Twelfth Night — Comparisons Between Play and Film
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a refreshing breath of comedy from his well-known tragedies. It delves into the themes of deception and love while mixing them into a humourous play. However, plays are limited in various ways, which Trevor Nunn uses to his advantage to create an accurate film adaptation (Twelfth Night, 1996). There are more reasons why his adaptation stands out from the others, which will be explored in this article. There will also be comparisons between the play and the film to show contrast.
Story and Characters
In Shakespeare’s play, we are set in Orsino’s court, explaining his love for Olivia to himself for the audience. In the film adaptation, however, we see Sebastian and Viola performing in a ship in identical costumes, instead telling the story in chronological order along with a narration by Feste’s actor. This choice of who narrates the story symbolises that Feste knows more than he appears to know. Also, instead of introducing Orsino first, we see Viola — the protagonist — first.
We are set in the ship, where Viola and Sebastian are performing cross-dressed (well, one of them anyway). They stop singing as Sebastian’s voice deepens during the performance, resulting in them removing each other’s disguises. This is later seen at the end of the film, where the couples are rearranged and the ‘love web’ is resolved.
After the shipwreck, they land in Illyria and are soon greeted by knights. The captain explains beforehand that Messaline, the country Sebastian and Viola originate from, is at war with Illyria, which is not at all mantioned in the play. This unlocked the hidden potential of suspense that the play could have shown.
We are then introduced to most of the secondary characters: Duke Orsino, Countess Olivia, knights Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek, the fool, Feste and Maria the chambermaid. They are introduced in a way to leave first impressions in the viewers’ brains, for example when we first see Sir Toby, he is lying on the ground passed out beside a set of stairs, implying that he must have drank too much wine, and Sir Andrew, who is shown to not have a high intellect when greeting Maria. Orsino is given an injured arm in the film, which is never mentioned in the play. This can symbolise how vulnerable Orsino seems until the end, where he is seemingly unaware of his own ailment; as if it didn’t exist.
Films have a great way of getting various shots of people to focus or unfocus on to show emotion or setting. This can be seen in many different cases. For example, when Orsino calls Viola, disguised as Cesario, to help wash his body. The embarrassment and awkwardness seen on Viola’s face is easily detectable in this scene. However, they then start to play recreational activities together, which strengthens the bond between them.
One character who has an interesting development is Feste. He is first seen watching the Illyrians run away from the guards. In Shakespeare’s play he is labelled as ‘the fool’, however the camera shots over the shoulder imply that he knows more then he lets off. His relation to Olivia and his knowledge of Cesario’s true identity leaves the viewers uncomfortable.
Themes
Shakespeare mixes the main themes of deception and love into one comic story effectively, even with limitation. Without limitation, you have your film adaptation. The main characters’ misunderstandings are wonderfully explored in a complex ‘love web’. Some of these characters even compete for one person’s love, even though it is clear on who that person loves more. Sir Andrew Aguecheek later on in the film sees Cesario as a rival in Olivia’s love, so in a one-sided argument between Cesario and Sir Toby Belch, Aguecheek and Cesario duel to the death in a hilarious way.
Another theme is the danger of being caught. At the start of the movie, the knights from Illyria ride in black uniform with dark horses, accompanied by ominous music. The music is then repeated in various parts of the film whenever they appear. Their appearances seem to be frequent, as they are seen in Olivia’s brother’s funeral and the various scenes where Antonio is on the run from the guards. however in the end it is transposed into a major key, signifying happiness. There is also the whole Malvolio situatuion where he is tormented by Sir Toby and his friends after reading a forged love letter supposedly from Olivia who, after Malvolio makes a fool of himself, thinks he has suffered from ‘midsummer madness’ and orders Sir Toby to lock him up. His cries of pain are heard as the others look at him and continuously shut off his only light source, saying repetitively that he is not mad. It is as if he was locked up for revealing his feelings towards Olivia.
In conclusion, Trevor Nunn’s film adaptation is one to really watch over and compare differences with the play. The film has stayed mostly accurate to the play’s storyline, with some minor changes in the order of scenes shown. Nunn’s effective way of portraying deception in the film, along with love and a side order of comedy, gets high praise from me. I believe that Nunn’s film is a great one to watch, and it is worth the long watch to the resolution of the film.
