ENG 221 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Cross-Dressing, John Donne, Courtly Love
Introduction to Shakespeare:
Twelfth Night
You can picture Shakespeare like this,
or like this. I’ll take this one.
These notes cover the information found on the following pages:
• Introduction to Shakespeare (pg. 1273);
• Introduction to Twelfth Night (pg. 1288);
• Twelfth Night (pgs. 1289-1345)
All of this is found in Volume 1B of the Longman
Anthology of British Literature, 3rd ed.
However, I strongly recommend that you watch
a filmed version of the play, available
everywhere. I especially like this version:
Document Summary
These notes cover the information found on the following pages: or like this. All of this is found in volume 1b of the longman. However, i strongly recommend that you watch a filmed version of the play, available everywhere. The plot of twelfth night, like all of hakespea(cid:396)e"s (cid:272)o(cid:373)edies, is just silliness. Hakespea(cid:396)e"s comedies, cross-dressing, mistaken identities, elaborate pranks that backfire, the pompous being brought low and the humble being elevated. As in (cid:373)ost of hakespea(cid:396)e"s comedies, the world gets turned upside down, which was the favorite device for audiences of the time. I espe(cid:272)iall(cid:455) app(cid:396)e(cid:272)iate this passage f(cid:396)o(cid:373) ou(cid:396) te(cid:454)t(cid:271)ook"s i(cid:374)t(cid:396)odu(cid:272)tio(cid:374) to the pla(cid:455): The play sends up conventions of courtly love, particularly as stylized in the lyric love poetry that was popular among young london men with literary ambition as well as self-dramatizing aristocrats in the elizabethan court.
