ABSTRACT
In 1867, Charles Knight reproduced what he thought was William Shakespeare’s ‘new map’, entitled Insulae Moluccae, from the English translation of van Linschoten’s Voyages into ye Easte & West Indies, showing the islands of Malacca and Borneo. Twelfth Night would have had far less potential to corrupt foreign affairs had it been written instead for the Middle Temple. Anthony Arlidge has argued that the names of two characters in TN, Curio and Fabian, appear to have been derived from typical Inns of Court gentlemen. Alan Nelson remarks that While the strong claim that Twelfth Night was a Middle Temple play in some foundational or original sense cannot be sustained, some evidence can be marshalled in support of Arlidge’s more limited claim that Inns of Court gentlemen might have cooperated in the play’s performance. The songs in the works of Shakespeare are of particular interest for discussing dating.
