TWELFTH NIGHT.
Everything you need to know about William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night – synopsis, characters, quotes, previous productions and more
Probably written between XXXX and XXXX, Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. It is set XXXXX. The play is a SSSS and explores themes of XXXXX.
This page includes everything you need to know about the play – if you’re looking to browse and buy tickets to current productions, head over to What’s On.
Pictured above: Twelfth Night in 2017, directed by Emma Rice, photography by Hugo Glendinning.
SYNOPSIS
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WRITING THE PLAY
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CHARACTERS
Viola
Sebastian’s twin sister, disguises as Cesario
Orsino
The Duke of Illyria, in love with Olivia
Olivia
An Illyrian countess
Sebastian
Viola’s twin brother
Malvolio
Olivia’s steward / servant
Feste
Olivia’s clown / jester
Sir Toby
Olivia’s uncle
Maria
Olivia’s maid
Sir Andrew Aguecheek
Knight and Sir Toby’s friend
Antonio
Sea captain and Sebastian’s rescuer
Fabian
Olivia’s servant
Valentine
Duke Orsino’s attendant
Curio
Duke Orsino’s attendant
Sea Captain
KEY QUOTES
If music be the food of love, play on
– Orsino, Act I, scene 1
What country, friends, is this?
– Viola, Act I, scene 2
I have unclaspd
To thee the book even of my secret soul
– Orsino, Act I, scene 4
Better a witty fool than a foolish wit
– Feste, Act I, scene 5
Disguise, I see thou art a wickedness
– Viola, Act II, scene 2
Dost thou think that because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?
– Sir Toby Belch, Act II, scene 3
Journeys end in lovers meeting
– Feste, Act II, scene 3
My father had a daughter loved a man
As it might be, perhaps, were I a woman
I should your lordship
– Viola, Act II, scene 4
Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em
– Malvolio, Act II, scene 5
Cesario, by the roses of the spring,
By maidhood, honor, truth, and everything,
I love thee so, that, maugre all thy pride,
Nor wit nor reason can my passion hide.
Do not extort thy reasons from this clause,
For that I woo, thou therefore hast no cause,
But rather reason thus with reason fetter.
Love sought is good, but given unsought better
– Olivia, Act III, scene 2
If this were played upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction
– Fabian, Act III, scene 4
I’ll be revenged on the whole pack of you
– Malvolio, Act V, scene 1
I’ll sacrifice the lamb that I do love,
To spite a raven’s heart within a dove
– Orsino, Act V, scene 1
One face, one voice, one habit, and two persons,
A natural perspective, that is and is not!
– Orsino, Act V, scene 1
Cesario, come;
For so you shall be, while you are a man;
But when in other habits you are seen,
Orsino’s mistress and his fancy’s queen
– Orsino, Act V, scene 1
WATCH
GLOBE PLAYER
There are two different videos of past productions of Twelfth Night (2012 and 2017).
These, plus many other plays, are available to rent or buy via Globe Player – they all took place originally in the Globe Theatre.
YOUTUBE
Look back at past trailers, actor interviews, rehearsal room videos and more.
Our Twelfth Night playlist on YouTube includes every video we’ve ever published for previous productions.
BLOGS & PODCASTS
TEACHING RESOURCES
We have a few different databases of free downloads for teachers and students – we’ve collated some top links below.
PLAYING SHAKESPEARE
Teachers can still access our microsite from our 2016 Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank production of Twelfth Night. Navigate Shakespeare’s language, listen to audio interviews, learn about the characters, download free teaching resources and more.
TEACH SHAKESPEARE
There are a wealth of resources available on our Teach Shakespeare website, including video resources and pages about Shakespeare’s Globe’s Original Practices – interviews, reading and general information about our productions in 2002 and 2012.
PAST PRODUCTIONS
Between 2002 and 2021, there have been many different productions of Twelfth Night created by Shakespeare’s Globe.
Some of them were performed here at the Globe Theatre whilst others toured other venues across the world.
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