This analysis of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Act 1 Scene 2, focuses on the introduction of Viola after a shipwreck, highlighting her decisive nature, the play's thematic use of identity and disguise, and Shakespeare's skillful use of exposition and character parallels.
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hello and welcome to part two of our
exploration of 12th night didn't mention
before on the last video about the
alternati of what you will that's
interesting in terms of you can link
this to ideas about identity as in like
what you will what you define yourself
to be actually is important in the play
and I'll say more about 12th night as a
festival when it actually reaches more relevant
relevant
points I really play but you might know
all this anyway but anyway I will talk
about it so we're going to act one scene
two I'll talk about it a bit later so
we've had Oro in the first scene we've
seen how he's in love with the idea of
being in love we've known that he's
obsessed with
Olivia and now introduced to another
main character which is Viola notably of
course first scene talking about music
we had musicians there's are lots of
music in this play and VI of course is
the name of a musical instrument can't
be a coincidence also in the first scene
notice of course orena was talking about
violets he was personifying violets and
now we've got a character called Violet
with a very similar name so keep an eye
on all of this lots of things going on
then VI is also a partial anagram of
Olivia as well you see lots of stuff
going on no words or even letters wasted
when it comes to Shakespeare so we've
got got Violet a captain and
sailors what country friends is this so
Shakespeare always uses media res
starting We join him halfway through a
SE as he he starts a scene things have
already happened before it in this case
there been a shipwreck that's quite a
big thing for us to miss but it would
have been very hard for Shakespeare to
Stage a shipwreck realistically uh on
with the technology and Stage craft of
the time so we said about lyria there as
well what country friend is this so
she's washed
up after a shipwreck my brother he is an
elisian per chance he is not
drowned so shakesby deliberately
parallels the situation with Olivia as
well remember Olivia has lost her
brother brother and she's
grieving violer has lost her brother but
you'll see as a character she's much
more decisive she's much more in
control yeah you will see
and violet is given these interrogatives
she's very much in control in command
here she's of a higher Social Status
than the men that she's with of course
in Shakespeare's time female characters
were played by male male actors but this
was just a standard thing of the time
that was just something that was a
cultural Convention of the era women
weren't allowed to act in that era
It Is by chance that you yourself were
saved oh my poor brother and so by
chance may he be so there's an element
of Hope there maybe he's not dead so she
has lost a brother he might be drowned
he might be dead but she's clinging on
to some hope so there's an interesting
again Shakespeare's paralleling the viol
situation with Olivia
situation Captain offers a glimmer of
hope as well I saw your brother so
during the storm and the ship being
smashed apart most Provident and Peril
bind himself courage hope both teaching
him to the practice sorry teaching him
the practice to a strong MK that lived
upon the sea so as the ship was breaking
up he tied himself to a m and then
there's a nice simile here like Orion on
the Dolphin's back I saw him hold
acquaintance with the waves as long as I
could see so he may have
survived VI's pleased with this so she
gives him a bit of gives him a bit of
Dosh gives him some
money then with VI's uncertainty about
the area we' got the captain as a car
who does know the area it allows
Shakespeare to offer some Exposition
very naturally so the audience have an
idea of what the social situation is in this
this
country so who comes here a Noble jke in
nature has in his name what's it his
name osino and actually again we've
already met osino so the jigsaw puzzle
is really forming for us here
Shakespeare is building up the plot a
lot of the audience of Shakespeare's
time would have been familiar with the
plot of the play they would know the
story about the twins who get separated
and they know they know about the
disguise elements of this plot I don't
want to spoil too much in case you don't
know it but I will say a little bit but
anyway there's that is that element to
it there as well some of the audience
would have known the story already
because again that was something that
was normal of the time playwrights
didn't really come up with their own
totally unique original ideas they
normally adapted something that was
either histor Rec an existing story or
somebody else's story they did sometimes
make extra stuff up of this and in 12th
night Shakespeare made up extra elements
to this story so they're not it's not
really like plagiarism or ripping things
off or anything like that it was just
what people did in that era that was just
just
normal so any back to the world of the
play and violet there's a sense of hope
there so she giving the captain some bit
of money as a as a gratitude
heard about osino there as well I heard
my father Nam me he was a bachelor then
so this is the same osino we seen in the
first scene and there's a little bit of
I just highlighted that because there's
a bit of antithesis there great ones do
the less will prattle of he just means
gossip ordinary people will gossip about
celebrities effectively same as in the
present time so just normal people are
obsessed with celebrities same then as
it is now so it's just a I thought as a nice
nice
little observation from Shakespeare
that's a little throwaway line but I
thought well it connects to the modern
world in many
ways so we get Shakespeare reiterating
through the captain some of the ideas
that we saw remember when orino was
overjoyed to think of Olivia grieving
for her brother and seeing that as an
opportunity of love we're getting a
repetition here of just reemphasizing
that particular piece of character
context we know that
Olivia is not admitting anyone that
orena is sending
over and VI again she's depicted by
Shakespeare is a very Noble decisive and
actually courageous character as well as
a female character she's very
interesting particularly for the era and
mean in Shakespeare's time obviously
women women's rights were were very
limited very very limited but
paradoxically of course you've got
Elizabeth I on the throne who is
effectively really like a tyrant
actually like a really ruthless decisive
leader who if you displeased her your
head was probably coming off so you got
a very strange Paradox paradoxical world where
where
obviously you've got us the wider
Society must have recognized that women
could hold positions of power because
they had one right at the top so
anyway Vier is is reflecting in some
ways those kind
of Elizabethan attitudes there
anyway so VI there is their behavior in
the captain and though that nature with
a butus WS doth off close in pollution
yet Of Thee I will believe thou Hast a
mind that suits with this thy fair and
outward character this seems a bit weird
this line but it actually makes sense in
The Wider context of the play because
the play has a lot about themes about
appearance versus
reality what happens there is you've got
Shakespeare's having Viola showing
her one thing he's doing is showing her
perception like she knows this Captain
is a trustworthy
guy the other thing is that it's
important to say as well is the idea of
she so sometimes people might look
sometimes people might look good but
they might actually be bad and in this
case this isn't the case you so you look
you you look like a nice person and
you're acting like a nice person and you
are a nice
person and that's also important because
he's going to help keep her secret which
is's just about to do right here which
is I'll pay thee bounous conceal me what
I am so this links back to what I said
right at the start about the alternate
title of the play 12th night or what you
will Viet Wills herself into this new
identity she's going to disguise herself
as a
man I'll serve this Duke as a woman on
her own she's in danger she's very
vulnerable in a in a strange country we
actually find out later in the play
there has been some historical tension
it doesn't the play doesn't go into
massive detail about this but viers from
a place called mesine Another Country
and there seems to have been some
tensions in the past between ayia and
mesoline and it's not necessarily going
to be safe for her just wandering around
as a woman from mesoline and it's yeah
she's in danger so she's going to
disguise herself as a man I'll serve
this Duke Thou shalt present me as an
unic to him I have to be careful how I
talk about this because of YouTube rules
but yeah a unic uh yeah be careful how
you're looking it up is what what I'll
say but unic is how can I put this
gently a a man who's had certain
Key Parts physical parts of being a man removed
removed
and this is in modern Productions They
Don't Really dwell on this line I've
seen some where they've actually cut out
that line actually because it just seems
a bit jarring and a lot of people don't
really know what a unic
is and what shakes was doing is it would
explain the feminine qualities or at
least the less masculine qualities of
V's new male
identity so it would explain the like
the differences in the voice why the
voice would be higher
pitched it may be worth thy pains for I
can sing and speak to him in many sorts
of music that allow me very worth his
service so yeah a lot of I have see yeah
of them cut that line out when I think
about it
anyway the captain is be you is unic and
your mute RB so this Captain actually
he's not in it again he gets mentioned
later on in the play but the idea is is
that VI is going to adopt a new identity
he'll adopt a new identity as in he's
going to be secret a mute is someone who
doesn't ever say anything he's not going
to give anything away about VI's
plans when my tongue blabs then let mine
eyes not see I thank me I thank thee
lead me on so VI again end Shakespeare
ending the SE Violet is she's got a plan
she's decisive Captain's going to keep a
secret and presumably the other Sailors
as well they don't get any cash for it
but let's just assume they just do as
the captain tells them and that's it so
that is the end of scene two another
short little scene thank you for joining
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