Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night, also called Twelfth Night, or What You Will, is a play written by William Shakespeare around 1601 set off the coast of Illyria (the Roman name for the modern day Balkans) about two twins, Sebastian and Viola, that are separated after surviving a shipwreck, and the comedic consequences that follow after Viola disguises herself as a male servant.

History

One of the players in the Player King's troupe in 971 was named Malvolio, a name later borne by the puritanical steward of the Countess Olivia's household. ("The Promise")

Two events in the Gargoyles Universe are known to have taken place (albeit coincidentally) on the night of January 5th, a.k.a. Twelfth Night: The first in 1996, when Fang first staged his coup in the Labyrinth, and the second in 1997, when the Redemption Squad infiltrated Eastcheap Isle. ("Kingdom", "Strangers") [1][2]

Real World Background

Twelfth Night resembles the ancient Roman playwright Plautus's Menaechmi. The Latin play from the 3rd Century BC featured twins with mistaken identities, a theme that likely inspired the 1531 Italian play, Gl' ingannati, which might have been a reference for Shakespeare when he wrote Twelfth Night (not to mention an earlier play of his, The Comedy of Errors). [3]

The title itself refers to the Christian celebration of Epiphany. Its first known recorded performance did not take place on Twelfth Night, but a month later on Candlemas in 1602, which in Shakespeare's day marked the end of the Christmas season. The play was included in the First Folio in 1623. [4]

See Also

• Twelfth Night at Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia