A Clever Reimagining of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night has to be one of my all-time favorite plays by Shakespeare. I remember being delighted by it when I read it for the first time for a class on Shakespeare in college, and then I was lucky enough to be able to see it performed at Shakespeare’s Globe in London when I was in my 20s–definitely one of my most memorable theatrical experiences.

In case you haven’t read the play, it begins with a young woman named Viola washing up on the shores of Illyria, having just survived a shipwreck and fearing that her brother Sebastian has drowned. Finding herself suddenly alone in a foreign country, without a man’s protection–quite a dangerous thing at that time–she needs to do something to survive, so she comes up with the plan to disguise herself as a man and find work at the court of Duke Orsino. 

Once there, she discovers that Duke Orsino is madly in love with Olivia, a local countess. He confesses to Viola (who is now going by the male name Cesario): 

“O, when mine eyes did see Olivia first,

Methought she purged the air of pestilence.”

(I,i, 20-21)

Unfortunately for Orsino, Olivia has rejected his many attempts to woo her, so he sends the youthful “Cesario” to try to convince Olivia to give him a chance. What ensues is a delightful comedy in which Olivia falls in love with Cesario, not knowing that “he” is actually a woman, and Viola falls in love with Duke Orsino, but can’t confess her love to him because she is posing as his male friend and confidante. It is a love triangle for the ages!

Some of the best scenes of the play are the heart-to-heart conversations between Orsino and Viola, in which they’re talking about love. When the Duke asks Viola/Cesario who “he” is in love with, this is how she responds: 

Duke:  What kind of woman is’t?

Viola:  Of your complexion. 

Duke:  She is not worth thee then. What years, i’ faith?

Viola:  About your years, my lord. 

(II, iv, 25-27)

The glee comes for the reader because we know that Viola is being completely truthful in her answers, but the Duke doesn’t know this. 

To add another level of hilarity to the play, Sebastian, who is previously thought to have been drowned, washes up on the shores of Illyria, as well–oh, and get this: he is Viola’s TWIN BROTHER! Dressed as a man, Viola looks exactly like him! 

I won’t tell you what happens because you really need to read the play yourself, but this gender-bending romantic comedy will leave you with a smile on your face. 

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Looking for a light romantic comedy to read this summer? Look no further than Twelfth Knight–yes, that’s “Knight” with a “K”--by Alexene Farol Follmuth. Although this novel has been labeled “YA,” don’t let that stop you from reading it if you’re not a teen. 

In this reimagining of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, the main characters are Jack “Duke” Orsino, a cocky, popular high school running back hailing from a long line of All-American football players, and Vi Reyes, a nerdy, opinionated, and quite prickly “AP kid” who loves role-playing games. The two couldn’t be more different, and they just barely conceal how much they dislike each other–especially Vi, who is still sore because Jack was elected (unjustly, in her opinion) Associate Student Body president rather than her.  

When Jack tears his ACL in a football game, his life, previously devoted exclusively to football, is thrown into disarray. He also doesn’t know what’s going on with his so-called “girlfriend” Olivia, who has grown distant and seems to be avoiding him. When he sees Vi going into an AP class with Olivia, he begs her to talk to Olivia for him to find out what’s going on, saying that they could make a deal that would be mutually beneficial. Vi agrees to talk to Olivia only if Jack takes over all the planning for homecoming. Thus, the whole plot is thrown into action. 

I have to say that this was one of most delightful romantic comedies that I’ve read in a while. A big reason for this was the quirky, complicated and ultimately loveable heroine that Follmuth has created. Vi is indignant at the injustice in the world–particularly, at the racism and sexism that she encounters on a daily basis. She laments to herself, 

“I wish they [boys] could hate me for normal reasons, like my personality, instead of just looking at me and seeing long hair and boobs and deciding that’s enough to validate all of their presumptions. . . . No matter how many combat advantages I give Astrea Starscream, she’ll never be taken seriously. No matter how smart I am or how hard I work, my acceptance is always conditional. And it’s not just me–I don’t know how any girl can exist in the world without being perpetually furious.” (34)

Unlike many other girls her age, Vi doesn’t hide her anger, though. It comes out in snarky comments that cause many people to label her a “bitch.” While she pretends to shrug it all off like she could care less, she is in fact a very sensitive individual beneath the prickly, defensive exterior; someone who, like Jack, is struggling to make sense of her world. 

The two enemies collide while playing the video game Twelfth Knight. Frustrated at not being taken seriously as a female gamer, Vi disguises herself as a male gamer, logging on as “Cesario” to avoid discrimination. She could not have foreseen, however, that she would be pulled into a game with “DukeOrsino12”--obviously, Jack–and that the hours of gaming together would allow them to open up to one another, maybe even become friends.

I love the “enemies to lovers” trope, and Follmuth employs it to great effect here. At the beginning of the novel, Vi and Jack’s dislike for each other is undeniable; they’re dissing each other and one-upping each other, and it’s quite entertaining for the reader. Over the course of the novel, though, we observe as the walls begin to come down around these characters and their witty banter turns flirtatious. Maybe, like in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and somewhat ironically, it is because Vi is in disguise that she is able to be more truly herself. 

In any case, I am eager to read more by Alexene Farol Follmuth. This was just the book that I needed to kick off the summer, and I hope you’ll give it a try, as well!

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