ABSTRACT

The title of Twelfth Night may well have come from the first occasion when it performs, whether or not Dr. Leslie Hotson is right in arguing that its first night was the court celebration of the last of the twelve days of Christmas on January 6, 1600-1601. Twelfth Night deals with the sort of folly which the title points to, the folly of misrule. But the holiday reference limits its subject too narrowly: the play exhibits the liberties which gentlemen take with decorum in the pursuit of pleasure and love, including the liberty of holiday, but not only that. People in Twelfth Night talk of courtesy and manners constantly. But the most important expression of courtesy of course is in object lessons. Mr. Van Doren, in a fine essay, observes that Twelfth Night has a structure like The Merchant of Venice.