Twelfth Night
Education Pack
Pack written and compiled
by Will Wollen
Propeller Theatre Company Ltd
Highfield · Manor Barns ·
Snowshill · Broadway · Worcs
WR12 7JR
Tel:01386 853 206
www.propeller.org.uk
Contents Page
About Propeller
p. 3
To Teachers
p. 4
Production Credits
p.5
Synopsis
p. 6
William Shakespeare
pp. 7-8
Inspiration for the Story
p. 9
Duologue Exercise
p. 10
The Puritans
p. 11
The Principal Characters
pp. 12-13
Discovering a Character
pp. 14-15
What means this lady?
p. 16
I am not what I am
pp. 17-18
2
About Propeller
Propeller is an all-male Shakespeare company which seeks to find a more
engaging way of expressing Shakespeare and to more completely explore the
relationship between text and performance. Mixing a rigorous approach to the
text with a modern physical aesthetic, they have been influenced by mask
work, animation and classic and modern film and music from all ages.
Productions are directed by Edward Hall and designed by Michael Pavelka.
Lighting is designed by Ben Ormerod.
Propeller has toured internationally to Australia, China, Spain, Mexico, The
Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Cyprus, Ireland, Tokyo, Gdansk,
Germany, Italy, Malta, Hong Kong and the U.S.A.
As our times have changed, so our
responses to Shakespeare’s work have
changed too and I believe we have become
an ensemble in the true sense of the word:
We break and reform our relationships using
the spirit of the particular play we are
working on.
Edward Hall
We have grown together, eaten together,
argued and loved together. We have toured
all over the world from Huddersfield to Bangladesh. We have played in
National theatres, ancient amphitheatres, farmyards and globe theatres. We
have been applauded, shot at and challenged by different audiences
wherever we have gone.
We want to rediscover Shakespeare simply by doing the plays as we believe
they should be done: with great clarity, speed and full of as much imagination
in the staging as possible. We don’t want to make the plays ‘accessible’, as
this implies that they need ‘dumbing down’ in order to be understood, which
they don’t. We want to continue to take our work to as many different kinds
of audiences as possible and so to grow as artists and people. We are hungry
for more opportunity to explore the richness of
Shakespeare’s plays and if we keep doing this with rigour and invention, then
I believe the company, and I hope our audiences too, will continue to grow.
Edward Hall, Artistic Director.
3
To Teachers
This pack has been designed to complement your class’s visit to
see Propeller’s 2012/13 production of Twelfth Night, on national
and international tour.
Most of the pack is aimed at A-level and GSCE students of Drama
and English Literature in the UK, but some of the sections, and
suggestions for classroom activities, may be of use to teachers
teaching pupils at Key Stages 2, 3 & 4, while students studying in
other countries and those in higher education may find much of
interest in these pages.
The production is being toured alongside Propeller’s production of
The Taming of the Shrew; Roger Warren and Edward Hall’s essay I
am not what I am, exploring the relationship between the two
plays, can be found on page 17. There is also a separate
education pack relating to The Taming of the Shrew which can be
downloaded from the Propeller website.
While there are some images, the pack has been deliberately kept
simple from a graphic point of view so that most pages can easily
be photocopied for use in the classroom.
You can also find video clips, trailers and other resources on our
YouTube channel at youtube.com/PropellerVideo and follow the
company on tour by keeping up with our blog:
propeller.org.uk/blog
Your feedback is most welcome. You can make any comments on
our Propeller Theatre Company facebook page or by email to
[email protected] .
Workshops to accompany the production are also available.
I hope you find the pack useful.
Will Wollen
Education Consultant
Propeller
4
Twelfth Night Production Credits
DIRECTED by Edward Hall
DESIGNED by Michael Pavelka
LIGHTING by Ben Ormerod
MUSIC by Propeller
SOUND by David Gregory
TEXT adapted by Edward Hall & Roger Warren
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Dugald Bruce-Lockhart
PROPELLER
Artistic Director - Edward Hall
Executive Producer - Caro MacKay
Development Manager - Cathy Baker
Marketing and Publicity - Clair Chamberlain & Stephen Pidcock at The
Cornershop pr
Propeller’s Board of Trustees
James Sargant (Chairman), Lydia Cassidy, Gillian Chimes, Susan Foster,
Andrew Hochhauser QC, Lynne Kirwin, Jodi Myers, Peter Wilson MBE DL,
5
Synopsis
Orsino, a duke in a land called Illyria, is in love with Lady Olivia. Lady Olivia, however, is in mourning for
her dead brother and refuses to consider any suitors.
Off the coast of Illyria a storm has wrecked a ship and washed ashore a young woman called Viola. She
had been travelling with her twin brother, Sebastian, and assumes that he has been drowned in the
wreck. Viola decides to look for work and a sea captain tells her about Orsino and Lady Olivia. To gain
employment with Orsino she decides to disguise herself as a man, taking on the name of Cesario. Her
plan is successful and she begins work in Duke Orsino’s household.
Viola (disguised as Cesario) quickly becomes a favourite of Orsino, who makes Cesario his page. Matters
become more confused when Viola falls in love with Orsino, who, of course believes her to be a man, and
sends her to deliver his love messages to Olivia who, in turn, also falls in love with Cesario/Viola, also
believing him to be a young man.
Meanwhile, we meet the other members of Olivia’s household: her drunkard uncle, Sir Toby Belch and his
foolish friend, Sir Andrew Aguecheek (who is also trying to court Olivia), together with Feste, the clown
of the house. Sir Toby has designs on Maria, Olivia’s feisty companion. Together the four of them make
life hell for Malvolio, the prudish, puritanical steward of Olivia’s household who disapproves of their
carousing and makes every attempt to spoil their fun.
Maria, with the help of Sir Toby, Feste and Sir Andrew orchestrates a trick to make Malvolio think that
Olivia is in love with him. She forges a coded letter, supposedly from Olivia, telling Malvolio that if he
wants to earn her favour, he should dress in yellow stockings and crossed garters, act haughtily, smile
constantly, and refuse to explain himself to anyone. Malvolio finds the letter, deduces as intended that it
is addressed to him, and, filled with dreams of marrying Olivia and becoming noble himself, happily
follows its strange commands, making Olivia believe that he is mad.
So - Viola loves Orsino; Olivia loves Cesario, and Orsino, Malvolio and Sir Andrew love Olivia…
Meanwhile, Sebastian, Viola’s identical twin brother who is still alive, but believes his sister Viola to be
dead, arrives in Illyria along with his friend, Antonio. Antonio has cared for Sebastian since the shipwreck
and is passionately attached to the young man — so much so that he follows him to Orsino’s domain, in
spite of the fact that he and Orsino are old enemies.
Sir Andrew, observing Olivia’s attraction to Cesario (still Viola in disguise), is goaded by Sir Toby into
challenging Cesario to a duel, but Sir Andrew and Sir Toby end up coming to blows with Sebastian,
thinking that he is Cesario. Olivia enters and asks Sebastian to marry her, also thinking that he is Cesario.
The confused Sebastian accepts, not knowing why this wealthy beautiful woman should want to be his
wife. Antonio is arrested by Orsino’s officers and now begs Cesario for help, mistaking him for Sebastian.
Viola denies knowing Antonio, and Antonio is dragged off, crying out that Sebastian has betrayed him.
Suddenly, Viola has newfound hope that her brother may be alive.
Malvolio’s supposed madness has allowed the gleeful Maria, Toby, and the rest to lock Malvolio into a
prison for his treatment, and they torment him at will. Feste pretends to be a priest called Sir Topas, and
pretends to examine Malvolio, declaring him insane. Eventually they allow Malvolio to send a letter to
Olivia, in which he asks to be released.
Meanwhile Viola (still disguised as Cesario) and Orsino make their way to Olivia’s house, where Olivia
welcomes Cesario as her new husband, thinking him to be Sebastian, whom she has just married. Orsino
is furious, but then Sebastian himself appears on the scene, and all is revealed.
The siblings are joyfully reunited, and Orsino realizes that he loves Viola, now that he knows she is a
woman, and asks her to marry him. Sir Toby and Maria have also married. Finally, someone remembers
Malvolio and lets him out of the dark room. The trick is revealed in full, and the humiliated Malvolio
storms off, leaving the happy couples to their celebration.
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William Shakespeare
The person we call William Shakespeare wrote some 37 plays, as well as
sonnets and full-length poems; but very little is actually known about him.
That there was someone called William Shakespeare is certain, and what we
know about his life comes from registrar records, court records, wills,
marriage certificates and his tombstone. There are
also contemporary anecdotes and criticisms made
by his rivals which speak of the famous playwright
and suggest that he was indeed a playwright, poet
and an actor.
The earliest record we have of his life is of his
baptism, which took place on Wednesday 26th April
1564. Traditionally it is supposed that he was, as
was common practice, baptised three days after his
birth, making his birthday the 23rd of April 1564 – St George’s Day. There is,
however, no proof of this at all.
William's father was a John Shakespeare, a local businessman who was
involved in tanning and leatherwork. John also dealt in grain and sometimes
was described as a glover by trade. John was also a prominent man in
Stratford. By 1560, he was one of the fourteen burgesses who made up the
town council. William's mother was Mary Arden who married John
Shakespeare in 1557. They had eight children, of whom William was the
third. It is assumed that William grew up with them in Stratford, one hundred
miles from London.
Very little is known about Shakespeare’s education. We know that the King’s
New Grammar School taught boys basic reading and writing. We assume
William attended this school since it existed to educate the sons of Stratford
but we have no definite proof. There is also no evidence to suggest that
William attended university.
On 28th November 1582 an eighteen-year-old William married the twenty-sixyear-old Anne Hathaway. Seven months later, they had their first daughter,
Susanna. Anne never left Stratford, living there her entire life.
Baptism records reveal that twins Hamnet and Judith were born in February
1592. Hamnet, the only son died in 1596, just eleven years old.
At some point, Shakespeare joined the Burbage company in London as an
actor, and was their principal writer. He wrote for them at the Theatre in
Shoreditch, and by 1594 he was a sharer, or shareholder in the company. It
7
was through being a sharer in the profits of the company that William made
his money and in 1597 he was able to purchase a large house in Stratford.
The company moved to the newly-built Globe Theatre in 1599. It was for this
theatre that Shakespeare wrote many of his greatest plays, including, in
1611, The Winter’s Tale.
In 1613, the Globe Theatre caught fire during a performance of Henry VIII,
one of Shakespeare’s last plays, written with John Fletcher, and William
retired to Stratford where he died in 1616, on 23rd April.
Chris Myles as Maria, Jason Baughan as Toby Belch, and Tony Bell as Feste
in Propeller’s 2006 production of Twelfth Night at The Old Vic.
8
Inspiration for the Story
Turnover of plays was very rapid in Shakespeare’s time and there
was considerable pressure on playwrights to produce new
entertainments for their audiences. Copyright restrictions were not
what they are today and writers freely recycled characters and
plots. The first recorded performance of Twelfth Night was on 2nd
February 1602, but it is thought that it may have been written for
an earlier occasion at the court of Elizabeth I. Different elements
of the play can be traced to different influences.
Twins
Plays concerning the confusion caused by twins had been very
popular in the 16th century – notably Shakespeare’s own
Comedy of Errors and an Italian comedy called Gl’Ingannati (The
Deceived). It is likely that Shakespeare’s most important source
was a story by Barnaby Riche called Apolonius and Silla; it
contains many of the elements of Twelfth Night: a shipwreck,
twins, and the girl’s passion for a duke. It is also worth bearing
in mind that Shakespeare was writing for a particular acting
company which had a pair of twins as members. Disguise and
mistaken identity are regular themes in his work too, and
feature in, among others, The Taming of The Shrew, Comedy of
Errors, Measure for Measure, and As You Like It.
Puritans
The character of Malvolio is described as a “puritan” in the play.
Puritans wielded a great deal of power in the Elizabethan City of
London; they hated the playhouses and regarded them as places
of sin. Twelfth Night firmly lampoons the behaviour of the
puritans in the figure of Malvolio, and it would have been a
delight for many of the playgoers to see a puritan get his
comeuppance.
Location
Many of Shakespeare’s plays were set in foreign countries. This
was, of course, partly to indulge in escapism for the audience,
but it might also have been very prudent to set the play far
away from London, given the treatment of puritans. It would
have been unwise for Shakespeare to tempt censorship by
making Malvolio too easily identifiable as a London puritan.
Having said that, he does include a local reference in the play:
“In the south suburbs at the Elephant is best to lodge,” says
Antonio to Sebastian. In the south suburbs of London, not far
from The Globe Theatre, there was indeed a pub called the
Elephant. As well as being a good in-joke for his audience, it’s
possible that this is an early example of product placement!
9
Duologue Exercise
OLIVIA
I prithee, tell me what thou think’st of me.
VIOLA
That you do think you are not what you are.
OLIVIA
If I think so, I think the same of you.
VIOLA
Then think you right: I am not what I am.
OLIVIA
I would you were as I would have you be!
VIOLA
Would it be better, madam, than I am?
I wish it might, for now I am your fool.
Get into pairs and read the dialogue aloud together. Remember that at
this point Olivia thinks that Viola is a boy. Then try repeating the last few
words of the previous line before you say your line.
For example:
OLIVIA: I prithee, tell me what thou think’st of me.
VIOLA: Think’st of you? That you do think you are not what you are.
OLIVIA: Not what I am? If I think so, I think the same of you.
VIOLA: You think the same of me! Then think you right: I am not what I
am.
This is a great exercise for listening and can really help you put energy
and focus into the lines. When the scene is really focussed, go back to
the original text without repetitions but try and maintain the same
energy.
Try the scene in different moods – are they making friends? How much
higher status is Olivia? – How nervous is Viola/Cesario? – How
predatory and/or flirtatious is Olivia?
10
The Puritans
The Puritans were a Protestant religious faction and the term ‘puritan’ came
into general usage at the end of the reign of Queen Mary and the start of the
Elizabethan era. Puritans wanted a reformed and plain church. This strict
religious view spread to encompass many social activities within England
moving to a stricter code of conduct which deplored any kind of finery or
flippant behaviours. The Puritans abhorred the Globe Theatre and playgoing
in general. Unfortunately for William Shakespeare and his colleagues, they
also wielded huge power in the City of London.
The theatres were also used for bear baiting, gambling and for other
‘immoral’ pursuits. They appealed to young people and many apprentices
were said to have been lured to the theatres instead of working. The crowds
attracted thieves, gamblers, pick-pockets, beggars, prostitutes and all kinds of
rogues. Puritans were worried about the rise in crime and the bawdy nature
of some of the plays, fighting, drinking not to mention the risk of the spread
of Plague in large crowds. They also objected strongly to the practice of men
dressing up as women. So it was particularly suitable in Twelfth Night to
humiliate Malvolio, a puritan, in a play full of cross-dressing! Typically,
Puritans wore dull colours and the idea of one wearing yellow cross garters
would have been ridiculous…
In 1642 the English Parliament issued an ordinance suppressing all stage
plays in the theatres. The Globe theatre fell into disuse and in 1644 the
landlord demolished it to make way for more profitable housing.
An extract from “The School of Abuse” by Stephen Gosson (1554 – 1624):
Playes are the inventions of the devil, the offrings of Idolatrie, the pompe of
worldlinges, the blossomes of vanitie, the roote of Apostacy, the foode of
iniquitie, ryot, and adulterie, detest them.
Playes are masters of vice, teachers of wantonnesse, spurres to impuritie, the
sonnes of idlenesse, so longe as they live in this order, loath them.
11
The Principal Characters
Orsino
Orsino is in love. He says he is in love with Olivia, but he is at
least as much in love with the idea of being in love. He delights
in focussing upon his own emotions, preferring to send a page
to Olivia than to visit her himself. He accepts extraordinarily
quickly her marriage to Sebastian. As Feste puts it: “Now the
melancholy god protect thee; and the tailor make thy doublet of
changeable taffeta, for thy mind is a very opal.”
Olivia
Olivia acts very quickly and decisively when she wants
something, falling in love at first sight with Viola, and securing
Sebastian with deft determination. Like Orsino she can indulge
in her emotions, and her self-imposed mourning for her dead
brother can rapidly be dispensed with when another, more
involving, emotion comes along. Despite her impulsiveness, her
vanity ensures that she maintains dignity at all times.
Viola
Viola is one of Shakespeare’s most generous heroines, agreeing
to plead to Olivia on behalf of Orsino. In Propeller’s production
she is played, as she would have been in Shakespeare’s time, by
a man, giving double entertainment in her disguise. Her
disguise eventually brings as much benefit as it does confusion:
“Prove true, imagination,
O prove true...”.
Malvolio
Malvolio’s
humourlessness does
not fit easily into the
frivolity of Illyria, and
while he is
sanctimonious he shows
no hypocrisy in his own
behaviour and seems
worthy of the trust that
Olivia places in him. It is
simply his powerful
vanity that trips him up.
If Olivia and Orsino
indulge in love, then
Malvolio indulges in selflove. Many people have
regarded him as the
central character of the
play – in fact, Charles I
called the play
“Malvolio”!
12
Simon Scardifield and Jason Baughan as
Sir Andrew and Sir Toby in the 2006
production
Maria
Maria is well-educated and we are told that she is attractive in
both mind and body: “As witty a piece of Eve’s flesh as any in
Illyria.” She is less dignified than Olivia, though well-bred, and
she is the brains behind the letter which is Malvolio’s undoing.
Toby Belch Sir Toby’s drunkenness provides
For discussion: Compare the
much of the contrast to the
treatment of Malvolio and Sir
refined atmosphere surrounding
Andrew. They are both mocked.
How does their treatment differ?
Orsino and the dignity of Olivia.
And in life as well as drink he
doesn’t know when to stop. It is Toby who demands that
Malvolio should be put in a dark room and tied up, after the
initial trick has worked, and it is he who persuades Sir Andrew to
challenge his rival to a duel. Despite his relentless and unfeeling
abuse of Sir Andrew he manages, like the
For discussion: Choose any
puppet Punch, to provide much of the
two characters from the play.
comedy of the play. In his drunkenness he
What are their views of love?
achieves moments of pithy brilliance: “Dost
How do they differ? Do their
thou think, because thou art virtuous, there
attitudes change?
shall be no more cakes and ale?”
Sir Andrew Timid, ridiculous, imbecilic, Sir Andrew is a perfect foil for Sir
Toby. He is a perpetual victim, with the occasional heartbreaking flash of self-aware lucidity: “Methinks sometimes I
have no more wit than a Christian or an ordinary man has, but I
am a great eater of beef and I believe that does harm to my
wit.”
Feste
Like all of Shakespeare’s clowns, Feste is given licence to say
things that would be intolerable if said by anyone else. We
don’t learn much about him during the play, and perhaps he is
the most philosophical character on the stage, whether singing
the final song or noting how “the whirligig of time brings in his
revenges.”
13
Discovering a character
Many regular theatre-goers will have seen more than one, and sometimes
many, different productions of Twelfth Night. Why bother?
Well, when Shakespeare wrote the play, he only actually wrote the words that
the characters say, and when they come on and off stage. But every time an
actor plays a part he or she has to make innumerable decisions about exactly
what their character is doing and why. And because every actor is different,
their decisions and choices will be different, too. So we return to the theatre
again and again to see new versions of the same story, filled with new
interpretations and performances.
The person who knows the character best is usually the actor who is playing
him or her.
You can discover the character through the EVIDENCE that Shakespeare
gives you in the text.
And...
You can use your IMAGINATION to fill in the gaps.
Evidence Case Study – Malvolio
The evidence – what do we know about Malvolio?
He is steward to Olivia - Maria: “If my lady have not called up her steward Malvolio...”
Other people in the play describe him like this:
sad and civil... sick of self-love... poor fool (Olivia);
churlish (Viola);
virtuous... a rogue (Sir Toby);
a scab... rogue... brock (Sir Andrew)
a kind of Puritan... a time-pleaser... an affectioned ass... the best persuaded of himself,
so crammed (as he thinks) with excellencies... the trout that must be caught with
tickling... it is his grounds of faith that all that look upon him love him... a gull... pedant
(Maria);
A rare turkey-cock (Fabian)
14
Character Exercise 1: Choose a character from the play. Write down
everything we know about him or her. Make sure it is fact and you can back
up everything with evidence from Shakespeare’s text. After all, it’s the only
hard evidence we’ve got!
Character Exercise 2: Try and answer
the following questions about your character
(where you can’t use evidence you’ll need to
use your imagination and make a choice):
What do they want most?
What do they fear most?
Which other character in the play are they
most comfortable with?
Which other character in the play are they
most attracted to?
Which other character in the play do they
like least?
To which other characters do they feel
superior?
How old are they?
How would they describe themselves?
What are they good at?
What do they like least about themselves?
How would they like their lives to have
changed in ten years’ time?
Do they have any secrets?
What makes them laugh?
Tam Williams as Viola and
Johnny Flynn as Sebastian in the
2006 production
Character Exercise 3: Write a short biography of the life of your character
before the play starts. Use what evidence you have, but you’ll have to make
up the rest!
Character Exercise 4: In small groups ask each other lots of questions
about your character. Try and ‘be’ the character – so ask questions “Do
you...?” rather than “Does he/she...?", and answer them in the first person.
Try not to say “I don’t know”; if your character would know the answer then
you do too – just make it up! Talk about it afterwards - did you manage to
stay within the world of the play? – did you make any decisions that might be
helpful if you were the actor playing that part?
15
What means this lady?
Speech exercises
I left no ring with her: what means this lady?
Fortune forbid my outside have not charm'd her!
She made good view of me; indeed, so much,
That sure methought her eyes had lost her tongue,
For she did speak in starts distractedly.
She loves me, sure; the cunning of her passion
Invites me in this churlish messenger.
None of my lord's ring! why, he sent her none.
I am the man: if it be so, as 'tis,
Poor lady, she were better love a dream.
Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness,
Wherein the pregnant enemy does much.
How easy is it for the proper-false
In women's waxen hearts to set their forms!
Alas, our frailty is the cause, not we!
For such as we are made of, such we be.
How will this fadge? my master loves her dearly;
And I, poor monster, fond as much on him;
And she, mistaken, seems to dote on me.
What will become of this? As I am man,
My state is desperate for my master's love;
As I am woman,--now alas the day!-What thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe!
O time! thou must untangle this, not I;
It is too hard a knot for me to untie!
VIOLA (II, ii)
This speech comes from Act Two,
scene two. Viola is alone on stage.
5 mins Read the speech.
5 mins In groups remind
yourselves of where the speech
comes in the play. Is Viola
speaking to herself? The audience?
Which two other ‘people’ does she
speak to?
10 mins In one large group read
the speech in a circle, taking one
line each, finding and emphasising
its bouncing iambic rhythm. (If you
run out of lines start again until
everyone has done one.) Bounce
with your knees as you do it. It
should feel vigorous. Try it with
everybody clapping once together
between each line. Do it until the
group is really good at keeping the
rhythm.
5 mins Still in the circle, each
person chooses what they feel is
the most important word in their
line. Don’t spend long thinking
about it – go with your gut instinct!
Go round the circle again, still
bouncing, but this time really
emphasise the important word.
5 mins Group reflection. What does using the rhythm give to the speech? Are there lines which roll
more easily off the tongue than others?
10 mins Everyone finds a space in the room. At a word from the teacher everyone starts reading the
speech aloud. Without shouting the louder the better! Every time the student reaches a punctuation
mark they have to walk/run to another place in the room and then read the next bit up to the next
punctuation mark. (Important – no speaking while walking or running! Anyone caught doing this can
be sent back to the beginning of the speech...)
10 mins In pairs read the speech slowly. One reading and one listening. The listener should repeat
words that have anything to do with anything female or womanly. Then swap over. This time the
listener can repeat words that are in any way negative (e.g. enemy, desperate, weakness). What other
types of words crop up a lot? Try the exercise focusing on words like “I”, “me”, “my”.
10 mins Reflection. Punctuation marks are a way that writers use of dividing up thoughts. Which of
Viola’s thoughts are short and quick? Which are longer? What does this tell us about Viola’s mental and
emotional state? What might the words she uses tell us about her?
16
‘I AM NOT WHAT I AM’:
The Taming Of The Shrew and
Twelfth Night
by Edward Hall and Roger Warren
Shakespeare probably wrote The Taming of the Shrew in 1590–1, at the very
start of his career, and Twelfth Night in 1601, when he was at the height of
his powers, at roughly the same time as Hamlet; but both comedies are about
love, marriage, transformation, and deceptions that reveal truth.
The main action of the Shrew is in effect the dream of Christopher Sly, the
drunken tinker who is persuaded that he is a lord:
Or do I dream, or have I dreamed till now?
I do not sleep: I see, I hear, I speak.
I smell sweet savours, and I feel soft things.
This interestingly anticipates the language of Sebastian in Twelfth Night when
Olivia, mistaking him for his twin, declares her love for him:
What relish is in this? How runs the stream?
Or am I mad, or else this is a dream.
Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep.
If it be thus to dream, still let me sleep.
But Sly’s dream, as reflected in the Petruchio/Kate story, is harsher than
Sebastian’s romantic match with Olivia: in one way, Petruchio’s career is Sly’s
wish-fulfilment about marriage; but in another way it is unnerving, since
Petruchio is a man who marries without thinking.
The Taming of the Shrew is a cruel play. Kenneth Tynan, reviewing a
production at Stratford in 1960, said that he found it ‘a more inhuman play
than even Titus Andronicus, since it argues (as nobody in Titus does) that
cruelty is good for the victim’. Cruelty is built into the play: the abuse has to
be taken seriously — and even the self-abuse. For there is an ironic reversal:
Petruchio comes to understand more about himself than Kate about herself.
His father has died, and he aims to marry for, and into, money:
I come to wive it wealthily in Padua;
If wealthily, then happily in Padua.
But he learns about himself during the taming process. He is vulnerable,
afraid of what he might see if the looked into the mirror: ‘I am not what I
am’, as Viola puts it in Twelfth Night. When he meets Kate, he falls in love
with her, as his language makes clear. However mocking, his images draw on
17
the natural world, as Shakespeare always does when he wants to express
truth of feeling:
Kate like the hazel twig
Is straight and slender, and as brown in hue
As hazelnuts, and sweeter than the kernels.
And Kate? Does she fall for him? The equality of their wit-combats suggests
so — in which case their marriage is a negotiated, rather than an imposed,
peace. Certainly the author of A Shrew saw it like that. In lines that do not
occur in the Folio text, Kate says, after their first encounter,
Yet I will consent and marry him,
For I methinks have lived too long a maid,
And match him, too, or else his manhood’s good.
But if her capitulation is negotiated, why does Petruchio proceed with the
shrewtaming? Perhaps it is part of his growing-up process; and her final
speech reflects what a woman needs to say about her role in a particular
society. And here, her father’s attitude is crucial. Kate’s shrewishness arises at
least in part from the clear favouritism that Baptista shows towards Bianca —
which makes life difficult for Bianca too. If she seems a manipulative minx or
Kate a shrew, then maybe their father’s treatment has made them so.
Shakespeare takes traditions — the aggressive tamer, the tamed shrew, the
commercial society with its marriages for money — and exposes them for
what they are. Sly’s dream is a fantasy based on social truth: men discovering
how they treat women.
These things become more complex in Twelfth Night. In Illyria, people are
one thing in public, another in private. No-one has fulfilled themselves in love:
they all crave it, but no-one fully achieves it, except for the twins, whose
reunion is the most beautiful thing in the play. But perhaps there’s a
beginning for Orsino and Olivia — because of their contact with Viola. Into
their claustrophobic world comes Viola, who proceeds to turn that world
upside down. The two outsiders (and the central characters), Viola and Feste,
hold up mirrors to the other characters. Feste knows everything, sees through
everyone: he penetrates Viola’s disguise, criticizes Orsino’s love-melancholy,
exposes the excesses of Olivia’s grief; and Viola awakens, brings to the
surface, the potential for emotional fulfilment in Orsino and Olivia. The gender
reversals are important for this. We are more specific about gender labels
than Shakespeare, or the Elizabethans in general, were. When the characters
are pretending to be other than they are, they are most themselves. As Helen
Gardner says of Shakespearian comedy in general, ‘by misunderstandings
men come to understand, and by lies and feignings they discover truth’.
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