این نمایش نامه با نام "شب دوازدهم یا هرچه بخواهی" توسط علاء الدین پازارگادی به فارسی برگردانده شده و توسط بنگاه ترجمه و نشر کتاب در 1354 چا...more
این نمایش نامه با نام "شب دوازدهم یا هرچه بخواهی" توسط علاء الدین پازارگادی به فارسی برگردانده شده و توسط بنگاه ترجمه و نشر کتاب در 1354 چا...more
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Twelfth Night is the third Shakespeare play that I have read I would have to say that it is my least favorite. Twelfth Night is about a woman named Viola is shipwrecked on the country of Illyria. She doesn’t know anyone so she decides to dress as her older brother, and work for king Orsino. Well working for a string of love triangles form. Unlike most of Shakespeare’s plays Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy, so if you’re looking for the blood and gore of Macbeth then this isn’t...more
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Read in December, 2007
Twelfth Night was about was about a girl named Viola who dresses up as a man named Cesario because she believes that her brother Sebastian died, by drowning because of a boat wrecking. Viola while landing on a island and being disguised as a man joins the Count Orsino's Army. While becoming friends with the Count Orsino she falls in love with him. But Count Orsino loves a lady named Olivia who falls in love with Viola who she thinks is a man named Cesario. In the end Viola finds out that her bro...more
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The play Twelth Night by William Shakespeare has many different objectives to the theme. Towards the beginning all of the characters seem like they're getting to know each other. But in the middle of the play all the action happens. This is when the characters play tricks on others, party a lot involving getting drunk, disturbing the quiet night etc. The four characters at the center of attention in the end were Viola, Orsino, Sebastian and Olivia. Malvolio, a servant in the house, gets tricked ...more
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This was actually a Shakespeare Made Easy version of Twelfth Night, because I can't get through Shakespeare on my own to save my life. I was always baffled in high school when we were expected to understand the whole culture and euphemisms and jargon of Shakespeare. Because of that I have a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth for reading Shakespeare. The Made Easy version really helped because it said what the characters were doing onstage and translated words and phrases that don't mean now w...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in November, 2007
The book twelfth night written by William Shakespeare is a romantic comedy wher.There is secrets,love,and fierce fighting. The main character Olivia lost her brother and wishes never to be seen by wearing a black vale. This symbolizes how she doesn't want to share her love with any man. But a man who is really a woman by the name of Viola is sent from her boss to Olivia to devulge his true feelings for her. when then Olivia falls in love with Viola but Viola is in love with her boss. which creat...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.98 (5802 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.97 (4964 ratings) number of reviews: 218popular shelves
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""Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them."
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