Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night draws on traditional Tudor celebrations of the same name, which involved dressing up and inverting social order. The play also takes elements from the story of Apollonius and Sulla, which itself draws on a long tradition of mistaken identity stories.
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, or What You Will, is one of the playwright’s most famous plays. The earliest known performance of the play was in February 1602. Twelfth Night draws heavily on the story of Apollonius and Sulla, a short story that forms part of a longer play, Riche, his farewell to the military profession of Barnabe Riche. Additionally, the game incorporates a number of themes based on traditional Twelfth Night celebrations.
In Tudor England, the Feast of Twelfth Night preceded the Feast of the Epiphany and marked the end of the twelve days of Christmas. On the evening of January 5, revelers marked the end of the festive season with special drinks and treats. Games, music and games were a big part of the festivities.
A recurring element in Twelfth Night celebrations was the inversion of the social order. Revelers dressed up in extravagant attire, often in attire not in keeping with their social standing. Servants could assume the role of master while high-ranking individuals acted as servants. The chaos of the festivities did not last, however; by the end of the night society was back to normal.
Some of these themes appear in the play, which appears to have been written to be performed at this holiday. For example, Viola, the heroine, dresses as a man and is mistaken for one. Similarly, the foolish servant Malvolio aspires to become a lord, dressing in ridiculous clothes to win the heart of the beautiful noblewoman Olivia.
In addition to these themes, Shakespeare drew plot elements for his play from the story Apollonius and Sulla, published by Barnabe Riche in 1581. In this story, Sulla, a young woman, is shipwrecked while pursuing the object of her affections. She dresses in men’s clothing salvaged from her wreck, and is mistaken for a man by a wealthy woman who falls in love with her.
The similarities between Twelfth Night and the tale of Apollonius and Sulla continue when Sulla’s brother Silvio arrives looking for his sister, only to be mistaken for her. As in Shakespeare’s play, the consequences of this mistaken identity ultimately lead to the revelation of the brothers’ identities. Silla marries Apollonius, Silvio marries the rich woman, and everything is resolved. The skeleton of the plot is very similar to Shakespeare’s.
The story of Apollonius and Sulla itself draws on a long tradition of stories of mistaken identity dating back to the Roman theatre. Plautus’ play The Maenachmi similarly deals with the mistaken identities between identical twins; it was the source of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. Riche drew substantial elements of his plot from a work in this tradition, an Italian play called Gl’Ingannati. It is possible that Shakespeare was also familiar with this play.
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