Rating: 
Summary: Romantic Comedy "Twelfth Night"
Review: "Twelfth Night" is one of the famous romantic comedy written by William Shakespeare. Many critics said, "Twelfth Night" is the masterpiece among his comedy because his fully developed style and insight are in the "Twelfth Night", so it has special value and attractiveness.
There are four main characters in "Twelfth Night" ; Duke Orsino, Olivia, Viola, and
Sebastian. Duke Orsino who lives in Illyria loves Olivia, so every day he send one of
his servant to Olivia's house for proposal of marriage. However, every time Olivia
refuses his proposal for the reason that she lost her brother before long, so she is now
in big sorrow and can not love anyone. One day, Viola comes into Illyria. She and her
twin brother Sebastian are separated in a shipwreck and they are rescued by two
different people in two different place, so they think the other one is dead each other.
Viola disguise as a man and become a servant of Duke Orsino, and then she fall in
love with Duke Orsino. But, Duke Orsino loves Olivia and he send Viola whose new
name as a man is "Cesario" to Olivia for proposal. Unexpectedly, Olivia fall in love with
Cesario!! Therefore, love triangle is formed. In the latter scene, Sebastian also come into
Illyria, so the confusion getting worse. However, in the end, all misunderstandings are
solved and Cesario become Viola, so the four main characters find their love.
There are also four supporting characters in "Twelfth Night" ; Clown, Sir Toby Belch,
Malvolio, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek. They make the readers laugh through their funny
behaviors and comments in subplot.
"Twelfth Night" is very funny story and enjoyable book, so I recommend you.
Rating:
Summary: I would give it five stars, but. . .
Review: . . . to really achieve its full potential, this play needs to be acted out on stage. Still, highly excellent, involving twins, cross-dressing, love tangles, sword-fighting, secret marriages, music, disguises, mistaken identities, high speech, and lowbrow humour. The entire play takes place in Illyria. In the main plot, Orsino is in love with Olivia, who unfortunately does not return his feelings. Viola is shipwrecked on the Illyrian coast, and dressed as a boy, comes to serve in Orsino's court, where she of course falls in love with Orsino. Meanwhile, in Olivia's court, some of her courtiers plan a cruel--but funny--practical joke against her pompous steward Malvolio. There is also a third plot later on involving Viola's twin brother Sebastian, who has been shipwrecked likewise. Naturally things get quite confusing, but, true to Shakespeare's comedic style, everything gets worked out in the end. This is an enjoyable book to read, and the notes are very helpful. However, it is still better as a performance.
Rating: 
Summary: Pleasantly Funny
Review: Although this comedy lacks the hilarious tone of "The Comedy of Errors" or the superb construction of "Much Ado About Nothing," it is still a pretty good play. The play begins seriously enough when after an accident at sea, Viola is looking for her lost brother. She disuises herself as a man and offers her service to Orsino. The humour is well drawn when Olivia falls in love with Viola's male disguise. Also, there is some strong comedy when Viola makes some characters angry and her brother Sebastian (who resembles Viola's male identity) suffers the consequences. But the play also has some really touching moments. Viola as a man faces the hard task of assisting Orsino in his persuit of Olivia, even though she wants Orsino for herself. Shakespeare ofcourse manages to resolve everything and offer us a happy ending. If you read this, knowing not to expect Shakespeare's best, you will probably find this very pleasant.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Shakespearean Comedy
Review: As a high school student reading Twelfth Night, I find it one of the finest Shakespearean comedies. It is the story of two twins, Viola and Sebastian, who become shipwrecked and land on the island of Illyria, both thinking that the other is dead. It includes a classic example of mistaken identities, in which Viola disguises herself as a man (in order to work for Orsino) and is confused with Sebastian. Sebastian is mistaken for Cesario (Viola's fake identity) by Sir Toby and Sir Andrew, and then by Olivia, resulting in their marriage. Sebastian's friend Antonio mistakes Viola for Sebastian and is thrown in jail when Viola claims she doesn't know him. These cases of mistaken identity create a comical mess that is only resolved when Viola and Sebastian appear together, and everyone understands what has happened. The mistaken identities in this plot also create a complex love triangle between Orsino, Olivia and Viola. Viola finds herself falling for Orsino, who she woks disguised as Cesario. Orsino sends her to tell Olivia that he is in love with her. Viola does as her employer wishes, and Olivia falls in love with Cesario. While all this is going on, the reader is entertained with Sir Andrew's hopeless attempts to woo Olivia, and with the trick played on Olivia's head servant Malvolio by Sir Toby and Maria, Olivia's uncle and servant woman. While it can be confusing to keep track of characters true identities, it is definitely a worthwhile play. Having seen the play before actually reading it, I felt this comedy was just as entertaining and enjoyable to read as to see acted on stage.
Rating:
Summary: This is the best Shakespeare play on audio ever
Review: Each of the Harper/Caedmon Audio series of Shakespeare's plays, originally recorded in the 60s by the Shakespeare Recording Society and now being reissued on cassette, lives up to a high standard of performance. But the "Twelfth Night" recording is, in my view, the best. The stellar cast includes a young Vanessa Redgrave as Olivia, and a hilarious Willoughby Goddard as Sir Toby. The scenes where Paul Scofield as Malvolio is deceived with a forged letter into thinking that Olivia loves him have a side-splitting humor that comes through even though the play is nearly 400 years old. The sound quality is excellent. I would have to say that this is the crown jewel of the whole Caedmon series.
Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: Hello friends,
This Compact Disc of one of Shakespeare's most beautiful plays is absolutly fantabulous. I listened to it every night while reading the book and I still listen to this wonderful play. It makes me giggle. P.s haritha is queertastic. This is also a good cd, for lazy people like Mollie who don't know how to read shakespeare. Haritha is still queertastic.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely one of my favorites!
Review: I didn't read this particular version of Twelfth Night, so I'm rating the plot, not the editing. This book was the first play by Shakespeare that I read, and I loved it! It starts when Viola and her brother, Sebastian, are seperated in a shipwreck. Viola decides to disguise herself as a boy and work for Orsino, the duke. Orsino sends Viola to tell Olivia that he loves her. Viola does what he says, but she wishes she didn't have to, because she has fallen in love with Orsino! Then Olivia falls in love with Viola, thinking that she is a boy. While all this is going on, Andrew Aguecheek is wooing Olivia, who scorns him. Also, Maria, the maid, Sir Toby Belch, Olivia's uncle, and another servant write a letter and put it where Malvolio, a servant, will see it. The letter says that Olivia is in love with Malvolio. Malvolio immediately starts trying to woo Olivia. Maria and Sir Toby pretend to think that he's mad, and lock him up. Meanwhile, Sebastian comes to town with Antonio, the man who saved him from the shipwreck. Antonio gives him his purse and says that he must stay away from the city because he fought against the duke in a war. A few minutes later, Antonio realizes that he needs money for lodgings and goes to find Sebastian. In the city, Viola is being forced to fight Andrew Aguecheek for the right to marry Olivia. Antonio sees the fight and hurries to intervene. Orsino recognizes him and has him arrested. Antonio asks Viola for his purse so that he can pay bail, thinking that she is Sebastian. Viola denies having had a purse. Then Sebastian comes up. Olivia had found him and married him on the spot, and he, deliriously happy, had gone away to give Antonio his purse. On the way, he met Sir Toby and Andrew Aguecheek. When they try to force him to fight, he punches them and goes on. They come up too, bitterly accusing Viola. (No one has seen Sebastian yet.) Then Olivia comes up and speaks to Viola, who denies being her wife. Orsino becomes angry with her, thinking that she has married Olivia, and accuses her of treachery. Just as things are looking bad for Viola, Sebastian reveals himself. Then everyone is happy (since Orsino falls in love with Viola on the spot) except Andrew Aguecheek and Malvolio, who is later set free. The plot of this book is a little hard to understand, but it is halariously funny and makes for happy reading.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Book
Review: I thought that this was a good book and the only reason that I gave it 4 stars was because it was so hard to understand. It is a great story about love and disguises, and it is also very funny.
Rating:
Summary: Shakespeare Underneath The Hyperbole
Review: I've read a lot of Shakespeare in high school: Romeo and Juliet as a freshman, Taming of the Shrew as a sophomore, Othello as a junior, and now Twelfth Night as a jaded, cynical senior. Jaded because Shakespeare was often introduced to me as a thing regarded to be classic, but its status left unexplained, or the reason I should put up with 16th century language for it. "Shakespeare," Mrs. Sherwin- my horrible freshman literature teacher- said in her annoying, melodramatic voice, "is important to all understanding of English literature." "You haven't started learning English literature until you've read Shakespeare." And I was forced to act out Romeo, a herbswoman, and, at one time, Juliet in the version Mrs. Sherwin put on for the rest of the class.
I picked up Twelfth Night because I wanted to see a Shakespeare not bent on destruction, a Shakespeare not on the edge of death and a 15th century view of humanity. Mrs. Kelley told me it was a comedy, that I'll "love it," and that it will change my perspective on Shakespeare, identity, and people. "This play is one that people think Shakespeare didn't write," she said, "because it's so empowering of women." And it is.
The plot is rather simple: A ship capsizes off the coast of Illyria, an island between Greece and Italy. Two fraternal sibilings, a woman and a man, both presume each other to be lost, dead, or caught away in the waves and at the bottom of the sea. The woman, Viola, is saved by the Captain who brings her to shore and then to the Duke of Illyria. She is instantly smitten by him and decides to dress up as a man, Cesario, in order to become his servant and eventually woo him. But the Duke, Ursino, has another lady love, Olivia, and send Cesario to woo her; Olivia falls in love with Cesario. Mistaken identity leads to two mismatched couples. Adding to the troubles is the fact that many other suitors are after Olivia, including the affable Sir Andrews, a drunk soldier whom, realizing Cesario's status with Olivia, wants to kill Cesario. And Olivia, who chases Cesario even though he constantly says, "I am not what you think I am." The plot thickens and thickens, until the rich, incredible climax with the thought-provoking resolution.
Mistaken identity is the obvious theme behind this book, but the more mysterious and subtle theme is clearly women. Women are empowered in this novel to fend off their weak, drunk, boorish men. Olivia charms all around her; Cesario (Viola) is a social climber, and Maria (Olivia's maid) manages to manipulate people with such skill that even a modern man is forced to chuckle and be amazed. And even without a theme, this book is funny! There are many instances of wordplay, and I always found myself enchanted and occasionally, unfortunately, beguiled by the characters. This is the original Confederacy of Dunces, and a play that shows Shakespeare for what he really was underneath mounds of hyperbole by bad English teachers: A funny, funny man.
Read it; love it. Two thumbs up for Twelfth Night.
Rating:
Summary: what you will is right
Review: like 'as you like it', i watched two versions of 'twelfth night' and didn't think much of it. the main love story between orsino and viola was ininspired - it made me yawn. the only humor in the play comes from the secondary story of sir toby and his clownish friends, espcially malvolio, the conceited butler. yellow garters! that was a hoot. but viola and orsino? no. especially orsino, who is a wimp and no match for viola. viola herself, while a pretty good female character, is no rosalind. and so it goes. i need to read this play to see what the fuss is about. but based on two viewings, i can't rate this any better than 3 stars.
|
