Twelfth Night
William Shakespeare
Frances E. Dolan (Editor)
ISBN 9780143130239
eISBN 9781101993729
ASIN B01N066R04
Five years back I started reading Shakespeare again, as my children were being introduced to it in High school. Then three years ago my son who is now 17 found he had a love for the Bard and for his plays, much as I did at that age. We had been sticking to the Oxford School Shakespeare editions as those were the versions they were reading in school. However he loved that the Pelican has the complete works of Shakespeare in individual volumes, and we have been picking those up to read, he gets the physical and I grab the eBook. I loved that there are eBooks for all volumes in this series. This year we picked up tickets for three Shakespeare plays at The Stratford Festival, including this play, we did three of the Bards plays there last year and year before as well. This year his little sister aged 14 joined us for the live version of this one and now has a deep love for Shakespears’s plays both on stage and in the written format.
The Pelican Classics were among my favourite editions of the plays when I was a youth myself. I often hunted used bookstores for the hard cover edition. I think the last time I read this would have been about 35-40 years ago. And even though I have not yet seen a production it came back quickly. The description of this edition states:
“As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio, 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility. As You Like It follows its heroine Rosalind as she flees persecution in her uncle's court, accompanied by her cousin Celia to find safety and, eventually, love, in the Forest of Arden. In the forest, they encounter a variety of memorable characters, notably the melancholy traveller Jaques who speaks many of Shakespeare's most famous speeches (such as "All the world's a stage" and "A fool! A fool! I met a fool in the forest"). Jaques provides a sharp contrast to the other characters in the play, always observing and disputing the hardships of life in the country. Historically, critical response has varied, with some critics finding the work of lesser quality than other Shakespearean works and some finding the play a work of great merit.
The legendary Pelican Shakespeare series features authoritative and meticulously researched texts paired with scholarship by renowned Shakespeareans. Each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare’s time, an introduction to the individual play, and a detailed note on the text used. Updated by general editors Stephen Orgel and A. R. Braunmuller, these easy-to-read editions incorporate over thirty years of Shakespeare scholarship undertaken since the original series, edited by Alfred Harbage, appeared between 1956 and 1967. With stunning new covers, definitive texts, and illuminating essays, the Pelican Shakespeare will remain a valued resource for students, teachers, and theater professionals for many years to come.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.”
Based on the commonly accepted chronological order of Shakespeare’s plays this is right about the middle of the pack, with a performance recorder in 1601. The sections in this volume prior to the text of the play are:
Publisher’s Note
The Theatrical World
William Shakespeare Of Stratford-Upon-Avon, Gentleman
The Question Of Authorship
The Texts of Shakespeare
Introduction
Note on the Text
As You Like It
Names of the Actors
I.1 Enter Orlando and Adam.
I.2 Enter Rosalind and Celia.
I.3 Enter Celia and Rosalind.
II.1 Enter Duke Senior, Amiens, and two or three Lords, [dressed as] Foresters.
II.2 Enter Duke [Frederick], with Lords.
II.3 Enter Orlando and Adam.
II.4 Enter Rosalind [dressed as] Ganymede, Celia [dressed as] Aliena, and Touchstone.
II.5 Enter Amiens, Jaques, and others.
II.6 Enter Orlando and Adam.
II.7 Enter Duke Senior, and Lords, [dressed] like Outlaws.
III.1 Enter Duke [Frederick], Lords, and Oliver.
III.2 Enter Orlando [with a paper].
III.3 Enter [Touchstone the] Clown, Audrey; and Jaques [apart].
III.4 Enter Rosalind [dressed as Ganymede] and Celia [dressed as Aliena].
III.5 Enter Silvius and Phebe.
IV.1 Enter Rosalind [dressed as Ganymede], Celia [dressed as Aliena], and Jaques.
IV.2 Enter Jaques; and Lords [dressed as] Foresters.
IV.3 Enter Rosalind [dressed as Ganymede] and Celia [dressed as Aliena].
V.1 Enter [Touchstone the] Clown and Audrey.
V.2 Enter Orlando and Oliver.
V.3 Enter [Touchstone the] Clown and Audrey.
V.4 Enter Duke Senior, Amiens, Jaques, Orlando, Oliver, Celia [dressed as Aliena].
Epilogue
The publishers note states:
“Certain textual features of the new Pelican Shakespeare should be particularly noted. All lines are numbered that contain a word, phrase, or allusion explained in the glossarial notes. In addition, for convenience, every tenth line is also numbered, in italics when no annotation is indicated. The intrusive and often inaccurate place headings inserted by early editors are omitted (as has become standard practice), but for the convenience of those who miss them, an indication of locale now appears as the first item in the annotation of each scene.
In the interest of both elegance and utility, each speech prefix is set in a separate line when the speakers’ lines are in verse, except when those words form the second half of a verse line. Thus the verse form of the speech is kept visually intact. What is printed as verse and what is printed as prose has, in general, the authority of the original texts. Departures from the original texts in this regard have the authority only of editorial tradition and the judgment of the Pelican editors; and, in a few instances, are admittedly arbitrary.”
And the introduction begins with:
“The opening act of As You Like It (c. 1599–1600) might lead us to expect a swift, unhappy ending. We begin in a corrupt and suspicious court, a world in which an older brother not only gets the land and the title (as was usually the case under primogeniture), but schemes to deny his younger brother an appropriate education and class standing. Compared to the lovable Orlando, the older Oliver is “altogether misprised” (I.1.159); as a consequence, he is willing to condone fratricide simply because “my soul, yet I know not why, hates nothing more than he” (154–55). Deadly sibling rivalry occupies many of Shakespeare’s histories and tragedies; it also stakes out the moral terrain of this comedy. Two sets of brothers – not only Oliver and Orlando, but also Dukes Senior and Frederick – divide the world between them, the evil brothers presiding over the court, and the benevolent, wronged, banished brothers creating an alternative, “green” world in the Forest of Arden.”
This play comprises 5 acts and a total of 22 scenes. This play falls in about the middle of the list of plays by Shakespeare, with the dates 1599 and 1600 associated with it. The play is one that often receives mixed responses; some greatly appreciate it and others not so much. We had friends who want and saw it the week before we went, the mother was ‘meh’, and the son absolutely loved it.
This is an interesting comedy, and though I typically prefer the histories or tragedies I did enjoy my rereading of this work. Like a few of Shakespeare’s other stories this follow two families. And the stories are deeply intertwined. We have the Duke Senior and Duke Frederick and the brothers Orlando and Oliver. The play takes place both at court and in the forest of Arden. The play focuses on the themes of exile, power, love and nature. Rosalind is exiled and disguised as a young man Ganymede and along with her cousin Celia have hidden themselves in the forest.
With a dual form of dyslexia I greatly prefer eBooks. I do so because I can change the colour of the page and the font, and also change the font. I really wish that with eBooks of plays such as this one that there would be 2 copies of the play. One completely unadorned, no footnotes or end notes. And the other with the usual accompanying notes. I want a reader’s edition of the play to just be able to read it. Second if that is not to happen, I wish the notes were at the end of the act or even the end of the whole play. But that is just a personal preference. The Pelican Classics were originally published between 1956 and 1967. The Complete Pelican Shakespeare was first published in 1969. With this edition having copyright dates of 1959, 1970, 2000, and 2017. Making it one of the most currently revised that I have read. I believe the Pelican if one of the few editions to have released all 38 plays and the volume of Sonnets, as separate editions. Some other academic publishers limited to specific popular editions, and even then have not released eBooks of them all. (OUP School Shakespeare less than half have eBook editions) As such I am thankful that all 39 volumes from this series are available and available digitally.
I am glad I picked this up to read with my son before going to see a performance later in the year. It reminded me how much I loved these editions when I was young and we have started collecting the eBook versions now. If you are looking for a good copy of the play to read or study I can easily recommend this edition.
Other Posts Related to Shakespeare:
Reviews of Stratford Shakespeare Productions:
Richard III – 2022
Hamlet – 2022
King Lear – 2023
Goblin MacBeth - 2023
Something Rotten – 2024
Romeo & Juliette – 2024
Cymbeline – 2024
Twelfth Night – 2024
As You Like It - 2025
The Winter's Tale - 2025
…
Reviews of Shakespeare Movies:
Cymbeline – 2014
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