Critic quotes Twelfth Night

Lisa Hopkins, Marriage, “Shakespeare habitually….”

Shakespeare habitually disrupts the tradition of marriage.

Lisa Hopkins, Marriage “Despite the traditional view…”

Despite the traditional view that marriage provides comic closure, this is, in fact, rarely achieved.

Walter Kerr, Comedy vs Tragedy “Comedy will speak…”

Comedy will speak of nothing but limitation

Walter Kerr, Comedy vs Tragedy, “In tragedy there is…”

In tragedy there is always hope … comedy occurs when there is no way out

David Bevington, Malvolio “Malvolio is a hypocrite. Secretly he…”

Malvolio is a hypocrite. Secretly he longs for the pleasures of this world and for the authority to control others.

David Bevington, Malvolio, “Malvolio is harshly…”

Malvolio is harshly handled in this unusually satirical play

Emma Smith, Gender, “The early modern theatre was a space of"…”

The early modern theatre was a space of gender transgression and play

Emma Smith, Gender, “The final reunion of the twins suggests that it is…”

The final reunion of the twins suggests that it is gender identity, rather than Romantic love, that is at the heart of the play.

Francois Laroque, Festive Comedy, “Shakespeare stood in defence…”

Shakespeare stood in defence of “old holiday pastimes”

Francois Laroque, Festive Comedy, “Shakespeare’s festive comedies… sanction sexual desire…”

Shakespeare’s festival comedies… sanction sexual desire… praise the wisdom of folly, as constancy and happiness are ultimately proven right

Peter Holland, The twins, “The play becomes, for a family that…”

The play becomes, for a family that has lost a twin son, a wish fulfilment

Peter Holland, The Twins, “Viola is performing Sebastian…”

Viola is performing Sebastian… denying his death by making him alive in her performance

Tiffany Stern, Reversals, “Twelfth Night is all…”

Twelfth Night is all about a world in reverse

Tiffany Stern, Reversals, “People, the play suggests…”

People, the play suggests… could just as easily be their own opposites.

Lilla Grindlay, The ending, “Act 5 has exposed…”

Act 5 has exposed Illyria as a world destabilised by darkness

Lilla Grindlay, the ending, “At the end of the play, Cesario is still on the stage…”

At the end of the play, Cesario is still on the stage- a blank on whom it would appear both Orsino and Olivia are, in different ways, writing out their own homoerotic desires.

R.W Maslen, Satire, “Comedy was the….”

Comedy was the dramatic form that dealt with commoners

R.W. Maslen, Satire, “Tragedy dealt with…”

Tragedy dealt with times that were safely past… comedy dealt with the dangerous present

Lynne Magnusson, Language, “Punning repartee is…”

Punning repartee is in itself a mainstay of Shakespearean comedy

Lynne Magnusson, language, “the comedies are remarkable for their…”

the comedies are remarkable for their frequent representations … of women’s language as competent, eloquent, fluent, witty or powerful

Emma Smith, Gender, “The play constantly…”

The play constantly teases us with gendered layers

Emma Smith, Gender, “dressing in the clothes of the opposite sex creates a … X…. a transgression to the binary distinctions of the conventionally organised world…”

Dressing in the clothes opposite sex creates a third category … a transgression to the binary distinctions of the conventionally organised world. It is a suggestion that Twelfth Night seems to embrace”

Emma Smith, Gender, “Twelfth night, then, emerges from and…”

Twelfth Night, then, emerges from and participates in a lively debate about gender roles.

Emma Smith, Gender, “casting femininity not as a natural state… but as a collection of …”

Casting femininity not as a natural state… but as a collection of gestures and behaviours and costume,”

Emma Smith, Gender, “Right to the end, then, Twelfth Night plays…”

Right to the end, then, Twelfth Night plays with gender fluidity

Peter Holland, twins, “But I am completely sure that Twelfth Night… is a “

But I am completely sure that Twelfth Night … is a yearning fantasy

Cathy O’Neill, Feste, “Feste is much more of a…”

Feste is much more of a revenge figure whose role in the downfall of Malvolio is deliberate and clever.

Tiffany Stern, Reversals, “This then, is a play not only about Gender reversals…”

This then, is a play not only about gender reversals … but also about sexual reversals.”

Tiffany Stern, Reversals, “These songs reverse Feste’s puns and jokes,”

These songs reverse Feste’s puns and jokes, but, more powerfully, threaten the play’s narrative thrust.

Lilla Grindlay, the ending, “Orsino may weep… in the charmed world of Illyria, but he clearly needs"

Orsino may weep… in the charmed world of Illyria, but he clearly needs cold, hard cash to fund his life of self inflicted melancholy and indulgence.

Lilla Grindlay, Ending, “Malvolio is the play’s most famous prisoner… his imprisonment is …”

Malvolio is the play’s most famous prisoner … his imprisonment is arguably the darkest moment in the play, not least because the audience has enjoyed laughing at his pompous behavior”

Lilla Grindlay, Ending, “Ilyria is a world where…

Illyria is a world where characters can easily be left high and dry. (relates to the departure of Malvolio and the rejection of Sir Andrew by Toby)

Lilla Grindlay, ending, “Marriage is a necessary ingredient of comedies of this nature, a ratifying of societal order … The play’s failure…

Marriage is a necessary ingredient of comedies of this nature, a ratifying of societal order… The play’s failure to dissolve the character of Caesario problematises this

-(not part of the quote but the caesario bit is more relating to how it goes against marriage typically being only heterosexual)