One modern adaptation
is Twelfth Night, or what you will; directed by Trevor Nunn, and
starring Helena Bonham Carter, Imogen Stubbs, and Ben Kingsley.
"O, mistress mine, where are you roaming?
O, stay and hear, your
true love's coming,
That can sing both
high and low." (II.iii.39-41)
Trevor Nunn decided to add this
explanatory scene at the beginning, to explain the siblings' relationship and
show the similarities of their features.
Feste narrates.
"Once upon Twelfth Night, or
what you will, aboard a ship bound home to Messeline, the festive company
dressed for masquerade and singing songs each other to amuse, delight above the
rest in two young twins."
The subsequent
scene shows the shipwreck and landing in Illyria.
For such designs as, haply, shall become
The form of my intent.
I'll serve this duke."
The lovesick (and somewhat pathetic) Duke Orsino:
"If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that surfeiting
The appetite may sicken and so die." (I.i.1-3)
The mourning (we think) Countess Olivia:
"The
element itself, till seven years' heat,
Shall not behold her face at ample view;
But like a cloistress she will veilèd walk,
And water once a-day her chamber round
With eye-offending brine: all this to season
A brother's dead love, which she would keep fresh
And lasting in her sad remembrance." (I.i.25-31)
Seven
years becomes a few short weeks:
Our
'man' Cesario captures the fancy of the Countess while wooing on the Duke's
behalf.
"Disguise,
I see, thou art a wickedness
Wherein
the pregnant enemy does much." (II.ii.27-28)
On
another side, the Three Stooges plot revenge against "a time-pleaser" (II.iii.148).
"Be not afraid of greatness," writes Maria in Olivia's hand. "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em" (II.v.143-145).
Hilarity
ensues as Malvolio acts on Maria's letter, and Sebastian appears and is
mistaken for Cesario.
Antonio, mistaking Cesario for Sebastian, inadvertently gives
Cesario hope that her brother lives.
"Prove true,
imagination, O, prove true,
That I, dear
brother, be now ta'en for you!" (III.iv.375-376)
Olivia makes the same mistake and convinces Sebastian to marry
her, causing an awkward moment when Cesario and the Duke arrive, Andrew
Aguecheek accuses Cesario of giving him a "bloody coxcomb" (V.i.190).
Sebastian appears, and the world makes sense once again.
The Duke, bereft of any chance for Olivia, makes the better choice
and proposes to Viola. She, of course,
accepts.
"Home"