Twelfth Night Context Flashcards
What was the name of Bright’s book which helped Shakespeare understand treatments of madness?
‘Melancholy’ (1586)
What did Churches believe about insanity?
- ‘mad’ people were possessed
- insanity is a punishment from God for sinning
What type of person was believed to be most prone to becoming insane?
Victims of unrequited love
How does madness overlap desire in Twelfth Night?
Olivia’s desire for Cesario makes her mad.
What is the Twelfth Night celebration?
A Christian festival
- also known as the Eve of the ‘feast of the Epiphany’ and the ‘feast of misrule.’
- at the centre of the feast was a cake with a coin or bean baked into it; whoever received the bean or coin became Lord of Misrule: normally a servant who everyone had to obey
- occurs on January 5th, the twelfth day of Christmas.
- social order is turned upside down
What are the common features of the Twelfth Night celebration?
revelry, drinking, eating, singing and dancing
Puritanism
- extreme Protestantism
- wanted to ‘purify’ the church
- believe CofE was too similar to RCC and should eliminate ceremonies and practices that weren’t rooted in the bible
- felt they had a direct covenant with god to enact these reforms
- hated theatre, claimed secular entertainment distracted people from worshipping god
- saw the act of male actors playing female actors as immoral
- all of equal purity, no bishops. ironic since they felt higher up on christian hierarchy
- Malvolio is portrayed as a killjoy; Shakespeare mocking puritans
Gender
- deeply patriarchal
- women couldn’t choose their husband, their father chose for them or a male relative
- Olivia’s loss of father and brother is significant and her only male relative left is Sir Toby who brings Sir Andrew as a candidate
- Olivia is stubborn in an unladylike way, which is why Orsino is frustrated with her
Great Chain of Being
- 1) King/Queen 2) Clergy 3) Nobility 4) Thrid Estate 5) Outsiders
- everyone has a place in the universe and to step out of that place would bring chaos to the rest of the world
- God would punish whoever stepped out of the hierarchy
- Malvolio and Antonio do not get their happy endings because they tried to move out of their set class in society
Role of the fool
- someone employed to entertain a King/Duke/rich person who needs entertainment
- typically the most insightful and intelligent person in the play
- Feste is an important person in the household and respected by Olivia
- moves freely across households
- reveals truth and wisdom through satire and wit
- outside of class
- the only character who isn’t lovesick
What did Puritans do to theatres in the Civil War?
they shut them down
How were women treated in the Elizabethan era?
treated as possessions and were restricted to certain things not allowing them to be independent, which is challenged in the play
