How to Read Twelfth Night (Pre-Play Preparation) (Patreon)

Welcome to one of Shakespeare's greatest, and perhaps cruellest, comedies. 

In Twelfth Night, or What You Will, we are shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria where we hope to heal the division within ourselves.

This comedy is a lyrical celebration of love and the natural world. And today we're discussing how best to approach it.

Video Timestamps:

• 0:00 why is this a unique play?
• 3:40 is Twelfth Night a comedy?
• 4:00 four kinds of comedy
• 6:30 expression & curation
• 9:32 how to read Twelfth Night
• 10:00 what does ‘comedy’ mean?
• 11:26 release to clarification
• 12:30 play as festive experience
• 14:00 Shakespeare vs puritanism
• 15:00 comedy & the natural world
• 16:00 comedy vs tragedy
• 17:51 Elizabethan sumptuary laws
• 18:23 two areas to focus on
• 20:00 the healing of the sexes
• 21:00 the poetry of Twelfth Night
• 21:40 Feste, the fool of the play
• 23:00 ‘it raineth every day’
• 25:00 the blazon in poetry
• 26:11 recommended adaptations
• 27:10 questions for you to ponder

📚Recommended Editions:

• Arden - Twelfth Night: The quality of the introduction and notes in the Arden series makes this a premium resource for lovers of Shakespeare.
• Oxford World's Classics: For a slimmer, more portable, single edition of Shakespeare's plays, I have found the Oxford World's Classics series to be an invaluable resource (great for marginalia too).

🎙️Recommended Adaptations:

• This brilliant BBC radio drama (2013) with David Tennant as Malvolio is my personal favourite. All of the cast have done such a tremendous job, and I would hold this one up as a great one to listen to whilst reading.
• Trevor Nunn's 1996 film might interest you. Nunn is a great adaptor of Shakespeare, and Helena Bonham-Carter performs her role very well as usual.
• Charles Kent's 1910 black-and-white film condenses the play into around ten minutes and is well worth a watch for cinephiles. 

🎼 Musical Appreciation:

• Alfred Deller's 'Hey, ho, the wind and the rain' is intensely beautiful and haunting. You can listen to it here. 
• Ben Kingsley delivers his rendition of Feste's song in Trevor Nunn's film version here. 

Questions to think about:

1) Where does Twelfth Night rank among Shakespeare's comedies for you? And do you think it's a cruel comedy?

2) Who are your favourite fools in Shakespeare thus far? And why?

3) How are you introducing some festivity into your life this season?

Happy reading, everybody!