Why This Book Matters
Twelfth Night is widely regarded as the greatest of Shakespeare's romantic comedies and marks the culmination of his work in the comic form before he turned to tragedy. It is the play in which Shakespeare most fully explores the relationship between identity, desire, and performance, themes that have made it increasingly central to modern literary and cultural studies. Its influence on subsequent comedy, from Restoration drama to modern romantic comedy, is incalculable.
Firsts & Innovations
One of the earliest and most sophisticated explorations of gender fluidity and the constructed nature of identity in Western literature
Pioneered the use of a female character in male disguise as the central consciousness of a comedy, establishing a template that influenced centuries of romantic comedy
Among the first plays to give a subplot (the Malvolio story) sufficient weight and complexity to challenge the main plot's comic resolution
The play's closing song by Feste is one of the earliest examples of a dramatic epilogue that deliberately undercuts the happy ending that precedes it
Cultural Impact
The phrase 'some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them' has become one of the most widely quoted lines in the English language
Inspired countless adaptations including the films She's the Man (2006) and the musical Your Own Thing (1968)
Central to the development of queer theory in literary studies, with its exploration of same-sex desire and gender performance
Malvolio has become an archetype for the humorless authority figure punished by festive culture
The play's title has given its name to the holiday tradition and has become shorthand for festive misrule and the temporary suspension of social norms
Banned & Challenged
Twelfth Night has not been widely banned, though it was effectively suppressed along with all theatrical performance during the Puritan Interregnum (1642-1660) when Parliament closed the theaters. In the 18th and 19th centuries, productions sometimes bowdlerized the bawdier elements of Sir Toby's scenes and minimized the play's homoerotic undertones. In the 20th and 21st centuries, some school districts have occasionally challenged the play for its treatment of gender and sexuality, though these challenges have been rare compared to those against Shakespeare's more violent or sexually explicit works.