Title
The foretitle, Twelfth Night is believed to be an afterthought. While Shakespeare was writing the play, he may have intended the title as simply What You Will, but before it was performed John Marston premièred a play also titled What You Will. The title Twelfth Night, or What You Will prepares the audience for its jovial feel of festivities consisting of drink, dance, and giving in to general self-indulgence.
Read more about this topic: Twelfth Night
Famous quotes containing the word title:
“Et in Arcadia ego.
[I too am in Arcadia.]”
—Anonymous, Anonymous.
Tomb inscription, appearing in classical paintings by Guercino and Poussin, among others. The words probably mean that even the most ideal earthly lives are mortal. Arcadia, a mountainous region in the central Peloponnese, Greece, was the rustic abode of Pan, depicted in literature and art as a land of innocence and ease, and was the title of Sir Philip Sidney’s pastoral romance (1590)
“Now that the steam engine rules the world, a title is an absurdity, still I am all dressed up in this title. It will crush me if I do not support it. The title attracts attention to myself.”
—Stendhal [Marie Henri Beyle] (1783–1842)
“It was his title that killed me. I had never spoken to a lord before. Oh, me! what a fool, what a beast I have been!”
—Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)