Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night was by far the most delightful thing I have read in a long time. Since I read As You Like It.

It was glorious. I was genuinely splendid on so many levels. The plot, the characters, the writing style. All of it.

Best Character: Feste. Feste was not only my favorite character in Twelfth Night, but he is definitely one of my all time favorite Shakespearean characters. All throughout the play he was there with something clever to say, and, unlike with Touchstone, I actually *got* his jokes! And he had nice songs to sing, with his beautiful, beautiful voice. He was anything but a 'fool', he really was the wisest person in the play. As Viola put it:

"This fellow is wise enough to play the fool;
And to do that well craves a kind of wit:
He must observe their mood on whom he jests,
The quality of persons, and the time,
And, like the haggard, cheque at every feather
That comes before his eye. This is a practise
As full of labour as a wise man's art
For folly that he wisely shows is fit;
But wise men, folly-fall'n, quite taint their wit."

He was my most favorite character. I also really liked Viola, Sebastian, Antonio, Sir Toby, Fabian, Maria, and well just about everybody.

Worst Character: Malovio. "Overweening rogue." He was rather obsessed with himself, and thought that there was really no way Olivia could not fall in love with him. Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, Fabian, and Maria, all couldn't stand him, and all were very board, to they cooked up this brilliant scheme (It was mostly Maria's doing.) to make Malovio think he was crazy and going mad. (They also had a good deal of help from Feste.) It was really very funny!

In a Word: Delightful.

Rated: PG (Some material may be inappropriate for small children.)

Crowning Moment: Oh, the whole play was just wonderful, every where there were all of these glorious lines. Of course, the very best part was the end where everything fall in place. I really just have to say "Read the play." I really can't do it justice in a blog post. You should just read it.


"If this were played apon a stage now, I would condemm it as an improbable fiction"