Twelfth Night: Context (Edexcel GCSE English Literature)
Revision Note
Written by: James Alsop
Reviewed by: Kate Lee
Twelfth Night: Context
Twelfth Night historical context
Shakespeare plays dating from before April 1603 are considered Elizabethan as they were written and performed at the time Queen Elizabeth I was on the English throne. Twelfth Night was written in approximately 1602 and is therefore an Elizabethan comedy.
Elizabeth I was an avid fan of the theatre, and Shakespeare often wrote his plays with his royal audience in mind: it benefitted him to flatter the most powerful — and richest — members of his audience.
Twelfth Night social context
It is important to view Twelfth Night in the context of contemporary attitudes and ideas. Below are some typical beliefs of an Elizabethan audience:
Puritanism
The Puritans were a religious group known for their strict moral and spiritual discipline:
They dressed plainly, usually in black, and disapproved of drinking and public entertainment
They were often connected to the wealthy merchant classes and were thus considered to be hypocritical
They condemned theatre and other such entertainments because they believed they had a corrupting influence:
They abhorred the levels of sex and violence in plays
They were scandalised by boys cross-dressing as women, and the kinds of sinful behaviours that this practice could promote
In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare uses the character of Malvolio to pastiche puritanical beliefs:
Malvolio is believed to be a caricature of the unpopular Sir William Knollys, the Controller of Her Majesty’s Household
To Shakespeare’s general audience, the character would have represented Puritans in general
Malvolio made such an impression on the Elizabethan audience that Twelfth Night was sometimes given the title “Malvolio” in subsequent performances
How this links to the play Twelfth Night | |
Pastiche of Puritanism | Malvolio represents the puritanical attitudes that a pleasure-seeking Elizabethan audience would have been predisposed to hate. He is mistreated throughout the play, with Olivia remarking that he has been “notoriously abused”, but there is a marked lack of sympathy for him from anybody else. |
Hypocrisy of Puritanism | Malvolio reveals his hypocritical nature the instant that he reads the letter that he believes is from Olivia: he imagines himself rising above his station, abusing others, and he proceeds to wear outlandish clothing. As such, the audience would have derived much satisfaction from seeing his downfall, and his final threat of revenge effectively forestalls any sense of pity for him. |
Gender and Sexuality
Elizabethan society was patriarchal, despite being ruled by a female monarch:
Elizabeth I famously legitimised her reign through careful rhetoric establishing that she embodied a god-given spirit of kingship that transcended her female body
“I have the heart and stomach of a king”, she told troops at Tilbury, Essex, prior to their defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588
Men were expected to be dominant, loyal to their kingdom and monarch, and were believed to be superior to women both mentally and physically
Assertive women, such as those represented by Viola and Olivia, were considered a threat to the natural social order:
It is unsurprising, then, that even the most independent and capable female characters in Shakespearean drama tend to revert eventually to the status quo:
Viola, for example, ridicules gender norms by impersonating a man, but her female identity is eventually reinstated and she is content to be led by Orsino in Act 5, Scene 1
It was not until 1660 that women were permitted to act on the stage:
Before this date, all female roles in drama (including Viola, Olivia, and Maria) were played by young boy actors
It is therefore difficult to argue that even characters such as the cross-dressing Viola represent a truly progressive attitude towards gender and sexuality
Homosexuality, or any deviation from heterosexual norms, was considered sinful:
However, intense “friendships” between members of the same sex (and especially between high-society men) were open secrets in the courts of Elizabeth I and James I
Cross-dressing, like female assertiveness, was considered as an affront to the natural patriarchal order:
This was a key reason why Puritans (represented in Twelfth Night by Malvolio) disapproved of theatre
How this links to the play Twelfth Night | |
Gender roles | Shakespeare’s positive portrayal of Viola suggests that assertiveness in a woman is not always a threat to the patriarchy. However, while Viola’s cross-dressing breaks down some of the social gender distinctions between men and women, the Elizabethan audience would have been aware that Viola was played by a young boy. Shakespeare therefore plays on this theatrical context to create humour through dramatic irony. Moreover, the status quo is restored at the play’s end, and Viola ceases to usurp male power by entering into an apparently conventional relationship with Orsino. |
Homosexuality | While homosexual desire is hinted at in Olivia’s and Orsino’s feelings for the cross-dressed Olivia, and also by Antonio’s intense loyalty to Sebastian, the play does not overtly endorse same-sex relationships. Instead, it is likely that the Puritans, represented by Malvolio, were intended to be the target of the blatant jokes involving gender confusion, with the cross-dressing humour a response to puritanical attitudes towards the theatre. |
The Feast of the ‘Twelfth Night’
Twelfth Night was written to be performed at the culmination of the Christmas season during the “Twelfth Night” festivities on 6 January 1602:
In the Christian calendar, it is known as the Feast of Epiphany and commemorates the coming of the Magi to the stable in Bethlehem
The festival was also known as the “Feast of Fools”, and would have been celebrated by Queen Elizabeth I and her court with a banquet and entertainment:
Invitees presumably included the Lord Chamberlain, who financed Shakespeare’s company
The celebrations traditionally involved ridiculing the establishment, especially the Church
How this links to the play Twelfth Night | |
Twelfth Night as a festive play | Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night has nothing to do with the Epiphany. Instead, its alternative title, What You Will, refers to the festive associations of the Twelfth Night, and marks the play as entertainment for a special occasion. Twelfth Night’s combination of romantic comedy, satire, and slapstick would have been the perfect complement to the festive revelry. The characters of Sir Toby and Feste in particular embody the joie de vivre that defined the “Twelfth Night” festivities: Sir Toby and his accomplices embrace bacchanalian pleasures, while Feste impersonates a priest to mock Malvolio, and expounds a carpe diem approach to seizing love. |
Twelfth Night literary context
Twelfth Night is a Shakespearean comedy. Knowing this — and that an audience would also have certain expectations when watching a comedy — can help to elevate your analysis of Shakespeare’s choices as a playwright.
The conventions of a comedy
Twelfth Night adheres to the following conventions of an Elizabethan romantic comedy:
Convention | In Twelfth Night |
1: Stock characters | Stock characters in comedies include:
As these elements were so common, they helped Shakespeare’s audience to engage with the story. They also helped Shakespeare to surprise the audience by occasionally having his characters behave in unusual ways, such as when Malvolio dresses ridiculously, or when Viola marries the “wrong” twin |
2: Slapstick and physical comedy | Much slapstick humour is generated by Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek (whose names are themselves jokes) and their cronies. They speak in prose, and use bawdy language and sing songs designed to appeal to the working class audience. Their drunken behaviour in Act 2, Scene 3 would have involved much physical comedy, as would the scene where Sir Andrew and Cesario prove themselves to hopelessly inept duellers |
3: Mistaken identity | Twelfth Night is a maelstrom of confusion. Disguises and mistaken identities lead to Viola being loved by a woman while she loves a man who assumes she is a boy, making both relationships apparently impossible. Moreover, Viola and Sebastian are repeatedly mistaken for one another, and Malvolio falls for Maria’s letter impersonating Olivia. The audience is always aware of the truth, and this dramatic irony makes the audience feel superior to the chaotic characters on the stage |
4: Wit and wordplay | Language is frequently a source of humour in Twelfth Night, including punning, irony, wordplay and jokes. Moreover, language is often open to misinterpretation in ways that contribute to the play’s chaotic atmosphere. The audience is usually aware of the true meanings behind innuendos and equivocating comments when the characters are not, such as when Viola (as Cesario) informs Orsino that she is “all the daughters of my father's house, / And all the brothers too”. The audience knows what Orsino does not realise: that she is subtly revealing her true sex |
5. Mocking courtly love | Courtly love is a medieval tradition of love that emphasises a kind of noble, non-physical, chivalrous romance between a knight and a noblewoman. Orsino’s behaviour parodies the tradition: his hyperbolic obsession with Olivia, his indulgence in lovesickness, and his preference for wooing Olivia through a messenger rather than in person, shows that he is more attached to the idea of being a courtly suitor than actually being in love |
6. A comic resolution, usually involving marriage | Order is restored in the final scene when the confusions are cleared up and everyone’s identities are revealed. Chaotic elements including Sir Andrew and Malvolio are brought back under control, and the social hierarchy is restored. The final series of marriages creates a sense of happiness leading to a jubilant conclusion capped by a final song.
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Do you get marks for context in Twelfth Night?
For both the extract and essay questions in Eduqas examinations, examiners point out that “while aspects of context will always be relevant to the questions set, there are no AO3 marks awarded in the Shakespeare questions”. Top-band answers will instead show detailed understanding of the themes, main ideas, settings, and events in Twelfth Night as well as an understanding of how an audience might respond to the play. Discussions of these elements can, however, be enhanced by judicious references to context.
Be careful, then, to not waste valuable time in your exam by needlessly reciting historical knowledge. Instead, use your knowledge and understanding of certain contextual influences to add depth to your analysis. This will help you to demonstrate an “perceptive understanding of the text” (AO1) by making “assured references to meanings and effects” (AO2).
Eduqas-specific tip
Examiners praise students who have an awareness of the form of a text. Twelfth Night is a drama in the romantic comedy genre, so it is important that you signal to the examiner that you know this by referring to the audience (not the reader). This is particularly important in the extract-based questions, which tend to ask students to discuss how “an audience might respond”. Examiners point out that this type of question is an invitation to consider how any audience might respond to events in an extract, not exclusively an Elizabethan one.
Some things you could discuss in relation to form and genre include:
Understanding that Twelfth Night is a play, so is performed on stage and has an audience:
Any discussion of dramatic irony or foreshadowing is valuable
Any discussion of characters who are visible on stage but not necessarily speaking (for example, Viola is silent at the play’s end, which may be a sign that her masculine assertiveness has disappeared now that her true identity has been restored)
References to the wider “Twelfth Night” festivities of which the play was a part
Acknowledging that Twelfth Night is a Shakespearean comedy:
Acknowledgment of how a modern audience might be more inclined than an Elizabethan one to question the happy ending, particularly in light of Viola’s silence and Malvolio’s mistreatment
Mentioning the comedy conventions that Shakespeare includes
Being conscious that an audience would know that they are watching a comedy, and so would have certain expectations:
For example, they would have anticipated a happy resolution and the eventual marriages of the key romantic pairings
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